11/14 Maddy AMPS 194, + 3 156, +6 143

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april_sd

april_sd

Member Since 2014
Maddy seems to be a little off today. Yesterday, she threw up her morning meal about 30 minutes after eating. For the rest of the day she ate some treats, but was slow finish her actual food. Today her food consumption is back to normal, but she's been hanging out in the bedroom rather than the office. I'm also running a curve today, so she might be avoiding me for that reason.

I have scheduled a visit to her vet for Wednesday morning to see if she cleared her UTI from a few weeks ago. With the exception of her PM cycle last night, her numbers have improved on the higher dose. I'm planning to hold her at 1.75 until I know whether I'm actually shooting around an infection.
 
Re: 11/10 Maddy AMPS 368, +2 346, +4 296, +6 271

Hi

I am sorry maddy isn't feeling too well. When you go the vets you might want them to do a general blood test. Remi was recently diagnosed with low potassium and when he started the supplements he perked right up (until they upset his tummy yesterday).

Has she been diagnosed with pancreatitis? This can make a cat feel nauseous and throw up. The vet can prescribe an anti nausea med like ondansetron or cerenia. I give remi ondansetron every day and when he was sick like yesterday I upped it. It's a very handy drug to have.

Hope she perks up soon. You are testing for ketones aren't you?
 
Re: 11/10 Maddy AMPS 368, +2 346, +4 296, +6 271

Poor Maddy. :sad: cat_pet_icon

Has she vomited up any white foam lately if she didn't eat for a while? That could be a sign of excess stomach acid. There's a good symptom checker on Tanya's site here.

If Maddy hasn't been diagnosed with pancreatitis but you want to get the vet to check, the vet can run either a SNAP fPL or Spec fPL test. The SNAP test is a yes/no test, but Spec fPL is quantative so you'd have a benchmark for progress. It's a while since I read up on the two, but I think the Spec fPL may be more accurate but don't quote me. I think kitty needs to fast beforehand so it might be an idea to ask the vet beforehand if it's worth running the tests so Maddy would be ready for the test during her Wednesday visit.
 
Re: 11/10 Maddy AMPS 368, +2 346, +4 296, +6 271

Thanks for the information, Aine and Sarah. I will call the vet tomorrow and see if what he recommends for the pancreatitis test and if she needs to fast. Yesterday's vomit was all food and treats, but Maddy has vomited white foam in the past, usually when we don't feed her on time. It's just been such a challenge to balance feeding her when she wants and feeding her at an appropriate time to get a good BG reading and give her insulin. I've also been checking for ketones daily. She's been negative.
 
Re: 11/10 Maddy AMPS 368, +2 346, +4 296, +6 271

With feeding the only real time you need her to be without food is 2 hours before her preshot tests otherwise she can pretty much free feed on the canned food. Before there was a small herd of hovers here I would just refill the plates when they got empty up until 2 hours before preshot tests then I would pick it up for those 2 hours and set it right back down full again as soon as I tested and was ready to give the shot.

Other folks find using automatic feeders or even freezing portions and putting them down frozen so kitty can nosh as they defrost helps some too. If she did throw up food, then it could have been a scarf and barf as well which is just eating too fast because she was too hungry. I had a foster kitty here for awhile that I had to really watch first thing in the morning because she was still use to her crunchy food and would get too hungry overnight and then in the morning would bolt down breakfast only to see it again in about 20 minutes. Just simply because she ate too quickly. With Roxy my foster I would spread her breakfast out thinly over a large dinner plate so she had to work at it to get it all and that made her slow down enough to keep the food in her stomach.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: 11/11 Maddy AMPS 322, +6 257

Maddy seems to have perked up a bit more today. She had some real attitude at breakfast time. Today was the one of the first cloudy and cool days of what counts as fall in Southern California. Maddy and I enjoyed a nice long nap this afternoon.

In regards to her feeding issues, I think the main problem has been adjusting to the time change. We do the whole test/feed/shoot routine at 7:30. The problem is that both Maddy and I are getting up 6:30. The disruption in the routine and the extra hour without food makes it more likely that she will scarf and barf. I'm sure it will all even out soon.
 
