2/19 Curry OTJ but numbers creeping up

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Tena and Curry(GA)

Tena and Curry(GA)

Member Since 2010
Poor Curry. Just because she's off the juice she doesn't really get any reprieve from getting poked. I'm a bit hyper about that fact she has asthma...not so much about the flovent, but the inflammation it causes and how it impacts her glucose.

Her numbers are slowly creeping up. I just updated her SS as best I can. It seems lately that after she eats, her numbers don't really come down much...stays pretty flat or creeps up.
Meter averages are:
7 day - 102
14 day - 102
30 day - 104

Tree pollen in Houston increases in mid January and that's when I noticed her nadir increasing along w/other numbers. No coughing...but yesterday and today all of us were sneezing. Took her to the vet....everything was OK. Esinophil count was near the high end and vet sd she sounded a wee bit wheezy. All P's in place....BM issue was resolved by discontinuing the raw food...only BM's every 4 days, now back to every 2....even w/miralax. Had used Lax'aire to help and found out it had sugar in when I called Pfizer.

Last year she was on insulin during this time so I don't know what her numbers typically do w/o insulin during the allergy season. I noticed her nadirs beginning to change around Jan. 21st or so.....and that's when the tree pollen began to increase.

K, I may be jumping the gun a bit.....But, I'm "toying" the idea of giving her a token dose of insulin.....Maybe a drop.... I 've got 3 pens left...expiration date 8/13.....We've got 3 more months at least for allergy season now and just concerned the inflammation over a period of time will make her pancreas work a bit harder. And allergy season hasn't even peaked yet.

I've gone back to 8 meals a day...at 6, 9, 12 and 3 for both AM and PM. I'm using the autofeeders. Sid isn't interested in the food there so that's helpful. Giving her 1% carb...Merrick BG Beef or Turkey.

Feedback is appreciated.
 
Tena looked at your SS, and before you begin to panic--Normal numbers for an OTJ cat
is 60-120 and Curry only has 1 number there above 120, and other texts say even 130 is still normal for non diabetic cats...Before you panic, please PM Barbara & Tuffy who has been OTJ for a long time...and has had much experience with out of bounds numbers...
I think you are still safe & with only a couple of numbers out of range I'd say you are doing a great job!!
Stay Off That Juice Curry!!--Hugs & Love from us!! :mrgreen:
 
Heeeee....who me, panic?.....uh, a bit. ;-)

Thanks Roni. Appreciate a looksy at my SS.

I'm just thinking about the impact of her asthma and inflammation on her numbers....and the allergy season has only just begun. We are at 851 or so for pollen count....And I know that will quadruple when Spring is here.

It almost sounds like I'm wanting to use the insulin as a preventative measure...ummmmm......I just don't want to come home and find her in the 200's in March.....

Maybe I just need to put Curry in a bubble for the next 3 months.... ohmygod_smile

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Dont worry until you have to Worry is a wasted bunch of energy with now where to go but into our minds & emotions..When you see numbers in a consistant fashion that are higher--Then you can worry--Not before-OK?
 
Roni and Moonie said:
Dont worry until you have to Worry is a wasted bunch of energy with now where to go but into our minds & emotions..When you see numbers in a consistant fashion that are higher--Then you can worry--Not before-OK?
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm a very GOOD worrier. :smile:
 
Hi Tena, no advice here but just wanted to say hi and lend some support. Cute pic above with kitty bubble. I'll be interested in others' feedback. I'm so sorry sweet Curry has asthma. Take care and have a good day.
 
Allergies can result in inflammation and can then have an effect on BG numbers. When Gabby was licking the fur off of her belly, my vet made the following recommendations regarding allergy:

There are several options—there is a product called Allerderm which is applied once weekly to the skin which can be quite helpful for itchy or dry skin. Additional fish oil omega-3 fatty acids, 200-250 mg daily, are often helpful, but may take up to 2 weeks to really have an effect. Antihistamines are often helpful—we seem to have the best success with Zyrtec, which is over-the-counter, or hydroxyzine which is a prescription medication.

We have Allerderm here, but you may be able to order it online. Zyrtec dosage is ½ of a 10 mg tablet by mouth (in food…) twice daily, or about every 12 hours, try for 7 days. Watch for drowsiness or restlessness, although side effects from Zyrtec are not likely or are very mild. Use plain Zyrtec, or cetirizine, only—no combo meds. The fish oil product we use is AllerG3, or you can use human products
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If you try the Omega-3, make sure that you're actually getting the actual dose of the fish oil vs. some base oil in the measurement. (I've seen some where in a 1000mg dose, only half is actually an Omega-3.) Also, some cats are allergic to fish.
 
Hi Tena!

Nice to see you and Curry! I have been wondering the same thing myself about Ms Zoe.....her pre-shot numbers are creeping up and the tree pollen is high here in SW Florida (higher than normal). I gave Zoe 1/4 of a claritin tab because she sounded congested to me and that has helped the congestion, and a little bit with her pre-shot numbers. just hate to give it, if she doesn't need it.

