8/26 Christy - 158 AMPS, 140 +2.5 --- RBC Up, Kidney Values Down! :-)

Michele A & Christy

Michele A & Christy

Member Since 2022
I took Christy in for her 5-week-post-diagnosis checkup this morning. It's been 3.5 weeks since we were last in there. I'm waiting for them to email me her lab results to know if there has been any change in her RBC or kidney values.

But the vet basically chastised me for testing Christy as often as I have been doing and told me that I really should only be testing if I notice that she is drinking more water or "showing signs of hypoglycemia".

And. . . I don't agree with that approach.

I guess I'm looking for input from the group about how often I've been testing. Because if I was only following the vet's instructions, I'd still be giving Christy 2u at each shot and who knows how often she would have danced on the edge of hypoglycemia or actually fallen into it.

Depending on what's going on with Christy (and with me), I test more or less times each day than the previous day. Sure, I don't want to poke her ear every 2 hours every single day of the week, but I don't like the idea of flying blind, either; especially since she was only diagnosed a little over a month ago!
 
tiffmaxee said:
I’d nod, smile and continue testing. You saw a 97 yesterday at +4 which is close to a reduction with SLGS. I would have tested again at +5 or 6. We don’t know how low she’s going at night. I’d occasionally grab a +4-6.
Click to expand...

Thank you! That's sort of what I did. I'll definitely continue testing.

The vet said something along the lines of, "Her numbers look good, she's at a good dose, she's putting on weight and doing better overall; just give her the insulin and stop poking her unless something looks off." And I said, "Yes, she's doing well on this dose only because I was testing her all along to find out what the right dose is for her."

And, btw, the frequent testing is how I figured out that she has improved enough, and gained back enough strength in her back legs, to jump up on the bathroom counter. . . where a bowl of dry food is. :facepalm: The high numbers on 8/14 - 8/16 clued me in that something was going on. Then I discovered that my mom has been leaving the lid off the bowl of dry food in the bathroom for hours at night when I'm in bed. :mad:

Oh, and Christy's leg strength has come back so much that she jumped from the floor up into the cat condo that is in the middle of the cat tree in the living room. That was a 41" -- almost 3.5-foot -- vertical jump! Yay, Christy!
 
Ha, don't you love when your sleuthing pays off! Naughty girl, sneaking crunchies on the down low :p

I hate having to nod and smile and keep doing what I'm doing, but it's so common with vets that unfortunately we have to get good at it in the end.
You know you are doing the best for your baby and getting much better results than if you listened to this nitwit, so give yourself a huge pat on the back!
 
I really don't understand why a vet would tell anyone they should be less aware of what is going on inside that feline diabetic's little body! :banghead: :banghead: :rolleyes:

knowledge is power. As you mention, if not for your so-called extra testing, you wouldn't even be where you are today as far as making progress towards regulation.

I do agree with Elise that your spreadsheet could use some more data in the evening cycle. That is tough, don't I know it, so many nights I was up into the wee hours to get a +4 or a +6. I thought I knew for sure that a +6 would never be his low point then one night I stayed up and boom, he earned his first reduction at +6 with a 45!

If I recall, it was Elise of course who firmly suggested I add some more testing in the PM cycle, as cats often do go lower at night during that cycle as opposed to the day cycle. Thanks @tiffmaxee your candor is such a blessing in a world where people seem to never say what they really mean.
 
Hendrick Cuddleclaw said:
I really don't understand why a vet would tell anyone they should be less aware of what is going on inside that feline diabetic's little body! :banghead: :banghead: :rolleyes:

knowledge is power. As you mention, if not for your so-called extra testing, you wouldn't even be where you are today as far as making progress towards regulation.

I do agree with Elise that your spreadsheet could use some more data in the evening cycle. That is tough, don't I know it, so many nights I was up into the wee hours to get a +4 or a +6. I thought I knew for sure that a +6 would never be his low point then one night I stayed up and boom, he earned his first reduction at +6 with a 45!

If I recall, it was Elise of course who firmly suggested I add some more testing in the PM cycle, as cats often do go lower at night during that cycle as opposed to the day cycle. Thanks @tiffmaxee your candor is such a blessing in a world where people seem to never say what they really mean.
Click to expand...

