Eukanubo-Glucose Spike :-(

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hbs60

hbs60

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Well, that was short lived...

Euk has been doing fine but yesterday he slept all day. I was concerned this morning when the other cat woke me up as usual demanding to be fed, usually they both follow me, but he has been sleeping in a new spot and didn't bother to come out. So, on a whim, I checked his glucose, and it's 307. He is not looking well but he doesn't feel warm, either. I gave him yesterday a different food, Fancy Feast Classic Seafood Feast, thinking that he wanted some variety, seemed to eat well. The only other thing I wonder might be different is that I used the same meter to check my own sugar as I've been told it's borderline, so I wonder if the meter is confused by reading cat blood after human blood.
But being that he doesn't look that great, I guess it's time to re-start the insulin, but how much? I'm thinking perhaps 0.2 units, as I don't know how sensitive he might be. I would take him to the vet but it's Memorial Day Weekend and everything is closed.

aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!!!
 
Sorry to hear, HB, hope it's short-term thing and he'll be back to himself today. I see you gave him the .2u, hope it does the trick!

Have a great day,

Libby (and Hershey, too!)
 
Thanks,
He seems to have perked up quite a bit after he got his insulin, now at +3 he's down to 282, he's eating and behaving normally, used the box normally, so I think he'll be OK. I was able to find a couple of nearby pet ER's that are open but they are expensive and since he seems to be doing OK, I think he can wait until his vet opens on Tuesday, of course if he takes a turn for the worse, I know where to take him.

I do have a dilemma right now, because I have 2 trips coming up. I was already making arrangements to have somebody come in to feed him daily, but nobody knows anything about glucose testing or insulin dosing, which means he would have to board, which I would rather not do because of the stress factor, not to mention the expense. Even if this is just one isolated spike and goes back into remission, it seems he could easily have another spike and the caretaker won't be able to notice it or do anything about it. sigh...
 
I hope this is temporary. Any chance he got into dry food? It might also be an infection. Taking him to the vet next week is a good idea.
 
No dry food that I know of, but he did eat some regular tuna (for humans) but that was over a week ago.

He responded very well to the insulin, he perked up, the glucose dropped to around 105 (maybe lower but I was out). Unfortunately, it's creeping back up, it is now 220. I would give him a token dose now but I have to go out and he's not eating (he did eat well this morning) so I'll wait until I get home in a few hours, probably test and shoot then since i"ll be around to monitor. He's looking sickly again but he has a way of doing that when there's nothing wrong (unless there is), it's really hard to tell. So maybe a vet visit tomorrow, if the local Banfield is open on a holiday, if not, there's the more expensive pet ERs.

So, it's back to insulin land and glucose testing extravaganza all over again...
 
I am so sorry to read this. I hope nothing is wrong with Euk. Everything seem to be going so well.
Paws crossed he is healthy.
Keep us updated.
 
Hi HB -

Sorry he's having a slight relapse, but good thing you recognized the situation and were able to stay on top of it!

I know the dilemma of leaving your baby - it's hard to leave them unless there's someone you trust to care for them.

It's not the same, but perhaps you could go on the Lantus board and see if there's anyone in your area that might be able to come by & check on him. It would be worth having them come in than stressing Euk w/ the vets or boarding.

Good luck! and pop in more often!!! Any change in logistics for your folks?
 
Thanks, Lu,
If it was just Euk that might work, but I don't see how somebody coming in trying to feed 2 different cats different foods plus they both fear strangers so it would be hard for anybody to give him insulin and test, so for better or worse, he'll have to board. The timing is terrible because I'm flying to my parents house to help them relocating, we all fly back together (unless they get cold feet and change their minds), I'm back in town for a week, then have to leave again for a pre-planned trip.

I'm starting to think that I might need to find him another home, as I find it more difficult to give him the attention and care than he needs, and now with my parents moving to town it will be harder (and no, they won't be able to help me with this). But who would adopt a 14 y/o diabetic cat that needs so much attention? Where can I turn to find a willing owner?

It's not that I actually want to do this, it will break my heart to give him up, but it's better than euthanizing him purely for logistical/financial reasons, as he's not suffering. Maybe somebody may come up with the first feline ACLF (aging cat living facility)

Well, the insulin is in for tonight, so I hope he does well through the night and if I can get him to the vet, that they find something easily treatable...
 
HB,
There is actually a place like you mentioned for aging cats, but it's extremely costly, and it's in California. A lady who used to post here, Lori, did some volunteer work there after she lost her sweet kitty Tom. There's got to be more of them in other places.

If you really do need to consider finding him another home, please contact DCIN. They have a blog and a facebook page, and they are always finding fosters or new homes for diabetic cats. Kim here adopted Chewy through them, for instance. Barbara's daughter just adopted one last week.

I hope it doesn't come to that for your boy, and that the vet finds out what's up with him right now and it can be fixed quickly.

