? 12/25: MITTENS - Novolin N (TID) - Ketones Small - MDPS 223

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Larry and Kitties said:
Based on the BG so far I think that TID dosing is better. When ketones are negative then consider BID dosing.
I would also consider increasing the dose to 0.6 (just hair more than 0.5) as long as Mitten keeps down the same or greater amount of food.
Aoso, I am concerned about not defecting since that can lead to vomiting
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Makes sense. Thanks for weighing in, Larry!
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
How much did you manage.... 7.5ml? Can you follow that with a syringe of water too please after a short break. Want to keep her hydrated!
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Yes it was 7.5mL. It has been a little bit now so I will try to give her some water too right now. We have an appointment for her to go to a different vet in about an hour and a half, hoping to get a little further finding things out and getting her some medicine she needs.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Heather, can you please check your PMs for a message from Woodsywife and don't be shy! We need to get some anti-nausea meds for Mittens ASAP. If you have already done so, ignore this but otherwise I strongly encourage you to jump on this opportunity.
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I never sent PM. I asked her to send me one with mailing address if she wanted it.

I can still send if she doesn't get any from the new vet today. So tonight would really be good to know as I'm going out tomorrow and can mail.

I've been pretty sick and not on lately.
 
Back from the vet. She said that Mittens' skin is turning yellow and when she felt her abdomen she can tell she has a liver problem. And she said her kidneys are failing. The vet said she has alot of experience treating diabetic cats and in her opinion we should let Mittens go with dignity, that we're not going to be able to fix this even if we had the medicine I was requesting. She wanted me to do it right then because she said she is suffering, but I wasn't going to do anything without talking to Dan.The vet said she didn't need to do the tests to know that there are several problems, not just the diabetes and it would just be putting Mittens through more and was unnecessary. She said if it was just the diabetes there would be things we could try, but with the organ failure those things would not work. I don't know what to say. I've been between hope and despair so many times this last week. I feel so bad for Mittens, I can tell she is in pain and I cant stand to see her like this. So I think we've made the decision to let her go. Very hard decision, there are problems we cannot fix and we can't let her suffer. If her organs are failing then we are out of options. I'm torn up right now but I don't regret the decision to cancel the appointment the first time and to try to help her. And I don't regret all the stress on us and all the sleep we lost, it was still worth it, even if it was a tough week it's still an extra week we got to spend with her. In a way I wish we would have listened to the first vet and just went thru with it, only because then her last week wouldn't have been like this for her but we just couldn't without feeling like we've tried everything we could have for her and now I feel like we have. If there ever was a cat to fight for it was Mittens. All you know of her right now is her when she's sick, in health she really is the perfect cat, the only fault she ever had was chewing on wires. In her prime she was happy and rowdy and goofy and the sweetest cat i've ever known. She always had so much grace and what seemed like wisdom. She never had any kittens, but always seemed like an old wise one and was always the leader of our cats, even when she was young, which is what earned her the nickname of Mama Cat. That's how I will always remember her, happy, healthy, greeting me as soon as I get home from work, chirping at the birds outside the window and waking up out of a sound sleep at the shake of the treat bag. Dan and I moved in together roughly 13 years ago and she has been with us through all of our apartments I feel lucky that we got to spend 16 years with her, some cat owners don't get lucky enough to have had that much time. I will never forget our sweet little grey one, our pretty girl, the mama cat's memory will live forever. She is getting weaker and walking slower everyday and I really really do feel like she is suffering, I wish the first vet would've told me that her organs are shutting down, it would have changed the game plan quite a bit. We have a new appointment for Thursday morning.

I want to thank everyone on this message board. I had no idea there were so many kind and generous people in the world. People here have done things for us that our own family wouldn't have done. I appreciate everyone on this board so much it's hard to even express. This week has been one of the worst of our lives but we never once felt like we were alone in this, people here lost just about as much sleep as we did through this and made sure they were available at all times in case we had questions or needed help with anything. I can't tell you how much your help and your support did for us. I apologize that this is the way this is going to end, I know we were all hoping for a full recovery, but with the organ failure I think this is the best we can do for her.

I am going to keep giving her the insulin and checking her sugar and feeding her to try to keep her comfortable thru tomorrow. I am going to email DCIN in a minute to see if they've mailed the supplies and if they have I'm going to send them directly back to them so they can go to another cat who needs them. I am going to have the glucose meter with some test strips and a whole bunch of lancet's and syringe's left over that I won't need, so I need to figure out how to give those to someone who needs them. One of the first messages we got on this board mentioned a supply closet, I haven't looked at it yet but maybe I can put those things in there so I can send them to someone who can use them, we don't want to charge for them, we just want someone who needs it to have it. I don't know if I can send the insulin since she used some of it but if I can give that away I will do that too.