Were you making your own raw food? I had been experimenting with Stella & Chewy's freeze dried raw....Zoe loves it, I haven't seen any changes in her numbers, but it does seem to be a little constipating :sad: I know use it just as "topping" to her regular foods.


Great to see you!!
 
Hi Tena! Love the bubble picture, hahaha!

I hope the creeping BG is just a tiny bit of creep and doesn't indicate anything except maybe the pollen.

We get so used to seeing green numbers that we don't like to see even a tiny bit of blue at 101. I'm the same way with BigMac.
Personally, I have to sit on my hands and decide what number is high enough to give that drop of juice before I over-react. (I did that once, [over-reacted at 120] and had to HC all day. :shock: )

For me the threshold is - if I see two or three numbers above 150 with no signs of getting back down. That happened recently and I did give a drop of insulin which seemed to knock him back into normal. Every situation is different and in this case, I knew what made BigMac go higher. I am trying to get him to gain weight and allowed the petsitter to give him HC while I was out of town for 4 days. Maybe I should have waited it out after his normal diet was resumed - but I didn't. :roll: He's getting lower now.

So I do understand you wanting to do a pre-emptive strike. I asked my vet about it and she bounced the ball back to me and said I knew what was best for my kitty. :o :lol:
 
Ann - thanks for visiting and the support. I'm waiting on another pic of your sweet Maggie.

Sienne - thanks on the information. I did go check to see the dosage in her Salmon Oil to compare. She gets Carlson's Salmon Oil....she takes what I take....1000mg...with 750mg of it as Omega 3. Is there another product that has 100% omega 3's?

Sherry - I was hoping you would stop by. I had been feeding her 1/2 medallion twice a day...not much really....of the Nature's Variety organic chicken....I could buy it right here in Houston. But it made her a little constipated and it is 4% carbs. Right now I'm shooting for 1%. I did give Curry, as an expriement some FF Beef classic which is suppose to only be 4%...I think its higher and she shot right up to 130. So I wonder....as the pollen season begins......does the increase in bg's impact the pancreas over time? Even though Curry's numbers aren't that high...I wonder if it makes the parcreas work harder? Today I'm cleaning all the carpets.....and will be vacuuming 3x per week for the next 3 months.

CD - thank you for the input. Very helpful....When you see the 150 3x.....is that in one day?.....in a week?

So I bought another DVD... the one Marje has for Tobey....CatTV.....Curry loves it.....I snagged two photos on my iphone....
 

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CD - thank you for the input. Very helpful....When you see the 150 3x.....is that in one day?.....in a week?
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The 3 numbers over 150 were within 3 days. I shot the drop of insulin on the 3rd day. And he went down to normal and has stayed below 110 since then. Yes, I'd like it to be under 99 but now without the insulin he is creeping lower each day.

Recently, I've been testing him twice a day. I used to test only weekly since he's been OTJ. But because I am trying to get his weight up and feed more, I test more often. Weight loss used to signal the diabetes had returned and that's why I started more testing. But he has liver disease now which can cause weight loss. Food is very important for him due to the liver disease.
Jill told me that food/calories is like medicine for the liver. :-D

It is really hard to be patient sometimes, hahaha! I'm used to his numbers being in the 70-80 range and don't like the blues.
But as Roni pointed out, it is still within the 60-120 normal range.
 
Tena, I am going back and forth over the pollen....it would seem it does increase inflammation, which would in turn increase bg's....does it require a drop of insulin? I don't know. These little asthmatic kitties, make the diabetes dance a little more complicated....or so it seems.

With Zoe, her pre-shot numbers are the only ones that are high.....her nadirs are beautiful and normal for her. She was running below 110 for pre-shots, now she is giving numbers over 140....the other day was a 160 something...I almost fainted. I may try the claritin experiment again and see if that does anything. I had also tried adding a little bit of fish into her diet as she hadn't had any for 8 months (the vet thought she might be sensitive to fish)....so maybe the fish is bothering her - I sure don't know, she is a happy furry purry....just the numbers drive me nuts! :roll: :mrgreen:
 
If you're already giving fish oil, you may need to thing about the Zyrtec. The only fish oil I've seen that seems higher than what you're giving is Diachieve and it's available through ADW.
 
I think someone posted that the FF Turkey and Giblets is 7%. You may want to try the special kitty brand. It didn't bump Maverick's numbers like the fancy feast did.

I love hearing about Curry and the pictures of her and her videos made my day :mrgreen:
 
I don't know much about feline asthma, just hugs. But as others have pointed out, Curry is still well in the normal range.

Just a thought, have you tried an air purifier? They are not cheap, but in the long run less than meds and vet bills.

On the fish oil, Christie did a great comparison. From that I've been using Nature's Bounty Maximum Strength Fish Oil, 1400mg, (980mg omega-3 (700mg EPA, 280mg DHA)). I get it at Costco, but I have seen the brand at other pharmacies too. From what I've read fish oil from smaller fish (i.e krill) has more omega-3s than the oil from large fish (i.e. salmon).

