05/23 Merry vet appt today

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LuanneP

LuanneP

Member Since 2017
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/merry-05-17-too-many-yellows.195712/#post-2192151

The vet is coming over this afternoon to examine Merry to see if we can figure out why his BG readings are higher now. We had decided when I talked to her to do a u/a first but he doesn't have the typical signs of a UTI. He's not drinking a lot & he's not peeing a lot. I honestly don't see any reason why we lost his good numbers (physically he looks great, eats great, no vomiting or diarhea, his mouth looks ok on visual inspection etc) so I hope it's not something serious going on internally. I'm thinking we should do bloodwork today as opposed to the u/a. The vet was just trying to save me money by doing the u/a first since Diabetics are more prone to UTIs but when I don't see signs of a UTI I'm not sure that's the way we should go. I still owe her over $1000 & I still have an even bigger balance on my visa for Beau's ER stay the beginning of April. And of course, others need vetting, Simon needs an abdominal ultrasound very soon because he's losing weight quite fast & his bloodwork is perfect, my dogs need their annual bloodwork, etc. It never ends.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what we should look for & test him for that would cause his BG numbers to go higher? He seems to be staying in the yellows & high blues now despite giving him increases in his insulin. He's up to 4.5u now :(
 
Sometimes you just have to go back up to go back down again. Beta cells get tired and glucose toxicity sets it. For an example, take a look at Libby's Lucy's SS. She had to go up to over 4 units, got quite a ways down in dose, then back up again over 4 units. Before turning round and eventually going OTJ.

Has the vet checked his teeth? I lost track of the hundreds I spent on negative urine cultures. My vet kept on suggesting it, but Neko never had a UTI. She didn't show symptoms either.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Sometimes you just have to go back up to go back down again. Beta cells get tired and glucose toxicity sets it. For an example, take a look at Libby's Lucy's SS. She had to go up to over 4 units, got quite a ways down in dose, then back up again over 4 units. Before turning round and eventually going OTJ.

Has the vet checked his teeth? I lost track of the hundreds I spent on negative urine cultures. My vet kept on suggesting it, but Neko never had a UTI. She didn't show symptoms either.
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So for Lucy there was no obvious health reason? That's interesting.

Merry had a dental in Sept 2017 and had a couple bad teeth out. Having the dental didn't have any effect on his BG numbers though, they didn't come down as a result. His mouth looks ok on visual inspection from what I can tell but the vet will look as well when she sees him today.

The only obvious thing I can see is that he's a bit sore due to arthritis but he's been that way since he came to me so it's not new, unless he is feeling more uncomfortable but hiding it well as they always do.
 
I agree with Wendy, it might just be an insulin issue and you’ll need to go up in dose to get back down to a good dose again, I hope that’s all it is.

Pain can cause the numbers to go up as well. See if your vet has any suggestions re: arthritis and try to address that since it’s a known issue. Pain needs, Adequan, etc. I’m a fan of Adequan now, wish we tried it a lot sooner. My vets said they didn’t think it was helpful for cats, but I will always push to try it from now on because it does work very well for some cats and you won’t know unless you give it a try. Hope everything goes well, vetty vines for Merry and money tree blooming vines for you! :bighug:
 
Stacy & Asia said:
I agree with Wendy, it might just be an insulin issue and you’ll need to go up in dose to get back down to a good dose again, I hope that’s all it is.

Pain can cause the numbers to go up as well. See if your vet has any suggestions re: arthritis and try to address that since it’s a known issue. Pain needs, Adequan, etc. I’m a fan of Adequan now, wish we tried it a lot sooner. My vets said they didn’t think it was helpful for cats, but I will always push to try it from now on because it does work very well for some cats and you won’t know unless you give it a try. Hope everything goes well, vetty vines for Merry and money tree blooming vines for you! :bighug:
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LOL! Re the money tree blooming vines ;) If only it were that easy.

I didn't realize it could just be he needed to go back up before going back down until Wendy mentioned it but I think I'll get bloodwork done anyway. I did try Merry on Gabapentin but it didn't make a difference. I don't find Gabapentin works for arthritic pain in cats at all (I've had a couple of my others on it as well with no results). Could be co-incidence but I noted on his SS on March 31 that he hurt his back leg & he started seeing more yellows after that. Maybe it's still bothering him more than usual but he's not limping on it like he was, the limping only lasted a few days.

In Canada we don't have Adequan (at least we didn't a few years ago) but we have Cartrophen Vet which is used off-label in cats. I've used it in the past for a couple kitties & dogs & didn't notice any great results with it either. http://www.cartrophen.com/for-vets/what-is-cartrophen-vet/

I just bought some NuLeaf CBD oil & I started Griffin, my 16 yr old kitty, on it last night for his arthritis. If I think it helps him than I will try Merry on it. I also want to try Merry on it for his aggression towards the others. He's such a bully to the other cats, they're all terrified of him :( I have to keep him separate for everyone's safety (remember I had to go the ER in Dec after Merry p*ssed Simon off & my hand got in the middle).
 
I didn’t know about Adequan not being available in Canada, that’s unfortunate. They really need to find more options for cats with pain/inflammation, it’s so limited. Will the vet let you try buprenex? It’s good with arthritis pain, I also use CBD oil, or CBD pills actually, I don’t think I’d choose it to use on its own to manage pain, but I found it works very well in combination with the buprenex (don’t need as much buprenex). It also might calm him down with some of his bully issues. I know he’s just overcompensating for his hearing loss, but seriously, Merry, you have to play nice with the other kitties and beans! :facepalm:
 
It's ECID on how well Cartrophen works. I had one civvie for whom it was amazing. Neko it helped a bit. Duralactin also helped. Buprenorphine and acupuncture were the best for helping her pain.

Lucy was not the only cat that's had to go up to go down, just an easily accessible SS. Check out Judy's Boomer last year when he got glucose toxicity after his dental. Though he didn't have to go as high.
 
I already have Buprenorphine on hand so can try Merry on that for his arthritis. One thing I've wanted to try for Griffin mostly, but would also use it on Merry, is the Assisi Loop. It's supposed to work great on pain & inflammation. I've been thinking about that for a while now so maybe once I get some of these vet debts paid off I'll order it. I think I will get the u/a done after all because the rescue said they would pay for it so I better get it done while they're still willing to help a wee bit. And I'll get a senior blood panel, including T4, done as well. The vet will be here in a couple hours.
 
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