Tricia Cinco(GA) & Harvey
Member Since 2011
We have been off the board for a while - went to Ohio for a week for Christmas with family and got back Sunday night. So much to do since then.
Cinco and the other kitties were in the care of my good friend and cat sitter. She took Cinco and Minka to the vet's to board from the 24th to the 26th so she could spend Christmas with her family. I really like this vet and boarding facility (they hve 24 hour care), but they are not perfect, and record keeping is not their strong suit. I gave them a print-out of the spreadsheet, and they recorded the BG readings and times of shots, but not the units. I asked them to give him .5, because I was worried about some of the big swings he'd been having on his regular dose, and I know from past experience that they don't do .75 - it's either .5 or 1.0, and 1.0 worried me. Well, they claimed my meter wasn't functioning correctly, so they used their glucometer, and he had a couple of really big PS readings, followed by huge drops, which doesn't seem quite right on .5. When I asked about the dosage, they assured me that if they didn't write down an amount, they'd given him what I told them to. **Sigh**. When my cat sitter brought him home, she had no trouble with my meter, and his readings were pretty close to what he'd been doing before we left. I blame any unusual numbers on her inexperience with giving insulin - she may not have gotten the dose exactly right. Since we've been home, his numbers, both pre- and post-shot, have been a bit high. I'm wondering if we should go ahead and bump him back up to a full .75 and see if we can get the numbers down a little? I didn't want to do it as soon as we got home - wanted to give him a couple of days to get used to normalcy again. Also wanted him to be back on the .75s for at least 6 cycles before any changes. Thoughts?
I worried about his vision problem the whole time we were gone, and as soon as I got home I called the vet. They were able to take us yesterday afternoon. She didn't find anything obviously wrong, but said that he definitely has a problem - his pupils do not react to light, and when she moved like she was going to poke him in the eye, he didn't flinch. She kept him for four hours, in a "quiet room", so she could monitor his blood pressure, and she said that after he calmed down from the stress of being there, his next two readings were perfectly normal. His previous BPs (when he had his dental) were normal, too, so she doesn't think he's hypertensive. She is referring me to a veterinary opthamologist. Unfortunately, his office is closed until January 6 (gee, wish I'd had that kind of job when I was working), so we'll have to wait another week to find out anything else. It's so hard to watch him move around and bump into things and not know what's causing it. Harvey walked up to him yesterday morning, and Cinco never saw him coming, so when Harvey swatted him, poor Cinco was totally shocked.
Fortunately, Cinco's appetite, which disappears at the vet's, returned to normal as soon as he was home, and he is eating like a horse. I restarted the +9 snacks, since taking them away didn't seem to change his readings, and now I'm wondering if I need to try skipping them again. It's hard, because he knows when the feeder is supposed to turn, and he's there, waiting for it eagerly. **Sigh**. I know my problems aren't nearly as bad as some of you on the board, but it sure is frustrating, not knowing what the best thing to do is!
Sending big congratulations to Twice on going OTJ, and to those on trial, good luck!! Healing vines to Jupiter and all who need them. Everyone have a safe, happy New Year! dancing_cat dancing_cat dancing_cat
Cinco and the other kitties were in the care of my good friend and cat sitter. She took Cinco and Minka to the vet's to board from the 24th to the 26th so she could spend Christmas with her family. I really like this vet and boarding facility (they hve 24 hour care), but they are not perfect, and record keeping is not their strong suit. I gave them a print-out of the spreadsheet, and they recorded the BG readings and times of shots, but not the units. I asked them to give him .5, because I was worried about some of the big swings he'd been having on his regular dose, and I know from past experience that they don't do .75 - it's either .5 or 1.0, and 1.0 worried me. Well, they claimed my meter wasn't functioning correctly, so they used their glucometer, and he had a couple of really big PS readings, followed by huge drops, which doesn't seem quite right on .5. When I asked about the dosage, they assured me that if they didn't write down an amount, they'd given him what I told them to. **Sigh**. When my cat sitter brought him home, she had no trouble with my meter, and his readings were pretty close to what he'd been doing before we left. I blame any unusual numbers on her inexperience with giving insulin - she may not have gotten the dose exactly right. Since we've been home, his numbers, both pre- and post-shot, have been a bit high. I'm wondering if we should go ahead and bump him back up to a full .75 and see if we can get the numbers down a little? I didn't want to do it as soon as we got home - wanted to give him a couple of days to get used to normalcy again. Also wanted him to be back on the .75s for at least 6 cycles before any changes. Thoughts?
I worried about his vision problem the whole time we were gone, and as soon as I got home I called the vet. They were able to take us yesterday afternoon. She didn't find anything obviously wrong, but said that he definitely has a problem - his pupils do not react to light, and when she moved like she was going to poke him in the eye, he didn't flinch. She kept him for four hours, in a "quiet room", so she could monitor his blood pressure, and she said that after he calmed down from the stress of being there, his next two readings were perfectly normal. His previous BPs (when he had his dental) were normal, too, so she doesn't think he's hypertensive. She is referring me to a veterinary opthamologist. Unfortunately, his office is closed until January 6 (gee, wish I'd had that kind of job when I was working), so we'll have to wait another week to find out anything else. It's so hard to watch him move around and bump into things and not know what's causing it. Harvey walked up to him yesterday morning, and Cinco never saw him coming, so when Harvey swatted him, poor Cinco was totally shocked.
Fortunately, Cinco's appetite, which disappears at the vet's, returned to normal as soon as he was home, and he is eating like a horse. I restarted the +9 snacks, since taking them away didn't seem to change his readings, and now I'm wondering if I need to try skipping them again. It's hard, because he knows when the feeder is supposed to turn, and he's there, waiting for it eagerly. **Sigh**. I know my problems aren't nearly as bad as some of you on the board, but it sure is frustrating, not knowing what the best thing to do is!
Sending big congratulations to Twice on going OTJ, and to those on trial, good luck!! Healing vines to Jupiter and all who need them. Everyone have a safe, happy New Year! dancing_cat dancing_cat dancing_cat
Hopefully someone can come along to help you with the dose question, I just wanted to say hello, and hope you have a Happy New Years Eve! :smile: