11/18 Squamee

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judy and squamee(GA)

judy and squamee(GA)

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Good Morning! It does look like a better day. :-D Squamee ate some last night, and again this morning, and has been grazing a little, also drinking! And she took her pill (with some encouragement)! Next I have to brave the lion in her den and give the Flagyl. I am waiting a bit to let her food settle!

OH, and her BG seems to be following a more normal pattern (for her)---don't know what those early AM lows were about. +8 (this morning because I didn't shoot till 11:30 last night) 230. Guess I am looking at .5 again this morning--or maybe .4 if she doesn't go up so high?
Have a good day, all!
 
So good to hear she's improving and eating more [and even getting her pill]!

Yes, I'd go with .4u minimum assuming she goes no lower than 230. .5 if you get a 30-50 point drop from last night's PS and .6 if she stays roughly even.

The thinking on this is that if she stays about even you need to increase to get some movement down. And at 300+ you really would not like to drop her from PS to PS more than 50 points so you would want to slow the decent by reducing. And if the is dropping 30-50 points well that is about perfect so you would keep the dose the same as what had previously caused that drop.
 
Thanks for the guidelines, Gator. As usual, helps me a lot.
AMPS (at +10) 241 .4U (That was after PMPS 333 last night).
Maybe the dramatic improvement today means I did get some Flagyl into her last night! (So that would indicate that she had some kind of infection?)
 
Mr. T is doing good, he ran off in the morning so he did not get his breakfast. I just got home and was outside and up came Mr. T croaking at me with his little voice. He will follow us around here like a dog even in the deep snow - it's cute. I caught him at the barn, which is maybe 50-75 yards away, a couple days ago and called for him - he came running up to the house FULL blast through the leaves - again sooo cute.

Quite a dip with just .4u wow - might have been a little of the shooting early thing too??
 
AMPS (at +10) 241 .4U
+4 123
+6 72 I don't have to be uneasy, do I? I am going to be working soon and won't be around to test for awhile.

I am so happy for Mr T! He is thrilled to have a friend! cat_pet_icon

edit--just got her to eat a little FFbeef
 
I'm not too concerned but it's your own judgment. Any chance in getting her interested in some low carb food? If you can get her eating I would be less concerned.

241 to 72 is a big dip.

EDIT: Mr. T is just about the happiest cat I've ever seen. I joke that I'd like some of whatever he's on.
 
I've been reading all your posts lately. I'm so glad squamee felt better today. It's no fair for either of you that she gives great numbers but it's only cuz she's not eating well! I hope tomorrow is even better!
 
Thank you, Claudia. She has been eating today, and I am about to go test her---so we will see what the numbers do now that she is feeling better.
 
Judy,
I just had some time to reflect on what is going on. I strongly suspect more is going on than whatever is causing the mouth symptoms. Vomiting, meh - might be from the mouth thing?? But the diarrhea is really what has me thinking you might also have an IBD situation going on too. How much and how long has the diarrhea been going on? Vomiting and diarrhea are both an IBD thing. I'm just wondering - not saying anything definite. A lot of her symptoms [except the mouth thing] seem like and IBD kitty. Maybe I'm just seeing that through my own lens of dealing with my IBD kitties.

Anyway, I might pursue the pancreatitis blood test. Let me know if you do that, I have some specific instructions.

Also has she ever had and abdominal ultrasound? If so when was it and how was it? I'm not hinting that you should get one - just wondering the specific if you have them.

Would you describe her at all as "lethargic?" [before and after the addition of the pheno]?

Are all the foods she is eating the gluten and or grain free variety?

Has your vet made any mention to you about IBD?
 
Yes, lower the dose if she is anything under PS of 250. At night I'd like to avoid such a big drop like today. Absolutely wait until she is over 150.

The odd thing is you say she is eating more and her insulin need is declining. If the eating more thing continues it'll be interesting to see what happens tonight.
 
Gator,
I am sure that you are right and there is more going on here than her FOPS. That she has had for months,but the vomiting and diarrhea has just been the past few days. After you mentioned pancreatitis to me, I asked the vet about it, and he prescribed the Flagyl. We started the Flagyl last night, and by this morning she was MUCH better. She has not vomited since, or had diarrhea. THe vet wants me to keep her on the medicine BID through the weekend, and to give her SubQ fluids on Saturday. I am assuming that the speed with which she responded to the meds means it was some kind of bacterial infection. Is pancreatitis a bacterial infection? (hmmm, I guess pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas--guess it could have various causes?). And yes, she was lethargic, and not eating. What would your instructions about a test for pancreatitis be?

