Cheekyface is home

[Lesley & Cheekyface]

Hi all,

Well, the new sugarcat is home, looking heaps better than she did on Thursday night when all this started, and behaving as if nothing untoward has happened @-) . She went straight to her water bowl when we got home, but it is a bit warm today and the drip got taken out a few hours before I collected her so it was probably legitimate. She hasn't been near it for the past hour.

There's a raw wound on her arm where she bit herself attacking the drip last night, little ***** (it didn't come out TG, the bandage got a bit mauled but stayed on), so I'll have to keep an eye on that and keep it clean, but she's had a long-lasting antibiotic shot to cover any stray infections that might have got a foothold while her BG was at the ceiling so that should be okay eventually.

Drugs: rx Lantus 2u BD, due at 9pm tonight; but we'll be doing the half-hour shuffle to get her to 7a/7p by Monday, when she has to stay with the vet all day so they can do a curve. I'm back at work on Monday and those times will work best for me too, but 8-8 would be just as good so I might shuffle it again later down the track. I'll be glad to know she's safe, because I must admit until we can get an idea of when she MIGHT go hypo I'm worried about leaving her alone all day. I realise at this very early stage it's not likely to happen, but still I worry. Once she's more stable, I can whistle up a close friend living 5 minutes away who works from home and could check on her at the 'risky' time.

I mentioned that I'd be keen to do home-monitoring once things got settled, so that's out in the open, but 'wait and see' was the response. Which is fair enough at this point, I have enough to get on board right now.

Food: Hills m/d cans, which she's been eating whilst in the ward (she's had it before anyway when I was trying to get weight off her early last year), but I declined the kibble after what I've read on a few posts here. I've been cutting that right back anyway for both cats, so I'm hoping it'll be no great drama when it vanishes completely--and I can always slip Bodie a few bix when she's not around. At this stage, I'll stick to the m/d until I'm more confident about things, but ideally I'd like to get to a tweaked commercial/homemade diet because why should she have to eat the same boring thing at every meal? we don't!

The one thing I should have asked about is her Jointguard--giving glucosamine to a newly-dx diabetic cat probably isn't a good plan--does anyone know for sure? whatever, I'll flag it and write myself a note to ask on Monday.

The biggest shock was to my Visa because, as well as the blood tests, fluids, insulin/syringes, and food, she had chest xrays and the antibug shot :shock: I nearly fell over, and TG it's almost tax return time!!!

xo

 

[Just-As-Appy]

Glad to hear that Cheekyface is home and seems in fine fettle.

I really have to say that home testing is what will help you help her a lot right now, and even better (well, maybe a toss up) it will help your Visa card immensely. The numbers that the vet gets will be higher by quite a bit usually than you would see at home and the insulin dose will be raised based on those numbers. And the cost of having her stay at the clinic all day and the price that vets (here, anyway) charge for bg tests will certainly add to the VISA.

While there are some cats that tire of the m/d canned, not all do. Its not the best for carbs, but also not too bad. I'm not sure if there are foods on Janet and Binkys list that can be found in Australia or if there is another list. Someone, perhaps other Australian members, will know. Anyway, just letting you know that changing the food from m/d is less of a priority in my opinion that home testing. And as others have said, you don't need your vets permission to test - just get a human glucometer, strips, lancets from the pharmacy and watch the videos. It really puts you so in control of the situation. Lot of people have learned with advice and suggestions over this board.

 

[Lesley & Cheekyface]

And as others have said, you don't need your vets permission to test - just get a human glucometer, strips, lancets from the pharmacy and watch the videos. It really puts you so in control of the situation.

I'd forgotten I don't need vet permission to just test--I wouldn't dare muck about with the insulin dosage until I had hard evidence to show her, so next week I'll look into purchasing the supplies and get us started on it--I'm not sure what-all's available OTC here in Oz myself.