I sincerely apologize to everyone here. I don't want you to feel like you wasted your time helping us. The vet said with organ failure we can't do anything for that. I'm afraid your going to be upset with us. You all took time out of your lives, at Christmas time, to help us just to find out that there are several more problems that we can't fix. I'm so sorry for any time we took you away from or distracted you from your family's and your cat's, specially during the holiday. I am so thankful for your help.

We are not going to leave this board entirely. We want to stay around because you are a collection of some of the most amazing people we've ever met, and if nothing else maybe we can offer some kind of moral support to someone at some point. We have another cat, Meo, who we have to keep healthy. We have mostly been on this one thread the whole time we've been members here, but now we will explore the rest of the site to learn how to keep him healthier.

Mittens is going to get her insulin shot in half an hour no matter what, so I will update right after that.

I'm sorry it took so long to post this. I keep breaking down every time I try to hit the button. I don't want this to be the next news you get. I'm sorry everyone
 
Oh Heather & Dan, my heart is aching for you and the tears are flowing ...I can't see to type. Don't apologize! You are the two most amazing pet parents and if all we did was give you and Mittens one last Christmas together, albeit not the best, then we have been rewarded in spades for the effort. It is difficult to make that final decision but it seems it is the one final loving gift you can give Mittens.

It was my pleasure to help out. I only wish there were more pet parent in the world like you and the other members on this board. The world would definitely be a much better place for all of us.

Enjoy many tender loving moments with Mittens and please do remain part of our family. You are truly special people!

:bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
It is always hard to make the final decision. You two will make the right decision at the right time.
There is no need to apologize for asking for help. Both of you have done so much for Mitten.

My second diabetic cat was named Mitten. I adopted her as an already being treated diabetic. She was diabetic for over 10 years. I remember syringe feeding her for a couple of months. Heart failure got her at the end.
 
Oh, Heather, I am so, so sorry that this was the outcome. It is devastating. :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:

Thank you for telling us about Mittens' life and personality-- you can see it in her avatar picture, she is a cat with a plan and a twinkle in her eye! Some cats are just so special.

All of us here who participated in the thread were happy to do so and would do it again in a heartbeat. Truly. There were so many times I wished I could do more-- just reach through the computer screen and take some of the burden off of you guys. You and Dan were superhumans this weekend, I don't know how you did it.

Mittens is so lucky to have two pet parents like you. Please stay with us, you guys are wonderful!
 
(((( Dan and Heather))))

So sorry to hear the sad news, but please know that you're doing what's best for Mittens and we all totally understand that. Sometimes the last gift we have left to give our sweet furkids is a peaceful release from a body that has failed them.

Please don't think you have taken anything "from us" either.....We do what we do here because we DO understand....we were all scared, confused and frightened when we first reached out and posted for the first time and others jumped in to help us....We are just paying forward the kindness that was shown to us!!

Spend these last few days talking to Mittens.....tell her what's going on, how much she's meant to you, prepare her for her next adventure beyond the Rainbow....she will understand it all.

We have a fable that a lot of us love that we post in a lot of these kinds of threads...The original name of the fable is "The Loving Ones", but most of us call it "You have Chosen Tears".....It will make you cry, but I know you're doing that a lot now anyway, but as the fable says, they will be healing tears

