8/6 Polly AMPS 276+2=329+10=380 PMPS 271+1=276+2=241+4=177

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Marilyn and Sheldon

Marilyn and Sheldon

Member Since 2014
Yesterday

Recap 8/5

236 AMPS
240 +2
153 +7
162 +10
148 PMPS
174 +2
138 +4
138 +5
176 +7

Barky dog, hissy kitties, grumpy bean. Wonderful day in the neighborhood!

I will e-mail Dr. Ferguson later today. Any questions, information I should for sure include? Will also talk with clinic at work; they can do an echo to check her heart and do a general health eval. Anything else I should check out? Might have to wait a bit for appt., though; 4 vets, over 1800 animals at the sanctuary. Polly will have to wait her turn.

Picked up MSU result sheet at my local vet. Only one sheet; just the numbers. Did my vet miss something, like an analysis of the numbers?

And I need to start acclimating her to car travel. Desensitization. Short about town, longer, then longer. Lots of treats! Any advice on the road trip aspect for us.

Of course, this is all irrelevant if 1) she's not a candidate 2) I can't get her comfortable in the car and 3) the roof I was going to replace this fall starts leaking and demands replacement now!

Off to the work place.

Marilyn and Polly
 
Re: 8/6 Polly AMPS 276(8.0U)+2=329

she's young - i can't imagine she wouldn't be able to do the procedure. they are fantastic at CSU. The first day is testing and them making a plan on how to treat the tumor. They tailor the anesthesia to the cat. punkin had 4 days in a row of anesthesia and he did fine with every one.

as far as the car, once we'd gotten past the time it takes to get to the vet's, punkin calmed down. he spent most of the time under the driver's seat, just hanging out. he'd come out now and then to look out the window. we had 2 very long days of driving to get from oregon to colorado. i'd sprayed the car interior with feliway spray before we left. Gave the cats some Rescue Remedy to start off. Put some fresh catnip on the floor of the back seat on punkin's side. The litter box was behind the passenger seat. hehe the car still has a lovely punkin pee odor when it gets hot, because he did miss a few times. ya just can't get that out of the car. i took the mats out, soaked them in the tub with enzyme cleaners and detergents for a few days and it's down to just a faint whiff at times, now. :lol:

We took Anya with us. We weren't going to, but someone (i think Karrie/Maverick) said "but she's his WIFE!" which was true. they were a bonded pair and she did comfort him. She's quite the chicken, maybe more like Polly, and she was pretty anxious in the car. She panted at sometimes and kept trying to get out. Somehow she decided the way out was through the windshield in front of the driver, so the co-pilot in the car had to keep her away from there.

I did get a harness and leash for both cats. Training Polly to at least tolerate going outside when you're at the hotel in Ft. Collins will make it easier for you. You don't want just a collar with a cat, you want the body harness that will go around the belly, so if you have to pull you're not getting a cat twisting about the collar trying to get out. We had this Come with me kitty Harness & Bungee Leash that i bought at our locally owned pet store. It's great. Doesn't really go around their neck, it goes over the shoulders and between the front legs, but it's not going to strangle anyone and it's not going to come off.

How many hours will it be for you to go from Utah to Ft. Collins? It's not too far, is it? If you have a friend you could convince to go with you, that would be a lot more fun.

Nothing specific to ask at MSU. When I called they could've taken punkin the following week, so at least at that time, i didn't have to schedule far out.

I only had a sheet with numbers from MSU as well. no explanations. they need you to go to FDMB for that! ;-)
 
Re: 8/6 Polly AMPS 276(8.0U)+2=329+5=315+10=380 PMPS 271

Nice drop at the end of the cycle. :-D

My MSU report was pretty brief - basically the number for IGF-1, listing the reference ranges, and a comment saying the result probably mean acromegaly. It also asked if there were any physical changes consistent with acromegaly - there weren't in Neko. Ditto for the IAA, said it was elevated and "providing support for the presence of insulin-binding antibodies."

I think most cats that didn't go ahead with SRT have had conditions (such as heart) that meant it was unwise to do the anesthesia. And even some have gone (like Tony) whose heart were quite bad - he had to stay overnight at CSU one night because of that. CSU tells you to plan 5 days, even if the treatment is 4 days, in case your cat needs to take a rest day from the daily anesthesia. Neko didn't have an echocardiogram until 9 months after SRT, when her regular vetty noticed a heart murmur. All CSU asked for was her latest blood test and urinalysis with MSU results and her spreadsheet. Between the IGF-1 number and her SS, it was pretty good odds there was a tumor. However, they don't know for absolute sure until they do that first CT scan. Sometimes they've had to do an MRI if the CT scan didn't show anything.

Neko was a little off after her first radiation treatment - mostly hiding under the bed, but the rest of the days were fine. And that one night she was fine by the time we went to bed. I didn't let Neko out at all in Colorado - I had a suite so there was plenty of room for her. I did bring along a harness and leash, but didn't use it.

