Athmatic and diabetitic need advice
- Thread starter HeatherG
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HeatherG
Member Since 2018
Our vet sent us home with a insulin perscription 3ticks twice a day. A antibiotic liquid twice a day and a rescue inhaler as needed. We currently have her eating 3 times a day wet food. First day went well. No issues she was eating with no complaints. Not as much as usual but still eating.
Morning of day 2. She stopped eating all together. So i immediately called my vet. He said to monitor her and cut her insulin dose to half. Well late that night Sera was given her antibiotic after her feeding and insulin and I somehow triggered her gag reflex. Poor thing vommited and asperated. Thankfully she is ok. But then she refused to eat after this. I called a emergency vet to ask what i should watch for throughout the evening.
Day 3 my vet is now aware of the vomit session and lack of eating since now she skipped 1 meal. He said cut her insulin in half a dose and try force feeding if she doesn't eat. If it continues to call him the next morning. Of course she refuses and we had to stressfully force feed. Which has to be done so slowly to prevent stressed induced asthma attacks.
So on (Friday) she was dropped off and she spent the whole day with him. She was given IV fluids and a appitite stimulant. She was also tested for pancreatitis of which she thankfully does not have. Good news she was tested and her numbers read 296. So after a few days time she is dropping. My vet sent us home with a oral steroid to help with the inflamation in her lungs until her inhalers come in. We do have a resuce inhaler for periodic attacks. She is also still on the antibiotic and insulin. We are also giving her a medicated wet food that isnt ideal for diabetes but he feels she should be ok for the mean time and getting nutrients in is a must right now. We also have the appitite stimulant.
Friday night she has nibbled a little bit and seems perkier but still not herself. Still lathargic which is a given from her asthma wearing her down. Sadly she had to be force fed the last half of her meal. But that is still a improvement.
Come Saturday she crashed HARD. Had zero energy. Wouldnt hold her head up. Wouldnt fight syringe feedings. Breathing was rough. But we tested her glucose and she was 266. She also had a athma attack around 2am that night that caused her to pee herself.
Sunday rolls around. She appears much more perkier. She has to be syringe fed her morning meal. But around lunch when given her appitite stimulant she ate like a hog. Evening rolls around refuses to eat again.
So this morning I updated my vet clinic of the weekend he agrees we should put in the feeding tube tomorrow morning (Tuesday) to help eliminate stress on her lungs. We also got her started on flovant paired with the oral steroid (tappered steroid).
This afternoon she ate like a hog again. But she still has yet to poop since thursday and pee since saturday (that i have seen) I plan on bringing this up to the vet as this is a concern.
Overall her personality is back but she has limited energy before she becomes lethargic and has to take a breathing break.
My question for you all is are there any other Asthmatic Diabetic kitties on this forum. I feel we are in such a unique situation and it has been a bit of a emotional roller coaster. I look forward to chatting with you all.
Morning of day 2. She stopped eating all together. So i immediately called my vet. He said to monitor her and cut her insulin dose to half. Well late that night Sera was given her antibiotic after her feeding and insulin and I somehow triggered her gag reflex. Poor thing vommited and asperated. Thankfully she is ok. But then she refused to eat after this. I called a emergency vet to ask what i should watch for throughout the evening.
Day 3 my vet is now aware of the vomit session and lack of eating since now she skipped 1 meal. He said cut her insulin in half a dose and try force feeding if she doesn't eat. If it continues to call him the next morning. Of course she refuses and we had to stressfully force feed. Which has to be done so slowly to prevent stressed induced asthma attacks.
So on (Friday) she was dropped off and she spent the whole day with him. She was given IV fluids and a appitite stimulant. She was also tested for pancreatitis of which she thankfully does not have. Good news she was tested and her numbers read 296. So after a few days time she is dropping. My vet sent us home with a oral steroid to help with the inflamation in her lungs until her inhalers come in. We do have a resuce inhaler for periodic attacks. She is also still on the antibiotic and insulin. We are also giving her a medicated wet food that isnt ideal for diabetes but he feels she should be ok for the mean time and getting nutrients in is a must right now. We also have the appitite stimulant.
Friday night she has nibbled a little bit and seems perkier but still not herself. Still lathargic which is a given from her asthma wearing her down. Sadly she had to be force fed the last half of her meal. But that is still a improvement.
Come Saturday she crashed HARD. Had zero energy. Wouldnt hold her head up. Wouldnt fight syringe feedings. Breathing was rough. But we tested her glucose and she was 266. She also had a athma attack around 2am that night that caused her to pee herself.
