2/24 Tessie Lou AMPS 312 Ketones Negative!

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tessielou

Member Since 2010
Morning all,
Stayed up to do tests thru the nite, so I'm owly. But, the great news is, she finally peed at 7am (13 hours since last pee), and Negative ketones! :-D
The bad news is, she is still running high, and she left half her breffis on the plate this morning. Apparently the new Lantus pen didn't make a difference, so I don't know what's causing these rising numbers and low appetite.

Snow is on the way here! Hope everyone has a good day. I'll be going BTB here pretty soon...
Sandy
 
I would check in with the dosing experts about raising her dose IF and only if you can get her to eat. You don't want her to have more juice if she isn't eating
consistently but she's been at this same dose for a while without much happening. If you can get her eating, I'd definitely check with them about their thoughts on
a dosecrease. Just a suggestion...but she has to eat.
 
I would try picking up some other kinds of food today and see if that get's Tess's interest. Crumbling freeze dried chicken on top, adding tuna water (low sodium) or chicken broth may also help to get her interested. Also, try baby food -- get a type that is only meat and broth (no onions, etc.)

If she goes to her food bowl, do you see any lip-licking -- in other words, does Tess look like she's hungry but the whole prospect of food makes her nauseous? Will she eat if you finger feed? Is she meatloafing (sitting/lying kind of hunched), vomiting, lethargic, or otherwise just "off" in terms of her behavior? If any of that sounds like what's going on, she may be experiencing pancreatitis. Your vet may want to send out blood for an fPLI which is the test to diagnose pancreatitis. If Tess is acting nauseated, 1/4 of a Pepsid Complete tablet may help. However, if she doesn't start eating this morning, I'd bring her in to the vet.

On the whole, her numbers don't look overly high. I'm reticent to suggest raising her dose if she's not eating, though.

(I also posted to you condo from yesterday about the food issues.)
 
Sienne and Gabby said:
I would try picking up some other kinds of food today and see if that get's Tess's interest. Crumbling freeze dried chicken on top, adding tuna water (low sodium) or chicken broth may also help to get her interested. Also, try baby food -- get a type that is only meat and broth (no onions, etc.)

Will do, Sienne, I will get the Wellness for sure, as well as the baby food. I'm hopeful that if she stops on the DM, that she will like the Wellness. Sounds like a lot better quality ingredients than DM.

Sienne and Gabby said:
If she goes to her food bowl, do you see any lip-licking -- in other words, does Tess look like she's hungry but the whole prospect of food makes her nauseous? Will she eat if you finger feed? Is she meatloafing (sitting/lying kind of hunched), vomiting, lethargic, or otherwise just "off" in terms of her behavior? If any of that sounds like what's going on, she may be experiencing pancreatitis. Your vet may want to send out blood for an fPLI which is the test to diagnose pancreatitis. If Tess is acting nauseated, 1/4 of a Pepsid Complete tablet may help. However, if she doesn't start eating this morning, I'd bring her in to the vet.

She isn't lip-licking, or meatloaging or vomiting, but she is more lethargic for sure. The vet is gone today, but I'm going to call her in the morning to discuss doing the pancreatitis test, if Tessie doesn't show improvement in eating and numbers today. I'll pick up some Pepsid Complete to have on hand, if she does get nauseous.

Sienne and Gabby said:
On the whole, her numbers don't look overly high. I'm reticent to suggest raising her dose if she's not eating, though.

Yes, I agree she needs an increase, and vet said she thinks so, too, but have to get the eating thing under control first.

Sienne and Gabby said:
(I also posted to you condo from yesterday about the food issues.)

Yes, I think I responded to that last night. Very, very interesting about Gabby's food journey. I would love to get Tessie on to something canned that is good quality and low carb, and that she really likes! I really get queasy myself dealing with raw.

Thanks, Sienne. Have a good day! Think I'll try to get some sleep now...
 
Marjorie and Gracie said:
I would check in with the dosing experts about raising her dose IF and only if you can get her to eat. You don't want her to have more juice if she isn't eating
consistently but she's been at this same dose for a while without much happening. If you can get her eating, I'd definitely check with them about their thoughts on
a dosecrease. Just a suggestion...but she has to eat.

