10/9/12 - Salem off the wagon??

[Camille and Cyclone]

I did something that's probably stupid - the last couple of days Salem's been testing alarmingly high in the am, but he's come down by kitty lunch time about 5-6 hours later, but not to the nice low 60's/high 50's I like to see. On 9/27 and 9/28 he got blue numbers too. Plus I've been using the TRUEresult meter which I know tests lower than most so I get a little paranoid. So this afternoon when he was only down to 74 (which I assumed meant higher) after two highish mornings, I semi-panicked and shot a 0u dose. Right after that I tested with my old FreeStyle and got 78 - hardly a whole lot more. I know the insulin I gave isn't enough to do any harm really but will retest in a couple of hours.

The last two days:
10/8 am 144, +5.5 69
10/9 am 138, +5 74

I suspect he may be having a pancreatitis flare although I can't point to any specific symptoms except that he's not inhaling every speck of food in sight like he usually does. Have to go get more Pepsid. Anyway, I'm inclined to consider this a temporary bump unless numbers continue to creep higher but would welcome opinions of what to do.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Interesting that I had been in touch with Jill regarding Anne's cat, Muffin about insulin and withholding insulin in a cat that has pancreatitis flares. This is what I posted in Muffin's condo, yesterday.

What she [Jill] said is that given that Muffin's BG went up due to the pancreatitis flare, Muffin doesn't go OTJ in the usual sense of the word. Rather, Muffin may need to have one shot, a week or a month's worth, or who knows how many shots of insulin to help her through a bout of pancreatitis. As long as Muffin's beta cells regenerate faster than any damage occurs, her pancreas will be functioning. (My spin on this is to view insulin as an antibiotic or a pain med. You need it until the problem is resolved and you're back to normal.)

Jill made a very good point. You will probably need to monitor Muffin's BG forever. It may be the best early warning system you have that something is "off." Likewise, you will become an expert on the subtle signs and signals that Muffin may be starting a bout of pancreatitis. The sooner that you can intervene, the better.

If you think Salem is "off" in some way, do what you need to do if you think this is pancreatitis. Better to catch it early than before it is raging. Is there any chance there is some sort of stress that is raising AM numbers?

 

[Camille and Cyclone]

shot +2 : 76

Thanks! Quite a coincidence, but then pancreatitis is so common in FD kitties.

Salem gets stressed by too long a time between meals - I think he gets acid stomach and I need to be more regular with giving Pepsid. He has some sort of intestinal thing that shows up only as thickened intestinal walls and occasional vomiting foam especially when meals are late - no diarrhea or obvious illness. The commercial 'novel protein' diets I've been given (on the theory he has a food sensitivity) are way too high in carbs, but I'm considering a raw diet but have to adjust it for his (so far) mild kidney disease. I can also try putting down a frozen snack at night before I go to bed.