She has never had an ultrasound. I believe most, if not all, of her food is gluten free. I know the FF flavors are. I have been trying to tempt her with other things lately---9 lives and Friskees, and I have not been as careful at checking those, but she has not had much of them. I

I am about to test her---it's almost +12. Back in a minute with the results.
 
fwiw, flagyl also has some anti-inflammatory properties and anti-diarheal too so perhaps the vet gave it thinking anti-inflammatory rather than antibiotic?
 
That is interesting, Cindy. I don' t know what the vet's thinking was. But it sure worked! Now she is back to her "normal sick " self. Lying on the couch under a blanket and sleeping most of the day. But she is not vomiting, no diarrhea, and she is eating.
 
This one is tough. .2u is so little insulin. But her numbers have been a little crazy. I'd almost be tempted to do .1u. It's your call Judy, .2 or .1.

EDIT: I thought she went down there at the end. But on re-look she went up. So I would think .2u at 177 is fine. It's a pretty small amount of insulin. Better than 1.1u at 177 ;-) lol sorry Judy - you don't deserve a hard time - just trying to add a little humor to the mix.

Before lights out tonight just give one last push to get some low carb in her if she'll eat it.
 
Sorry I updated the last post. .1u is fine too. I got a little confused about her numbers tonight.

I have no suggestions for the morning. I would expect she would be off to the races again perhaps with less dose so it's just going to be hard not to overcompensate. You know how I don't like more than .2u increases under 1u. Her numbers are a little hard to decipher right now. Maybe she had infection/inflammation going on that was effecting the BGs?? Who knows? If she is eating again I would be expecting the numbers to go back up faster than they are.

If you can/have the option do try to stick with the gluten free and/or grain free. I know you don't always have the option when a cat refuses to eat. Moms here takes care of feeding F. She just confessed to me tonight that she had been feeding him the "foo foo food" to get him eating after a food protest. He got major diarrhea last night and I didn't know why - now I know. Moms doesn't believe me about food - she still feeds the other cats [with known urinary issues] dry fud :YMSIGH: But I think she is slowly getting it. Anyway my point is that that wheaty/grainy stuff is bad news for the IBD kitties.
 
So following your guidelines, of not increasing by more than .2 when under 1U, my max shot would be .3. And I could shoot earlier than +12 if the numbers are high---I'll be up by +10.

Ok gator, fire away, I think I can now laugh at 1.1U. I mean, if I can give subQ fluids, that makes me at least a cousin of WonderWoman :lol:
 
I just wouldn't increase more than .2u per cycle under 1u unless you had 'good' reason.

I'm actually very surprised that S is cooperating with the SubQ - given that she is such a pill about pilling. I think that is a sign of excellent work on your part to make it as "comfortable" as possible for her.

The pancreatitis thing is reportedly [myself included] sometimes helped by making sure the fat in the diet is not too high [about 35-40% as % Kcal - hopefully not more than 45%]. But without the pancreatitis test I'm not sure if it would be worth it for you to stress over finding a low carb, medium fat, gluten [or grain] free food that S will also eat. I found it nearly impossible and that's why I started mixing in the home cooked. It becomes very difficult to find foods that fit all those criteria.

I have to laugh or I think I would have gone nutzo a long time ago. :-D The whole idea of getting blood from a cat to test their BGs [oh yea and especially cooking for one's cat :roll: - guilty] I think is a little crazy - so yea I have to laugh.
 
hi Judy,
heres a classic old post about pancreatitis- you should check it out:

Pancreatitis Jojo post:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... 722,876722

The pancreas has 2 distinct functions- make insulin and make digestive enzymes. In p'itis the digestive enzymes escape into the abdomen, instead of staying in the digestive tract, and they can actually digest the walls of internal organs, and can create an internal abcess. My understanding is that the AB's are to counteract any potential abcess that might occur, and if it is antiinflammatory, all the better. P'itis is painful

If its p'itis, famotadine (pepcid AC) is available as an injection (since she's so fond of pills)

So glad you are doing fluids- they should help a lot. GO girl! :cool:
 
sorry. got home a bit ago and been sitting here playing with my blind boy for a bit

anyhow, yeah, interesting indeed about the flagyl. i knew it the last few years as anti-diarheal, not even the antibiotic part, and then just recently with one of my girls, the vet put her on it and explained to me that it also worked as anti-inflammatory so it should help my girl's GI tract settle down (she was having some problems and ended up with a diagnosis of colitis). and it did, within 3 days she was more herself and eating some on her own again (i was having to syringe feed her). on the 4th day she went to eating fully on her own.
 
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