? BG levels in the blue, but too low to shoot?

(GA) Gypsy's Parent

(GA) Gypsy's Parent

Member
I'm not sure if Gypsy is still "in remission" when she has numbers in the blue. She seems in good health, overall and not showing any obvious symptoms of diabetes (lots of drinking/urinating, dry fur, increased appetite, walking posture). Since switching to canned food, she's lost a bit of weight, but stable.

I've been testing daily because I fear her numbers might go even higher, but the numbers seem too low to give any insulin without fear of dropping too low.

Advice would be welcome.
 
Gypsy's BG is for the most part in normal range although on the high side of normal and there have been a few readings that are just above the normal range. It does appear that BG has been slowly creeping up since Sept. I don't think insulin is needed just yet but definitely keep an eye on her. When you stopped the insulin, you didn't wean her off quite as slowly as we would recommend and may not have got as strong a remission as possible.

BG certainly bears watching and if Gypsy's teeth haven't been checked for awhile, it might be worth making a vet appt. to have her checked out. Any infection/inflammation (mouth, urinary, upper respiratory) can cause elevated BG and catching it early can prevent losing remission.
 
Update on Gypsy: Her BG levels came down, but in mid+ November she seemed sick with a cold. Lots of sneezing. She didn't eat for a day and she lost weight. The other cats really seem to hate her more, either because they are jealous that she gets to eat wet food "all the time" (they wolf their meals down) or maybe Gypsy is sick. She spends a lot of time in the bedroom on the heating pad and away from the other two cats. She won't use the heated cat bed, so I put the heater between her sleeping pad and a towel and she loves her heated bed. Less sneezing, and her eating was improving. But she seemed to overall have days where she felt better and others worse. Her coat seemed drier, despite the winter dry weather. Her eating has been pretty good, two cans of FF per day.

Today I decided to take her to the vet. They did xray and blood work. I forgot to have them send me results. The regular doc wasn't there (that's another story). Doc said her kidney numbers look OK, but they think she might have some pancreatitis so they are going to do specific test for that. They are keeping her overnight.

I made sure to tell them she has to have LOW CARB FOOD as she has diabetes but is in remission.
 
I hope you get some answers. Pancreatitis is quite common in diabetics and could also be causing some BG elevation. Otherwise it looks like Gypsy is still staying within normal BG range for the most part.
 
Well, last Wednesday I decided Gypsy should go to the vet. She was seeing a bit less active, her fur felt awful and her weight was not improving, although she was eating good amount of food. They did an xray and blood work and did the Spec fPL test for pancreatitis. That number was high as was BUN. Nothing outrageous, but it could be general decline in health. They gave her a B-12 shot and sent us home with Azodyl capsules which seems to be some new supplement that helps kidney function. She ate and urinated and pooped at the vet. I picked her up the next day. So far she seems to be doing OK and her fur definitely feels better.

They wanted me to feed her I/D food and I said no way, the primary concern in food is low carb. I think they want lower fat, and the FF classic is pretty high in fat. Also it's high in phosphorous, which isn't good for kidney cats. She's such a fussy eater, I don't think I'll find anything she'll eat. At least her BG numbers look OK.
 
Right now her BG is mostly within normal range albeit on the high side of normal and there is the odd reading in there that is higher than normal range although not by a lot. I'd be sure to keep checking her BG if they think she has pancreatitis even if it's mild. Any inflammation can cause BG to go up.
 
Tonight she was racing around the house in an unusual fashion. I was watching tv. A couple of passes and then I didn't see her again. I got up about 30 minutes later and she was in the living room laying there twitching with seizures. Her two front legs were splayed out and she wasn't moving on her own. The seizures were constant; violent twitches. We went to the emergency vet and they put in an IV and gave her a sedative. The prognosis didn't sound good since the seizures were constant for such a long time period. It would have been days in the hospital, MRI, blood work and several possibilities related to kidney disease and high blood pressure that would have not had good outcome. As Gypsy had been experiencing declining health, I decided to euthanize her.

She looked so cute in her xmas photo this year: https://i.imgur.com/2XRXibv.jpg
 
I'm so very sorry to hear Gypsy has gone ahead. So sudden and unexpected. She was lucky to have you and knew she was loved. You did all you could.
RIP sweet Gypsy. :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
I'm so sorry to hear about Gypsy, my heart breaks for you, I can't even imagine watching her having those seizures. Gentle hugs, Gypsy knew how much you loved her
 
I have a creepy story. About 24 hours after her euthanization, I had fallen asleep on the couch, when the smoke detector went off! I didn't smell anything but I grabbed the extinguisher and ran for the other end of the house. The alarm stopped on it's own and there was nothing going on. Tested the detector and it's fine. It was very creepy. I hadn't buried her yet, she was outside on the porch where it was cool. I buried her later in the day in the front yard.

I hadn't expected to adopt so soon after the loss of Gypsy, but this is what happens when the Humane Society has a neighborhood adoption center at the pet store! I saw them last Sunday and on Wednesday decided to adopt them. Three days in and they are settling in well. Introducing them to the two older cats is going to take some time.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZrpqTkF7n...aTuL9TGZNipaEnUfEYhYV0wE9IE5pNSNrEU-fI8At-qiM

I went for a walk in the evening after adopting them and remembered all the kitties that had enriched my life.
 
They are not! One is 7 months old, the other is 12 months. They met at the shelter. But oddly enough, they both were transferred from San Bernadino county in southern CA to Humane Society of Silicon Valley. So they might have been together down south. I am beginning to recognize them. The older one, Caesar, is more of a people kitty. Nero is finally feeling more at home and is now up on the bed and letting me pet him and purring more. Caesar has yellow eye, Nero green, but it's difficult to see their eyes most of the time. Nero's tail has longer hair and looks larger and Caesar's tail has a crook at the end. I don't know what happened to it. They have great personalities and I couldn't be happier. Time will tell :-)

I'm now up to a full house of four kitties, two pairs. So cat lady in waiting.

They are both enjoying the heated cat bed pad that I put between a flat cat bed and towel for Gypsy. But then my house is usually at 62F, so it's chilly.

I feel a bit guilty that I feel better being free of the commitment required to take care of old cats. It has been a long year and a half of the last two old cats being fairly needing. It's time consuming and has some emotional toll. Of the three old cats I've had, two had prolonged, slower end of life. Gypsy had health issues, but was just starting that last downhill slide. In hindsight, I expect she would have crossed in 2-4 months. The pain is very different, but in hindsight, I'm glad she passed before she was ill. I'm guessing that a lot of really sick cats do have poor quality of life before we let them go.
 
So sorry you lost your sweet Gypsy. It's hard to say goodbye, even when you know it's time.

Love your new kitties. Caesar and Nero are so handsome! And bless you for adopting black kitties. It seems ridiculous in this day and age, but black kitties still have trouble getting adopted.

I know what it's like to feel guilt after loss. It's perfectly natural to have a sense of relief when suddenly all that extra time and care isn't needed. Care like that causes stress. Then we feel guilty for the stress being relieved. Feel what you feel, and try not to be too hard on yourself.
 
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