8/6 Sushi: AMPS 266 | +3~288 | +6~375 | +9~448

Sushi - Background, Concerns, History, etc.

Here's our board history: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=49273

Okay, this is insanely, ridiculously long, but here’s our whole story…
>>I’ve noted questions I have with a :?:
Here’s an outline (ha! I don’t think I’ve ever actually used an outline in real life!)
I. Some background and how we arrived at our current schedule
II. Some current concerns and issues I need to make decisions on soon—PLEASE ADVISE!!
III. Sushi’s vet history (I complied all my notes from our vet visits as well as lists of questions and concerns I prepared for some of our visits)
IV. My vet—what to do?
V. Sushi now

I. Some background and how we arrived at our current schedule
I’m originally from Baton Rouge, LA. Last September, I moved to a little city an hour way for my job. Even before I moved, I had a sneaking suspicion that I wouldn’t be here long. It was and is very important to me that I maintained my life back in Baton Rouge; that I still attend all parties, weddings, social events, stay a part of my Book Club, church and Bible Study, continue my friendships and stay close with family. It was a deal I made with myself: I would move here for work, but hold on to my personal/social life in Baton Rouge. And it’s worked out fine. The entire time I’ve been here, I go to Baton Rouge at least once a week, and before Sushi was diagnosed, I would stay days at a time. On top of that, my job was an outside sales job. I covered 16 parishes, so it was a lot of travelling. The only time I stayed overnight was when I worked in Baton Rouge, however, no two days were the same. My schedule varied from day to day. Some days had ridiculously early mornings, others had late nights, others had both.
So you can see how much of a problem it was when Sushi was diagnosed with diabetes. My life was so fluid, my schedule was so irregular and I spent so much time away from home that I had NO idea how in the world I would pull off giving him insulin at the same time twice a day. It seemed so impossible that I agonizingly considered putting him down for 3 days. Those were probably the 3 worst days of my life; I’ve never been that out of it (there were a LOT of other things going on at the same time; in fact Sushi was in the hospital at the same time my mom was—whew it was rough!). It also so happened to be the month of the year that my job required more travelling and more irregular hours than usual, including a week-long conference in California. The timing was just awful. As I processed it all, I decided I could pull off giving him insulin ONCE a day. That first month there was just no way I could have given it to him more than that. So I talked it over with my vet. He told me that of course that wasn’t ideal, but giving insulin once a day was a do-able option. And to me it was a MUCH better option than putting him down!
So we started out with me giving him insulin once a day (I did my best to outline the progress of his dosage below in part III—he’s been on Lantus the entire time), but as time went on it was apparent that we were going to have to go twice a day. By this time life had settled down a bit, however, it was and is of upmost importance to me to still be able to go to Baton Rouge often. After talking this over with my vet, we decided this meant there would be times I would have to skip a dose, or give a dose later than usual. So we set up a plan. Most of the time, whatever I’m attending in Baton Rouge starts at 7pm. That means I have to leave at 5:30pm. So, we set a schedule that would give me the ability to leave at 5:30pm: [AM]6:45-7ish [PM]5:30. This meant that there wouldn’t be a full 12 hours between each dose. Most days, I am able to give him his PM dose a full 12 hours after his AM dose; 5-6 days out of the week. But, my vet said that we should keep the same schedule every day.
II. Some current concerns and issues I need to make decisions on soon—PLEASE ADVISE!!
:?: Is it better to: (a) go the full 12 hours between doses 5-6 days (and sometimes all 7!) out of the week and give the PM dose an hour early 1-2 days out of the week
or
(b) pick a schedule and stick to it, even if it doesn’t allow the full 12 hours between doses?
This will soon become a moot point as I’m trying to move back to Baton Rouge, but it is still an issue at the moment.
>>I try to avoid it as much as possible, but there are also still times where I need to stay the night in Baton Rouge, meaning I’m either really late on his AM dose or have to skip it completely. Each situation is different, but these are the times I could SO use your advice!!
:?: For example, next Saturday I have to be in Baton Rouge for 1pm, and will return Sunday morning around 9am. So I would be skipping his Saturday PM dose and late on his Sunday AM dose. How do I handle that?
:?: Or yesterday, I had to leave around 2pm and didn’t return until 11pm. So I was 5 hours late on his PM dose. What would have been the best course of action?
Ideally, I would have a friend or someone give Sushi his medicine in these situations, but life is life and I haven’t found the right person to fill that role. I did find a pet sitter that helped me when I had to be out of town one weekend, but she charges $15/visit. That would be $30/day. I just can’t swing that.
:?: …which leads me to another forthcoming issue that I’m super anxious about: MOVING!
It looks like I’ll be commuting for a the first few weeks when I do end up finding a job in Baton Rouge because I don’t have a place to live lined up yet. It would be pretty impractical for me to drive back and forth every day to take care of Sushi. So I imagine I would stay with a friend in Baton Rouge Monday-Thursday nights. I would ask a friend in Baton Rouge to take him in for me for a few weeks, but he’s a lot to deal with between the diabetes, his pooping everywhere, his intensive shedding (meaning there's fur EVERYWHERE!) and his litter box is crazy due to the excess urination. So here are options I’m considering:
Boarding him here -BUT- it’s expensive and I don’t have a vet I trust. And Sushi HATES the vet. HATES it!!
Boarding him in Baton Rouge -BUT- it’s expensive and it would be for 2+ weeks!
Bringing him with me back and forth –BUT- I’m not sure that would go over real well even if I’m around to take care of him, and he gets so stressed in the car! Would it be too much for him?
Find a cat sitter and try to only stay in Baton Rouge 3 of the 4 nights of the work week? –BUT- at $30/day that’s expensive!!!!
…any other ideas??

