6/15 Rocky PMPS 324 +1 319 +2 229 +3 224 +5 151

Status
Not open for further replies.
Tina & Rocky

Tina & Rocky

Member Since 2013
Good afternoon,

Yesterday's condo:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=120302

Yesterday's SS:
AMPS 152 +1 214 +3 274 +5 388 +7 431 +10 482
PMPS 343 +2 343 +2 271 +3 174 +3.5 138 89 +4 84 +4.5 70 +5.5 77 + 8.5 127

Rocky is seeing a lot of red today on this reduced dose. I suppose it could be a delayed reaction to feeding him (1) TBS of the HC- 32% carbs, last night when he dropped from 271 to 174, nearly a 100 point drop in one hour. I did not reduce his dose even further yesterday after he went below 50 the day before yesterday because they told me that he did not eat well when he was at the vets, and, I had only brought them two cans of food! It means he didn't eat much of anything at all. In addition, I had already reduced his insulin when I took him to the vet from 2.25u to 2.0u. This would have been another quick reduction and I don't think it is warranted, yet. In addition, I will probably drop his insulin dose to 1.75u when I leave again from June 19 through June 25. That will be seven days at the vet's office without them doing even ONE blood glucose reading, for THEIR own benefit to make sure that Rocky is safe. I think it's just ridiculous.
 
Re: 6/15 Rocky AMPS 421 +2 406 +4 496

Hi Tina. I wondered what happened to you. I sent you a PM. Are you saying they refuse to do a BG reading while he is boarded? Yuck to them!
 
Re: 6/15 Rocky AMPS 421 +2 406 +4 496

Hi Elise, I've just been extremely busy, too busy lately. I was the coordinator/contact person for my Buddhist teacher when he gave a teaching at the Peninsula Humane Society in Burlingame, CA. I arranged that talk with the Senior Vice-President of that Humane Society. I had to spend the night with my friend in Freemont, so Rocky had to stay at the animal hospital overnight.

Iam still monitoring Rocky just as much as I always have been doing. At the vet, they said that they do not do any blood glucose monitoring at all on a 'medical board.' They don't monitor the blood glucose unless I ask them to do it, and it's around $16.00 per poke/blood test. I can't really do anything with that information because I am away and they are the ones giving the insulin shot. The blood glucose reading would be for THEIR benefit to know if it was safe or not to give the shot.

The best that I can hope for is that the vet techs monitor him to see WHY he is not eating or WHY he is sleeping too much. With the 8 times I had him tested for the one day/night stay every single test his BG was in the 400s.. I don't like that at all. I don't know how that happened or why it happened. I suspect it's because he ate very little so the insulin had not much carbs to work with.

When I got him home that night from the vet his BG was 150 at PMPS and from there on his BG went lower, a lot lower.

Anyway, I think that this animal hospital's 'protocol' for diabetic cats stinks and is not very compassionate or wise to an animal suffering with diabetes. I don't think that any other vet would do it any differently though. The vet's office said that they would charge me $10.00 for each test if I brought them my own BG reader and test strips for them to use. But I can't afford this much testing. I will be gone for 7 days/night and the medical board without any testing is $37.00 per night. That's already $300.00.. If I had them do the BG tests before each shot at $10.00 each, that would bring the medical board stay to $440.00.. I just can't afford that. On top of that, it looks like I really need to take Rocky to a cat dentist sometime when I get back. Money spent on Rocky is just flying out of my pocket, as if I really have this much money.. I am trying to take care of these other rescue cats and he is breaking my bank. DCIN thought that they might help Rocky, but the day before he was going to be evaluated the Venita, the founder/director of Diabetic Cats In Need decided that she would not help any more diabetic cats at this time.

I did ask the Senior Vice-President if they could help me with Rocky, but the answer was a kind "no."
 
