17/2 Mo - Vet update

katy and mo (GA)

katy and mo (GA)

Member Since 2020
Yesterday

There's nothing new to report today. He still has a good appetite, came into bed for a quick cuddle this morning, and has been grooming himself. He's resting up this afternoon. I'm hoping we will be able to reduce his bupe soon. It's getting really expensive to keep him on so a reduction would be good. I don't want to take him off it just yet as I don't want him to go backwards.

We have a vet checkup in 2 hours to see how he's doing. Paws crossed that goes well! Hopefully we get the call from the specialist's office that the Levemir has arrived today!

Hope you're all having a great day :bighug:
 
The appointment went well, but I forgot his afternoon dose of Bupe and his pain came back :arghh: We are carrying on with the medications but Mo has lost weight since his last checkup, now at just 5kg :( He's eating a good amount but it's clearly not enough to maintain his weight. Mo is clearly not on enough insulin and I've been holding off increasing the Lantus as I'm waiting for the Levemir and it still hasn't arrived ugh. What should I do? The vet and specialist want to keep him on a low dose but it's just making him lose weight at a fast rate along with the pancreatitis. @tiffmaxee @Wendy&Neko Advice? Is the insulin the answer to helping him gain weight?

We are worried about him being on Cerenia and Buprenorphine long term as they are very expensive. We are managing at the moment but I'm thinking of doing a GiveALittle amongst family and friends to help us out a bit if it needs to come to that.
 
Hi Katy,
Being in constant high numbers can cause a cat to lose weight. A lot of diabetic cats have lost weigh at diagnosis for that very reason.
There is no need to wait for the levemir to increase the dose. You will just swap over to 70% of whatever dose you are giving of the Lantus when the levemir arrives.
I can’t understand the vet or specialist thinking of keeping the dose low and keeping Mo in high numbers....it just doesn’t make any sense.
If Mo were my cat I would definitely increase the dose now and I would be testing before each shot and during the cycles to see how the dose is working.
I’ve never been a fan of ‘head in the sand’ mentality in any part of my life.
Knowledge is power.
I’m sure Mo will also feel better with more insulin aboard. Diabetics will tell you they feel lousy when the BG is high.

Hopefully you won’t keep needing the bupe and cerenia for too much longer.
 
Last edited:
katy and mo said:
Is the insulin the answer to helping him gain weight?
Click to expand...
Yes. He needs more insulin.
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
You will just swap over to 70% of whatever dose you are giving of the Lantus when the levemir arrives.
Click to expand...
I think we could even go higher, and go to 70% of the max Lantus dose you gave instead of the reduced dose you are doing now. One big however, you will have to go back to testing both preshots, and ideally at least one other test per cycle. This must be done safely. Some cats have a strong reaction to the change.

One thing to ask the vet, see if it's possible to get buprenorphine made up at a compounding pharmacy in New Zealand. We can in Canada, though the vet has to use a special prescription book as it's a controlled substance, so tracked. But it meant I could buy a 3 months supply in a vial for way cheaper. And get it chicken flavour.
 
High BG is described by some as little glass shards running through the blood stream, doing damage to arteries along the way. I don't like scare tactics, but it is one I remember! I can't wait until Mo can get his BG down in a healthier feeling range.

I hope the Levemir can be like a fresh start. Please follow Wendy's advice on dosing;) Mo needs more insulin.

Many health issues can improve with good BG control. BG control is similar to the foundation of a house. Get it right, and the rest of the house has a better chance :)
 
I don't know about New Zealand but so far I haven't been able to find any information on getting Bupe compounded in Australia. I will be speaking to my vet hopefully today or tomorrow about it as I also can't afford Bupe the way it was given to me for Grem last time. In five days the Bupe would cost me more than his Meloxicam for two months!

Sending Vines to you and Mo!!!
 
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