:?: ALSO, a friend and I are discussing moving in together. She has 2 cats as well. What do you think about the stress of moving + the stress of moving in with a new aunt and 2 new siblings?

:?: …finally, this leads me to ask: Is this a good time for me to be switching him to canned food? I feel like my life is so up in the air right now, and there are a lot of changes coming on the horizon, that this just isn’t a good time because I’m not sure I can commit to monitoring him as much as I might need to. It could really go either way: (a) It could take me a few more weeks to find work, so I’ll be home during the day and I can monitor him and do all I need to do. This would be awesome!! OR (b) I’ll get a job next week and be gone for the workweek. This might still be okay if I board him; the vet could do all the hard work for me if I found one I trusted! ; )
I just don’t know what’s going to happen. If I wait to make the switch until after I’ve moved, things will not only be less stressful, but my schedule will be MUCH more consistent—I will be in town every single day.
 
III. Sushi’s History--symptoms, my concerns, vet visits, etc.
Symptoms I noticed Summer 2010:
- Pee did not clump (there was so much of it the litter couldn't take it!)
- Urine had intense smell—feels like when you sniff Listerine—nose burns, eyes water
- Increased water consumption (I thought my other cat was the culprit!)
- Not grooming himself as much as usual-mats started to form on belly/underside
- Weighed 22.9lbs--put him on Hills r/d food to lose weight

Early January-Symptoms:
- Throwing up tiny yellow foamy/mucus-ish
- Not grooming himself
- Fur felt chalky
- Not eating
- Sniffed water but walked away
- Eyes were red
- Left for the weekend on Friday at noon, left 3+ cups of food out and there was still 1/2 + cup left when I got home Monday.
- Lost weight, but I thought that was a good thing/a result of the weight loss food we put him on. Turns out it was not the good kind of weight loss; it was muscle mass weight loss.
Diagnosis:
- Liver failure/high liver enzymes/fatty liver syndrome/Pancreatitis that affected liver
:?: I had all of these things written in my notes—are they the same thing?
- His (blood glucose?): 900 | Liver enzymes: 411 (normal range is 74-159)
:?: Stage kedoesadotic (did I mean Ketoacidosis?)—body breaking down because of it. (I don’t know what I meant by this?)