Re: 6/15 Rocky AMPS 421 +2 406 +4 496

Yikes! That's absurd to charge that much. I remember we discussed a medical board with an animal hospital here, and they charged, I think, $8 for BG tests (although they would use their meter). I had to provide syringes (I'm cool with that). But I couldn't tell them how much insulin to give. They would decide that on their own, and (allegedly) only check his BG if he had hypo symptoms. Oh, and if he got "aggressive," they would sedate him for his shot (at $55 for 10 minute intervals). The vet acted horrified when I told her it would be ok to skip a shot if they couldn't handle him, (you wouldn't believe the lecture I got.) Since they decided they couldn't handle him for his office visit, I figured I was looking at 2 sedations a day. I told Matt, "nope!" And that's why Cobb now travels with us. I realize him going with you isn't an option. Is there anyone who could stop by your house and help?
 
Re: 6/15 Rocky AMPS 421 +2 406 +4 496

I wish I had someone who could help Rocky at my house, Suzanne. I have a friend who will be taking care of all of the other cats, but she will not watch Rocky nor give him his shots. She told me that I will have to put him in a medical board. There was one other young woman who might have been able to watch him, she would have taken him to her very small apartment, but she may now be coming to the retreat with me. We'll see.. if she is not coming to the retreat with me then I may leave Rocky in her care. Still, she is not going to do many blood tests so maybe it is safer to leave him at the animal hospital after all. I haven't decided what to do yet if she is staying and not going to the retreat with me.

I'm going to be at Gomde CA in Leggett and they don't allow anyone to bring any pets. There are some wild animals up there, bear, snakes, mountain lions, as this place is in the remote redwoods. I think that they have this policy because everyone would bring their dog with them, if they could. The Gomde caretakers already have three dogs that I would consider somewhat, hm, 'guarding' the place. They are huge and bark like mad when anyone pulls into the retreat center. They come running to your car at full charge. They have never bit me nor anyone else that I know of, and once they smell you, you are good to go for the rest of your stay there. They will never come barking/charging at you again, until the next year.... :lol:

They won't let me bring Rocky with me. I had another cat that I wanted to bring with me over the years so that I could care for her, and she had pancreatitis, but they wouldn't allow it. I know the answer will be 'no' with Rocky so I don't bother asking, yet again, about a different cat. The caretakers also have three cats, I believe, but those cats stick pretty close to the house and don't wander off much. The dogs, on the other hand, can be running in a pack anywhere on the huge acreage, although, they pretty much stick close to the food tent. :lol:

I will just have to pray that they do the right thing and that Rocky stays safe.
 
Re: 6/15 Rocky AMPS 421 +2 406 +4 496

I know how difficult that is. I wish we had someone who could help too. Our next door neighbors have volunteered, but I don't think Cobb would let them test and shoot him. Plus, he's allergic to cats so it would all be on her. I just don't want to ask them to do it, especially twice a day, you know? Hopefully it will all work out for you.
 
Re: 6/15 Rocky AMPS 421 +2 406 +4 496

Hi Tina,
Perhaps you could get a vet tech to come to your house to take care of Rocky. Do you know any of the techs at your vet's? Surely it would be less expensive than a medical board at the vet's. I hope you can find something that will work, both with regard to appropriate care for Rocky and the financial concerns.

Good luck!
 
Re: 6/15 Rocky AMPS 421 +2 406 +4 496

Oh, that's a great idea, Marje! I could try that Care.com and see if someone has experience with shooting and testing. Still, what if she/he gets an Ok number and shot time but Rocky dives later on during the day or night? There wouldn't be anyone to help him. My husband is here but he is not involved with the cats at all. I couldn't count on him to look in on Rocky for me, and besides, he wouldn't really understand or know what to be looking for.

I wonder if someone from Care.com would take Rocky to their house to monitor him? I would feel better about that .. Even if they weren't home 24/7 at least he would be there when they are home, and they would be doing the blood test before giving the shot.

The vet tech idea is also a great one, Ella. I'll ask my friend Carmelle if she knows a vet tech in Elk Grove who might be interested.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top