Teddy's first home curve

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JanetNJ said:
ok... that's better. 50 is a safe number, but because it's honey influenced, keep going a bit more. Then we will have you hold off on food/honey and see if the numbers go up on their own. once you have 3 rises that aren't food influenced we can determine he's out of the woods. You're doing awesome!
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Ok thanks, when do I know to stop giving the honey. I need to look up some other sugar syrup the vet had mentioned last time.
 
JanetNJ said:
You have a bottle of wine for later? Hahahaha it's really ok. he probably isn't eating because of the constipation.
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Lol
And yes I keep thinking all the food he has eaten and the food I have syringed the last week and nothing is coming out!:confused: I wouldn't want to eat either!
 
Djamila said:
Shawna, do you know how long since his last poop?
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Pretty much since he stopped moving around...Since 4-28 he has only pooped once! And it wasn't a lot. He went on 5-2, so this past Tuesday was the last time he went.
My vet told me to just keep doing Metamucil until he goes. But I think it's making teddy sick.
 
also in between tests if you could add all these numbers to his spreadsheet that would be awesome. we need to know all this so in the future we can refer to it. Did he eat significantly less this morning? I wonder if that's why the dose is suddenly too much.
shawna said:
Pretty much since he stopped moving around...Since 4-28 he has only pooped once! And it wasn't a lot. He went on 5-2, so this past Tuesday was the last time he went.
My vet told me to just keep doing Metamucil until he goes. But I think it's making teddy sick.
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yeah, it's probably impacted. Kitty needs an enema. that should be fun. I wouldn't wanna eat if i hadn't taken a dump in a week either.
 
shawna said:
Ok thanks, when do I know to stop giving the honey. I need to look up some other sugar syrup the vet had mentioned last time.
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It would be helpful if you entered all these BG readings on your SS in the appropriate cell: for example "43 @ +___, 50 @ + ___. After your next test, try not feeding, wait 20 minutes and retest to see if he can hold his BG up without food/honey.
 
I agree that he might need an enema. Then I'd try plain pumpkin added to all meals - not sure how much though. Warm water added increases their hydration and also helps constipation.

ETA: @Beth 73 has had success treating Elmo's constipation with something else.
 
That does sound like a long time to go without pooping. I used 1/8 teaspoon BID of Miralax for J.D. He would get constipated from Bupe. I would also mix a little baby food squash into his food. I would sometimes go up as high as 1/4 teaspoon of Miralax, and if he still went too long without pooing, I used Lactulose and that would work, but you should consult with your vet before trying any meds. I'd suggest getting him to the vet to do the enema.
 
I agree about the vet doing an enema. Not something I'd try at home and, at this point, he probably needs one to get things moving. Then you can address it daily with pumpkin, etc.
 
Not to pile on with too much info/advice but I agree about the enema. I have been dealing with constipation issues with Uncle off and on for a while. I believe it's time for an enema and I would NOT try to do it at home. Pumpkin, Miralax and Lactulose can all be helpful when kitty is not already too impacted. I've only had to take Uncle in once for an enema and since then I've been able to keep things on track with adding pumpkin and/or Lactulose as needed. I agree about the warm water with food. Miralax and Lactulose need that added water to work well.
 
JanetNJ said:
also in between tests if you could add all these numbers to his spreadsheet that would be awesome. we need to know all this so in the future we can refer to it. Did he eat significantly less this morning? I wonder if that's why the dose is suddenly too much.

yeah, it's probably impacted. Kitty needs an enema. that should be fun. I wouldn't wanna eat if i hadn't taken a dump in a week either.
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Yes I think you are right! He did eat much less than normal this morning. I didn't realize it would cause a problem though, I just figured he still ate enough. But he did only eat a little bit of his am food this morning.

Ok i added the numbers to the spreadsheet
 
Kris & Teasel said:
It would be helpful if you entered all these BG readings on your SS in the appropriate cell: for example "43 @ +___, 50 @ + ___. After your next test, try not feeding, wait 20 minutes and retest to see if he can hold his BG up without food/honey.
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He just ate temptations, should I wait 20 minutes now and test?
 
Shawna, is there any way you can get him into a vet today? Is there another clinic or pet hospital that might be open. They could give him some relief from the constipation, and as an added bonus, give you a break from the BG as well. I'm just thinking that Sunday is even harder to find a clinic that's open, and I'm not sure he should wait much longer to get treated. I know this is already stressful and don't want to add to your stress, but I'm just thinking if you can get him in somewhere it might actually lower your stress a little to see him feeling better.
 