Thank you for sharing your sweet Mittens with us....we are all better for it
 
Dan&Heather said:
Back from the vet. She said that Mittens' skin is turning yellow and when she felt her abdomen she can tell she has a liver problem. And she said her kidneys are failing. The vet said she has alot of experience treating diabetic cats and in her opinion we should let Mittens go with dignity, that we're not going to be able to fix this even if we had the medicine I was requesting. She wanted me to do it right then because she said she is suffering, but I wasn't going to do anything without talking to Dan.The vet said she didn't need to do the tests to know that there are several problems, not just the diabetes and it would just be putting Mittens through more and was unnecessary. She said if it was just the diabetes there would be things we could try, but with the organ failure those things would not work. I don't know what to say. I've been between hope and despair so many times this last week. I feel so bad for Mittens, I can tell she is in pain and I cant stand to see her like this. So I think we've made the decision to let her go. Very hard decision, there are problems we cannot fix and we can't let her suffer. If her organs are failing then we are out of options. I'm torn up right now but I don't regret the decision to cancel the appointment the first time and to try to help her. And I don't regret all the stress on us and all the sleep we lost, it was still worth it, even if it was a tough week it's still an extra week we got to spend with her. In a way I wish we would have listened to the first vet and just went thru with it, only because then her last week wouldn't have been like this for her but we just couldn't without feeling like we've tried everything we could have for her and now I feel like we have. If there ever was a cat to fight for it was Mittens. All you know of her right now is her when she's sick, in health she really is the perfect cat, the only fault she ever had was chewing on wires. In her prime she was happy and rowdy and goofy and the sweetest cat i've ever known. She always had so much grace and what seemed like wisdom. She never had any kittens, but always seemed like an old wise one and was always the leader of our cats, even when she was young, which is what earned her the nickname of Mama Cat. That's how I will always remember her, happy, healthy, greeting me as soon as I get home from work, chirping at the birds outside the window and waking up out of a sound sleep at the shake of the treat bag. Dan and I moved in together roughly 13 years ago and she has been with us through all of our apartments I feel lucky that we got to spend 16 years with her, some cat owners don't get lucky enough to have had that much time. I will never forget our sweet little grey one, our pretty girl, the mama cat's memory will live forever. She is getting weaker and walking slower everyday and I really really do feel like she is suffering, I wish the first vet would've told me that her organs are shutting down, it would have changed the game plan quite a bit. We have a new appointment for Thursday morning.

I want to thank everyone on this message board. I had no idea there were so many kind and generous people in the world. People here have done things for us that our own family wouldn't have done. I appreciate everyone on this board so much it's hard to even express. This week has been one of the worst of our lives but we never once felt like we were alone in this, people here lost just about as much sleep as we did through this and made sure they were available at all times in case we had questions or needed help with anything. I can't tell you how much your help and your support did for us. I apologize that this is the way this is going to end, I know we were all hoping for a full recovery, but with the organ failure I think this is the best we can do for her.

I am going to keep giving her the insulin and checking her sugar and feeding her to try to keep her comfortable thru tomorrow. I am going to email DCIN in a minute to see if they've mailed the supplies and if they have I'm going to send them directly back to them so they can go to another cat who needs them. I am going to have the glucose meter with some test strips and a whole bunch of lancet's and syringe's left over that I won't need, so I need to figure out how to give those to someone who needs them. One of the first messages we got on this board mentioned a supply closet, I haven't looked at it yet but maybe I can put those things in there so I can send them to someone who can use them, we don't want to charge for them, we just want someone who needs it to have it. I don't know if I can send the insulin since she used some of it but if I can give that away I will do that too.

I sincerely apologize to everyone here. I don't want you to feel like you wasted your time helping us. The vet said with organ failure we can't do anything for that. I'm afraid your going to be upset with us. You all took time out of your lives, at Christmas time, to help us just to find out that there are several more problems that we can't fix. I'm so sorry for any time we took you away from or distracted you from your family's and your cat's, specially during the holiday. I am so thankful for your help.

We are not going to leave this board entirely. We want to stay around because you are a collection of some of the most amazing people we've ever met, and if nothing else maybe we can offer some kind of moral support to someone at some point. We have another cat, Meo, who we have to keep healthy. We have mostly been on this one thread the whole time we've been members here, but now we will explore the rest of the site to learn how to keep him healthier.

Mittens is going to get her insulin shot in half an hour no matter what, so I will update right after that.

I'm sorry it took so long to post this. I keep breaking down every time I try to hit the button. I don't want this to be the next news you get. I'm sorry everyone
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I'm so very sorry to read this Dan and Heather. You worked so hard for so long to help her. She knows you were doing what was best for her, needle pokes and syringe feedings and all. I don't have any more words right now ...
 
I'm sure that there's many like me that have been watching and hoping and sharing this roller coaster with you without posting. I'm devastated that you haven't been able to save her, you worked so hard, if only your love was enough she would be bouncing around like a kitten again. Such a heart wrenching decision to make but sometimes it's the only decision that a loving bean can make, that last precious gift to stop the suffering :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Dan and Heather, all of our hearts ache with yours We are so very sorry that this is mittens time to cross the rainbow bridge. You and Dan went above and beyond what most would do and we are all so proud to have you in our family . Sending hugs :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:And lots of support .
 
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Dan and Heather....I am so desperately sad and sorry for you both. I too am one who watched and hoped and prayed for you all. What I have witnessed is LOVE on display as you fought for Mittens, LOVE as the precious people on this board fought with you and now LOVE as you prepare to release her from this world to the next. Know you have been and will continue to be surrounded with love, thoughts and prayers in the coming days.
 
Thank you to everyone for the kind words. This is going to be a rough night for us and an even rougher day tomorrow. Thank you for thinking of us, it means alot.
 