Sushi’s vet visits since diagnosis:
1/18-1/21: Hospitalization and diagnosis of diabetes (mild-moderate), including subq fluids and CBC/SMAC bloodwork
1/25: Glucometer* (311)
1/28-2/5: Boarded for 8 days— CBC/SMAC bloodwork and 4 Glucometers*
2/23: Recheck exam and Glucometer* (345) – weight 17lb 2oz
3/2: Glucometer*
4/7: Glucometer*
:?: What is a glucometer? A one time test or a curve?

Dosage (all Lantus):
Starting recommendation: 2u twice a day
1/28: 3u once a day
2/8: 4u once a day
2/23: Switched to twice a day AM-3u | PM-2u
3/2: 3u twice a day
4/1: 4u twice a day
~4/7: 5u twice a day
~5/9: 6u twice a day

1/28/11 Concerns:
- Groans when he lays down like he’s in pain
- Wasn’t able to jump up on the counter or couch when he first got home a week ago—would kind of land and then fall off? This lasted from Friday until about Tuesday.
- Eyes seem more reflective (looks like his eyes are glowing). They water and leave dark build up on his face.
- Water consumption and urination are still high—do we need to increase insulin?

2/23 Concerns:
- Pooping ALL OVER THE HOUSE of all varieties (normal, diarrhea, etc.) at least once a day from Thursday 2/17-Tuesday 2/22 (the day before this vet appointment)
- Coughs sometimes after drinking water; doesn’t gag. Like he’s coughing up funk.
- Poop is usually lighter color and kind of smeary.

4/8/11:
4 units @ 6:30am and 5:30pm | Grazes, but probably eats about 1 ½ - 1 ¾ c a day.
>>He was drinking over 3 cups of water a day; would drink ½ cup in one sitting. He would drink so much water he would burp up water when he was finished. He was also urinating a LOT. So, I increased him from 6 units to 8 units a day starting this past Friday. This seems to be helping. His water consumption seems normal, but his urination is still a bit excessive.
Concerns:
- Still groaning a lot like he's in pain; especially at night when he lays down and when I pet him.
- Whimper-squeak-chirps when he poops. His poop is pretty large in diameter; about the size of a quarter in diameter?
- Strange episode: Sushi was sleeping and twitching, so I raised a bunch of hell to try and wake him up, threw a coke cap at him it landed on him but he didn't wake up--picked him up and it took a while for him to wake up. His paw was covered with/caked in litter so I cleaned it. A few hours later he laid down then spazzed out and started running around licking himself rapidly > lay down for a bit > spazzing out over and over---like something was biting him?
:?: Was this hypo?

IV. My vet—what to do?
This visit was when my vet sat me down said that Sushi gets so anxious and mad at the vet that the BG levels are not accurate. He suggested that I begin checking his BG @ home with urine strips that he would order for me. A few weeks went by with several unsuccessful interactions in an attempt to obtain the strips (due to the lack of organization and communication among the vet staff). Then, I get a voicemail from the vet saying that the BG kit had come in; a kit to test his BLOOD (not urine). This was never discussed with me.
:?: I realize now that the urine strips he ordered for me were ketone strips. I thought they were strips that somehow read BG levels. But now I realize that he was telling me that if I detected ketones in Sushi’s urine to up his insulin dose. Why would he wait until ketones showed up in Sushi’s urine to increase the dose?
There were lots of red flags that had gone up until this point, but the inefficiency, disorganization and oversight of this entire process made me decide to change vets. I very much got the impression that my vet was just kind of guessing at how much insulin I should give Sushi. He would say “give him 3 units.” And I would say “well, he’s still urinating a lot.” So he’d say “okay, then give him 4 units.” I remember thinking “if that’s all there is to it, why am I paying money and torturing Sushi by dragging him to the vet every month? I’ll just play the guessing game myself.” And more than anything, I felt like I was on my own. I didn’t feel like my vet gave me all of the information or answers I needed to be able to handle this, my crazy schedule, getting Sushi regulated, etc. I felt like we got the ball rolling, but drastically lost momentum. I knew we weren’t there (regulated) but I didn’t know what to do next or how to get there! I felt like he gave me bits and pieces, but no context or idea of how they all fit together. And I felt like he was content with where Sushi is right now; like this is good enough. But I had this nagging feeling that that wasn’t the case, even before I became educated through FDMB.
:?: But now that I have more of an understanding, I wonder if my vet has it together a bit more than I thought, and that there’s just been a lot of miscommunication/misunderstanding between us. What do you think? Should I give him one more chance? Or does he at least have it together enough for us to stay with him until I move?

