3/12 Latte AMPS-233, PMPS~311 help w/ MAJOR sched. conflicts

Recap:
Last Night
PMPS-338
+6.25-300
AMPS-233
+2-226
+4-215
+6.5-248
+10-276
(*major amounts of kibble being eaten in the last 24hrs. I turn my back for a second, even after offering a few varieties of wet and she has her head buried in the kibble. Im grateful she is eating something, tho).

yesterday:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8809

She has been fine today. Nothing out of the ordinary - good or bad. She did give herself a major bath, which was nice to see. And, I was finally able to afford another set of 'doggy steps' for her, so she can get on the couch and computer chair easier. It might take some time for her to use it. I hope she does. Now I am completely unable walk in my small apt without tripping on a litter box, ramp, stairs, food bowls, water bowls,etc. :lol:

Now for the schedule. This is BAD :sad:
My spring is picking up with work very quickly. The new job is only 24hrs/week. But it is really not flexible, as it was suppose to be. This means if I have to work another job late one night, I cant NOT be at work the next day. Or if my two jobs go back to back, I cannot leave early. I dont think that would make much of a difference with her shot schedule,but it will for monitoring her in all aspects of her health in the coming months.

I can give a more detailed schedule if someone feels up to the challenge. Honestly, the only way I see to deal with this is to give her 1 shot a day, sometimes multiple days in a row.

An example in April:
Tuesday: gone 8:30am-3:30pm, gone 4:45pm-10pm or midnight (no am shot/pm shot 4:30)
Wednesday: gone 10:30am-5pm (shoot 6am/6pm)
Thursday: gone 8:30am-3:30pm, gone 4:15-9:30pm (no a.m. shot, shoot 4pm)
Friday: gone 3:15-9:30pm (no a.m shot, shoot 3pm)
Saturday: gone 8:15am-7pm ((shoot 6am/7pm)
Sunday: gone 10:30am-7:30pm (shoot 7am/7:30pm)
Monday: gone 8:30am-4:30pm (shoot 7am/6:45pm)
Tuesday: gone 8:30am-3:30pm, gone 4:45pm- midnight (shoot pm only)


Then there are scattered days when I will have to work until 3:30pm, then leave again @4:45 until around midnight.

I was thinking one option would be one shot/day. I would want to shoot the pm cycle,since that is the one with pred. Could I consider on those days with just one shot, increasing her dose ever so slightly? How much would that mess things up? Remember, PM cycles are extremely high from the steroid. A.M. cycles usually (but not always) involve a large drop to a bounce.

Or, would it be possible to do two shots closer than 12/12 and reduce the a.m. shot drastically (like to .5 or .75u),just to keep the shed somewhat afloat?

My head has been spinning all day!

I do have someone local who might be able to help for some of the dates. But I cant expect them to do all. I have a friend who is a vet, but her cats are diabetic...they have similar shot times and she is accross the city. Another friend who is a tech, but same scenario as the vet. :YMSIGH: I seriously would not trust ANYONE else to give her these shots. And quite frankly, I live in a dive right now :lol: , I dont want some stranger who I cant afford to pay coming in either.

Then there is the question...does it even matter for her?!?! I mean seriously. In regards to the FD, Im not sure I have done her any justice. Her body will do what its going to do, no matter how much or how little insulin I give her. Im kinda peetering out this week on my efforts to do much more.

Any thoughts? I know its a ways away, but it will come up quickly on me if I dont start the brainstorming now.

Thanks!

Hi,
I'm not sure my advice will help.I'm still kind of new and seems like I can't do anything right but I think you have done great. I know that frustrating feeling...have you seen feeburts SS lately? We're not getting anywhere fast. I think you are doing everything you can and that is more than most. If you don't take care of your life and well being, you certainly won't be able to take care of Latte. I think if you have to give her only one shot a day then that's ok, not ideal, but ok. If you can find and trust someone to help then by all means, do it. But don't beat yourself up for giving all you can. I wish I lived closer!

