? 8/16 | Darwin: AMPS=244, +3.75=264, +8=304 - question about dose change?

[Tasha & Darwin]

Last post - 8/13

Looking for a little advice. So far anyway, Darwin has made a big change on the dosecrease to 0.5U.

That being said, I am leaving on Sunday to go out of town, and I'll have a busy week helping my mom prepare for my brother's wedding the following weekend. My girlfriend is caring for Darwin until the following Saturday when she will be joining me (we found a coworker that can stay with our pets over the weekend we are both gone).

So...I am really reluctant to increase the dose again right before I leave on Sunday. I don't want to take the chance of him dropping while I am not here (my GF will be testing him, but I don't think he's going to let the petsitter test him for the 2 days she is joining me).

He's not running super high numbers so I feel it might be best/safest to hold this dose until I get back. My GF will be able to tell me what his numbers are like next week before she leaves so we can see if our petsitter will even need to reduce the dose or not when she here, and possible not able test him for 2 days.

Thoughts?

 

[rhiannon and shadow (GA)]

oooh... this one is difficult....
but sometimes life events get in the way....

I think your plan is a good one....
it's just that since the numbers are mid blues, you may have to be a little more aggressive when you return if numbers start climbing
upward . You don't want him to become resistant.

I think two weeks should be safe enough....

just be prepared to re-evaluate before Sunday....
see how it goes between now and then....

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Can you repost the question in a couple of days. I don't think a lot will happen in that time, but the latest data is always best.

The other thing to consider is that it's easier to leave a petsitter with a dose on the line. Make sure you leave a sample syringe with coloured liquid showing the dose. I know the petsitter is a coworker, but I heard a story of a vet tech showing a client how to draw a 2.0 unit dose, and she showed the client 20 units instead. It happens. Fortunately the cat had acromegaly and survived.

 

[Mandy & Rex (GA)]

Darwin is looking good on this dose. I understand why you don't want to increase just to decrease in a few days! Good luck!

 

[Tasha & Darwin]

Thanks guys!

Darwin is looking good on this dose. I understand why you don't want to increase just to decrease in a few days! Good luck!

Thanks, that's sort of how I feel. His numbers aren't AS high as they were on the lower dose. He's not making much progress anyway, so I am trying not to lose hope that he will be regulated anytime soon, anyway.

The other thing to consider is that it's easier to leave a petsitter with a dose on the line. Make sure you leave a sample syringe with coloured liquid showing the dose. I know the petsitter is a coworker, but I heard a story of a vet tech showing a client how to draw a 2.0 unit dose, and she showed the client 20 units instead. It happens. Fortunately the cat had acromegaly and survived.

That's terrible. There's no way that person was a "vet tech". This is just another reason my profession is pushing to make education much stricter, and get regulation changed in every state. No vet tech at my work would ever NOT know the difference between 2.0 and 20 units! We use insulin syringes to 'fine-dose' all kinds of medications (including anesthetics), and that would be an unacceptable mistake - crazy!

I am not worried her giving the right dose at all, but I am just not sure I'm going to be available to troubleshoot doses while I am away; so I'd rather just keep him a bit safer and higher. We'll just see what he does in the next three days. He's barely made any strides for the past couple of weeks, so I'm not hoping for much at this point.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

That's terrible. There's no way that person was a "vet tech"

With that were true. I heard the story from a vet I trust. He was away from the clinic that day and had his tech do the demo. In our province we too are working towards education standards for techs.