V. Sushi—now
does he breathe noisily? like wheezy at all? Sometimes. I’ve noticed that over the past year. When I put my ear up to him and listen it sounds like he has liquid in his lungs? His pur has become richer. You used to never ever be able to tell he was purring, but now it's to an audible state. Also his breathing looks really laborious. It’s like he’s breathing with the gusto of being out of breath but at a normal pace.
he looks pretty good sized in his avatar - are his feet big? He is big!! I think I would have caught his diabetes earlier if vets didn’t keep addressing my every concern with “well, he’s just a big cat.” I had to get one of the big dog kennels for him; he probably stretches out to about 3.5-4 feet. His feet might be a little on the large side but nothing out of the ordinary.
how much does he weigh? Last weight I had noted was a little over 17lbs in late Feb, but he’s definitely lost some since then. I’ve been beating myself up over the past few days because I started to notice how scrawny he’s become. It can be hard to see because he’s so fluffy.
has he grown any in the past few months? No I don’t think so. Like height or what?
:?: …what does this mean? Are these symptoms of something? : /
he really is a gorgeous cat - looks positively regal! Thank you!! Everyone says so. His avatar was taken pre-diagnosis, but it captures him well.

Sushi's isn't; you wouldn't be able to tell that he doesn't groom himself from looking at him, except if you examined his bathroom area. That's a problem. He just sheds SO much! I call him a "furricane," because he explodes with fur if you even touch him! I do my best to brush him, but he actually tolerates testing more than brushing. :roll:
- He's pooped all over the house since February. It seems like he's on a one week in the litter box / one week wherever pattern.
- I've really let his schedule go. Other than feeding at 5pm and giving insulin at 5:30pm, I got pretty lax about timing. I've thought of this whole thing in 8 hour incriments; not 12. When discussing schedule variations with my vet, he said the closes you can make doses is 8 hours apart, and that it's better to give one late than early. I suppose that's where I got the 8 hour understanding from, and it's what I've based my scheduling decisions on.

You are my hero if you've read this far!! Thank you so much for caring, asking and reading! Any answers/insight you can give would be soooo helpful!!!
:YMPEACE:

 

Re: Sushi - Background, Concerns, History, etc.

Oooohhhh my, we just sampled some canned food and it was a BIG hit (9 lives Super Supper -- MC)!! I don't think we'll have any issues transitioning; it's just a matter of deciding whether now is a good time based on my current circumstances (listed in part II above...)

 

Re: Sushi - Background, Concerns, History, etc.

Hi Ashley,

I have to say, after reading all that, my head is spinning (need more )

I'm so glad you are here - you came to the right place. You have a lot going on however I don't think the situation is insurmountable. You will get tons of excellent advice here, so take notes!

Your post gives one a lot to ponder. I'm very concerned about the DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) and the liver and pancreas problems. Of those 3 I have experienced DKA twice with my cat - it's extremely dangerous and *can* ramp up pretty fast sometimes. What did the vet recommend for the liver and pancreas issues?


Random thoughts on a few things:

It may have been. Please read this - http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/read.php?8,925783,925783#msg-925783 and this - http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1122 and this -http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/read.php?8,1661316,1661798#msg-1661798

I'm inclined to go with option A since it is offers potential for more consistency. Shooting consistently late/early can be very problematic.

