Day 4

Amybee and Pandora (GA)

Amybee and Pandora (GA)

Member
Morning everyone, sorry for slowness to post this morning has been… intense to say the least.

woke up to non responsive cat lying with paw and half of face in water, woke her up she tried to meow, only silent meow, terribly unhappy. Tested blood sugar and got HI and nearly had a nervous breakdown. Calmed myself down, managed to get her to drink a little and eat about 2tsp food.

on basis of the HI I took the decision to shoot 2 units and test regularly after that, thank fully it has started to come down and she definitely feels better, drinking well albeit no further food will try to give her some lunch in a minute. I managed to get a wee sample, still negative for ketones thank goodness.

spoke to vet on phone, he has link to spreadsheet and he agreed about the 2 units. He has said to monitor, he was a bit concerned about doing 2 units tonight and suggested maybe 1.5 as he would normally like to increase more slowly. I am going to have another call with him later once we have more numbers for today. He said no need to syringe feed just yet main thing is keep hydrated and hopefully she may eat once feeling better. So will be making some big decisions this afternoon about 3pm UK BST time including potentially hospitalisation if he thinks IV fluids and faster acting insulin is necessary. If I do keep her here overnight I think I will be waking during the night to check her and take BG.

I have an alarm set and am offering her water every 15-30 minutes she is drinking well right now and looking a bit more peaceful.

I am also having to work today thank goodness I can work from home, not getting a lot done but it is in many ways a helpful distraction.

she did have some vocalisation / hyperactivity last night by the way so I will put a bit less ear ointment tonight. All the side effects, none of the appetite!

this morning I was convinced today would be her last day.

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/day-1-not-sure-what-to-expect.289293/
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/day-2.289307/
[url]https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/day-3.289348/[/URL]

Thank you for support!!
 
Oh wow. I am so sorry. I do not necessarily think it would be a bad idea to hospitalize her and have them use some rapid acting insulin to bring her BG down. I have some experience using R insulin in my cat. It only last about 4 hours but can be used in conjunction with longer acting insulin to bring numbers down. It requires experience and a lot of testing. Maybe it would alleviate some of your stress. But I hope that the two units will help her. I noticed that her numbers were coming down a bit.

I am here for you and I will be thinking of you both.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Oh wow. I am so sorry. I do not necessarily think it would be a bad idea to hospitalize her and have them use some rapid acting insulin to bring her BG down. I have some experience using R insulin in my cat. It only last about 4 hours but can be used in conjunction with longer acting insulin to bring numbers down. It requires experience and a lot of testing. Maybe it would alleviate some of your stress. But I hope that the two units will help her. I noticed that her numbers were coming down a bit.

I am here for you and I will be thinking of you both.
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Thanks Suzanne. The numbers are going in the right direction albeit still in the black range. I will take the vets advice about hospitalisation I am unsure at this point what would be best.

On the plus side I was able to feed her about half a can for her lunch just after +6, thanks to another piece of advice from this site, sprinkling it with Fortiflora. She couldn’t get enough of it!

Still no bowel motion which is a concern.

Will test again at +8.
 
@Suzanne & Darcy if you’re around what do you think of her numbers for the rest of the day? She only ate just after +6 and I saw it went up but then came down again after that. Now it’s shot up again. What do you think about tonight’s dose / hospitalisation?
 
Amybee and Pandora said:
@Suzanne & Darcy if you’re around what do you think of her numbers for the rest of the day? She only ate just after +6 and I saw it went up but then came down again after that. Now it’s shot up again. What do you think about tonight’s dose / hospitalisation?
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The vet has advised to give another 2 units at 6pm, monitor during night and call them with an update at 9am and she can go in at 10am for IV if necessary.
 
Without any night time tests it’s very difficult to interpret her daytime numbers. I am hoping that this is a bounce she will clear soon. Have you spoken with the vet yet about hospitalizing her? Would there be someone there all during the night to monitor her?
 
Oh. Okay. I see now that you did already speak with the vet. I already agreed with the 2 units. Her numbers may indicate a slight fluctuation up and down, but it’s not hugely significant. It was probably just a little “food bump.”

And I am really happy that she likes Forti Flora. Some of my cats really go for it! It’s not a very good probiotic, but it’s a good appetite stimulant.
 
Also, did you mention to the vet that she’s not having any bowel movements? Constipation can really take away appetite. Do you have any MiraLax or similar laxative (not sure what name it goes by in the UK — Movicol? It’s polyethylene glycol 3350 and you start with a very small amount in food.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Also, did you mention to the vet that she’s not having any bowel movements? Constipation can really take away appetite. Do you have any MiraLax or similar laxative (not sure what name it goes by in the UK — Movicol? It’s polyethylene glycol 3350 and you start with a very small amount in food.
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I did - I am giving malt paste (gim cat) but will ask for laxative when I call tomorrow morning.
 
Amybee and Pandora said:
Not as regularly but I will get up during the night to check her.
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Okay. I was thinking of the vet, but she will be with you overnight. I just wanted to make sure that IF she were going to be at the vet some staff would be there 24/7.

