4/9 Charlie AMPS 378, +2 329, +4 270, +6 240 PMPS 210

Charlie'sMom22

Charlie'sMom22

Active Member
Yesterday's post

We increased to 6.5 this morning. Feeling pretty disheartened today. Wendy had suggested I get Charlie tested for Acro/IAA due to his high dose, so I did a bit of research, and he does have a couple of other symptoms that are consistent with Acromegaly, like stertor when he's laying down (I call it his "little pig noises"), and he's always had big hands.

Charlie really struggles at the vet, so bringing him there for anything is a challenge. I'm worrying about what either of these conditions would mean for him. I'm worrying about even bringing him in to get a blood test in the first place. I'm thinking about mortality, and how it's not fair that our pets don't live as long as us. He's my whole world and I can't picture my life without him.

Sorry y'all. In a dark place today. I hope you all have a safe and uneventful day with your kitties :bighug:
 
Ask the vet if a sedative would help with vet visits. Gabapetin is commonly prescribed. Leroy gets gabapetin and trazodone and sometimes that combo doesn't even help:facepalm:
 
squeem3 said:
Ask the vet if a sedative would help with vet visits. Gabapetin is commonly prescribed. Leroy gets gabapetin and trazodone and sometimes that combo doesn't even help:facepalm:
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Thanks, yeah, he gets 100mg of gaba before he goes and it just barely takes the edge off. He has a lot of vet/grooming trauma over the years so he just doesn't trust them and never will :(. Sounds like him and Leroy are in the same boat.
 
Yes, as Helen says, big hugs, Jess! :bighug::bighug::bighug: It's natural to worry about our babies, and this disease offers a lot of complications. Just try to take things one day at a time. I hope this dose is a good one for him.
 
Sorry if I worried you. :bighug::bighug::bighug:. But I find it's better to know what you are dealing with, so you can treat if the result is positive. I hope you can get a tech to visit.

FWIW, Neko didn't have any acro symptoms on diagnosis, other than her dose size. I've seen a paper saying that only 35% of acros have clinical symptoms on diagnosed. I discovered later that Neko's one eye that started tearing up six months before her diabetes diagnosis was probably an acro symptom. Due to extra growth hormone causing a blockage in her tear duct. Pretty subtle symptom, the vet had dismissed it as nothing to worry about. There have been cases of acro cats that were not diabetic, but most are diagnosed because they are diabetic.

Digestive problems, such as constipation, is a common enough symptom.

Later on, knowing Neko was acro meant a dental vet saved a tooth. Her regular practice vet was ready to pull a tooth because there was red around it. But the dental specialist, knowing she was acro, realized the red was caused by extra growth on her gums, causing the tooth above to rub on it. So the vet shaved the tooth back and the tooth was saved. This and knowing there are treatments if you know what you are dealing with, is why I am a believer in getting tests done.

The most common treatment these days is a medication called cabergoline, that is given daily at home. Most people get it compounded into a liquid. For most acros, it reduces the dose and symptoms and improves QOL. For a few they've even gone OTJ.
 
Marielle said:
Yes, as Helen says, big hugs, Jess! :bighug::bighug::bighug: It's natural to worry about our babies, and this disease offers a lot of complications. Just try to take things one day at a time. I hope this dose is a good one for him.
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Thank you for reminding me to take it one day at a time :bighug: That genuinely helped. I forget to do that a lot
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Sorry if I worried you. :bighug::bighug::bighug:. But I find it's better to know what you are dealing with, so you can treat if the result is positive. I hope you can get a tech to visit.

FWIW, Neko didn't have any acro symptoms on diagnosis, other than her dose size. I've seen a paper saying that only 35% of acros have clinical symptoms on diagnosed. I discovered later that Neko's one eye that started tearing up six months before her diabetes diagnosis was probably an acro symptom. Due to extra growth hormone causing a blockage in her tear duct. Pretty subtle symptom, the vet had dismissed it as nothing to worry about. There have been cases of acro cats that were not diabetic, but most are diagnosed because they are diabetic.