Switching him to wet will be much better for him, however I feel that it's critical that you be around to closely monitor. It can have a huge effect on BGs and insulin requirements in short order.

(need more - I'll be back later. . .others will chime in)

 

Re: Sushi - Background, Concerns, History, etc.

OK--First things first--You need to Calm down & try to do this in a workable way!
Also-you are on Lantus??--You never said...
While you are feeding this cat dry food, there is no chance that his BG will come down, although I did see a blue number yesterday... You should slowly transition him to wet food, perhaps mixing the dry with the wet & slowly withdrawing some of the dry each day..Much better for him!
Second, You cannot Dose hop like you are doing!! Lantus or levemir needs consistancy, yes we all mostly do shots every 12 hours, but sometimes there are variances..You cant be changing from 5 U to 6 U everyday!!
Best case scenario--Get a vet tech to come in on those days you cant be there & have her test & shoot the cat at the specified time..Not neccesarily $30, perhaps another vet tech from another hospital or a family member could help you.
You are looking too far ahead, and not focusing on the now...I do not understand your vet changing the dose constantly!!! Perhaps he doesnt know enough about feline diabetes as many of us have experienced with ours.
There is a formula measuring weight & amount of dose--
Please Read ALL the Stickys at the top of the Lantus home page!! They are crucial!!
Patence & consistancy are the way we manage our FD cats, and I do feel you could Too--
Please test whenever you can..Hope other members will chime in here to help.
We all felt helpless & hopeless at first, but being in this forum, we all found a home--
Listen to posts you receive & read the stickys--Dont hink too far ahead--Man Plans & God Laughs, so
nothing is written in stone--Hope this helped--Will be watching your condo-Try to have a good Caturday!

 

Re: Sushi - Background, Concerns, History, etc.

ashley - good job laying out the whole thing. really. this is workable. i'm going to be offline til monday starting when i'm done with your questions, but there are many, many knowledgeable people on here with far more experience than me who will suggest things. roni and sandy are two of them.

ok - the reason i asked you about the breathing and the size is related to sushi's dose. my cat was diagnosed with acromegaly 2 months ago - and we've had 5-6 cats diagnosed with it right about the same time. but it could be a case of "i just bought a red car and now i see red cars everywhere!" i've had that happen!!!!

acromegaly is a benign tumor on the pituitary gland that causes an increased output of growth hormone. cats literally continue growing - and it causes an increased need for insulin. there are symptoms that go with that growth - including breathing symptoms that most of our cats seem to have. that is NOT to say that sushi has this but you've mentioned a lot of the symptoms. constipation with larger than average stools is another one, because the colon can grow as well. the breathing is noisy because the soft tissue has grown. BUT - it's too early to say this about sushi because his dose could be related to dry high carb food and poor management of the dosage of insulin. a cat with acro is managed a little differently than other cats, so if these symptoms continue after you get stable on the dose and get the food changed, then we should look at having him have the blood test that identifies it.

in the meantime, let's just get him stable. that's the goal. roni is right that you don't want to try to overthink this too far out.

for now, what i would do is what sandy said. go 12 hours apart with dose every single time possible - like get up at 5:30am and give his shot then, and again at 5:30pm every time you can. as painful as waking up early is, that's a small price for your best buddy to get healthy.

find a pet sitter that will test and give shots. ask at your vet's office if there is a vet tech who could come by and do that for you. mine charges $15 each visit and yes, it's expensive - but you're not doing it every day. you're talking about once or twice a week until you move back to baton rouge sometime in the near future.

i'd also begin transitioning to the canned cat food and plan to make the full transition over 1 week until you're all canned low carb food. you need to be testing regularly during that time - really all the time - so if he responds with his blood sugar plummeting you are there to take care of him.

i don't have any experience with pancreatitis or DKA - but a lot of people on here do have experience. i know that if a cat has had those he is more prone to them again and you absolutely want to avoid that.