Sunday rolls around. She appears much more perkier. She has to be syringe fed her morning meal. But around lunch when given her appitite stimulant she ate like a hog. Evening rolls around refuses to eat again.
So this morning I updated my vet clinic of the weekend he agrees we should put in the feeding tube tomorrow morning (Tuesday) to help eliminate stress on her lungs. We also got her started on flovant paired with the oral steroid (tappered steroid).
This afternoon she ate like a hog again. But she still has yet to poop since thursday and pee since saturday (that i have seen) I plan on bringing this up to the vet as this is a concern.
Overall her personality is back but she has limited energy before she becomes lethargic and has to take a breathing break.
My question for you all is are there any other Asthmatic Diabetic kitties on this forum. I feel we are in such a unique situation and it has been a bit of a emotional roller coaster. I look forward to chatting with you all.
Chris & China (GA)
Member Since 2013
Wow....you have had one heck of a ride!!
Yes, we have other kitties here with asthma …..Most of them are pretty well controlled with the Flovent inhaler.
Your vet started her on 3 units? Which insulin? (that's a very high starting dose of any insulin)
Yes, we have other kitties here with asthma …..Most of them are pretty well controlled with the Flovent inhaler.
Your vet started her on 3 units? Which insulin? (that's a very high starting dose of any insulin)
Idjit's mom
Member Since 2018
Hello again Heather, I responded to your introduction post, and again welcome. There is always someone online here, however, there are many varying degrees of experience and knowledge. I am hopeful that one or two of the wisest will see your post here tonight and will have some input. But, if not, please continue to check in. We are spread all across the States and Canada, plus many other countries, in all different time zones. Sera has so many things going on, and I know people here are going to want to help. Ah, there is Chris & China, one of the wise women.
HeatherG
Member Since 2018
She is on Lantus. He said the reason he put her on a high dosage was because her numbers were so high. He feels her diabetes was a result of the steroid shot of which we stopped immediately.He is confident she should be in diabetic remission in as alittle as 8 weeks and has me calling in regularly in regards to her numbers to adjust her medicine accordingly. She started Flovent today paired with a oral tappered steroid until the severity of her asthma is under control. She still isn't eating on her own but her energy is coming back slowly and so is her personality. Her breathing isn't as rapid at resting but its still strained when she does have to move around. Little milestones each day.
Tomorrow he wants to get a feeding tube put in so we can eliminate any additional stress when it comes to feeding until she feels well enough to eat on her own. As scary as this sounds he assured me its not invasive and a sedative is only needed to put it in. At this point Im willing to do anything to minamize her stress.
Our next concern is her lack of wanting to use the litterbox which he is aware of and i assume he is going to look into tomorrow.
He has covered his bases and checked her kidneys heart liver so forth. Xrays done and so forth. Only concerning stuff was the infection she was fighting, her inflamed lungs and her diabetes
Chris & China (GA)
Member Since 2013
Feeding tubes save lives so you won't hear me say anything negative about them!!
I'm still concerned about the high dose....Lantus isn't dosed based on how high they are....it's based on weight (to start with) and then by how low it takes them.
There's a specific formula for the starting dose of Lantus.....it's .25 per kilogram of the cat's weight. If the cat is underweight, it's .25 unit per kilo of the actual weight.
Most cats start between .5 and 1U
Do you know what food you're going to be using with the feeding tube? Usually the only options are Hills A/D and Royal Canin Recovery. If you can, go with the Royal Canin...it's lower in carbs than the Hills is BUT make sure you're testing. Reducing the carbs can make a big difference in the numbers!
When are you currently testing?
I'm still concerned about the high dose....Lantus isn't dosed based on how high they are....it's based on weight (to start with) and then by how low it takes them.
There's a specific formula for the starting dose of Lantus.....it's .25 per kilogram of the cat's weight. If the cat is underweight, it's .25 unit per kilo of the actual weight.
Most cats start between .5 and 1U
Do you know what food you're going to be using with the feeding tube? Usually the only options are Hills A/D and Royal Canin Recovery. If you can, go with the Royal Canin...it's lower in carbs than the Hills is BUT make sure you're testing. Reducing the carbs can make a big difference in the numbers!
When are you currently testing?
HeatherG
Member Since 2018
She was a bit of a chunker before the illness. Last I checked shes at 11lbs right now. Ill make sure to ask about the dosage tomorrow.
She is current on hills A/D since the decline this week. And I assume this is what we will be using during her tube feeding. Right now he has her syringe feeding 16ml 3xs a day of the A/D that is a mixture of A/D with water to make it easier to syringe
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