? Dose Advice 1/8 - Theodore - +5 238 +2 250

NadineTheodore

NadineTheodore

Active Member
Hello & Happy New Year to everyone here.

Had a busy holiday season so I am putting Theodore back to his schedule at 9AM/9PM, I had to adjust times, had family holidays, funeral, etc to deal with so we definitely got side tracked which I am so sad about.

Theodore seems to be going high today, is this a bounce? Should I be lowering his dose to 4 given he was under 150 yesterday? I've been making changes on my own but I don't think I am doing this right. He also got a little bald line on his back along his spine...not sure if I should be concerned for this? I have a vet appointment Wednesday for him. He had baldness last time he was diagnosed with diabetes so I am praying it's nothing else bad....

Also my vet wants to run routine blood work on him. Which would be suggested?
*geriatric blood values
*Fructosamine
* Pancreas
*urine and urine culture

He had an ultrasound in July which showed spleen and liver enlarged with some nodules but we never brought him back yet for a re-assessment. Partially because he was finally doing better and the internal specialist is further away. They weren't worried about the nodules but said to monitor. He was in for DKA because I lowered his dose when he shouldn't have had that.

Last full blood and urine/urine culture were September 7

No ketones.

I am wondering if the baldness was maybe an allergy from the b12 shot I gave him last week...

@tiffmaxee
@Wendy&Neko
 
With SLGS you lower the dose if the BG is under 90. Your ss seems to have a combination of world and US numbers. I’m going to tag a couple people to help. It looks like the BG was under 90 so a reduction was earned. The new dose is 4.0 if what I see is right. @Marje and Gracie @Bandit's Mom
 
tiffmaxee said:
With SLGS you lower the dose if the BG is under 90. Your ss seems to have a combination of world and US numbers. I’m going to tag a couple people to help. It looks like the BG was under 90 so a reduction was earned. The new dose is 4.0 if what I see is right. @Marje and Gracie @Bandit's Mom
Click to expand...
Thank you! I was thinking that but wasn't sure since we are high today, perhaps a bounce from not lowering?
 
Hopefully we can get your spreadsheet sorted out. We've asked people to start new tabs for 2024, and either Marje or Bhooma can do that for you with the World tabs there too.

The line at the bottom of the spreadsheet is confusing, but I don't see anytime that he went under 90, since the end of December.

Bounces are not caused by not reducing the dose. They are caused by fast drops or getting into lower numbers than he's used to. I don't see any test results showing him getting into lower numbers this last week, though he did do a fast drop night of the 6th which could have caused a bounce. Why did you lower the dose to 4.25 units? Was that in response to going below 90 the week before?
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Hopefully we can get your spreadsheet sorted out. We've asked people to start new tabs for 2024, and either Marje or Bhooma can do that for you with the World tabs there too.

The line at the bottom of the spreadsheet is confusing, but I don't see anytime that he went under 90, since the end of December.

Bounces are not caused by not reducing the dose. They are caused by fast drops or getting into lower numbers than he's used to. I don't see any test results showing him getting into lower numbers this last week, though he did do a fast drop night of the 6th which could have caused a bounce. Why did you lower the dose to 4.25 units? Was that in response to going below 90 the week before?
Click to expand...
Apologies, didn't see the notification on this post. I reduced because it was under 150 but I'm wondering if that should have been reduced given it's on the freestyle lite.

I went to the vet today because he's been off lately. I can't explain it, he's been eating a lot, drinking less which is great, peeing less. Everything seemed improved but he had a little fur loss that I noticed sometime last week.

Vet noted today he has a grade 1 heart murmur which he had two appointments ago but last time she didn't notice it. She also noticed his lymph nodes were enlarged along with thyroid glands she felt something as well as a raspiness in the lungs. She worries about cancer given his FIV+ status. I think those symptoms seem more in line with hyperthyroidism...any thoughts? Blood work coming in tmw. Urine culture will take longer.
 
No, you do not reduce the dose if they go under 150. In fact, with SLGS, you want them to be in the 90-149 range as much as possible. That's the ideal range. You reduce if they go below 90. The Freestyle Lite does not make it any different. Many of our Canadian members use it. It's just considered the same as any other human BG meter.