Cats can surprise you with travel. Neko used to complain on the 5-10 minute trip to the vet. We were prepared for horrible travel but the three long days each way transformed her. She's now great on the road. We gave her Rescue Remedy each morning on the way there and sprayed the inside of her carrier with Feliway. She was antsy until after the border crossing when we let her out of the carrier. At which point we found out she was antsy cause she'd peed there. :oops: I can't emphasize enough a change of towels and plastic bags to put wet stuff in, as well as laundry soap. One of our members who traveled weekly with her cat put together a list of how to travel with a diabetic cat.

My sedan has a split back seat and we put Neko's LB in the back trunk. She only went when we stopped the car for gas, lunch, etc., except if she was in the carrier. She spent a lot of time resting in the carrier, but with the door open. We also had a bed in the back trunk that she used. And be prepared to test and feed HC on the road. Darn cat tested at 70 on one of our pit stops. :shock:
 
Re: 8/6 Polly AMPS 276(8.0U)+2=329+5=315+10=380 PMPS 271+1=2

Hi Marilyn,

No medical advice from me - just offering up my travel experience. Jersey didn't do well in the car at all on our last trip. She was terrified and panted during the entire drive. We did place a litter box in the back floorboard just in case. (She didn't use it.) She stayed in the carrier the whole ride, although the door was open in case she wanted to get out. In hindsight, I wish I would have had more of a house-like carrier for her instead of the one we used that has mesh all around it. I wonder if she would have felt more secure in a carrier that had more "cover" to it. I did take her favorite treats with us. She didn't eat any, but she did perk up just a little when we offered them to her. The Rescue Remedy and Feliway are both good ideas that I wish we would have tried. Our first diabetic cat traveled really well. We did have a leash and body harness we used with him. We also bought a small insulated cooler to carry the insulin in.

Shelly! Thanks for stopping by. Ohmygosh, you were such a help when Polly and I first came to LL. I still think of your teen age girl analogy whenever Polly's numbers follow a I-can't-figure-this-out pattern. It really took away the pressure to understand every little bump and bobble.
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You're too kind, Marilyn. I wish I could take credit for the teenage girl analogy, but I actually think Julie may have come up with that one.

Lots of deep breaths - just take one step at a time! :YMHUG:
 
Re: 8/6 Polly AMPS 276(8.0U)+2=329+10=380 PMPS 271+1=276+2=2

Thanks, everyone. I drove out to Southern Utah from Central Wisconsin thirteen years ago with 3 cats and a dog. Three nights on the road. I have to remember how well that went. Polly's just soooooo scared of everything. But she's not the same cat she was four months ago. Much braver. I think with some desensitization we'll be o.k. (Maybe I need to be desensitized!) And Rescue Remedy. And Feliway.

Have a harness. Polly wore it tonight for about an hour just around the house. I was surprised she didn't belly crawl. Seemed fine with it. Four months ago I wouldn't have gotten close to her with it! Also have a pet stroller/carrier. Mostly mesh. She might like the security of that for a little fresh air. I'll see.

I'm beginning to feel more confident about the SRT logistics.

How many hours will it be for you to go from Utah to Ft. Collins? It's not too far, is it? If you have a friend you could convince to go with you, that would be a lot more fun.
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Julie, it's about 10 hours. I'm down near the AZ border. Have done the here to Denver stretch lots. It's on my way to Wis. when I road trip back for visits. That's 9 hours unless traffic stinks. I love road trips and would do it in one jaunt without Polly. With Miss P I'll do a 6/4 split in two days. Sounds odd, I suppose, but I really enjoy traveling alone. It'll just be me and the girl. One of us probably singing loudly!

All CSU asked for was her latest blood test and urinalysis with MSU results and her spreadsheet. Between the IGF-1 number and her SS, it was pretty good odds there was a tumor. However, they don't know for absolute sure until they do that first CT scan. Sometimes they've had to do an MRI if the CT scan didn't show anything.
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Wow, Wendy. That's easy.

I can't emphasize enough a change of towels and plastic bags to put wet stuff in, as well as laundry soap. One of our members who traveled weekly with her cat put together a list of how to travel with a diabetic cat.

My sedan has a split back seat and we put Neko's LB in the back trunk. She only went when we stopped the car for gas, lunch, etc., except if she was in the carrier. She spent a lot of time resting in the carrier, but with the door open. We also had a bed in the back trunk that she used. And be prepared to test and feed HC on the road. Darn cat tested at 70 on one of our pit stops. :shock:
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I'm thinking maybe a large wire dog crate; it's big enough to hold her carrier, a LB, a bed and I can clamp water to it. Would leave the door open on her carrier but she wouldn't have free range in the car. I love the linked list!

I wish I would have had more of a house-like carrier for her instead of the one we used that has mesh all around it. I wonder if she would have felt more secure in a carrier that had more "cover" to it. I did take her favorite treats with us.
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I suspect, Shelly, that Polly will hunker in her carrier. Or meatloaf in her litter box. But she is full of surprises! Who knows, maybe she'll call dibs on riding shotgun. :lol:

Good luck getting Polly used to riding in the car.
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Thanks Carla. Who knows, maybe she'll become my little adventurer kitty!

Marilyn and Polly
 
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