With regard to my comment about no tests at night, what I mean is that we only have half the picture. I can’t tell if perhaps she had a lower number at night and then started another bounce. I am trying to see how long it typically takes her to clear a bounce. We just don’t have enough data yet because it’s only been a few days. I’m not telling you to stay up all night! And believe me, I understand how pointless it feels to get up and test when all you see is another high number. I remember that. However, with her being in blacks and in a delicate condition right now, I would try to get a +2 before bed or maybe a +4 and later set an alarm to test her and just to check up on her in general. The way you found her this morning really frightens me. I can’t stop thinking about it. Where does she sleep in relation to your bedroom?
 
Okay. I see her PMPS of 684. Give her and yourself a break from testing for a few hours. Try to get her to eat.

Take a few moments for yourself and have a cup of tea or something to relax with. The mental/emotional stress can be very tiring, I know.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Okay. I was thinking of the vet, but she will be with you overnight. I just wanted to make sure that IF she were going to be at the vet some staff would be there 24/7.

With regard to my comment about no tests at night, what I mean is that we only have half the picture. I can’t tell if perhaps she had a lower number at night and then started another bounce. I am trying to see how long it typically takes her to clear a bounce. We just don’t have enough data yet because it’s only been a few days. I’m not telling you to stay up all night! And believe me, I understand how pointless it feels to get up and test when all you see is another high number. I remember that. However, with her being in blacks and in a delicate condition right now, I would try to get a +2 before bed or maybe a +4 and later set an alarm to test her and just to check up on her in general. The way you found her this morning really frightens me. I can’t stop thinking about it. Where does she sleep in relation to your bedroom?
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She is downstairs, but just at the foot of the stairs and if I leave my bedroom door open I will hear her meow. Our plan is, I will go to bed early about 9:30 and check her just before I go up. My husband will stay up till half 11 and check her before he goes up. He won’t do the ear tests but he will check her over, and wake me up if needed. I will wake up about 2 and check her and then get up about 5. I too don’t want to find her the way I did this morning. How does my plan sound?
 
Amybee and Pandora said:
:(@Suzanne & Darcy +3 is even higher than PMPS. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to sleep. I can’t imagine how she’s going to make it.
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I think I’ve made a terrible mistake. I think the Gimcat malt paste I’ve been giving her to help with constipation is high carb. If so then these high readings are all my fault! I’m such an idiot for not checking I assumed it was fine as just “medicine”. I hope she makes it through the night. I wish I could go back in time I thought I was helping her but I was making her worse.
 
I just looked at it. I know it seems like her BG is going up, but we don’t consider there to be much difference at all between a 684 and a 707. All BG meters are allowed a 20 percent variance and that means that even when testing the very same drop of blood you can get a number that is plus or minus 20 percent or so of another number. Still, we are looking for trends and right now she’s just flat and that’s not what we want either. I am praying that she will drop down some tonight. I hope she’s still eating some and drinking water. Cats are very tough. My daughter says, “never underestimate the power of a calico.”
 
Amybee and Pandora said:
I think I’ve made a terrible mistake. I think the Gimcat malt paste I’ve been giving her to help with constipation is high carb. If so then these high readings are all my fault! I’m such an idiot for not checking I assumed it was fine as just “medicine”. I hope she makes it through the night. I wish I could go back in time I thought I was helping her but I was making her worse.
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We’ve all done that before. Those laxative pastes do frequently contain some form of sugar. Is that what you discovered?
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
Malt extracts are concentrated sweeteners made from grain, usually barley.
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Well yes, but we don’t necessarily know the carb content. The petroleum based (vaseline) anti-hairball products that I am familiar with sometimes have glucose or sucrose in them. That’s what I was thinking of. Either way, the carbs would clear her system if you stop giving it. Even when we use pure corn syrup (karo) or honey for cats to bring their BG up when they have hypoglycemia, it doesn’t last long.

edit: sorry, Red I didn’t know you were lurking here! I thought it was Amy. I just got home and was checking in on Amy.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Hey. At least she went down to 580. I am taking that as a good sign. I’ve been waiting to see your 2 a.m test. I will check in with you again at about 5 a.m. my time— which is 10 a.m. your time.
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Thank you for waiting to see that! Yes glad to see it down a bit. She was really hungry too so I gave her some food. I’m going to call the vet in the morning as still no poo, and despite continuing to drink a lot there is much less pee and more concentrated. Still no ketones though although I am worrying because I’ve seen the urine strips only test for one kind.
 
Amybee and Pandora said:
Thank you for waiting to see that! Yes glad to see it down a bit. She was really hungry too so I gave her some food. I’m going to call the vet in the morning as still no poo, and despite continuing to drink a lot there is much less pee and more concentrated. Still no ketones though although I am worrying because I’ve seen the urine strips only test for one kind.
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Well maybe a trip to the vet will be a good thing. So good she was hungry! She’s making it so far.
 
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