Tess, like Curry, adores the NV Organic Chicken. i tried the Stella and Chewey's, but it bounced her up. I think it's around 14%! Were you just using commercial raw or homemade. Dr. lisa has updated her recipe and is now using Guar Gum as a soluable fiber.
April, 2011 update: One of my cats, Robbie, has an anatomical abnormality in his rectum and needs to have his stools softened to facilitate defecation. I have been using guar gum which is a soluble fiber source and it is working very well.

I purchase the guar gum from Whole Foods Market or online here.

There are two types of fiber sources: soluble and insoluble.

Soluble fiber traps water in the stool, thereby softening it, but it does not swell as much as insoluble fiber. It is fermented into compounds that can be helpful for colon health.

Insoluble fiber (e.g., cellulose from vegetables) also traps water but it swells - adding bulk to the stool. However, this is not what we want for cats. Cats are not designed to eat a high plant fiber diet that results in a high volume (large diameter) stool.

Vegetables contain predominantly insoluble fiber making them much less desirable for treating constipation in the cat.

I have been adding ~1/8 of a tsp of guar gum to 3 ounces of a meal of the recipe on this site + plus an extra ~2 TBS of water. You can experiment with a bit more guar gum and water if you want to. (I am not adding the guar gum to the whole batch of food since I am playing around with the amount.)
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If you really want to understand feline constipation go to Feline Constipation.org They do a great job of explaining what to do and what is going on in the gut.
 
Hi Tena & Curry,
Just dropping in to say Hi, since I don't know much about allergies. Vacuuming 3 times a week? Maybe you should move! :lol: :lol:

Great picture of the bubble girl.

Enjoy the weekend, and I hope that you get the allergies under control without having to start insulin again.

Hugs,

Ella & Rusty
 
Thanks for all the feedback today.

Karrie - thanks for stopping by and visiting. Its always good to "see" ya. Thank you for your wondeful support on this board.

Ella - ya. vacuuming 3 x per week. crazy right. just for the next few months during this allergy season. pollen here turns all the cars a nice yellow color. NOT! i figure that i bring it in w/me every day to the apartment which is all carpet.

Carolyn (CD) - prayers for Big Mac and his liver issues.

Sherry - I'm sure most pet owners of asthma kitties have no idea how the issue impacts the glucose....who in their right mind would "torture" their kitty with ear pokes during allergy season. I guess the concern is also due to the awareness that very few kitties who are also asthmatic stay off the insulin. I remember posting in health months ago about this issue. I don't really have any good reliable data on this, but i just wonder about the constant inflammation and its long-term impact on the bg. good luck with the claritin and the fish oil.

Ann - thanks for great feedback as always. yup, have 2 air purifiers. and i didnt make the raw myself due to lack of time on my part. i think i'll hold off on the raw for now but may revisit it down the road.
 
Good evening Tena! It is the beginning of allergy season here as well and Tarragon is coughing more. I definitely see higher BGs when is asthma is flaring due to the inflammation. He is taking 1/2 a prednisone every other day as well as his Flovent, so that adds even more complexity to our insulin dosage. Maybe a drop wouldn't hurt to get you through the season. Hugs to you and scritches to Curry!
 
Tena, good morning, I was reading thru posts I may have missed last evening, as I can't seem to stay up late, and I saw the two pics of Curry watching the video! He is so cute and intrigued with the videos! Those videos have really caught on, and now Maggie wants one, too! :-D I will get a pic of her posted this week. Have a nice Monday.
 
Hi Tena - I can't help much either on anything presented here, just no experience with any of it. It is good to hear from you, and hope the allergy thing works out OK for Curry. Looks like you got some good advice!
 
HI, GUYS!!!!!

Loving the pics of Curry...especially "The Girl In the Bubble" :lol: :lol:

Mr. Manxie Man's last two tests have been in the high 90's...and he don't have asthma :shock:
I'm just playing it by ear, but-like you- a bit of nail-biting going on ;-)

May we both be worrying unnecessarily!

celi & the Brat Pack
 
Hi Tena, I don't have any advice, but I'm interested too as I'm hopeful Atticus may soon be headed that direction. *anti-jinx!*
Hope she holds steady for you so you can start to relax. I'm also a chronic worrier. I can't stop!
 
hi teena! i didn't get a chance to read your PM until tonight.
you've already been given some good ideas. sienne mentioned zyrtec. here's a couple links you might want to look at:

http://winnfelinehealth.blogspot.com/2008/05/cetirizine-for-allergies-in-cats.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/...ez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum - sienne may have access to the full study

like the others, i'm not seeing the need to restart insulin now. curry's still throwing "normal" numbers.
if i were in your shoes i would continue to monitor...
 
Love Curry watching her videos!!! Aren't they great?

Hoping all this great advice will bring Curry's numbers back into green. But normal is AWESOME!!!!!

Hope you are all well. HUGS!
 
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