29/01 - Gremlin - AMPS 61, +6 124, PMPS 148, +3 90, +7 88 (PICS) We're having a rough time

Laura and Gremlin (GA)

Laura and Gremlin (GA)

Member Since 2015
Hello all!

Thought I might update everyone of what's been happening with Gremlin recently. It's going pretty rough for us! I'm really struggling with it all, to be honest.

Gremlin's thyroid levels jumped up way too high and his medication was increased. The high dose of medication was no good for him so it was recommended he have a partial thyroidectomy. He isn't eligible for iodine treatment here due to his diabetes and early stage CKD.

Six days ago he had the surgery and he's still not recovering. His blood glucose is all over the place, most mornings he is twitchy and wobbly, he's got diarrhea, and he vomited this morning. He's gone SUPER fussy with food and I'm struggling to feed him. He would love the dry food my civvies get... Otherwise all he wants is the gravy like substance in the Dine trays which is fine for his diabetes but not great for his CKD. He's now refusing his FF and Wellness which are the only foods good for his diabetes and CKD that he would eat prior to surgery. He is also on a calcium supplement due to the twitching.

His spreadsheet has pretty much everything on it.

Any advice? Vines? I'm so stressed, I'm giving myself mouth ulcers!

2019 spreadsheet
 
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Hey Laura! I am so sorry that Gremlin has had a rough go. I hope he continues to recover from the surgery.

I cant see any further than the end of 2018 so I can't comment on his numbers. I understand about stress and all the physical manifestations it can cause. I hope you and Gemlin are soon back in the saddle!
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
Hey Laura! I am so sorry that Gremlin has had a rough go. I hope he continues to recover from the surgery.

I cant see any further than the end of 2018 so I can't comment on his numbers. I understand about stress and all the physical manifestations it can cause. I hope you and Gemlin are soon back in the saddle!
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Thank you Bobbie!
I had to put the link to his 2019 spreadsheet in the first post. They shortened signatures so I'll have to remove his 2018 one to fit his 2019 one.
 
Hi Laura,

I'm so sorry about the trouble poor Gremlin has been having.

Regarding the spreadsheet: You should be able to use one link for both if you simply combine the sheets. Just move the 2019 pages to the same "book" as the 2018. You'll notice it has multiple tabs. Take a look at Harvey's or Cinco's SS to see what I mean. If you don't know how to do that, send Marje a PM and I'm sure she'll help you.

I'm not familiar with Dine, but if the issue is the phosphorous level, what about adding a phosphorous binder to it? A lot of people here have had to do that because they couldn't get their kitties to eat a CKD friendly food.

What does his vet say about the issues he's having? Is there something he could give you to help with the diarrhea? Keep an eye on his hydration - he may need fluids to get him through this rough patch.

Sending tons of vines for Gremlin and :bighug:s for you. Please keep us posted.
 
Sending healing vines
Bella’s sister had to have that done as well and when we went for our last check up for it, there was a small tumor on her right one, so back on meds we had to go
Hope he feels better soon
 
Thanks Tricia.

Dine is slightly higher in phosphorus than I'd like but he is still very early stage so I'm not too stressed as long as he starts eating the other food soon. He did eat some of his Salmon FF tonight thankfully!

I will look into phosphorus binders at some stage but I don't think it's necessary just yet.

I need to email the vet again and update them, though they have a link to his spreadsheet too. He had a fairly good day today so I'm considering reducing the calcium supplement and stopping it to see if it helps with the runs. He is still drinking heaps fortunately.

Tonight I gave the bare minimum of insulin. After waking up to 3.4 (61) this morning, I'm a bit wary of giving it to him at all! And the calcium supplement has glucose in it. It smells like sugar syrup. Without that, he may drop lower still.

Bellasmom said:
Sending healing vines
Bella’s sister had to have that done as well and when we went for our last check up for it, there was a small tumor on her right one, so back on meds we had to go
Hope he feels better soon
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I'm sorry to hear that Bella's sister had to go back on meds. Grem's other gland was normal when checked during surgery so fingers crossed! Thank you.
 
Bron and Sheba said:
Would Gremlin eat some chicken breast poached gently in water. He might drink the juice from the chicken as well.
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He LOVES chicken! Why do I keep forgetting the chicken!?! I will get some out of the freezer tonight. I'm pretty sure there's some in there.

My son has recently been diagnosed with Autism (he's 14) and I was recently diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome so there's a lot going on and my brain is like sludge!

Thank you for the reminder Bron!!
Serious face palm going on over here...
 
I'm sorry things are so rough right now. I hope Grem heals soon and starts eating more for you. It may just take time since it was a major surgery. Sending prayers.

Here are suggestions we give people who have cats that don't want to eat. Maybe something will help Grem.

Do you have any parmesan cheese? If you maybe sprinkle a little of that on her food, she will perhaps eat? usually ondansetron is better for nausea than cerenia but it doesn't hurt to give her the cerenia....it can help.

Can you finger feed her....either see if she will lick food off your finger or will she let you dab some on the front of her tongue or on the roof of her mouth? Just be careful that it's only a small amount and that you don't get it down her throat.

Here's some info Jill often posts when a kitty won't eat:Here are some things you can do do entice your cat to eat:

-sometimes in order to get a cat to eat you even have to resort to dry it is more important that they eat. there are a couple low carb / grain free brands -- EVO and wellness core.