Digestive problems, such as constipation, is a common enough symptom.

Later on, knowing Neko was acro meant a dental vet saved a tooth. Her regular practice vet was ready to pull a tooth because there was red around it. But the dental specialist, knowing she was acro, realized the red was caused by extra growth on her gums, causing the tooth above to rub on it. So the vet shaved the tooth back and the tooth was saved. This and knowing there are treatments if you know what you are dealing with, is why I am a believer in getting tests done.

The most common treatment these days is a medication called cabergoline, that is given daily at home. Most people get it compounded into a liquid. For most acros, it reduces the dose and symptoms and improves QOL. For a few they've even gone OTJ.
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No it's okay, please don't apologize! You didn't worry me--it was already in the back of my mind. I knew that with each dose increase we were getting closer to the possibility of there being an underlying cause that would complicate everything further. I fully agree that it's important to know what I'm dealing with, for both our sake. I'm relieved to hear that if it is acro, there's medication for it that he can take at home.

I hope I can get the vet tech to visit too. I'm still waiting to hear back from the vet's office, and if they say they'll do the blood tests I'm going to text the tech and see if I can work something out with her. I can't imagine doing a blood draw at someone's house is that hard, right?
 
Charlie'sMom22 said:
Yesterday's post

We increased to 6.5 this morning. Feeling pretty disheartened today. Wendy had suggested I get Charlie tested for Acro/IAA due to his high dose, so I did a bit of research, and he does have a couple of other symptoms that are consistent with Acromegaly, like stertor when he's laying down (I call it his "little pig noises"), and he's always had big hands.

Charlie really struggles at the vet, so bringing him there for anything is a challenge. I'm worrying about what either of these conditions would mean for him. I'm worrying about even bringing him in to get a blood test in the first place. I'm thinking about mortality, and how it's not fair that our pets don't live as long as us. He's my whole world and I can't picture my life without him.

Sorry y'all. In a dark place today. I hope you all have a safe and uneventful day with your kitties :bighug:
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Jess, I am so sorry you're having to worry about that diagnosis, too, and play out all the possibilities. I hope everything goes better than expected.:bighug::bighug::bighug::cat::bighug:
 
No need to apologize! I think a lot of us are in those dark places some days. :(

That's all incredibly difficult and I'm so sorry that you and Charlie have to drudge through it. I hope you're able to find a solution to getting him checked out more comfortably and hopefully figuring out what's wrong (or not).

Sending you and Charlie love, calm and healing vines! :bighug:
 
His PMPS was 210 15 min ago and now it's dropped to 205. He's been dropping all day. This is unusual for him. Should I stall?
 
Christie & Maverick said:
Numbers are flat, he’s really not even dropped much since +6 considering meter variance. And, you are now at the back end of the last shot, with insulin effects pretty much done. There really isn’t any need to continue stalling ;).
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Okay, thank you both. I just tested once more and shot. He's still flat (207). I'll plan to get a +1 and +2 and keep an eye on him
 
Also worth saying, you are not shooting the number he is now, you are shooting the number he will be when the insulin kicks in few hours from now. No need to wait until you see numbers rising when he has been flat, since typically once the insulin effects are done the cat’s Bg rises very quickly and add the carbs you feed into the mix, that will also add to the rise in BG. All this before the insulin dose you are giving kicks in. So Shoooooot! :)
 
Charlie'sMom22 said:
Yesterday's post

We increased to 6.5 this morning. Feeling pretty disheartened today. Wendy had suggested I get Charlie tested for Acro/IAA due to his high dose, so I did a bit of research, and he does have a couple of other symptoms that are consistent with Acromegaly, like stertor when he's laying down (I call it his "little pig noises"), and he's always had big hands.

