Dec 31 Sammy AMPS 328 +6 223 - Vet appt

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LindaMS

LindaMS

Member Since 2013
Sammy is working on clearing her bounce. Again. Sorry I am sounding so cranky on here, but I am so tired of this bouncing crap. I know she can go low on very little insulin, so its driving me bonkers not being able to keep her there. I just so want her to be safe and happy.

I made a vet appt for this afternoon. I am going to discuss switching to Levemir. This will be interesting, as the vet is the same one whom I had a difference of opinion early on in Sammy's diagnosis. She wanted me to go from 1 unit to 3, and not to test, but rather to observe her clinically and report if she seems "off". I ignored the vet.

Why am I going back there? because this vet is closest to my home, and has the best hours of any around. This is important to me.

And by the way, you most definately do need a vet prescription to buy any insulin for a pet in British Columbia, Canada. Trust me, I called every pharmacy in town.
 
Re: Dec 31 Sammy AMPS 328 +6

I can totally relate to your frustration. I too am going to ask my vet to let us try Levemir as it seems bounces are a bit more manageable. Glad you didn't listen to your vet's earlier advice. You could teach them so much about FD. I hope they cooperate.

Hang in there. Headbutts to Sammy
 
Re: Dec 31 Sammy AMPS 328 +6 223

Oh do I hear you on the frustration. Autumn who is a Levemir girl is doing the same thing to me. By protocol she should be OTJ but her pancreas has other ideas. A drop can send her to the basement but take her off and she vooms back up :roll:

Right now she is on a shoot as needed schedule although I'm seriously thinking of switching her to NPH and using it when she eats to just take the edge off the food spikes.

Hopefully we will both find what works for our girls since neither show any interest in reading the stickies on how to be a good Sugarcat.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
NPH also known as Humulin N it is another human insulin except it is not normally used for cats as it hits hard but wears off in about 5-6 hours. With Autumn once she's down she stays down until she eats then she takes off so N would cover her while she has food on board but wouldn't have the carry over of the Levemir or Lantus.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Linda, you wrote:
And by the way, you most definately do need a vet prescription to buy any insulin for a pet in British Columbia, Canada. Trust me, I called every pharmacy in town.
Click to expand...

Not true. I switched to Levemir without letting my vet know about it. Same thing as another member who lives on Vancouver Island. Simply walk into any pharmacy (I've bought from Save on Foods and Canadian Superstore Pharmacies) and ask for a Levemir 5 pack of cartridges. They'll ask if you have insurance. Just say no, its for your cat. They'll then sell you the Levemir.

Good luck with the shopping.
 
Would you even have to tell them it's for a cat? I never say it's for a cat when I get the syringes and the R Insulin for Lucian, I just ask for it.
 
You don't have to tell them it's for a cat. But Neko has her own records at the pharmacy so I keep her stuff separate from mine. The pharmacist I use is quite knowledgeable about diabetic cats and is the one who recommended I switch from vials to cartridges back when we were on Lantus.
 
So the vet appt went okay-ish. This is a person who just does not know as much as she should, IMHO, so its a struggle on a good day. That being said, she was impressed with Sammy, in her overall improvement in condition, hydration, muscle tone, etc. Sammy has gained 1.1 pounds since diagnosis 9 weeks ago, which is an almost 13% gain.

She was shocked at the amount of data I have on Sammy, and said that she thought it was excessive. She does not believe that its at all neccessary, and stopped just short of saying that I was torturing myself and my cat by testing that much. I dont much care, I will do what I have to do to keep her safe and getting better.

She agrees that Sammy is on the brink of remission. She feels its likely that if I get her tooth pulled, she might not need any insulin anymore. I am going to be away for 2 weeks starting on Jan 9th, so I am not about to do it right now. I want to be able to be here to cuddle her. So we are going to wait, but I might put her on antibiotics this week to knock the infection down. I tried her on antibiotics last fall... that was a fail, she threw them up. If she cant take them orally, then i will ask for another that I can inject.

As for insulin, and in particular, thinking of switching to Levemir, i really dont think she knows what it is, to tell you the truth. She rejected the thought, saying I would have to lose all the ground i have made with Sammy, and start at a high dose again. This is making no sense to me. EIther her pancreas is starting to work or it isnt, right?

So, her thoughts are : (her thoughts, not mine, dont shoot the messenger)

1 Stop insulin for 2 weeks, see what happens. Do a frucosimine after that. Dont worry about high numbers, it wont put her into risk that fast, and not likely that she will get too high anyway. Dont test, unless I see clinical signs of problems.

2 Keep on as i am, except maybe do only the AM shot (one drop) and let her coast on the depot for the PM shot.

The last thing she told me was probably the best news of all... today was her last day. She was covering for someone on maternity leave, and that vet is coming back Jan 2. Yippee!! I will be getting another opinion after the holiday.
 
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