Oh Carolyn...you never ask EASY questions....like..uh...what kind of freeze-dried chicken do you buy...or how do you get the bubbles out of the syringe...no...not you. YOU always ask these questions that I can never figure out an answer to...I am so sorry... :roll:
You have quite a dilemma on your hands with this timing....I guess I agree that the one shot per day will have to be the only thing you can do...unless you could ship her to my house and let me take care of all three of them !! You are a busy lady and have so much on your mind and on your plate...
You will figure something out...i know you will...you are brainstorming now so that is all good...
I am sending you HUGS and that's the best I can do at this point...what does latte have to suggest to you?
any ideas from her?
Hope you two have a good night .... :YMHUG:

Hi Carolyn, That schedule is indeed a back-breaker! I think that you will just have to go with your gut feelings and your experience. Latte seems like a tough old lady. I'm sure she would appreciate anything you yourself can do and that she would prefer what you can do to having other people traipsing in and out, sticking her ears, and giving her shots and medicine. Quality of life is important to a cat. Latte likes kibble, she should eat her kibble! She and you will be able to work something out with regard to the schedule and all will be OK.
Hang in there!
Ella

I'm more worried about YOU keeping up that work schedule! I hope you're younger than I am. I know you're glad to have plenty of work but take care of yourself too.

How long does this continue? For the foreseeable future?

(((Carolyn & Latte))) :YMHUG:
I can empathize with you & your schedule, I work two jobs too & it is rough. Mine is much more flexible though & I am sorry.. I wish I lived closer too. I agree with what others have said, we do what we can do & beyond that ... we just cannot stress (easier said than done) I have no doubt it will all work out.. it just sometimes seems impossible - but where there is a will there is a way -- sometimes we take steps backward but we are still moving forward.

Support, encouragement for you both & hoping you are taking care of YOU too!

:lol: :lol: :lol: I have an apartment too - or should I say -- Baby & Sadi have an apartment full of stuff -- I just pay rent. Geez.. I think I might be one of those cat ladies as I age.. trying not to be.. but I think it is too late!

I couldn't agree with Libby more. I plotted out the hours you're not home.

Now you're really gonna hate me... Can you shoot at 4:30 AM/PM and can you get help on 3 days? (Maybe 2 if you shoot late on Wed.)

Libby and Lucy said:

I'm more worried about YOU keeping up that work schedule! I hope you're younger than I am.

Click to expand...

That makes you and me both! And, no..I dont handle this type of schedule like I used to! I AM getting older! :lol:

Libby and Lucy said:

How long does this continue? For the foreseeable future?

Click to expand...

I hold multiple p/t jobs that I piece together. Usually one 'main' job, then others with occassional/sporadic hrs each month. Spring and Fall they all come together with a bang. The example I gave is a week in April. Not every week will be that way, but there will be some that come close...probly through May or Mid June. Then it will all slow down to some more regular hours. The good thing is MOST weeks I will have a three day weekend, if I chose.

Do you think the schedule I proposed above will do a lot of damage to her? If she is already fighting a bounce and pred in the pm most of the time, her numbers couldnt get that much higher during the day by missing a shot, could they? Trying to be hopeful.

If Im able to get help from my local hero, we wont miss shots in that week. Latte likes Aunt Amy :mrgreen: But we will likely have to miss some random one's, maybe once a week for a few months.

Pat+Raja+Shadow said:

Oh Carolyn...you never ask EASY questions....like..uh...what kind of freeze-dried chicken do you buy...or how do you get the bubbles out of the syringe...no...not you. YOU always ask these questions that I can never figure out an answer to...I am so sorry... :roll:

Click to expand...

:lol: Pat, Im wondering....how DO you get the bubbles out of the syringe? Seriously, they drive me crazy! :YMHUG:

Sienne,
I did think about that...even 3am. But the reality of it, is that her a.m. cycle requires food on board, and it takes her about 2 hrs to eat 'enough'. She does not do this on her own. I have to shake a bag of treats every 15-20 min with enthusiasm and show her Im sprinkling them on her food. We do this for 2+hrs every a.m. She does not just walk up to the bowl on her own. Sometimes I have to pick her up and put her in front of it to get her interested. I am also up until midnight with her, because she does not usually like to eat until close to that time and I have to make sure she gets food in for the overnight,or she will vomit in the a.m.

I also wondered how much that might screw up her schedule with the pred, with eating, etc.

If it was just a wake up shoot, and go back to bed...I would be all over it.

I wont be splitting her pred dose at this time, in case I can only shoot once/day for a while. She would have no fighting chance then.

I read your schedule a couple of times and.... can you make a SS of it? Hahaha!
It is SO complicated! Seriously though, I hope you can manage to sleep a little during all that work.

Latte's eating issues make coordinating shot times even harder than it first appeared. But perhaps missing a shot every so often will not really cause too much havoc. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do. The Lantus shed may really help bridge those times when you have to miss a shot.

It is good that you are trying to work out the best options in advance so you can be calm with your decision. Writing it down in your posts as you have done will help, we can't give you the perfect answer, but the fact that you spelled it out in detail will help you see it more clearly.