Barbara & Uncle said:
Not to pile on with too much info/advice but I agree about the enema. I have been dealing with constipation issues with Uncle off and on for a while. I believe it's time for an enema and I would NOT try to do it at home. Pumpkin, Miralax and Lactulose can all be helpful when kitty is not already too impacted. I've only had to take Uncle in once for an enema and since then I've been able to keep things on track with adding pumpkin and/or Lactulose as needed. I agree about the warm water with food. Miralax and Lactulose need that added water to work well.
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Thank you! I will definitely do that and I will definitely have a vet do it.
 
Dyana said:
That does sound like a long time to go without pooping. I used 1/8 teaspoon BID of Miralax for J.D. He would get constipated from Bupe. I would also mix a little baby food squash into his food. I would sometimes go up as high as 1/4 teaspoon of Miralax, and if he still went too long without pooing, I used Lactulose and that would work, but you should consult with your vet before trying any meds. I'd suggest getting him to the vet to do the enema.
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Thanks, I will!
 
Djamila said:
Shawna, is there any way you can get him into a vet today? Is there another clinic or pet hospital that might be open. They could give him some relief from the constipation, and as an added bonus, give you a break from the BG as well. I'm just thinking that Sunday is even harder to find a clinic that's open, and I'm not sure he should wait much longer to get treated. I know this is already stressful and don't want to add to your stress, but I'm just thinking if you can get him in somewhere it might actually lower your stress a little to see him feeling better.
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banfield pet hospital is opening my house tomorrow. That's isn't his normal vet, but they are good there. Good idea - I think I need to get him in there for the enema
 
shawna said:
banfield pet hospital is opening my house tomorrow. That's isn't his normal vet, but they are good there. Good idea - I think I need to get him in there for the enema
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Is the Banfield hospital open today?
 
Ok, great! I am going to take the dog out for a half an hour walk. I'll be back to check on my own kitty who went from 154 at PMPS to 72 at +2.5 this morning. Gave him 13% carb food and will need to check him at his +3.5. will look in on you as well.
I am no expert at know how long dry food affects BG and not a prozinc user either so not sure about Teddy's normal nadir time.
 
Barbara & Uncle said:
Ok, great! I am going to take the dog out for a half an hour walk. I'll be back to check on my own kitty who went from 154 at PMPS to 72 at +2.5 this morning. Gave him 13% carb food and will need to check him at his +3.5. will look in on you as well.
I am no expert at know how long dry food affects BG and not a prozinc user either so not sure about Teddy's normal nadir time.
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I hope your kitty is doing ok too! xoxox have fun on your walk with your dog...I love dogs too.
I don't know teddys normal nadir time yet either. But thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness and care! xoxoxo
 
Dyana said:
Is the Banfield hospital open today?
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Yes until 7pm, they have good hours. I will probably go there for the enema, thhey are good with walk one if I have to go today otherwise I'll go in the morning.
or if he does go I am going to email my vet to see what she thinks.
 
JanetNJ said:
Ok well now you know how to buy his cooperation. Lol. That was CC'S addiction too
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Yes earlier during all this he even growled when I held out the temptations!! So I'm glad he came around and was able to eat some! Im going to make sure to keep those on hand. He's still purring so I hope so much it means he is at least feeling better. I wonder if they get nauseated when they have low bs, or just weak and tired...I need to read about that.

I'm sorry if I took up a lot of your time...I know how precious weekends are especially for teachers lol
I'll keep posting his tests. But thank you...........xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
 
Exciting afternoon!
Maury gave me some excitement one time when he didn't eat his "lunch". It's another reason why I usually do my routine the way I do it :). Hope the enema helps Teddy get some relief :cat:
 
shawna said:
I hope your kitty is doing ok too! xoxox have fun on your walk with your dog...I love dogs too.
I don't know teddys normal nadir time yet either. But thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness and care! xoxoxo
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He's fine, just checked and he's holding steady at 72. I will stay vigilant about testing till I can see that he is holding his own above 5o without medium or high carb food for at least 2 hours. I just fed him some 0% carb so that won't count!
 
Let's talk about moving forward with doses. Clearly Teddy has earned a reduction. What does everyone thing about this for the next few days while he's hopefully getting his appetite back:
(Human meter readings)

175-250 .25
250-350 .5
350+ .75
 
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Theodore is at 75.

He was at 83 at +9 and I had given him a few more temptations after that. And I wanted to do more checks before pm preshot because of everything....well I guess i must have felt a tiny relief to know his blood sugar was going up and I passed out sleeping....if it makes it any better Teddy was sleeping too....No not better I know!! I feel bad and why do I have to share everything lol but I didn't intend to fall asleep and I guess all that crazy crying wore me out! :rolleyes: well I woke up at preshot pm time thankfully.

