7/11 Harvey AMPS 109 +3 101 +4.5 70 +5.75 93 PMPS 159 +5.25 90 +7.25 119

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Tricia Cinco(GA) & Harvey

Member Since 2011
7/10 Recap
.1 units
AMPS: 127
AM+2: 93
AM+3.25: 90
AM+16.5: 115

Last Condo

Wow, what a crazy ride we're on! We reduced Harvey's dose Saturday night to .1. We decided to go ahead and shoot that yesterday morning, even though we were going to be gone all day, because he had been pretty flat the night before and his pre-shot was about the same as it's been lately. Plus he was eating okay. I left out a big dish of food and the auto feeder, set to turn every 90 minutes until +10. We weren't really planning to stay out late, but we were having so much fun we decided not to rush home and give him his evening shot. I felt horrible that I had not left more food out, but I was only a little worried about him. When we got home, I found that he had polished off all the food in his regular dish and only eaten about half of the two middle meals in his feeder. By then the feeder had turned again to reveal the first meal in the feeder, and when he woke up upon our arrival, he went and started nibbling at it. Not exactly the starving cat I had envisioned! Based on his number when I tested him, he had apparently surfed all day (at least, that's what I'm telling myself), and pretty much slept all day, too.

We didn't know what to expect at AMPS this morning, and he surprised us with a lower number than I'd gotten last night (although really, about the same, with meter variance). Now, with the small depot he had gone, he seems pretty flat. I am sure the oncologist is going to try to convince me to stop the insulin altogether, and although I know better, it's going to be a tough argument, with these numbers after skipping a shot. Guess I'll be doing the nod and smile routine. :rolleyes: Worked last time. Wish me luck!

Appy is okay this morning, but not great. I'm not going to give him any tummy meds, though, because I don't want him hungry while he's at UCD, and I don't know how long the appointment will take. He ate half his t/f/s meal, refused more of that same food at breakfast, but ate half of the serving of a different food that I offered after that. Not optimal, but acceptable.

Speaking of his appointment, I need to get moving if I'm going to get my back exercises in before I have to get ready to go. I'll try to do some visiting later - maybe while I'm waiting for him at UCD.

BTW, great fun at the State Fair yesterday with our buddies. LOTS of walking - over 11,000 steps on my fitbit and NO heel pain :), but my sciatica is murder :(. It's always something.

Sending healing vines to all in need and hugs to all their beans:bighug:. Extra vines, prayers and hugs to AMy & her DF and Elise & her DM. :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Paws crossed for a good vetty appointment. Harvey, I love the enthusiasm to go OTJ. Just keep it safe please!:cat::D
 
How exciting!!! Good luck with the vet. I just went through this Bubba's last two visits with two different vets in the practice:

Vet: are you really keeping him between 50-120
Me : yes
Vet: well then he is in remission! You could stop he insulin
Me: well, not yet. He is on .25 unit and has to reduce to .10 first and then possibly a drop following the Roomp and Rand TR. Are you familiar with it?
Vet: No I am not
Me: I've got the diabetic part and I am good with it. Please just help me with the vomiting and diarrhea.

:banghead:
 
Thanks for the visits and the kind words, everyone. I'm sitting in the waiting room, doing what one does here - waiting.

The vet tech that checked us in had that knowing look on her face when I was describing Harvey's drop in dose, and when I voiced my concern about it's cause, she agreed that such a thing is a possibility, but she didn't comment about whether or not she thought it was true in this case. Which is fine. I guess the residents are off for summer break or something, because I haven't seen any of them around and Harvey is being seen by the faculty clinician, Dr. Burton. That's all I know right now.
 
Nice numbers! I hope your appointment goes well, too :)

I don't think I'd be able to walk that much, with my back and sciatica problems. I'm glad you had fun at The Fair.
 
I can't seem to copy and reply on my tablet, @Dyana, but it was torture all day. Walking, once I get moving, is the least uncomfortable. Standing hurts and sitting is torture. I may have to break down and go to the doctor if I don't get some relief soon. They say that you should start feeling better after six weeks of consistently doing the exercises and it will be six weeks this week since I started doing them consistently again
 
I have my first appointment with an orthopedist next Monday. For over 10 years, standing and walking hurts, and sitting is my relief. I'm kind of afraid and not trusting of the Dr. You know how we are with trusting Vets.
 
