6/1 Grayson - we've arrived!

Hello all -

Grayson officially changed insulins yesterday from ProZinc to Levemir, and so far, so good.

It's hard to say what kind of an improvement he's showing, as I was out of town for 8 days and he was only tested at shot time, but suffice it to say, he was consistently mid to upper reds and even a black... Since he started (26 hours ago) he's stayed in the pinks! Preshots in the upper pinks, surfed yesterday for over 3 hours at 350, and this morning at +4.5 he checked in at 308. I'll take it!!!

He doesn't seem to have any issues with the change - but continues to be extremely hungry (clearly, no one fed him the entire time I was away! ;-) - or at least that's HIS story! The cupboard says otherwise!!!). He'd been getting 6u ProZinc BID, and we started at 3u Lev BID. So far ketones are negative... and I'm keeping a close eye on them. Will keep you tuned in...

Lu-Ann

 

That all sounds good. He will be "starving" until you get his numbers better regulated. But, I am sure he thinks he "barely ate at all" while you were gone. They are so funny that way.

Get a few spot checks after the evening shot and again during the day tomorrow. He is still settling, but that should be when he will drop lower if he is going to.

 

Hello and welcome to levemir Lu Ann and Grayson cat_pet_icon

I think Grayson will like levemir I know callie and I sure do ;-) wishing you all the best with Levemir !!

 

Thanks! I expect the insulin resistance will take a couple of weeks before it shows up, so maybe, hopefully, I'll be able to see him get some better numbers in the meantime, and maybe even hold his preshot numbers down. I know they want him somewhat "regulated" prior to treatment for the Acro, so I'm hoping that's the case - and that by addressing the acro, we subsequently affect the resistance. Assuming they are correct that the Acro causes the resistance AND the diabetes, I've gotta be hopeful and optimistic! Fingers crossed for the time being.

Unfortunately, my timing was horrible getting started; ideally I'm on a 7/7 or 6:30/6:30 schedule; instead, I was late picking up the insulin Thursday morning, so we ended up on a 1/1 schedule - I should've shot ProZinc in the morning, and just started in the evening, but kept thinking "I'll have the Lev soon". The massive flight delays from Phoenix to DFW and DFW to RDU wreaked havoc on my Wednesday - otherwise, I would've picked it up Wed night and started first thing Thursday. I'll eventually start shifting - but in the meantime, I'll just be setting the alarm... ugh!

Are any of the regular posters here also on the Acro/IAA Facebook group? I've gotten so accustomed to coming here, I'm sure they think I'm a once-a-week FB'er! (which is still more frequent that I used to be - once a month or every-other-month!).

Although I already know a couple of former PZI folks here, I'm looking forward to getting to know the other Lev kitties! I'll post a little about Grayson tomorrow so you guys can "officially" meet him!

Thanks again!

Lu-Ann

 

Hi Luann!!
Welcome to Levemir!
I have everything crossed that Levemir will help Graysn and get him into some
good numbers and away from the IHOP!!
Good Luck!

Denise and Shakes

 

Hi Lu-Ann and Grayson,
Welcome to Lev! :YMHUG:
I hope Grayson settles in nicely.
Marcy & Klinger

 

How did Grayson do today?

 

Hey Luann! Welcome to Levemir !
Sorry I missed your opening day, I got caught up on Mel and Musette and didn't get to anything else that day.

It might take some time for Grayson to slow down the eating- Sneakers has been on Lev for 2 months and has finally slowed down from her 15-18oz/day habit. I went through two cases of FF a week with lots of raw :shock: and now she's down to 1 case a week supplemented with the raw chicken during the day. But she also showed a great improvement in her first week of Lev, not low numbers- just less of the higher ones.

 

Good Sunday night all -

Thank you for all the welcomes! Sorry it's taken so long to get back; I've been trying to function w/o a computer... and not very successfully, I'm afraid! Had a crash last week, and the repair was basically a wipe-out... so I'm back to square one, and it's not doing wireless anywhere.

A review since starting...

Thursday:
PMPS 388 Shot 3.0
+3 349
+6 353
(had another number in here, but don't have my pad w/ me)

Friday:
AMPS 391
+4.5 308 (Woo Hoo!!!)
+7 360
PMPS 393
+5.5 345
+8.25 377

Saturday:
AMPS 390
+4 351
+8 340
+11 340
PMPS 398
+5 362
+6 34_ (?)
+10 397

Sunday:
AMPS 425
+4 308
+6 294 [over 100 point drop - this is HUGE for him!!!]
+7 296
+8 323
+10 348
PMPS 394

The good news is we've broken through the high reds and black from the time I was away, AND... we saw yellow. Although some folks may think these are horrible numbers, they're pretty much as good as I've been getting on twice the dose of ProZinc over the last few months, so I'm thrilled to have them. Not sure how long it will take for the insulin resistance to kick in, but hoping to get some lower preshots before that happens.

Will be on again tomorrow... heading home shortly, as it's gonna be a long week!

Good night all!

 

Is that all on the same dose?

 

hi Luann!!
Grayson is looking real good!!
I have everything crossed for you both!!
See what happens when you keep him away from his friends!
no more hanging at the IHOP!
at least for now!

 

Yes - The first 6 doses were 3.0 (sorry I didn't note that above). Last night, per the info in the acro page for dosing info, I did an increase to 3.5u. I would like to see a little more yellow... blue is pie in the sky at this point, and green would make me fall over dead!

I thought he was having some appetite issues this morning - I had not given him a mid-cycle can last night, and expected him to rip my arm off this morning & beat me with it. Instead, he nursed the first can, but by the time I left for work, he had eaten all but 1/4 of the 2nd can. Ketone tests are still negative, so it appears we're okay, but I'm still very guarded (re DKA) with the dose reduction from 6u ProZinc. No signs of any infection. That's a relief! But he appears to get better preshot numbers when he's had a can about 3-4 hours earlier, so I will have to be more vigilant about that. We're approaching normalcy on his schedule. The alarms in the middle of the night are for the birds!