vets - it seems like most of us have had similar experiences to what you're describing. it just seems like they likely don't have enough cats with diabetes that they really understand or get good at it. a lot of people take a diagnosis and put their cats to sleep. we're all on a mission here to say that it's not necessary. this is a treatable illness.

ok, gotta go, but let's just go one step at a time. you have your assignment!

oh yeah, one condo per day and link your last condo to this one. just edit the subject line of the first post of the day with updates so we can keep you all in one place and all of your info together.

have a great weekend!

eta - rereading your post. i think that if you just get him stable with regular feeding and insulin shots 12 hours apart, same dose for several days and regular testing, that alone is going to improve some of the concerns you have. his overall health will settle down and probably improve.

 

Re: Sushi - Background, Concerns, History, etc.

I can't read your post right now. Did a super speed through picking up key words. Just want to say welcome and you are in good hands. I love Sushi's name and he is gorgeous!!!!

My angel Maverick survived fatty liver - he had a feeding tube for ten weeks. We warn everyone about the dangers of not enough calories and weight loss in cats. I am sure its annoying how often I do this. But you know from experience why I do this. Maverick was asthmatic also. It took a year to diagnose. His symptoms were a mucousy purr and a cough.

I'll be back on later today to read it all. Big hugs to you and Sushi.

 

Re: Sushi - Background, Concerns, History, etc.

Wonderful that Sushi is liking that canned food. :thumbup That is a big hurdle cleared.

Very good recap. I think Julie is right, if you get on a consistent schedule and make the transition over to wet food you will probably see a big improvement in Sushi , especially in regards to the LB. That seems to be one of your big concerns regarding the move. Try to get a routine established in this next week or two and then see what the situation is when you know if and when you will be moving.

One more thing, don't worry about crossing those bridges until you get to them. things can change and then a looming problem turns out to be a pebble in the road.

Remember, BREATHE!!! and eating some chocolate doesn't hurt either! :YMHUG: :YMHUG:

Sorry I won't be around today, but there are others here to hover over you now.

 

Re: Sushi - Background, Concerns, History, etc.

Hello again Ashley,

A couple things popped into my head just now -
:?: You said that the vet got the glucometer for you - please advise if it is the AlphaTrack, which reads differently than human glucometers. most of us here use human glucometers. So thats and important piece of info which will help those trying to help you.

ETA (edited to add): To answer one of your earlier questions - a glucometer is the device used to test the blood glucose levels.


If you only have 1 litterbox, get a second. Between the time we took Black Kiitty in off the streets and he got on Lantus and off dry food, he drank tons of water and of course peed lakes of pee. I still keep the 2 boxes for him, even though I can't remeber the last time I saw him drink (I add water to his food) and I never llet more than 3 "items" accumulate in either box.

Lastly (for now) Use the services of a vet tech to help you bridge the gaps. In terms of economy, even $30 a day is better than 1 ER visit/stay/treatment for DKA. We have been there with BK twice - VERY hard on the pocketbook.

 

Re: Sushi - Background, Concerns, History, etc.

Just dropping in to say WELCOME!
and that you have found the place for help!

celi & binks

 

Re: Sushi - Background, Concerns, History, etc.

Hello again Ashley,

Wanted to pass this link to info on DKA.
http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Ketones

If you do not yet have ketostix, stop at any pharmacy and ask for them. It's very important you regularly test Sushi for ketones since he has a history

 

Hi everyone!

Thanks so much for the hellos, welcomes and advice! I'll be back later with answers and responses, but wanted to put today's results out there. Testing has really sucked today! I've had a hard time getting blood, and when I do it spreads all over the place instead of forming a dot/bubble. I've used a million strips and had to poke Sushi a million times!
His numbers seem pretty wacky. He ate some dry food right before AM +9 reading. I poked him at least 5 times to even get that reading. It started thundering right when I applied the blood to the strip (Sushi hates storms!) so I knew there wasn't a chance of trying again.