Hi Marjorie,
Thanks for checking in, I'm pretty sure something else is going on. She never, ever refuses food--until yesterday. I am supposed to call the vet tomorrow and let her know if the new Lantus pen had any effect (so far it hasn't), and if not, she will probably raise her dose IF she's eating by then. I just got her to eat a little baked chicken breast, but she was hesitant at first. It's like her tummy hurts. I think it may have been the Nature's Variety raw food I introduced a few days ago.

Anyway, think good thoughts for Tessie, please. We appreciate the support from you and everyone else! It's such a comfort to have this place to come to when you're worried or confused.
 
If Tess is acting nauseated, 1/4 of a Pepsid Complete tablet may help.
I believe you want Pepcid AC (not Pepcid Complete). Get the "original" strength, not extra strentgh. Basically you want famotidine 10mg pills which you can then quarter. Typical dosage is 1/4 pill (2.5 mg) BID.

You can use generics or store brand pills but in my experience they can be more difficult to split (many of the ones I've tried will crush apart into a powder rather than give a clean cut).

ETA: Pepcid Complete has calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide in addition to the famotidine, whereas AC has only the famotidine. That's why you want the AC.
 
I mistyped -- I meant Pepsid AC and NOT Complete. Sorry. Brain doesn't always work well in the morning.

Gabby's been eating Wellness since Jan. 16th. I was feeding raw for quite some time.
 
hooray for negative ketones!!

now lower numbers would be nice, Tessie Lou!
sending good appetite vines...

celi & binks
 
Re: 2/24 Tessie Lou AMPS 312; +4 was 212!

No problem, Sienne. I hadn't even gone to the store to buy it yet. Thanks, Cele for the appetite vines. They must have worked, cause she absolutely refused the DM just now, so I opened a can of tuna and gave her a measured 1.7oz with juice and she scarfed it and licked the bowl clean! So, it's goodbye DM and hello....Wellness? I'm going to the store later to get it and the baby food. Cele, how about some Wellness vines for Tessie Lou? If she doesn't like it, I don't know what to try next. I don't think it's healthy to give just tuna and chicken 100%, but at least it's carb free and looks like her body likes it while I transition the Wellness? Or I guess maybe it could be the new Lantus pen kicking in? confused_cat Her +4 check was 212, thank goodness! I love yellow.
 
I just went to the store and got beachnut babyfood - just turkey and turkey broth or chicken and chicken broth. I think there are other babyfoods that might be pure meat also that you could try in a pinch. We haven't tried this with Maverick yet. When he wasn't eating we couldn't find pure meat babyfood without garlic and onions. I just went out and picked up a pile for my inappetant heart dog who is on antibiotics. Maybe this is an option and you can syringe feed it if needed?
 
It's worth a try! I'll look for it tonight when I go to the store. I don't think I'll need to syringe feed, cause when I offered the tuna, she loved it and ate it with gusto! I think she was just saying No Thanks to the Purina DM and the NV raw. One of the two, or maybe the two together (transition) gave her an upset tummy. She is also letting me rub her tummy this afternoon, which is another good sign. What kind of food does Maverick eat on a daily basis?
 
Maverick will only eat Turkey and Giblet with any consistency. He is extremely picky. There is an IBD/IBS group that may have system friendly recommendations. I know a number of them get some unique type of food ziwipeak or something like that. Have you gotten food recommendations from other cats suffering from GI/intestinal issues?
 
No, I haven't gotten any recommendations yet. This is the first time it's happened. She will eat anything, has never vomited or had a hairball, and has never turned away food. I will discuss with vet tomorrow what to give her now that she's nixed the DM. I know she'll always eat FF Classic Chicken, but it does make her gassy...
 
I think J.D. ate about a case and a half of the DM and then didn't like it anymore. He now eats Friskies and Fancy Feast, and Sophisticat.
Yay for negative ketones!
Sending Wellness vines to Tessie Lou. I hope you find the food
smiley-eatdrink022.gif
she likes.
 
Dyana, I'm hearing about more and more cats who have gotten tired of DM. In fact, I haven't heard from anyone whose cat is still on it and has been on it for awhile!

I gave her Merrick's Cowboy Cookout tonight and she loved it! Her appetite is definitely intact! I also got the Wellness, and will try that out on her as well.

Thanks so much for the vines, too! We'll take all we can get,
Sandy
 
I think you found the source of the problem -- Tessie has a finely tuned palate and decided that DM was not up to her gourmet standard. Smart cat!
 
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