I'm not sure if there are foods on Janet and Binkys list that can be found in Australia or if there is another list.

I've checked out the list, and the only brands that look familiar are Fancy Feast and Whiskas; but since I've only recently shifted the kids onto wet food (Dine mainly, which I couldn't see), I'm not sure about available flavours. When I'm back at work, I'll print it out and hit the supermarket. I also have reservations, possibly foolishly but it's the way I am, about any processed food (mine included!) not produced onshore; when it says 'Made in Thailand' on the labels I generally put it back, and a lot of canned cat food here seems to be.

Today's shock price was mainly the chest xrays and IV fluids for 36 hours. Ward stay is $15 day, and Monday's curve-effort will be thrown in with today's bill. My vet's like that

Thanks for the feedback xo

 

[Stephanie&Willy]

Yay! I am glad to hear your kitty is doing much better! That is wonderful news.

Willy is on Lantus also. There is a support group for us with LOTS of Lantus specific information and links located here. I encourage you to stop in read up because the guides are very helpful and there are many knowledgeable people there! This morning, Willy had a BG of 50 and wasn't rising, people stuck with me the whole time while I waited for it to rise for 2hrs! It wound up not coming up so he didn't get his morning shot (just got his food) but it was really nice and comforting to have people there to answer my questions and offer me support and advice. Afterwards, they helped me adjust his dose for his shot tonight. You may not be ready or comfortable to start tweaking the dosing without your vet (very understandable, it took me almost 8 months before I finally did), but I still encourage you to read about Lantus dosing protocol. There is even information there (journal articles) that you can bring to your vet if it is something you might be interested in trying down the road.

If you do decide to home test, here is a link to set up a really neat/organized spreadsheet through Google Documents. It's really nice because you can print it out to show your vet or give you vet the link and they can view it at any time.

I strongly encourage you to home test, even if you don't change the dosing. It is really nice to have the real time, (virtually) stress free data. It's (generally) more accurate because the stress of going to the vet can really warp the numbers. My old vet told me testing is "difficult" and "unnecessary" for treating diabetes but it's a really good thing I started... Willy was acting completely normal this morning but his BG was TOTALLY OUT OF THE ORDINARY! If I had shot that low (because I didn't know) the situation could have been very bad.

Willy wouldn't eat the prescription stuff and he eats anything. He loves Fancy Feast! The classic varieties are low carb and wheat/gluten/soy/veggie free. They do contain some bi-products but for the price, the quality is pretty good. The nutritional information might be different for you though... I'm not sure how that works (my friend lives in Adelaide too! :lol: ) If you decide to switch food, try to monitor if you can (home testing, YAY!) because some cats do better on some foods than others. I know there are certain FF varieties that spike Willy's BG more than others (and the opposite is true too)!

I hope to see you around in the Lantus forums!

Stephanie & Willy

 

[Lesley & Cheekyface]

Thanks, Stephanie, gee I'm overwhelmed by the speedy responses on this board.

I really do want to home test--as I said, my parents and brother are all diabetic and I know they can be asymptomatic then whack straight into a hypo out of the blue (I've seen Dad in particular doing the shimmyshake a few times) but I'm reeling from the information overload. Here in Oz it's late Saturday night, and if Cheeky does something silly it'll be megabucks at the Emergency Vet Clinic until Monday.

But I'm thinking positive, she'll be looking for her dinner soon I think and I have honey in the cupboard--and who needs sleep anyway??? ohmygod_smile

I'll check the local Pharmacy tomorrow for diabetic equipment.

xo

 

[Lesley & Cheekyface]

Errrrr help--

Cheeky is REALLY looking for food and her shot's not due for another hour--how much of a time lapse can there be between eating and dosing?! sorry but I'm too stressed to go looking for info...