I'm going to keep trying to get him to eat...he's just still not interested in eating. I'll be home all night and I'll watch him like a hawk...and I'll even set my phone alarm for a ton of times in case I fall asleep!:coffee:

xoxoxoxo
Thank you to everyone who helped me today....from the bottom of my heart....sincerely...each of your advice and reassurances made me feel so much better. No one could ever understand like you all do. Thanks for caring, xoxoxox, Much love <3
 
Barbara & Uncle said:
He's fine, just checked and he's holding steady at 72. I will stay vigilant about testing till I can see that he is holding his own above 5o without medium or high carb food for at least 2 hours. I just fed him some 0% carb so that won't count!
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Aw I'm glad to hear Uncle is doing ok...how did you come up with that name? It's adorable. Is that meter you use a human one?
 
shawna said:
Theodore is at 75.

He was at 83 at +9 and I had given him a few more temptations after that. And I wanted to do more checks before pm preshot because of everything....well I guess i must have felt a tiny relief to know his blood sugar was going up and I passed out sleeping....if it makes it any better Teddy was sleeping too....No not better I know!! I feel bad and why do I have to share everything lol but I didn't intend to fall asleep and I guess all that crazy crying wore me out! :rolleyes: well I woke up at preshot pm time thankfully.

I'm going to keep trying to get him to eat...he's just still not interested in eating. I'll be home all night and I'll watch him like a hawk...and I'll even set my phone alarm for a ton of times in case I fall asleep!:coffee:

xoxoxoxo
Thank you to everyone who helped me today....from the bottom of my heart....sincerely...each of your advice and reassurances made me feel so much better. No one could ever understand like you all do. Thanks for caring, xoxoxox, Much love <3
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No shame in a nap. If my son didn't make me play kickball half the day I would have taken one too! lolol Well you can sleep fine tonight, and no need to test tonight since no insulin. You might as well enjoy it. hahaha but do try to get him to eat and poop. Maybe crush 2-3 temptations onto his food. Really it sounds like the food has no where to go. Big guy needs a you-know-what.
 
Shawna... You did so good today. I know you had a freak out, but you got yourself together and did everything you needed to do to keep Teddy safe. He really didn't drop too low because you did a fantastic job steering him up. now that he's not getting an insulin shot tonight, you can open that bottle of wine. hahaha
 
Shawna you did GREAT today. We've all had meltdowns before and we know how you feel...but you handled it like a pro!!!! Teddy is super lucky to have you!
 
JanetNJ said:
Let's talk about moving forward with doses. Clearly Teddy has earned a reduction. What does everyone thing about this for the next few days while he's hopefully getting his appetite back:
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Honestly, I would not suggest a sliding scale on Prozinc with this little data to recommend it. I understand that's the best way to dose vetsulin, but prozinc behaves differently, and the protocol is pretty clear that a sliding scale should only be used if consistent dosing has been shown to be "dangerous or ineffective". It had already been suggested a few days ago that one unit was too much, and I think today confirmed that.

I would recommend either 0.25 or 0.5u above 200, and No Shot for anything below 200. Teddy has had two hypos in nine days. If it was my kitty, I would want to give him some time to recover his stored glucose reserves. In addition, he's constipated which often causes higher than normal BG. So if this is "higher than normal" for him, then I think that Shawna needs to be very very cautious about dosing right now which is why of the two options (0.25 or 0.5), I would probably lean toward the smaller dose. It may cause him to run a little higher for a few days, but none of his numbers are really that bad, and I'd much rather err on the side of safety at this point.

That is a conservative opinion, but if it was my cat, that's the approach I would take at this point. Aggressive dosing can be tried later when Teddy is healthier and when Shawna has had a break from all of this drama.

Hopefully when you take him in tomorrow, the vet can help with the pain medication choice and his immobility, along with getting him that enema. After that is resolved, the dosing can be figured out. Please keep us updated on how it goes tomorrow.

We all care very much about how both you and Teddy are doing. Janet is right, you did a great job getting through all of this today, monitoring, syringe feeding, getting the right treats to entice him....you did everything right. And since he had no shot tonight, you can take the evening to rest and heal your own spirits after all of this. You've had quite the start to your FD journey! I promise it isn't always this stressful! It's going to get better, and you're getting to be quite a pro at it already! Sending you hugs and hope for a peaceful evening for you both! :bighug:
 
If a diabetic cat does not get insulin at the pm 12+ time, can the blood sugar still drop or does it just get higher?
 
JanetNJ said:
Shawna... You did so good today. I know you had a freak out, but you got yourself together and did everything you needed to do to keep Teddy safe. He really didn't drop too low because you did a fantastic job steering him up. now that he's not getting an insulin shot tonight, you can open that bottle of wine. hahaha
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Thanks Janet. I probably didn't do so good, but thank you for your support and reassurance. It made all the difference. And thanks for your help with dosing going forward too.
And yes wine lol
 
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