Carl
 
After Kim chased Grayson around my dining room for 30 minutes, then peeled him out from behind the piano, I concluded that perhaps a large dog crate w/ a litter box, bed, food & water would be more conducive to not going through all that next time I was away. But the ticket ended up being, to have someone he actually KNOWS come by to help. One friend came over and spent time with him in preparation. She would come and meet Kim, holding Grayson on her shoulder while Kim tested/shot. It appears to have been much more successful (and timely!). And they didn't have to rearrange the furniture to get him out!

Good luck with what you decide. I know it's hard when you're juggling so many different balls in the air... and sometimes, something has to give. Hopefully you can get him back in check while you're away.
 
Sorry to hear Euko's not feeling well and needed some insulin.
I hope this is just temporary and he can get back off the juice once again.
Maybe he has an infection?
Its very hard when your'e trying to take care of all you need to and I know what you mean, my cats all would be freaked if someome strange came in to feed them and forget about trying to get a blood sugar test or insulin shot.
I hope everything will work out for you and Euk.
Youv'e done a great job getting him regulated and the OTJ and hope this is just a set back.
The FF seafood shouldn't have spiked him up, the seafood classics have less carbs than some of the other classic flavors.
 
Good morning, y'all!

This morning Euk started to behave normally. He normally snuggles with me in the morning but haven't done so in the last couple of days, preferring instead to just lay on an end table, not wanting to do anything, but this morning he was quite perky, snuggled, purred, had an appetite. I checked his glucose and it's 105 as of 7:50 AM. He had gotten 0.4 units last night around 10:24, so the 105 would be around +9.5. I suspect the insulin is doing about14 hour cycles and maybe he'll snap out of whatever relapse he is going through. I wonder if the insulin jump-started something as he did so well this morning. I guess time will tell, in the meantime, will try to find out if Banfield will open this morning, but I have to wait until 9:00 AM.
 
Hello HB!

I would post on Community & also maybe the Health board saying you are looking for a pet sitter in the Orlando area. I know Doombuggy lives in that area, she works at Disney I believe. It seems like she might have been looking for a pet sitter recently so maybe she has some names for you. I wouldn't worry about the feeding different foods & the cats not being used to strangers. I think they deal with all sorts of stuff like that. Also maybe there is a vet tech at your vets that does pet sitting?

Barbara
 
Well, I'm back from the vet, he's fine. U/A, suprisingly, didn't even show glucose, no ketones, no infection, he had no fever, his exam was normal. I could have done all kinds of bloodwork but the cost was prohibitive, so I'll make do with the current information, and actually, he looks really good today, despite the stress of boarding. Maybe he just needs insulin...
 
Sorry to hear you guys are back on insulin, but hoping things all fall into place for you HB. I know how stressful the eldercare deal is too. Sending you good vibes that all the puzzle pieces come together for you guys.
 
hmmm...

this is weird, but in a good way. Euk has been in the low to mid 100s all day, despite the stress of the vet trip AND the stress of a nasty storm courtesy of Beryl, we got dumped on 4 inches of rain with lots of thunder and he is always absolutely terrified of storms, so when the weather calmed, I decided to check, expecting it to be sky high and it's still good at 155! I just checked again prior to bedtime and it's even better at 142! It's been about 22 hours since his last insulin dose. What gives?

Whatever it was, it seems to have run its course, how common is this? He did look sick for a couple of days but today he was perfectly normal, it was a very dramatic change for the better and I'm puzzled because I don't know what was wrong and how it got better. I'm wondering if he just seems to sense that I'm going away and he's stirring up all this just to get some attention! :mrgreen:

Of course he's not where he was in the 70s, but I'll take these numbers...
 
Sorry he is back but maybe it is short lived. Stress raises bg levels and cats are stressed by so many things. Maybe he had some tummy issues or?

I would watch carefully. The lower you can keep those bg levels the better. If he sits in the 150s, you might want to give a drop.
 
Weird...

Euk is doing fine, at least clinically speaking. His numbers are a bit confusing, though. He got small insulin doses for a couple of days and seemed to be getting better, then yesterday he started to creep up again (although not quite making it into the 300s), so I thought to give 0.4 instead of 0.2 units. As feared, he did drop to the 70s but recovered quickly after eating (no carbs, just his regular food), since then it seems he's been bouncing up and down (121, 202,181, this morning it was 156, now he's down to 103). It seems to me that the pancreas, for whatever reason, is working intermittently, and while I'm glad he hasn't needed any further insulin since yesterday, it makes it very difficult to predict and plan his treatment. I drop him off at the vet on Monday as I leave Tuesday morning and will be back the following week, so I don't know how to advice the vet for his monitoring. This is what I'm thinking:

Test only once a day. If glucose is above 300, give only 0.2 units, recheck in 6 hours to monitor for hypo, if it's a normal reading (say that it's something like 85, or maybe some number less than 150), then don't bother rechecking until the next day. If it's between 150-300, keep monitoring at least twice a day.

Because he is so sensitive to insulin, I would rather under-treat than over-treat. I don't feel comfortable with him receiving 0.4 or more even if the glucose is high (as it may be just stress, but I think 0.2 would be reasonable, unless he gets ketones (he never had any, ever) Any thoughts? Maybe consider 0.4 units if glucose is over 400?

Thanks!
 
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