ROCKY BACK ON OTJ TRIAL 21 JUNE

Discussion in 'Feline Health - (Welcome & Main Forum)' started by Marlena, Jun 21, 2016.

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  1. Marlena

    Marlena Well-Known Member

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    Rocky is trying again without insulin and his numbers are good.
    I'm trying everything to help him so he gets carefully measured amount of food 4 times in 24 hours at regular intervals and I make him walk a bit more every few days.
    He is happy to sleep most of the time in the garden, doesn't want to play much and always wants to be on my lap! But if I'm sitting as much as he wants me to I will get diabetes as well. I'm getting so paranoid that I started checking my own BG numbers!
    Hope everybody is doing well.:):cat::)
     
  2. Diana&Tom

    Diana&Tom Well-Known Member

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    Good luck Rocky and Marlena!
     
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  3. Marlena

    Marlena Well-Known Member

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    Thank you so much!:)
     
  4. Sharon14

    Sharon14 Well-Known Member

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    Aug 16, 2015
    Go Rocky!
     
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  5. Marlena

    Marlena Well-Known Member

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    Green 5.4 PM!:):):)
     
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  6. Ruby&Baco

    Ruby&Baco Well-Known Member

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    Go go go Rocky! You can do this! :kiss:
     
  7. blu

    blu Member

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    Dec 20, 2013
    He is giving you a crazy little sugar dance, isn't he?! They do like to keep us guessing! Sounds like with all of your very diligent care he will be in remission soon! Woohooo!
     
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  8. Marlena

    Marlena Well-Known Member

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    Nov 25, 2015
    Rocky's crazy dance is driving ME crazy but well, never mind, I love my baby.
    I think he will go in remission soon (anti-jinx) as I really want my life back.
    This morning he is still good so I'm happy making plans for trips to see friends hurrrrrra! Anti-jinx again.
    Thank you for your support Tanya.
    Thank you Ruby.
    Love to you all and your kitties.
    Marlena & Rocky:cat::kiss:
     
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  9. Ruby&Baco

    Ruby&Baco Well-Known Member

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    Hi Marlena, how is Rocky doing now?
     
  10. Marlena

    Marlena Well-Known Member

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    Nov 25, 2015
    Hello Ruby,
    I don't know.
    By now I would expect his number to go a bit lower but they don't.
    He's BG this AM was 6.8 and he had a very small breakfast and 3 hours after that his BG is 7.7.
    I'm thinking that he still needs insulin albeit a very small dose. I will keep checking him today and see what numbers more tests will bring.
    I think that using pet meter (which I love by the way) complicates things a bit as some numbers which appear blue on the SS would be green when using a human meter. Another thing I'm not sure about is what ranges of BG I'm aiming for. The lower one would be 3.7 but it is not clear about the top one when one uses pet meter. I've seen different ones mentioned like 6.6 - 8.3. So does it mean that if his AM fasting is 6.8 and daytime is 8 to 9.4 he needs insulin or not? I'm confused and think that I will try a very small dose. When I looked at Baco SS and some other kitties it looks to me that they started going lower the longer they stayed off insulin.
    What do you think Ruby?
     
  11. Ruby&Baco

    Ruby&Baco Well-Known Member

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    Apr 21, 2016
    You are right about that Baco reach more and more lower numbers as her OTJ trial was going on, but like you said you use a pet meter that is slightly different. What you are aiming for (human meter) is between 50 and 150 (2,7 and 8.3mmol, that is when a kitty is in remission) but the best to aim for is no more than 6.6, what is 120dg.
    But with the pet meter it goes higher than that right? If Rocky was mine I would stick to the human meter now in the OTJ trial.
    What are you thinking about that? Trying that?
    If he still isn't below 6.6mmol on a human meter in the next couple of days I would recommend trying to give a drop to support the pancreas.
     
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  12. Ruby&Baco

    Ruby&Baco Well-Known Member

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    But I will tell you, yesterday Baco gave me a 7.1mmol (human meter) and she was peeing on a towel in the bathroom, this is something she did when she was in high numbers so that's why I tested her. But my BF 'caught' her doing it and she got scared and felt busted and after that I tested her (giving me that 7.1) so I was like omg here we go again, honeymoon is over. But that wasn't the case because later that evening she gave me a nice 3.9 again so she just got scared because my BF caught her in the act. So a slightly higher number doesn't mean they lost remission!
     
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  13. MrWorfMen's Mom

    MrWorfMen's Mom Well-Known Member

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    Marlena, I've seen references that indicate 3.7 - 8.3 are the normal range however according to the lab reports I have for my girl, lab value normals are 4.0 - 9.3. Some cats can run a little lower than the lowest numbers cited so don't panic if Rocky is a little lower than 3.7 if no insulin has been given. Also don't panic over 1 reading above these ranges. Some cats will run a little higher than others naturally and seeing a bird or squirrel outside or a strange noise could raise them above the "normal" range temporarily so I'd be sure to get at least two or more high readings before giving insulin.
     
