20 Jan - Cher - Dose Increase Advice?

[Jancol & Cher]

Hi Everyone

It's been a couple of months since we have posted due to the fact that Cher has had a number of medical issues which have caused us considerable angst. At the present time though, she seems to be OK however she still has an infection in her SUB (subcutaneous ureteral bypass) port and bladder which is currently being treated with Veraflox antibiotic (commenced 1st Dec).

Due to the fact that stones (which were blocking her ureter) were passed at some stage since the SUB was inserted, her ureter began functioning again and now urine no longer flows through this SUB/port. Therein lies the problem....

Consequently bacteria became colonised in the port causing infection (and pus) which then travelled to the bladder. As there was no urine flow through the SUB, the antibiotic was unable to penetrate the bacteria to kill them.

Currently Cher is having the port flushed with 500 mls of saline regularly, (into the bladder) hopefully to flush out the bacteria etc. Once the bacteria is in the bladder, the antibiotic becomes effective.

Apparently there is a specific solution which upon insertion into the port, will adhere internally to the port and will hopefully prevent bacteria from colonising. This is available from the US and we are currently awaiting delivery. Fingers crossed it will do the job.

So, because of a number of medical issues (liver infection, blood diarrhea due to intolerance of raw kangaroo, possible incorrect initial installation of SUB resulting in surgical repair, allergic reaction causing swelling of tummy, Cher's FD has taken a back seat. But now we are ready to tackle the FD again!

Since 12th December, we have transitioned Cher onto raw goat (after having had to put her back onto Z/D dry because of her intolerance to kangaroo) and her insulin dose has reduced somewhat, however I find it very difficult to figure out if she is on the correct insulin dose. She has come down into the blues but then she appears to bounce. However I am not convinced 100% that she is bouncing and wonder if I need to increase her dose. Also, each time she is unwell, her BGLs shoot up.

She also appears to nadir twice in some of her most recent cycles (I think) with a sudden increase into pink in the middle of a cycle (which I don't think is food related).

Could we kindly have some experienced eyes to look at her SS please ....

Apologies for the length of this post!

 

[Stacy & Asia]

I'm sorry Cher has been having so many complications, I hope she's on the upswing and it's behind her now.

I see a lot of bouncing, she's not so used to those blues just yet. A couple of her cycles, her nadirs were at PMPS and looks to be a bounce clearing for those. You're following SLGS, what's your no shoot/delay number?

 

[Jancol & Cher]

I'm sorry Cher has been having so many complications, I hope she's on the upswing and it's behind her now.

I see a lot of bouncing, she's not so used to those blues just yet. A couple of her cycles, her nadirs were at PMPS and looks to be a bounce clearing for those. You're following SLGS, what's your no shoot/delay number?

Hi Stacy

Thank you for responding ....

We have not long arrived back from the vet only to experience an issue with diarrhea and vomiting as well as frequency of urination possibly caused by irritation after the flushing of Cher's port by the vet, so have only just noticed your response. Apologies for being tardy!

We have just given Cher a shot of Methadone to try to settle her bladder irritation and have also given her a Cerenia 1/2 tab for the vomiting.

Re your question re our no shoot/delay number ... as it is very difficult to get Cher's numbers to come up, we are reluctant to shoot too low. Shooting 120 would probably be the limit at this time until such times we can find suitable carb food to give her to bring her up when she goes too low. Previously we have been giving her very small amounts of raw goat together with a few drops of glucose which only brings her up for half an hour or so. The only problem with this is it is a constant struggle!

Three days ago, we introduced Ziwipeak Venison Limited Single Ingredient LC (initially starting with 1 teaspoonful) with the intention of giving this to Cher to try to lift her BGLs up when necessary, however this food appears to have caused her to have diarrhea (total daily amount 25 grams). She has previously been diagnosed via endoscopy with IBD and consequently we need to be careful with offering her different foods. I do have raw rabbit for her to try when her digestive system settles a bit.

I have found it difficult to locate a canned novel/single protein food suitable for her here in Australia as she cannot have chicken, lamb, beef, fish and kangaroo etc. But I will keep looking for something suitable. We prefer to give her the raw, however after she became intolerant to raw kangaroo, we had to end up giving her dry Z/D as that was the only food we knew she could tolerate. So that is why we would like her to also have the option of canned food in case history repeats itself. Anti jinx!

As you mentioned in your post, I felt she was not used to the blue numbers and that she was bouncing but I am not at all experienced in interpreting these numbers and felt I needed the opinion and advice of experienced persons.

Thanks, again ....

 

[Stacy & Asia]

Sorry she is having all those issues, I hope the meds do the trick and she’s feeling much better soon.

See what others suggest regarding the dose, but given you are having trouble getting her numbers up and her other medical issues, outside of the bouncing, this seems be getting her in to some nice blues.

Have you considered making your own raw? It would probably be easier to find novel proteins if you did that. I don’t know if she would have any food ideas or suggestions for you, but @Girlie's mom is also in Australia and she’s been able to get supplies and things that are tricky to find there.

 

[Jancol & Cher]

Sorry she is having all those issues, I hope the meds do the trick and she’s feeling much better soon.

See what others suggest regarding the dose, but given you are having trouble getting her numbers up and her other medical issues, outside of the bouncing, this seems be getting her in to some nice blues.

Have you considered making your own raw? It would probably be easier to find novel proteins if you did that. I don’t know if she would have any food ideas or suggestions for you, but @Girlie's mom is also in Australia and she’s been able to get supplies and things that are tricky to find there.

Yes, we are currently feeding Cher raw goat having commenced on 12th December and gradually working up to 120 grams daily but have not introduced the necessary supplements just at the moment. This will also be a gradual process.
We much prefer the homemade raw.

Yes, in the past, Girlie's mom has been very knowledgeable and most helpful.

Appreciate your advice ....