 

[dian and wheezer]

really should not have food for at least 3 hours if not 4 before testing and shot. otherwise you will have a false reading due to food spike

 

[Just-As-Appy]

Ok - I can't help myself! Many cats seek out food when their blood glucose begins to drop low. It is their natural reaction. Being able to test at home means taht you could have checked her numbers then and seen if she was simply hungry or dropping low and trying to save herself. If you have family members who are diabetic, is it possible that one of them has a spare metre and a few strips and a lancet that you can use until you get your own?

Even if it is an hour b4 her shot, if she is frantically looking for food, I do no tthink that it would hurt to give her a teaspoon off her next meal. Since you are not yet testing, it won't throw off your numbers. When you begin testing, you do want a 'true' number and not one that has been affected by eating within the last 2 or so hours.

 

[Stephanie&Willy]

Sorry Lesley! I must've just missed your post going to bed... There is so much information to digest, try not to get discouraged! I tried to do it all at once (for a long time) and Willy suffered because of it. I am taking things one day at a time now, and doing what I can each day and it really makes things much easier to take in.

For the future: Willy is ALWAYS hungry. Always. It is something he has always had issues with, even before his diagnosis but it has gotten a lot worse since his diagnosis. From my understanding, many kitties, before they get regulated, will be very very hungry a lot of the time and may constantly look for food. Once they get more regulated, and their bodies get used to being in normal BG ranges again, the ravenous appetite will start to go back to normal. Willy will start looking for food and yelling at us to feed him about an hour and a half before meal time (like clock work).

Personally, I add a lot of water to Willy's food otherwise he start to root around in the trash and tries to get into the pantry. We just put a lock on our trash can (last week) to keep him out of it because he's very sneaky! The water is good because kitties tend to not drink enough to begin with.

Other people feed in minimeals throughout the day (if they are home or have an auto feeder). Otherwise, some people have a lot of luck with freezing portions of the cat food and then kitty can free feed as they defrost (this isn't an option for our Willy because he will try to eat them frozen and all at once).

I know this isn't directly related to your question, but the appetite problem is something I go through. I will stop by later to add some more information when my DM leaves.

 

[Lesley & Cheekyface]

Morning Stephanie,

I've just got up myself and my little girl is waiting for her breakfast, which will be an hour past 'normal'. She's wondering why Bodie has been fed (I took him into the spare room) and not her. But she's not frantic.

Willy is ALWAYS hungry. Always. It is something he has always had issues with, even before his diagnosis but it has gotten a lot worse since his diagnosis.

Yes, she was and is the same, because I rescued her from previous neighbours who abandoned her and she was starting to scavenge before I took her in; it took a long time for her to stop wolfing and actually walk away from food when she'd had enough. It was one of my clues that something was wrong when she reverted to her old ways, cleaning the dish every single time as well as suddenly drinking buckets.

Our routine for the past 6 months, while I've been getting them onto a mostly-wet diet, has to been to leave down one small bowl of kibble between them to graze on during the day (when I'm at work) and overnight so I don't get yowled out of bed at dawn (that doesn't always work of course :lol: ) It's the absence of kibble that was the issue last night I think, and I guess a lot of my reaction was guilt at making her wait. I'm a well-trained slave.

Other people feed in minimeals throughout the day (if they are home or have an auto feeder). Otherwise, some people have a lot of luck with freezing portions of the cat food and then kitty can free feed as they defrost

This isn't an option for me because of Bodie...I'd have to keep them totally separate while I'm at work and that would create more stress for all of us. I just have to be strong and feed on schedule at weekends. Or get myself out into the garden so I'm not sitting in the kitchen where they can see me :roll:

If you have family members who are diabetic, is it possible that one of them has a spare metre and a few strips and a lancet that you can use until you get your own?

Good suggestion, but unfortunately, they're all in New Zealand. I'll shop today for the equipment and TG it's Sunday so I can have a whole day at home to sort myself out.

Meanwhile, since I started this reply, the time has come and she's got her breakfast, happy girl. Better get the shot organised. BBL.