Paws crossed for the vetty visit and hoping you don't have to do "the talk" with the vet. Harvey's numbers are looking very good. :cool::D
 
All this talk of going OTJ seems to have brought out Harvey's contrary side. Either that, or the trauma of the day got to him. We got home just in time for t/f/s. He was hungry, too. He was working on his dinner when we left for bowling.

So the good news is no big changes in his labs. B/w posted. I forgot to ask for a copy of the urinalysis, so I'll have to call tomorrow to get it e-mailed to me, but Dr. B said it was all good. USG 1.013. No sugar in his urine. Blood Glucose was 106. Dr. B said that she could not see any sign that the lymphoma has worsened. She considers it controlled and stable. She was very pleased with him, overall. @Wendy&Neko she said the increased dander could be due to low B-12, and ordered a test, which will be back tomorrow. She said he has significant muscle wasting in his lower back and back legs, but she didn't think he was in pain, based on her probing. We talked about trying Adequan, as she said arthritis is definitely a possibility. I can e-mail her or call my regular vet if I want to try it. She also said I could try PT and/or acupuncture. I decided to wait a little while on that and watch him.

As predicted, she was delighted with Harvey's numbers and reductions and said to stop insulin (nod and smile). She said she feels that, because we reduced the Pred to such a low dose, the pancreas has recovered. She said she has seen it happen before. We talked about pulse dosing Leukeran, and she said I could try it if I want to - she hadn't seen a big difference in effectiveness versus doing it MWF. I'm going to wait on that a bit longer. She said she hadn't had a lot of cats that had GI upset from Leukeran, but had seen it happen in one or two. I'm going to try to chart Harvey's tummy issues a little more closely in relation to his Leukeran dose and see if I can find a corelation. Overall it was a positive visit. She said I can go ahead and stop stressing about his dose reductions and be happy. :)

On the way home, Harvey was lying in the litter box on the floor of the passenger side when someone cut me off and I had to slam on my breaks. The box, and cat, tipped over. :eek: He was fine, but he didn't like it much (neither did I - I just had the car washed and inside vacuumed :rolleyes:). I am hoping that was the source of the higher PMPS, and not a failed reduction. We'll just have to see.

Thanks again for all the good wishes.
 
Great report. I have seen lots if cats do better with pulse dosing. It's all the vet on the lymphoma list uses. It might be worth a try.
 
Got home from bowling and found the little stinker only ate a few bites while we were gone. :facepalm: I served up a different flavor, and he ate it all. :rolleyes: Knothead. If I only had a dollar for every can of cat food I dumped down the drain....:arghh:
 
Tricia, great vet report, I can just picture you doing the smile and nod routine RE stopping the insulin.

Nice to see him come down from that pmps, I'm voting it was a bit of vetty/car stress spike. He's looking great.:bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Sounds like a pretty good vetty report. :) Thanks for the note on the B-12. It's common for lymphoma cats to have low B12. Neko had hers tested and she was in range, though on the lower side. Neko's IM vetty also said he hadn't seen many cats have nausea from EOD Leukeran. Good luck with all the next steps.
 
It's common for lymphoma cats to have low B12
Previous tests have been normal, but she said it can change, so she ordered the test before she spoke to me (it was on my list of things to ask about), although I had mentioned the dander to the vet tech that checked us in. Dr. B was surprised that I had never given a cat B-12 injections. She said she didn't think she could suggest a treatment I hadn't already done! She's very complimentary of my care of my babies. She's the one that said if she died she wanted to come back as one of my cats.

The resident that helped Cinco cross was there today - her last week before moving to San Diego and her first job as a vet. She met Harvey, but Dr. B said she didn't want to come out and see me because she was afraid one or both of us would cry. I sent my best wishes to her. She was very sweet and the first one to hug me when we were waiting for Mark to come so we could help Minka cross. I just love the people there.
 
Tricia, it sounds like you had quite the day and so glad the appointment was overall good. I hope you can get some relief for Harvey's arthritis. Sorry about the litter box mess in the car but, so glad y'all are okay. :bighug:
 
I love the vetty report:):). Poor Harvey, and you, on the slam brakes incident:facepalm:! I'm sure that wasn't pleasant for either of you! Sending appy vines, and hugs of course:bighug::bighug:
 
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