10/2 Mo +8 389

katy and mo (GA)

katy and mo (GA)

Member Since 2020
Yesterday

This morning was a hard one for me. Struggled to get out of bed and took me till 2pm to actually get dressed. I will try to focus on the positives though.

About 4am, Mo came under the covers with me again! It didn't last long (it never does :( ) but I really cherish these moments. When he got out, I went for a #1 and he followed me around and lead me to the kitchen. The boy was hungry! Whatever he wants, he gets ;) He's been having 4-5 cans of FF per day since he came home from the hospital, which is so nice to see. Hopefully he is able to put on some weight.

He has seemed slightly more alert today and is moving around slightly more as well. Tonight we won't be giving him any gabapentin and we will see how he goes with just the 0.2ml of bupe.

I messaged Tim last night about upping Mo's dose (he was asleep when I asked for dosing advice on my last post and he is in charge of the morning shot atm) and he didn't want to do it as he didn't think Mo had been on 4 units long enough :( I tested Mo at +8 and he was 389. I really think we need to up his dose to help his pancreas out. Is someone able to explain how upping the insulin will help Mo feel better and how the pancreatitis will cause him to require a higher dose? I'm not that great with words and it'll be better coming from a well spoken sugar kitty expert :)

I've done some self care this afternoon. Got myself out in the garden clearing up the weeds and just pottering around really. Gotta keep moving :)
 
He's definitely in pain this evening. He was growling and hissing again and had his big eyes. He also did a softer, really smelly poo. I've upped his bupe back 0.3ml but will see how he goes with no gaba. We want him to be comfortable without being sedated. Fingers crossed he feels better soon :(
 
Sorry to hear Mo isn't feeling great this evening, sounds like he's still fighting a bit of that pancreatitis. Good plan on upping the bupe back.
katy and mo said:
Is someone able to explain how upping the insulin will help Mo feel better and how the pancreatitis will cause him to require a higher dose?
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This is a complicated question. Start first with this post: What is Feline Diabetes? It's a really good explanation of the basics. With pancreatitis, there is inflammation, and the pancreas has to work even harder, which means more tired beta cells. Next post is this one: Acromegaly - the basics We don't know if Mo has that, or insulin auto bodies, but both conditions also cause insulin resistance (as does pancreatitis), meaning it's harder for the insulin to get into the cells where it's needed. If insulin can't get into cells, you try to overwhelm the resistance by injecting even more insulin into their bodies.

A kitty in high blood sugar all the time isn't going to feel great. Their kidneys are working harder to clear the excess sugar out of their bodies. Their cells aren't getting the nutrients they need, and that includes brain cells too. As the what is FD post says, getting sugar into the cells is essential, and that's what enough insulin does. As someone who had a kitty who was in high numbers for quite a while, I did see quite the difference between Neko in pinks, and Neko in blues and greens. She was grumpier in higher numbers, didn't seem quite as quick, and not as interactive with us. Her primary focus was getting more food, both because her cells needed more energy, and her case it was excess growth hormone causing her to be hungry. I don't know if you grew up with brothers, but I sure remember how food focused my brother was when he went through a growth spurt. Plus she was drinking and peeing more to try to clear the extra sugar. When Neko's numbers finally came down, it's like her body came alive, her cells were getting the nutrients they needed, and she got more pep in her step. It was a bit of a shock to her system at first cause she was used to higher numbers, but once she shook off that sugar overload, she seemed to feel much better. Plus her organs and cells were not working so hard, her body could relax again. She started playing again. :)

I can also relate my story of going back in dose. We started out on Caninsulin, and got up to 5 units. I could tell it wasn't lasting long, Neko was savage hungry at meal time cause the insulin had worn off hours ago by then. I finally got a vet to start us on Lantus, but unfortunately I too got bad advice to start back at 1 unit. It took me months to get back to 5 units of insulin, and Neko needed even more by that time. Poor baby was back in high numbers and starving again until I finally got her closer to her good dose. In the mean time, the insulin resistance had grown, and where 5 units might have been a good dose for her at one time, we now added glucose toxicity onto the increased insulin resistance from her acromegaly and IAA. :arghh: So her dose needed to go quite a bit higher to break through. All that time in high numbers is not good for their organs or bodies in general. That's whey we are such advocates of doing what we can to get them into good numbers quickly and safely. That means testing appropriately and increasing when it's safe to do so, via our dosing methods.
 
Thank you so much for this, Wendy! I have passed it onto Tim. I'm sure he will read it and understand why it's so important.

Had to give Mo some Gaba this evening. Tim would try give Mo a gentle pat on the belly and mo would cry. Poor boy is definitely in pain. Gave him about 17mg. Don't want him to be too sedated. I'll get up shortly and see if he's a bit more comfortable. He's still eating though. He's on his 6th can of fancy feast today!!! I really need to go to the supermarket tomorrow and get some more....but are we giving him too much? Could that be upsetting his tummy?
 
He is most likely eating extra because his body can’t absorb all the nutrients in the food when his BGs are high. We see this a lot in unregulated cats.
The cells in the body need insulin to be able to absorb the glucose from the food, to turn into energy. Insulin also helps the body store the blood glucose in the muscles, liver and fat cells to use later when it’s needed.
If there isn’t enough insulin, the body can’t do these things properly.
 
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He's really growly this evening. I've given him his full gaba dose of 50mg. He just did a really runny poo again. Something isn't right. He is still keen on eating so that's something. Hopefully he starts to feel better and more relaxed with the gaba in his system.
 
Sending prayers. :bighug::bighug::bighug:
I had to fiddle with Butters' pain meds also, to find that point where she wasn't too sedated but wasn't in pain, either. It takes time and it can change. You'll figure out what works best for Mo. :bighug:
 
Katy,
As a long term type 1 diabetic, I can tell you being high feels rotten. I have pretty good control, and feel great and energetic at about 80. At 150, I already don't feel as peppy but not bad. Excursions into the 300s and up, I start dragging and aching. Over 400, leg cramps, and the feeling of total crap, and a rush for some fast acting asap please. I use fast acting insulin when over 135.

Humans BG numbers run a little higher than cats. If I compare Tina to me, her 50 is similar to my 80.

All that for Tim? I "feel" for Mo.

Hugs Katy:bighug:
 
Tina Marie and Jan said:
Katy,
As a long term type 1 diabetic, I can tell you being high feels rotten. I have pretty good control, and feel great and energetic at about 80. At 150, I already don't feel as peppy but not bad. Excursions into the 300s and up, I start dragging and aching. Over 400, leg cramps, and the feeling of total crap, and a rush for some fast acting asap please. I use fast acting insulin when over 135.

Humans BG numbers run a little higher than cats. If I compare Tina to me, her 50 is similar to my 80.

All that for Tim? I "feel" for Mo.

Hugs Katy:bighug:
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This really puts it into perspective. You are so so right!
 
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