Charlie really struggles at the vet, so bringing him there for anything is a challenge. I'm worrying about what either of these conditions would mean for him. I'm worrying about even bringing him in to get a blood test in the first place. I'm thinking about mortality, and how it's not fair that our pets don't live as long as us. He's my whole world and I can't picture my life without him.

Sorry y'all. In a dark place today. I hope you all have a safe and uneventful day with your kitties :bighug:
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completely understand. I have spent nights holding oregano unable to even fathom what the days without her would be like. It took me to a dark place I stayed in for months this past winter. Looking back I missed a lot of the joyful moments with her those months because I was worried about the inevitable. The irony there is that neither your kitty or mine worries about mortality and are awesome at living in the moment, and I just decided I was going to make sure every day of hers was filled with amazing and fun moments doing her favorite things (eating, massages, watching movies at night on my lap with me, etc). Intentionally living in the moment with them. Easy to say and hard to do for sure, but worth trying. You don’t want to miss todays amazing joy and fun with your kitty worrying about that bad day waiting down the line.

when it comes to the vet, if the gabapentin doesn’t do it for Charlie maybe you can find a mobile vet who will come to your house. We had to do that for oregano because the car ride upset her so much even with the gabapentin.

hang in there. You have Charlie right now and really right now is all any of us are guaranteed. Give him lots of love and try to be in that moment and that moment only with him. I have to make myself do this with oregano every day. Helps some.

wade and oregano.
 
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Charlie'sMom22 said:
Okay. I'll feel more comfortable if he's rising. He was acting a bit lethargic all day too. So that plus the steady drop feels a bit off to me
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Great job shooting! :bighug:

I totally understand, I had the same concerns when Petey started testing lower it's scary in the moment. Glad we stalled long enough for the experience to arrive on the scene :).

Petey also seems lethargic in low numbers that we are not used to. I remind myself neither one of us can remember what "lower numbers feels/looks/acts like" and it's a time their body can actually heal some and replenish what it needs. That's my personal unscientific explanation.
 
Christie & Maverick said:
Also worth saying, you are not shooting the number he is now, you are shooting the number he will be when the insulin kicks in few hours from now. No need to wait until you see numbers rising when he has been flat, since typically once the insulin effects are done the cat’s Bg rises very quickly and add the carbs you feed into the mix, that will also add to the rise in BG. All this before the insulin dose you are giving kicks in. So Shoooooot! :)
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Thanks Christie. I'll try to remember this going forward. I definitely panicked a bit hahaha. I suspect I'll start seeing more surprises and unpredictable things happening as he starts to get into better numbers.
 
wade said:
completely understand. I have spent nights holding oregano unable to even fathom what the days without her would be like. It took me to a dark place I stayed in for months this past winter. Looking back I missed a lot of the joyful moments with her those months because I was worried about the inevitable. The irony there is that neither your kitty or mine worries about mortality and are awesome at living in the moment, and I just decided I was going to make sure every day of hers was filled with amazing and fun moments doing her favorite things (eating, massages, watching movies at night on my lap with me, etc). Intentionally living in the moment with them. Easy to say and hard to do for sure, but worth trying. You don’t want to miss todays amazing joy and fun with your kitty worrying about that bad day waiting down the line.

when it comes to the vet, if the gabapentin doesn’t do it for Charlie maybe you can find a mobile vet who will come to your house. We had to do that for oregano because the car ride upset her so much even with the gabapentin.

hang in there. You have Charlie right now and really right now is all any of us are guaranteed. Give him lots of love and try to be in that moment and that moment only with him. I have to make myself do this with oregano every day. Helps some.

wade and oregano.
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Wade, this brought tears to my eyes. Those nights are so, so hard. I'm so sorry. Before Charlie's diagnosis, I was in a very similar place. I couldn't stop thinking about him getting older and wondering how I'm going to cope without him. It was almost like part of me knew something was going on with him. My paranoia finally got to me and I'm glad it did because I wouldn't have taken him to the vet and gotten his diagnosis otherwise. I've felt a bit of relief since then, and even though I still have really rough days like today, I'm at least not ruminating on it constantly anymore.

