12/28 Cosmo AMPS 409, +6 353, +8 423

Yesterday:
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/12-27-cosmo-amps-394-7-432-pmps-484.240605/

We were hoping Cosmo would come down into some yellows or blues today, but not yet. It can be frustrating seeing him in these high numbers for so long, but we are trying to be patient.

I am not quite sure how to help Cosmo to regulate better overall and be more consistent. Any out of the box ideas?

Is Lantus maybe not working well for him?
Should we just hold 3 units for as long as we can (and safely) until he stops bouncing?
We are SLGS, but have done increases according to TR at times this last month.

Ideas welcome.

 

Hi Tanya.

Sorry that you did not get a response yesterday. When you have a question, put the question icon in your title since many members may just scan the title of the posts and not realize you have a question. I think you are testing enough for TR, but by your signature, Cosmo is still getting dry food? I'm not familiar with the carb count on the food you are giving him, but that could be contributing to his high numbers. Here is the link about TR but it's not recommended as long as dry food is in the picture. https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...-low-go-slow-slgs-tight-regulation-tr.210110/

Are you feeding the dry food because of the megacolon condition?

I took a quick look at your spreadsheet and you are doing a great job in getting lots of tests and documenting everything! I do have a couple of questions regarding reductions and feeding MC food when he wasn't really low (Dec. 26). Poor guy has a few things going on for him (megacolon, pancreatis, and diabetes) but there are a number of kitties on here who have multiple health concerns and are doing quite fine now. Cosmo is lucky to have you!!

I'm going to tag a couple of the moderators who have vast experience with cats. I'm sure they will have some suggestions for you.

@Marje and Gracie
@Wendy&Neko

 

Hugs Tanya Cosmo sure is lucky to have you all looking out for him. Hope you can get some ideas from the more experienced folks.

 

Hi Tanya

Please forgive me if you’ve answered this question but I haven’t had a chance to read way back through condos. Is there a medical reason why he has to have the dry food? I understand he needs the gastro diet for his mega colon but is it possible to just wean him off dry and give him the wet? If you can and do want to stop the dry, it has to be done very slowly as that can often really change the BG.
See post 5.

A few of us experienced members discussed this and Wendy suggested a move to Levemir and I like her idea. Sometimes it can really help; I know it was a good change for my Gracie.

I know also it was only once recently that he really dove and it was the one time you missed a +2. Cats!!! But I’d be sure and get a +2 every cycle just in case he wants to get cheeky again.

And, you can’t mix dosing methods. If you are able to wean him off the dry, we can help with TR and get him out of those high numbers. If you haven’t checked out Henry’s condo...pop by and look at this SS. He was eating “LC” dry and Robert stopped it...what a difference although I feel there were some other things going on as well.

I wouldn’t leave him at 3u indefinitely.....just try to stick with SLGS. If you cannot completely get him off dry but can get it down to a tiny bit, we could talk about doing some custom dosing but I’d not feel comfortable, for safety reasons, if he’s eating more than just a tiny tiny bit of HC dry. I can’t help but believe you’d see a big difference if he could just eat the wet even if it is HC.

Have you ever tried egg yolk powder to help with motility? With all he has going on, I’d look into it and talk to the vet but it’s generally a good, natural way to help things move.

 

Update: @Bandit’s Mom sent me a link to your condo with the u/s results and I see you are trying to wean off the dry and looking into a balanced raw diet. I also read he has an issue with chicken and the EZC might be an issue because of the dried chicken liver.

I don’t know how helpful this will be but my vet suggested we do Nutriscan to identify any potential food sensitivities (not allergies) so we could feed the best proteins early on and, hopefully, avoid any intestinal issues down the road. It was easy to do. One kitty came up with just one sensitivity and the other none. It’s not inexpensive but I personally know Dr. Dodds and have worked with her over the years when I had hyperthyroid cats. She’s the only one I trust to diagnose hyperT (my vet agrees; we run routine thyroid scanning through the regular labs but if something comes up a little off, we go straight to Dr. Dodds’ hyperT tests).

I was just thinking with the mega colon and possibility of IBD based on the u/s, it might help to figure out exactly which proteins would not potentially cause an issue for Cosmo.