RIGHT?? It's bonkers to me that she would tell me to stop testing unless Christy seems off. Just like when she was insisting that I only feed at shot times. Period. The end. No food for 12 hours. And, egads, Christy was severely underweight and prone to vomiting stomach juice when she went without food too long. So I smiled and nodded on that directive, too.

I sincerely wish I could test more overnight. Because it would mean that my own health issues were resolved. Unfortunately, if I get less than 8-9 hours of sleep I have flare-ups and can't function at all. So I get as ready for bed as I can, test Christy at 9:00 PM, then go to bed. If I'm lucky, I'm asleep by 9:30 and stay that way until the alarm goes off at 6:00 AM.

I would, of course, stay up or get up for anything urgent, but then I'd have to call in sick to work the next day. The health issue sucks and I don't have much of a life because of it.
 
Doctors don't tell parents to stop testing their human babies if they are giving insulin, why should we stop testing our fur-babies who are even less able to tell us how they are feeling? Besides which, my cat would have complained loudly if I slowed down the test/treat routine. She was right there ready and waiting near the testing spot once I started getting ready for bed.

We've had several members who have sleep issues. Just keep getting those before bed tests and leave appropriate food out if you think Christy is going low that night. Do you have an autofeeder for her, just in case? Or will she just graze food left out?
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Doctors don't tell parents to stop testing their human babies if they are giving insulin, why should we stop testing our fur-babies who are even less able to tell us how they are feeling? Besides which, my cat would have complained loudly if I slowed down the test/treat routine. She was right there ready and waiting near the testing spot once I started getting ready for bed.

We've had several members who have sleep issues. Just keep getting those before bed tests and leave appropriate food out if you think Christy is going low that night. Do you have an autofeeder for her, just in case? Or will she just graze food left out?
Click to expand...

I leave food out overnight because, yes, she is a grazer.

She is also a "social" eater, at least when there's a human around. My mom is a night owl who keeps vampire hours and snacks a lot, so every time she goes into the kitchen after I've gone to bed, Christy jumps down from her heated perch to check out what my mom is doing and, if Grandma doesn't give her any liver treats, she'll head over to her bowls of wet food.

And my mom knows to "fluff' the food (stir it a bit) and/or add a little bit of water to perk it up. And I always have cans of low-carb food lined up along the back splash so my mom can give Christy fresh food if the stuff in her bowls isn't appetizing.

So, basically, her overnight eating pattern is the same as her daytime eating pattern. :-)
 
Just got the results from Christy's bloodwork this morning.
  • Her GLU was a food-and-stress elevated 145. (Her last two vet office tests were 435 at dx, and 321 at 1-week recheck). Yay!
  • Her RBC was 7.47, up from 6.93. Yay!
  • Her BUN was 35, down from 46. Yay!
  • Her CREAT was 2.6, down from 3.3. Yay!

BUT... her PHOS was 6.0, which is up from 3.8 last time. Range is 3.4 - 8.5. So she's within range but I don't think it's good that it's going up.

Her MCV is slightly elevated so I need to get off the stick and add B12 to her food. The capsules came last week but I keep forgetting about them. :facepalm:
 
Good news on some of the kidney values, but bummer on the phosphorus. Looks like you should be experimenting with lower P food to see if you can find something she'll like. If you look at Tanya's site on CKD, you'll see that 6 or above is too high.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Good news on some of the kidney values, but bummer on the phosphorus. Looks like you should be experimenting with lower P food to see if you can find something she'll like. If you look at Tanya's site on CKD, you'll see that 6 or above is too high.
Click to expand...

Yep. I bought a bunch of low-phos / low-carb Weruva BFF pates immediately after her July 25 lab results, which first showed kidney problems. Some days she'll eat an entire 3 oz can of BFF, and some days she turns her nose up at it and I give her Wellness pate.

I ordered aluminum hydroxide from Thriving Pets last night, after seeing that 6.0 PHOS value on yesterday's labs. I'll add it to the Wellness pates.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top