9/8 Abby AMPS 78

Status
Not open for further replies.
Kristin and Abby (GA)

Kristin and Abby (GA)

Active Member
Yesterday's Condo

O HOLY NIGHT!!!!!!!!

As Abby's SS indicates, I've gotten about 10-15 minutes of sleep each hour all night. The BF dutifully awoke with me each time until nearly 4am when I decided enough was enough and I "rested" in the other room with the alarm. Of course now I'm in a conundrum on what to do dose-wise. My sanity says "skip and let me sleep and give her ears a break." My FDB brain says to at least give her a token dose of some kind. I've had her eating all night to keep her BGs up so she will want to sleep and not eat all day - making it harder to control any kind of dip even with a token dose. Also just coming out of DKA I know she needs food but the sleeping/eating line is tough to find normally, let alone when I'm not letting her sleep by poking her all the time.

*sigh* I think I'll lean heavily toward sanity but give her the tiniest of nudges in insulin since she's rising fairly decently...and I'm off to go btb (well, to bed really) for 2 hours until it's bupe time.

Happy surfing everyone!
 
Re: 9/8 AMBG 78

I have no dosing advice to give you, however, would you mind putting Abby's name in the subject line, please?

I hope that someone with experience will be by shortly to help you with your dosing question. Good luck! Her #s look great! :mrgreen:
 
Re: 9/8 AMBG 78

It also helps when you have a dosing question to put it in your subject heading Dosing?? or EYES??

You steered that fairly well last night.
This is definitely the sleep deprivation club.
 
Re: 9/8 AMBG 78

It looks like you gave her a token dose of 0.10 on your spreadsheet. I would test her as soon as you wake up at +2. I hope your BF is still helping you to wake up on time, as I know you must be really tired.
If you go back to bed for another snooze after the bupe, I would leave some food out for her. I know you know that.

Hope you both have a fantastic caturday.
 
Re: 9/8 AMBG 78

First -- housekeeping:
Can you put Abby's name in your subject line? And, since you shot, you have an AMPS number.

The list of low carb foods that Rhiannon provided is fine but, right now, it doesn't matter. My standard line with a post-DKA kitty is to feed a hot fudge sundae if that's what your cat will eat. Calories are HUGELY important right now. In fact, quantity is only important to the extent that it allows you to get more calories into Abby. This is why MaxCal is a frequent suggestion -- it's calorie dense. MaxCal is an Iam's product that is prescription. If your vet sells food, they may have it. Some PetSmart and/or Petco stores sell prescription foods so you'll need to call around.

What will Abby eat? Is she OK with LC and HC foods? Gabby is not a cat who can tolerate gravy -- it gives her the runs. You can always add syrup (Karo, honey, maple syrup) to LC food if Abby has trouble tolerating gravy. If Abby will only eat LC, you may need to reduce her dose. If she'll eat HC, then I'd lean toward keeping her at the 1.0u and giving her food with more carbs to keep there there. This is especially the case if you see ketones returning. Right now, you're in the process of figuring out how to balance insulin with food. There's no way to do this other than to experiment to find the right balance for Abby.

For now, do what you need to do to keep Abby's dose of insulin as high as is safely feasible. Balance the dose with food. So, it's fine to give HC, especially if you need to sleep. You can abort the cycle with HC if you need to. The lower numbers are helpful because it minimizes the chance of ketones developing. (Please note that I said minimize, not prevent.)

FortiFlora is pretty much available only on-line or at the vet's office. I somehow doubt that Mass Vet will have it. You can use other probiotics. I've used ReNew Ultimate which is available in the refrigerated supplement section of many Whole Foods. I'd call ahead to see if they have in stock. Others here have used Culturelle.

ETA: I just saw you have a much higher AMPS. Please get a ketone test (or several) today given the small insulin dose. And remember, add as much water as Abby will tolerate to her food.
 
9/8 Abby AMPS 78, +2 98

Sorry I forgot to include her name in the subject line. That was no sleep at work there :oops:

Yes, I put her in front of food every chance I get. She just got some bupe but more went down her throat than in her cheek pocket. Man is she sick of liquid meds!!

Back to lie down....wait - editing to answer Sienne's ???'s.

She will eat nearly anything I put in front of her; it's getting her to the bowl on her own which is currently the hurdle. I can't continue moving the bowl to her every 2 hours and waking her up to eat...that's not sustainable. She loved the HC last night, and we're going to the store today (when I can focus) to choose some other fairly high cal options. I called my vet about MAXCal and they don't have it. I'm doing my best to find it but coming up short. I also need to find the info about how many cal/day she needs (not DKA needs, I know that's more, but the std)...because she's eating 250-300 cal/day now.

Ok...now btb
 
This is the formula from Dr. Lisa's website: Required calories per day = [13.6 X optimal lean body weight in pounds] + 70
She notes that it's "generous."

What I would suggest is to check the calorie content of what you were feeding Abby pre-DKA. If her weight was good, then add 50% more calories. You may want to check the calories of the HC that you're using. Sometimes, HC is actually lower in calories.

Abby may be sleepy due to the bupe. That may be why she's not going to her bowl -- she's dopey from the narcotic.
 
Wow, according to the food charts I may be better off with a kitten formula for the time being. Low carb and high cal. Who knew? And you're right Sienne, the HC she loves is lower in cal.

Her BGs are holding steady and she is one sleepy kitty.
 
Glad Abby is holding steady and sleepy, you must be exhausted too, what a night! Hope you both get some rest and enjoy the rest of the day!
 
If Abby is eating her regular food and her appetite is good, I'm less concerned. I tend to want to make sure you've got supplies, especially over a weekend, as a "just in case" measure and you know what to do if ketones appear, if Abby is not feeling well, or if she refuses to eat. So far, things are going well with both dose and food.

I suspect she's so sleepy due to the bupe. Is there any way to not give her all that's in the syringe? With bupe, larger doses don't provide greater pain relief. The bigger the dose, the longer the duration of the analgesic effect.
 
I'm glad to hear Abby is eating and perhaps with less bupe, she will get up on her own and go to the food bowl.

(((Kristen))) You're doing a great job. Don't forget to take care of yourself with some naps.
 
If you want to try to give less of the bupe (I know it's hard to control the amount given when using those pre filled syringes), maybe you can get a syringe from your vet where you can pull out the dose of bupe you want to give out of the pre filled syringe into the syringe your vet gives you, and then take the needle off, to give him his dose. I was given vials of bupe and was given a syringe to pull out the dose. My vet said to give 0.1 of bupe, and I tried half of that (.05) and J.D. was still so wobbily when he walked, so I finally gave him .025. ECID (Every Cat Is Different).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top