Laura and Quincy
Active Member
I am happy and grateful to celebrate Quincy's lucky 13th birthday today! Quincy has had some challenges over the past couple years - IBD/lymphoma diagnosis in April 2008, the loss of his kitty "sister" Cleo 4 months ago, and the addition of Katie dog in November - but he's not only hanging in there, but is a happy, good little boy.
(ANTI-JINX!) The GI problems (vomiting, regurgitating, loose stools, diarrhea) that started plaguing him soon after Katie joined the family have diminished considerably. He has normal BMs pretty consistently now, and last vomited on Jan 29 (only clear liquid, no food). (ANTI-JINX!)
Diabetes-wise, he's been a little champion. Last week he earned himself a dosecrease with his usual drama - a +3 dip into the 30s on Feb 2. So I took him down from 0.35 to 0.25. He's been on 0.25 for a week now, and is holding his own with that oh-so-difficult-to-measure dose. He may be getting ready for another decrease, as last night he dropped to 52 for his +3. With the help of a good amount of food and a little bit of Karo syrup, I kept him surfing in the 50s for a few hours (note I use small amounts of Karo because I don't want to overfeed him as it may lead to vomiting.) I was hoping he could spend a little time at this dose, at least through his vet appt next week, rather than rush him down to a lower one.
I think switching to mini-meals has helped a lot with the vomiting and with Quincy's BG numbers. I give him smaller breakfast and dinners now, which I split in half. He eats half with his shot, and then about a half hour later, he gets the other half. He also gets snacks, probably 4-6 of them, at different points in the day, before bed, and around 1am courtesy of a timer feeder. The snacks are usually the size of an ice cube (since I make/freeze food for him), and sometimes are smaller.
Quincy has his three-month vet appt next Tues, and I will be very curious to see how his lab work is and what the vet thinks we should do for his lymphoma. A month ago, I was really thinking he needed something to supplement his chemo drug (leukeran), and was ready to give budenoside a try. Now I'm not so sure. I don't want to wait until it's too late, but Quincy's quality of life seems very good right now, so I'm a little nervous to be almost "overly proactive" and potentially upset the delicate balance we seem to have achieved. That's why I'm just going to wait and see what the labs tell us. In addition to talking with him about budenoside, I wanted to see if B-12 shots might be an option for him. We haven't tried them. I know that's more for IBD than for lymphoma, but I'm thinking anything I can readily do to keep the inflammation in Quincy's GI tract at a minimum is a good thing.
So that's the latest with my little boy. Katie and Quincy are doing pretty well together. Katie still gets a little too excited with him, especially with the licking, but Quincy's definitely not cowering in fear. I partition off my bedroom with a baby gate when I'm out, but usually when I come home, Quincy's not in there. So he's pretty comfortable with Katie around. Sometimes he even goes to sleep on top of her crate! Here's a cute photo of them together waiting for breakfast: Breakfast buddies
We've started celebrating today with some yummy baby food. I bought him a peacock feather and a new toy, which we'll break out later today along with the party hats. I would have liked to take him out for a walk in the yard today, but it's probably going to be too cold. That'll have to wait until the weekend; we're supposed to see temps in the 70s here in southern CA. Quincy loves his outdoor time more than ever (probably because he's jealous Katie gets to go out so much), and lately has been enjoying walking on the roof of our house. We have a flat roof, which is easily accessible via a few steps in the yard, and Quincy likes going up there (not alone - with someone else, and on a leash!) It's funny being with him on the roof, looking down at Katie in the yard.
So that's our birthday report. I really am thankful to be here today, and to share it with you all! In case you're curious, here some photos we took for Quincy's birthday. He's decked out in his festive scarf in many of them.
Quincy's birthday photo session
I hope everyone has a great day. Here's a special toast to all the gray kitties out there! (((Logan)))
(ANTI-JINX!) The GI problems (vomiting, regurgitating, loose stools, diarrhea) that started plaguing him soon after Katie joined the family have diminished considerably. He has normal BMs pretty consistently now, and last vomited on Jan 29 (only clear liquid, no food). (ANTI-JINX!)
Diabetes-wise, he's been a little champion. Last week he earned himself a dosecrease with his usual drama - a +3 dip into the 30s on Feb 2. So I took him down from 0.35 to 0.25. He's been on 0.25 for a week now, and is holding his own with that oh-so-difficult-to-measure dose. He may be getting ready for another decrease, as last night he dropped to 52 for his +3. With the help of a good amount of food and a little bit of Karo syrup, I kept him surfing in the 50s for a few hours (note I use small amounts of Karo because I don't want to overfeed him as it may lead to vomiting.) I was hoping he could spend a little time at this dose, at least through his vet appt next week, rather than rush him down to a lower one.
I think switching to mini-meals has helped a lot with the vomiting and with Quincy's BG numbers. I give him smaller breakfast and dinners now, which I split in half. He eats half with his shot, and then about a half hour later, he gets the other half. He also gets snacks, probably 4-6 of them, at different points in the day, before bed, and around 1am courtesy of a timer feeder. The snacks are usually the size of an ice cube (since I make/freeze food for him), and sometimes are smaller.
Quincy has his three-month vet appt next Tues, and I will be very curious to see how his lab work is and what the vet thinks we should do for his lymphoma. A month ago, I was really thinking he needed something to supplement his chemo drug (leukeran), and was ready to give budenoside a try. Now I'm not so sure. I don't want to wait until it's too late, but Quincy's quality of life seems very good right now, so I'm a little nervous to be almost "overly proactive" and potentially upset the delicate balance we seem to have achieved. That's why I'm just going to wait and see what the labs tell us. In addition to talking with him about budenoside, I wanted to see if B-12 shots might be an option for him. We haven't tried them. I know that's more for IBD than for lymphoma, but I'm thinking anything I can readily do to keep the inflammation in Quincy's GI tract at a minimum is a good thing.
So that's the latest with my little boy. Katie and Quincy are doing pretty well together. Katie still gets a little too excited with him, especially with the licking, but Quincy's definitely not cowering in fear. I partition off my bedroom with a baby gate when I'm out, but usually when I come home, Quincy's not in there. So he's pretty comfortable with Katie around. Sometimes he even goes to sleep on top of her crate! Here's a cute photo of them together waiting for breakfast: Breakfast buddies
We've started celebrating today with some yummy baby food. I bought him a peacock feather and a new toy, which we'll break out later today along with the party hats. I would have liked to take him out for a walk in the yard today, but it's probably going to be too cold. That'll have to wait until the weekend; we're supposed to see temps in the 70s here in southern CA. Quincy loves his outdoor time more than ever (probably because he's jealous Katie gets to go out so much), and lately has been enjoying walking on the roof of our house. We have a flat roof, which is easily accessible via a few steps in the yard, and Quincy likes going up there (not alone - with someone else, and on a leash!) It's funny being with him on the roof, looking down at Katie in the yard.
So that's our birthday report. I really am thankful to be here today, and to share it with you all! In case you're curious, here some photos we took for Quincy's birthday. He's decked out in his festive scarf in many of them.
Quincy's birthday photo session
I hope everyone has a great day. Here's a special toast to all the gray kitties out there! (((Logan)))
I hope your day is filled with snuggles and catnip.