Post the blood work when you get it, maybe we can see something there. I don't think I've seen raspiness in lungs or hair loss be something related to hyperT. The heart murmur can be, but grade 1 is pretty mild. A lot of older cats get a benign type of heart murmur just due to heart aging. Neko had that for a couple years.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
No, you do not reduce the dose if they go under 150. In fact, with SLGS, you want them to be in the 90-149 range as much as possible. That's the ideal range. You reduce if they go below 90. The Freestyle Lite does not make it any different. Many of our Canadian members use it. It's just considered the same as any other human BG meter.

Post the blood work when you get it, maybe we can see something there. I don't think I've seen raspiness in lungs or hair loss be something related to hyperT. The heart murmur can be, but grade 1 is pretty mild. A lot of older cats get a benign type of heart murmur just due to heart aging. Neko had that for a couple years.
Click to expand...
Thanks Wendy. Vet keeps saying cancer is a possibility because he's FIV positive.... I'd take hyperthyroidism anyway over cancer :( Any idea what the enlarged lymph nodes might be due to?
 
@Marje and Gracie Hello, are you able to help me in creating the new tabs for 2024? It seems to be not working properly for me.

Also @Wendy&Neko I increased to 4.5 because it was constantly above 150 but seems like tonights dose isn't really working...maybe from the vet visit he's high...Hoping tomorrow's blood work offers clarity.
 
NadineTheodore said:
@Marje and Gracie Hello, are you able to help me in creating the new tabs for 2024? It seems to be not working properly for me.

Also @Wendy&Neko I increased to 4.5 because it was constantly above 150 but seems like tonights dose isn't really working...maybe from the vet visit he's high...Hoping tomorrow's blood work offers clarity.
Click to expand...
Yes. I’ll send you a PM tomorrow morning. It’s late here but I can do it tomorrow.
 
Hello @Wendy&Neko

I received the blood results:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fbQtGwDWQOA91_4mT7iVVot1fJ3NmqRo/view?usp=sharing

She said overall it was really good, we are still waiting for some of the results from the culture but what's curious is the protein leak in urine. She said it looks like anemia? I'm not sure this really explains raspiness in lungs, enlarged lymph nodes, or enlarged thyroid....

His T4 came back normal...

On a side note he's eating like crazy, drinking normal, acting normal and good energy level....I am confused.......
 
You have two choices for the labs. One is to put the results in the Labs tab on the spreadsheet. Which I like doing cause I can see trends over time. Or second option, give us permission to see what you posted on google drive.

Protein in the urine needs to be monitored over time. It can be an early sign of kidney disease. Neko had proteinuria and took meds to keep her urine protein levels normal.
 
I just looked. Did the vet have an explanation for the low HCT (hematocrit)? That means anemia.

Also, with that urine protein level (and his history of it), I'd ask about getting a urine protein/creatinine ratio (UPCR) test done. Has he ever had his blood pressure checked? It's one of the tests that can help you figure out why urine protein is happening.

URI - is he sniffly? Any signs of a URI?
 
Yes she said anemia but she was unsure what type of anemia or the cause of it. She did add on a protein/creatinine ratio test. We are waiting on results. He did have his blood pressure checked in the summer but not this last visit. Could the diabetes being uncontrolled cause increase in protein? We went backwards a little recently...Also didn't help that Poor Theodore got a URI. She is worried that he does take antibiotics often and worries they will use their effectiveness eventually forcing us to switch antibiotics
 
The proteinuria has a few different causes - Neko had it too. BP tests can help figure out causes. It can be an early sign of kidney disease and controlling it is important otherwise kidney disease can get worse faster. It's not related to diabetes, though uncontrolled diabetes can make kidneys work harder.

I'm surprised he got antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection. Was he sneezing or sniffling green goop? What were his symptoms?

Is the vet doing anything else to diagnose the anemia?
 
He has a hard time getting over it on his own that’s why she gave it. He gets them frequently/seasonally. He was just sneezing and a little raspy in lungs. They did not take BP although kidney values on blood work look great aside from creatinine. It’s confusing
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top