I'm so glad you pulled yourself out of that place, for your sake and hers (she's adorable btw, I love her eyeliner:kiss:). I'm trying to too. This disease can certainly make it hard to just be with them.

I can't wait for the weather to get better here so we can sit with the window open together or he can watch me work in the yard--two of his favorite things to do. In the meantime, we've just been taking lots of naps and laying on the floor together, haha. Thank you for your words. I hope you two are enjoying this evening's movie and that you have a restful and cuddly sleep together tonight. :bighug:
 
Laurie&Petey said:
Great job shooting! :bighug:

I totally understand, I had the same concerns when Petey started testing lower it's scary in the moment. Glad we stalled long enough for the experience to arrive on the scene :).

Petey also seems lethargic in low numbers that we are not used to. I remind myself neither one of us can remember what "lower numbers feels/looks/acts like" and it's a time their body can actually heal some and replenish what it needs. That's my personal unscientific explanation.
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Thank you! Haha it's so scary in the moment! Clearly I do not trust myself yet :joyful::joyful: Thank you so much for hanging out with me and offering support while we waited for Experience to arrive :bighug:

That's really good to know that Petey gets lethargic in new/low numbers too--I'd started noticing it within the last couple weeks and I wondered if it was a normal. I thought it might have something to do with them not being used to it, like you said.
 
Christie & Maverick said:
You’re welcome :). I’ll be around for a few hours, and have my handy shenanigan meter at the ready :p. Steady as you go, Charlie.
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Just wanted to update, I just tested +2 and got 174. I’m not really sure how long to stay up or if I should wake myself up throughout the night to try and catch the nadir since today he dropped all day and his nadir was technically at PMPS :confused:

On a normal night at this point I would probably stay up to get a +3 then set an alarm to wake me up for +6, then go back to sleep until AMPS.

what would you do?
 
Bandit's Mom said:
Nice. Nothing dramatic. Please feed a little more LC. Can you stay up till +4? Does he have an auto-feeder to eat from if you go to bed?
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He’s eating some now. I can stay up until +4, yeah. I don’t have an auto feeder. I usually leave a little wet food out overnight and he eats it at some point. I know that’s kind of gross but he doesn’t seem to mind. He mostly grazes on his food anyway
 
Congrats on the blue Jess!
I think you needed to see some progress today :cool:
I do know what it's like to sit up late, waaaay past your bedtime, tracking those numbers, so hello, welcome to this new stage. It takes a little getting used to, shooting lower numbers and being calm when he hits the blues and (let's hope soon) the greens, but you'll learn. You've got this!! :bighug:
 
Helen + Noogi said:
Congrats on the blue Jess!
I think you needed to see some progress today :cool:
I do know what it's like to sit up late, waaaay past your bedtime, tracking those numbers, so hello, welcome to this new stage. It takes a little getting used to, shooting lower numbers and being calm when he hits the blues and (let's hope soon) the greens, but you'll learn. You've got this!! :bighug:
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Thank you so much Helen, I was just thinking of you and your nights awake with Noogi! And thanks for saying that, I feel like I’ve been bombarding this board with frantic posts lately. Looking forward to the day when I can feel a little more confident shooting low.
 
Bandit's Mom said:
Hopefully this is his nadir. Do you want to feed a little LC now and set an alarm for +6? Just leave food for him to graze on.
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110 for the +6. In going to wake up again in an hour and get a +7 to see if he starts going back up. Do you have any guidance for what I should do for the AM shot so I’m not frantically messaging on this board at the last minute again? Lol
 
I see he was higher at +7. Hope you've gone to bed.

In the AM, you can shoot any number over 50, if you can monitor. He might just head up in a bounce. Sometimes stalling without food can make numbers drop further - making the decision to shoot more difficult. Lantus is very good at giving flat cycles when you shoot low.

Just feed and shoot, if you can monitor! :-)
 
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