Thanks for checking in!

 

Can you get a timed feeder for the middle of the night feedings? We don't want you losing an arm!

I know Vicky used one for Gandalf during the day when she was at work - and maybe at night? You might ask her about it.

 

I am looking into the feeders, but I don't mind feeding him in the middle of the night if I get up with the dogs. It's the shooting that takes more thought and awakens me more than just opening a can of food.

 

Why are you shooting in the middle of the night? So he can eat 3-4 hours before both shots?

I'm confused - can you tell confused_cat

 

Yes! Sometimes it's more like 6 hrs before the shot, but mostly it's about 3-4. He normally gets a 30 point food spike, and on ProZinc it usually lasted until +2 or +3. Haven't had enough early tests yet on Lev to see if it's about the same duration. His appetite (and feeding) has been part of the reason he doesn't go very low, in addition to the resistance. But likewise, I recognized this early on, but couldn't stand to see him so skinny. I've been logging his food intake into the spreadsheet for some time now. C-1 is 1 can Fancy Feast chicken; T-2 is 2 cans of turkey, OW - ocean whitefish, etc. Before the IAA dx, I was looking at every possible variable that could be affecting his BGs.

Unlike most of the Acro kitties, who've gained their weight back and then some, Grayson is FINALLY up to 12 pounds (he was originally 21.6 pounds!). He STILL looks anorexic and he's still mostly ravenous. Yesterday he wasn't so bad, but Friday and Saturday, very much so. He'd lost a little over last week while I was away, as he was fed only at shot times and when my petsitter felt bad for him - YIKES!!! Poor guy!!! Thursday morning, he woke me up crying (screaming!) for food!

Someone posted about their acro cat eating 2 cases of FF/week... and eventually got down to 1 case. Hoping that will happen for him. NC State Vet School ran one of the tests to see if he had malabsorption/maldigestion. My dog had that several years ago. She was eating like a horse and losing weight. her body wasn't getting the nutrients from the food. The result was mixing pancreazyme w/ her food, wetting it and letting it absorb 15 min before feeding her. Once she got on that, she did much better and gained most of her weight back. It's another one of those things that once you can put your finger on the problem, and there's a solution for it, I've been able to address the situation and she has (they have) done well. It's just getting to the point of getting the right dx that's the challenge!

Sheila - I see you're in Chicago - in the city? or the burbs? I grew up north of Waukegan... many many moons ago! :lol:

As for the timing in the middle of the night... I got a late start on the first dose, and instead of waiting til the desired time, I started around lunchtime. The shift is gradual, so we're almost where I want it to be. Then it's shots at a convenient time for my work, and food if I get up in the middle of the night. My dogs have always been helpful in the latter! ;-)

 

Wow, that all sounds so complicated, but you are really managing everything well for him. Trying to find what works for YOUR cat, especially with all the issues Grayson has is so important. Kudos to you. I hope that the lev will work well for him. Scientific studies show it has less variability that other insulins, which may be part of why acro/IAA kitties do so well on it.

I am in the city - north side near Evanston. I haven't strayed far from my roots - ever.

 

Poor Grayson, mama is STARVING him; I'm glad I came over to check on him! Lu, you'd better start feeding that boy!!! I know you want him to gain weight, but the 21 pounds may not have been where he should've been or where he'll be, again. Hershey has settled in just under 11 pounds. He looks good and seems to feel good (still doesn't run/play like I read of a lot of others) but I'm happy with his progress

Sounds like Lev make be just the ticket for him; I'm seeing some nice numbers! Keep it up, Grayson

Libby (and Hershey, too!)

 

Yep, that was Sneakers :lol: . And she doesn't like her current kind right now- Petsmart brand, tender beef... so she has been demanding the raw again, which is good. If I get a bonus in July I'm buying the electric grinder so i can crank out more raw food at one time. And she used to wake me up every two hours at night for food. Now I can feed her before bedtime and she gets me up sometime around 2/3AM for more, then up at 5:30 for her shot and more food. NOTHING is more persistent than a hungry cat at getting a sleeper out of dreamland- the cold, wet nose on the cheek, the barely sheathed claws in the eye, combing your hair with the claws... When all else failed she would sneeze in my face :roll: .

The scrawny little crow had a big pot belly for the longest time, now the rest of her is catching up :shock: . No longer dainty and she isn't interested in exercise- her favorite past time is sleeping on the tile floor by the fridge. Her second favorite past time is sleeping on the tile by the bathroom. And she likes to hang out at night and early mornings on the porch (only when I'm home and can supervise- no more outdoor/indoor kitty). She is finally starting to groom so her insulin is getting high enough she doesn't feel like crap all the time like she used to and I hope for more exercise for my fur baby in the future.

The first sign of a drop is great isn't it? And the first yellow I was like "YES! Finally!!!!" Instead of the Dance of the Bees I call it the Dance of the Yellows with a Sprinkle of Blue. I've hardly had a red in a weeks and those were food related so keeping track of that is a good thing and really helped me figure out how carb sensitive she was.

 

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Wishing you & Grayson all the best with Lev! cat_pet_icon

 

Hi Lu.
Stopped by to check on Grayson and see how he was doing.
I know its early in the game, but it looks like hes already getting better numbers.

 

Still having some high PSs, but his range sure has increased in this week. But the more I read, the more I wonder if we should've started even lower... Sometimes I feel like I got off one roller coaster, and onto another! But my biggest panic was last nights [work] meeting, and my shot was a little late. I've tried to be so much more consistent here, but clearly that's not always possible.