I'm so sorry to hear the sad news. You both were so dedicated in your care for Mittens. I'll be thinking of you :bighug::bighug:
 
I feel like I am losing one of my own. I think we all are. I don't know what else to say ;-(

No matter what, tomorrow -- TAKE PHOTOS and VIDEO!! No amount is too much. Once the fog lifts, you will be so glad you did. Take a fur clipping and/or paw print, or your vet may be able to for you.

May peace be with you all...
Sandi&Whisper.
 
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((DAN HEATHER & MITTENS))

I have been a silent follower through the last number of days. My heart is breaking for you at this sad time. You fought a valiant battle and did everything possible and more to give your beloved Mittens the best chance. Your love and caring and amazing efforts to help Mittens is beyond describable and the final and hardest gift of love will release Mittens from pain and suffering.

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:bighug: :bighug: :bighug: :bighug: :bighug:
 
I cried a lot of tears last night when I read your post, but could not write then. I am not good with words at times like this, anyway.
I feel for you, so much. I know what you must be going through. (((Dan & Heather))) Please give Mittens all the love you can today.
She knows how much you love her. I wish you a day of purrs and snuggles. Love you, Mittens.
 
i'm so sorry!!!!

you both did all you could. you gave mittens the best. you bought her some time, and made sure you weren't giving up on her before her time was due.

i'm so so sorry things didn't work out how we all hoped it would. :(

i always say the only bad thing about having a furbaby is that sooner or later we have to say goodbye. :rb_icon:
 
I'm so very very sorry to hear the outcome of this story... I have only been able to read briefly over the last few days but have been silently rooting for Mittens and all the amazing care givers here... it is so sad when there is just nothing left we can do for these precious babies but sometimes only a miracle would save the day.
Please know that you have done absolutely everything you possibly could for your dear baby, and that Mittens will live on for ever in your hearts... and ours.
Wishing you peace and good memories...


Diana
 
I was on this forum for my cat Shanti, he died two years ago. I look in on how people are doing from time to time and I saw the post about Mittens and began to follow the progress and the heroic effort to help her. I just want to tell you Dan & Heather that you have been amazing in your efforts on behalf of your baby. And to the members here, you are nothing short of wonderful for the help and concern you have shown. I am also in tears for the loss of your wonderful Mittens. My prayers are with you.
 
Critter Mom said:
If there is anything we can do just let us know.

Keeping both yourselves and dear little Mittens in my thoughts and in my heart ...
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Tuxedo Mom said:
I have been a silent follower through the last number of days. My heart is breaking for you at this sad time. You fought a valiant battle and did everything possible and more to give your beloved Mittens the best chance. Your love and caring and amazing efforts to help Mittens is beyond describable and the final and hardest gift of love will release Mittens from pain and suffering.
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Critter Mom said:
Yes, Mittens. You have moved our hearts - and you are loved.
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Diana&Tom said:
Please know that you have done absolutely everything you possibly could for your dear baby, and that Mittens will live on for ever in your hearts... and ours.
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Critter Mom said:
Yes, Mittens. You have moved our hearts - and you are loved.
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It touches me that so many people care about our little girl. We took her in early this morning and released her from her suffering. It was one the hardest things we've ever had to do, but we knew it was the best choice at this point. We were not willing to make her stay at home and let it happen slowly and painfully. It was a very tough day, I had to work and then we both tried to catch up on a little bit of sleep that we very much needed. Thanks to everyone here we were able to spend a last week with Mittens, and while that week was stressful and difficult for all us, it was none the less another week with the mama cat. Her body failed her and we had to face that, trying to keep her any longer would have been selfish and not fair to her. It is without a doubt the worst part of having a pet, but we are extremely grateful that we had 16 wonderful, perfect years with her. We lost Mittens' sister Tabby several years back, now they are together again. I'm so happy that even if it was in bad circumstances and you never got to meet her in person and see how sweet she was, she touched hearts. She was that special, she could touch people without actually coming into physical contact with them.

We want to thank everyone again. We still cannot get over what we received when we joined this message board, it was so much more than we expected. We got so much advice and support it just blows our minds. We never thought we would meet such wonderful people at such a difficult time in our lives. You guys are amazing!!!!!! We seriously cant thank you enough for everything. Even if it didn't work out how we were all hoping it would, you helped more than you will ever know. The support, advice and hope you gave us were exactly what we needed. I don't know how we would have gotten thru this without all of you, I really don't.

It's difficult to express just how thankful we are for all of you. You truly are special people and we are lucky to have met you all.
 
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