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  14. Marlena

    Marlena Well-Known Member

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    Thank you Ruby, your advice is much appreciated.
    I've done some thinking and came to some sort of conclusion: 7.9 on pet meter is my top number, anything above I will start thinking about tiny dose of insulin. Why? Because:
    I still want to use AlphaTrak as it is really brilliant. The human meter I'm using at the moment is OneTouch Ultra and I hate it because you need a large drop of blood, it doesn't always suck the blood in very well and it makes you really frustrated! Somebody else on this forum wrote about how this meter annoyed him and he just smashed it up! But it is quite reliable meter. I'm using it at the moment alongside my AlphaTrak as I have test strips to use up. The human meter I really like is AccuChek Aviva but test strips are expensive and I don't know yet if my insurance company will cover the cost.
    Now I have done some calculations for the top numbers so 20% of 6.6 would make the number on pet meter 7.9 and it, more less ,supports the data I gathered compering BG from pet meter and human one. I don't want to stop using AlphaTrak and start Accuchek as it will confuse things further.
    So looking at todays numbers and recalculating them they are pretty good: AM 6.8 = 5.4 (green number), 7.7 = 6.2, 7.2 = 5.3 (green number again) - this one was actually measured by OneTouch not calculated.
    That's what I decided for now. So, as long as he doesn't go above 7.9, I'm not doing anything. Do you think it's sensible?
    In the meantime poor Rocky gets very little food because he does not move much and I know that not eating a lot might be very healing when one is overweight.
     
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  15. Ruby&Baco

    Ruby&Baco Well-Known Member

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    I think that the 7.9 on a pet meter is a good range to hold on to, but like @MrWorfMen's Mom said, don't give insulin yet just because one time a number is higher, because this can be affected by all type of things (just like Baco had yesterday)
    I know, the teststrips for the accu aviva check are expensive. Here I but 100 of them for €58, how much is it for you? I don't get it covered by the insurance company so I had to pay them myself... Pff I think I bought for €300 in total these 2 months of Baco being on insulin. :( That's a lot of money.
     
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  16. Marlena

    Marlena Well-Known Member

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    Nov 25, 2015
    @Ruby&Baco and @MrWorfMen's Mom
    Thank you girls, I so appreciate your information!
    I knew about the very low number as people often wrote about being so worried that cat was giving them such a low number but if there is no insulin given such a number is very good.
    Rocky get stressed now more than he used to so I would expect that sometimes he will give me a higher number due to being upset about something. I have noticed recently that he would jump off my bed while sleeping there happily for some time because the window is open and the noise from a passing car on a wet road would freak him out! He's often jumpy and nervous of things which did not bother him before.
    Your input gave me confidence that I'm doing the right thing so thank you so much once again.
    Rocky is crying for his lunch but I'm very strict and make him wait till 2 o'clock, the usual time he gets his food.
     
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  17. Ruby&Baco

    Ruby&Baco Well-Known Member

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    You're welcome Marlena! And yes you are doing a great job with Rocky. I bet he is really greatfull for having you as his mom! :) How many days for Rocky to be officially OTJ?
    :bighug::kiss:
     
  18. Marlena

    Marlena Well-Known Member

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    Nov 25, 2015
    Oh Ruby, that's horribly expensive.
    In the UK they cost £27. Did you try to find a cheaper seller like Amazon or something else?
    I was lucky as I used to work at a pharmacy and had a lot of supplies which were available to me at a cost or no cost at all.
    Things are different now.
     
  19. Ruby&Baco

    Ruby&Baco Well-Known Member

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    Apr 21, 2016
    Wow! That's cheaper then in the Netherlands.
    But I've noticed that the meters and teststrips here are expensive but the insulin is cheaper (prozinc cost me €40 and will last for 3,5 months) I saw that in America it was more than $100 :woot:
    Is the insulin in the UK expensive?
    I did try to find a cheaper one, but that was the most cheap one (100 strips for €58)
     
  20. Marlena

    Marlena Well-Known Member

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    Today is day no 10 so 4 more days to go.
     
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  21. Ruby&Baco

    Ruby&Baco Well-Known Member

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    Woohooooooeeee! 4 more days for Rocky to show how good of an OTJ cat he really is ;):kiss:
     
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  22. Marlena

    Marlena Well-Known Member

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    Nov 25, 2015
    In US insulin is very expensive.
    I don't know how much Prozinc is here but my insulin (Hypurin) was £75 and I still have half of bottle left after using it for 6 months! My insurance covers it anyway.
     
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  23. Ruby&Baco

    Ruby&Baco Well-Known Member

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    Apr 21, 2016
    That's really nice that your insurance covers it. That is something I should have had when I had to buy everything :oops:

    Yes it is really expensive in the US (don't understand why) but there meters and teststrips are really cheap, so that does compensate for the insulin!
     
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