I'll be back soon!
Thanks everyone! I appreciate you and I'm so glad to be here! : )

 

Okay, I'm finally finding time to sit down and get back to all of you...

:lol: I think it would make your head spin with or w/o !

confused_cat
He said that they were all diabetes related, and that tackling the diabetes would straighten everything else out.

I couldn't agree more--that's why I'm here! ;-)

Yes!

No, I have a feeling that you're right. *deep breath* Another mountain to climb--I've got way too much to wrap my head around for the moment, but this is something I DEFINITELY want to come back to.
In fact, I have list of questions but I'm trying not to ask them all at once, and one of them was for you. Our kitties seem very similar (I'm telling you they look so much alike in the face! They're brothers! ;-)), and I would love to know more of your story; thought you might have some insight as to whether there was hope for big guys like ours to be OTJ. Again, let's come back to that.

Even before I posted all of this, I've been thinking this was the route I want to go, I just didn't know whether schedule option A was best. At this point and time I'm okay with waking up at 5:30am, but I do have a few concerns about that:
(1) if I have a vet tech help me, I can't ask them to come to my house at 5:30 in the morning.
(2) at best, I will be able to keep a consistent 5:30AM/PM schedule for a week:

Okay, another factor/concern is that I'm in between jobs and not exactly in the best financial place at the moment. I'm doing all I can (actually probably MORE than I should!), but money does limit me somewhat.
I think I can cover the few times a week I will be going to Baton Rouge by giving the AM dose at 5:30am, but what about when I'm transitioning? eta--transitioning/moving to Baton Rouge, not transitioning from dry to wet food.

I know!! It's cracking me up--he loves it so much I'm using it as his treat when I test him. He goes CRAZY!!

He did but I never picked it up. I kind of cut myself off from my vet after that. I'm using a ReliOn Confirm meter.

Okay. Bringing Sushi in for a BG test is listed as "Glucometer" on my vet invoices. So I'm wondering what exactly they mean by that; if it was a one time test or if they did a curve.

I do have some. I tested Wednesday and he was negative; I couldn't believe it!! But while we're on the subject, I have some questions about this:
- All the info I've come across says to "test regularly" or something vague. Can you give me a frequency that I should be testing for ketones? Every day? Every other day?
- Is there a certain BG level that warrants a ketone test?

I so appreciate your answers and encouragement!
Here are questions I'm dying to have answered:

- How do ya'll (the Louisianaian in me had to come out sometime) handle schedule changes with your kitties?
- Have any of you used Care.com or Sittercity.com to find a pet sitter? Know anything/have any feedback?

This is a decision I need to make ASAP--if it's not a good idea to move in with my friend + her 2 cats, I need to let her know ASAP.

Thanks again! Hope everyone is having a good weekend! :razz:

 

Re: Sushi - Background, Concerns, History, etc.

Thank you!! Me too!

 

I mentioned that Sushi's hospititalzation/diagnosis came at a horrible time; Sushi being sick wasn't the only crisis I was dealing with at the time. Not to mention his diagnosis was a complete shock. Worse case scerio, I thought he ate something bad or got into some poision. I was NOT prepared for all of this and was completely BESIDE MYSELF. I scribbled the following on a sticky note as I received the news (AKA got hit by a train), and I don't really know what it means:
"ALT range. His 900." (I think this is a BG level)
Normal range 74-159. His 411." (I think this is a liver enzyme level)
"Liver enzymes ^
Diabeteic
Insulin
<fatty liver syndrome>
Liver failure
Critical"
Do you have any insight as to what this means? Researching all of this is on my list of homework.

A few days passed and I began to collect myself a bit, and I made a list of questions to ask the vet when I picked Sushi up from the hospital. Here are my notes verbatum:
"So what exactly happened? Pancreatitis that affected liver
Are liver issues & diabetes related? Thinks so."
So I still don't exactly know what happened (I'm not sure the vet does either).