Re: 11/11 Maddy AMPS 322, +6 257

Hi April
Hope Maddy is doing OK and that you will be able to get her tested.
Please take care.
 
Re: 11/12 Maddy AMPS 252

Good morning!

We just got back from the vet and he took a urine sample. We'll know tomorrow if Maddy has a UTI that might be affecting her numbers. Since most of Maddy's vomiting in the past month can be explain by either "scarf and barf" conditions or constipation (vomiting near the litter box), the vet advised on holding off on a pancreatitis test. I'm going to start giving her a small amount of Miralax to help get her some more fiber. And the morning routine for test/feed/shoot is getting back on track. Maddy even surprised me this morning with a much lower AMPS than we've seen in a while.
 
Re: 11/13 Maddy AMPS 299

We heard back from the vet. Maddy tested positive for a UTI. I decided to go with Clavamox for this round rather than Baytril. Her BG numbers didn't improve at all when we treated her last UTI with Baytril, so I'm hoping to see some lower readings once we start her on this round of antibiotics.
 
Re: 11/13 Maddy AMPS 299

hi April
i also use Clavamox when one of my civies gets a uti and it works very well for her. hope it helps Maddy. curing that uti should hopefully bring her BG down too. sending you healing vibes.
 
Re: 11/13 Maddy AMPS 299

Yep the problem was probably the empty tummy. Clamox is very very bitter, it works great for UTI's but tastes nasty, and that is more than likely what started the retching
Then that was compounded by the empty tummy.

When I use it with my cats I mix it with tuna juice in the syringe to mask the taste. And always give it after they have eaten. It also can cause the runs so I dust the food with fortiflora or give just a teaspoon of plain unsweetened yogurt with it to offset the liquid poos.

How did Maddy do last night and how is she this morning?

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: 11/14 Maddy AMPS 194, keeping food down

Last night Maddy was still struggling to keep food down. I ended up blending together the smaller bits and dust from her Whole Life chicken treats with water to create "chicken milk" and syringe fed it to her. Once she was able to keep it down and I got a negative ketone test, I went to bed. I checked on her a few times during the night and she purred when I pet her. She didn't eat at all overnight though.

At PM +11 (6:30), her BG was 164. I fed her some more "chicken milk" and then she independently drank water and ate a little bit of fancy feast. She seems to be keeping it down. I tested her again at her AMPS and she the food moved her up to 194. I gave her at BCS of 0.5 units of insulin. I'm around today to keep an eye on her. I'm going to wait until she eating more consistently to try the Clavamox again. I'll have the DH pick up some tuna when he goes to the grocery store so that I can mix it with the juice.
 
Re: 11/14 Maddy AMPS 194, keeping food down

Glad to hear she is back on her nom-noms

Somewhere around here (I'll see if I can find it for you) there is a liver shake recipe for sick kitties when they go off their feed. It's gross but apparently they think it's liquid heaven. It worked awesome for my little foster girl when she was so sick from chemo that she wanted nothing to due with food at all. And at least got enough food in her to be able to keep her high enough to give insulin too.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Re: 11/14 Maddy AMPS 194, keeping food down

I'm so pleased and relieved for you both! cat_pet_icon

I used a commercial recovery diet called Liquivite for Saoirse that sounds similar to the liver shake that Mel mentioned. Lower protein and higher fat than a maintenance diet, but low carb. It was a godsend in helping her to recover from the flare-up. I keep a stock of it at home now.
 
Maddy continues to improve. She's kept food down all day. She's eating and drinking on her own, but not with her typical gusto. She also continues to test negative for ketones.

Since I am her least favorite person right now, I'm going to wait to start the Clavamox again tomorrow with tuna juice and plenty of food in her tummy. I'm also thinking about keeping her dosage at 0.5 units until she's eating a bit more consistently and I can see how the antibiotic is going to affect her glucose levels.
 
that's a good idea . when the infection clears up it could drop her BG quite a bit. good luck with the clavamox tomorrow
 
Just about betting once the infection is gone she goes back to OTJ status. Linda's Sammy did after a UTI took her out briefly.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
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