-making a buffet to give him choices
- heating food

sprinkle food with :
- forta flora -- a probiotic you can get at vets or online. is very smelly and cats love the taste of it.
- parm. cheese
- smashed crumbles of dry food
- Purebites Duck Liver -- crushed and put on as a topper.
- bonito tuna flakes
- halo chicken treats -- crumble into dust over food
- poor a little water from tuna in water over food ( I use low sodium/no sodium added as other kinds in water has veg. broth in it and I assume that means onions, which are toxic to cats-- check labels)
-powdered oregano. yep sounds weird . but some cats like it and it will entice them to eat.

other ideas of foods to offer your kitty to stim appy:
- trader joe tuna for cats
-baby food -- beechnut turkey and broth or chicken and broth. they have no onions or other additives. some babyfoods have onions . please read labels if you can't find beechnut.
- kentucky fried chicken
- deli turkey /chicken
- plain cooked ( boiled or baked ) chicken breast
-canned chicken for people (watch the label that their are no onions)
- chicken broth -- low sodium
 
:bighug:to you, and Healing Vines and Eating Vines to Gremlin.
If he's on antibiotics from the surgery that may cause the diarrhea and vomiting. If so, some probiotics may help him. Besides the surgery recovery, he may be feeling quite different now, going from a hyper state to a normal state as far as his thyroid is concerned. Maybe it takes some time getting used to.
 
That's an amazing list Carla!

He is still eating, he's just being fussy. I'm going to save that list though, it's fantastic!

Thanks Bron. We'll manage, we always do!

Thanks Sue and Dyana!
No antibiotics, I think it's most likely from the calcium supplement he's on.
 
You don't have any labs on the tab. What is his phosphorus level? Elevated phos can cause nausea.

Are you using Ondan, Cerenia and/or slippery elm bark for the nausea?

Poor baby. Prayers up for Gremlin (and you and DS).

:bighug::bighug:
 
LizzieInTexas said:
You don't have any labs on the tab. What is his phosphorus level? Elevated phos can cause nausea.

Are you using Ondan, Cerenia and/or slippery elm bark for the nausea?

Poor baby. Prayers up for Gremlin (and you and DS).

:bighug::bighug:
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I don't have copies of his labs. His kidney disease is early stage and as far as I'm aware, his phos levels are okay at this point.

He's not showing symptoms of nausea, only fussiness and refusing food, particularly the food he was given after surgery at the vets. I don't give anything for nausea.

Thank you.
 
:bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug: Know you are hopefully sound asleep but just checking in ❤️ Sending prayers and hugs to you , Laura :bighug:
 
Always Dyana! He just woke me up for a cuddle (his purr is loud and crazy since surgery) so I got up and tested him.

Kristina - for instance today when I woke up his BGL was 60. That is NOT normal. It's not even close to normal! And the evening before, it was 205! Up and down, all over the place! He's usually quite regular and predictable but not since surgery.

Thank you everyone for the vines!
 
FWIW, Teasel's BGs became much more erratic than usual as his May/June health crisis was brewing. It could have been a panc or IBD or both flare and instead of running higher as we'd expect I had to drop his dose repeatedly and he dove too low often. Once we got past all that (nightmarish!) his BGs stabilized - well, his version of stable anyway. I've learned that wild ups and downs in BG can be part of being unwell. If it's true for Teasel it could be true for other kitties.
 
Laura and Gremlin said:
I'm struggling to feed him.
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I give my cats PAWS CBD OIL by the stanley Bros. (my vet said it's a very reliable product) When they go off their food 5 -8 drops in a spoon of baby food gets them eating again in several hours. It always works great for all 3 of my Cats.
If they don't want the baby food I mix it with a spoon of water & give it by syringe. ( some people are hesitant to use CBD oil but Cornell University is now studying it for cats. My vet uses it for his own dog.) It's good for inflammation & other problems also.

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Thyroid can mess big time with all their organs . I remember it took almost a month to get Elmo's BG regulated after he went off prescription food ( high carb ...possible cause of diabetes) for thyroid and switched to daily meds . I have to keep reminding myself that the thyroid is a thermostat that can mess with their BGs til thyroid settles down . I'm sure the same will be the case for Grem :bighug:❤️
 
Gremlin woke me up during the night purring (which is super loud since surgery, louder than he already was) so I got up and fed and tested him. He woke me again half an hour before breakfast by purring in my face. He then ate a fair amount of breakfast! About half, yay! And his BGL was pretty good (though hopefully it doesn't drop really low while I'm at work) so I gave him a miniscule dose of insulin. After he went and meowed at the door to go out (haha, nope!).

Maybe, just maybe, he's finally starting to improve. Fingers and toes crossed!
Thank you everyone for all the vines!

30/01 AMPS 124
 
Kris & Teasel said:
I wonder if his purr is louder right now because he had the fur shaved off his throat. Maybe that fur insulates the purr sound somewhat.
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Hahaha! That would be interesting!
Apparently it's actually due to the swelling and trauma to the area around his throat and it should eventually settle.

He's doing much better today. It's a huge relief that he's starting to show signs of improvement. He is getting extremely vocal!
 
Oh , Laura, such joyous news :):bighug::) Sending more prayers for continued healing/restoration to sweet Grem ❤️
 
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