? No shoot: 9/19 Hester Sue AMPS 220, +2.25 210, +5.5 174, +7.5 207, pmbg 200, ns

Morna & Hester Sue

Morna & Hester Sue

Member Since 2026
? - 9/18 Hester Sue AMPS 178, +2.25 90, +4 44, +5 60, +7 116, +10 152, pmps 158, +2.5 51, +4 41

Yesterday was rough. I was up with Hester Sue until 2:30am, then up again at 6:30. Her reaction to a single drop of insulin was extreme. I am not inclined to shoot this morning, even though Hester Sue's numbers are up again. I am almost out of test strips and have things I need to do today that will preclude me from keeping as close an eye on her. Also, she is sleeping and has not eater and probably will not eat. I will go to town and get more MC and HC food.

+0 i(shoot time) s now, and i am not shooting.
I am really really tired right now and need to go out and do chicken chores.
 
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If you could, I think it would be best to pick up some more test strips somehow today, too. I think from last night you said you had about 10 left and then it looks like you used 6, so down to only 4 strips is not good especially with a diving kitty.
 
Yes, I plan to go get strips today.

Thank you so much for staying up with us last night/this morning, I hope you got sleep. i got about 4 hours and am wiped.
 
If you can ever swing it, I get my WalMart orders as pick up outside to my car. Maybe you could air them out for a few days or wipe them with something?
Me being OCD Me, I always try to keep at least 100 strips on hand.
I'm SO glad she went up last night / this morning. What a relief.
 
I had time to come in and check on her. She's fine as far as behavior goes. Dropped a small about to 210. Hasn't eaten much.

I do have an order of 210 strips coming. Just not soon enough so will have to buy at the insane price to tide us over.
 
Why did you choose Contour Next Gen?

WAY back when, I used to use the OneTouch and their strips were about $1+ per strip, but I would spend days/weeks on EBay and FINALLY score some pretty good deals, always making sure I had enough for a crisis (because I'm a "worry-wort".
Keep that maple syrup handy too.
Since you didn't give a dose this morning, I think you can back off on the testing until tonight.

To both of us, getting a good night's sleep.
mail
tonight.
 
Dyana said:
Why did you choose Contour Next Gen?

WAY back when, I used to use the OneTouch and their strips were about $1+ per strip, but I would spend days/weeks on EBay and FINALLY score some pretty good deals, always making sure I had enough for a crisis (because I'm a "worry-wort".
Keep that maple syrup handy too.
Since you didn't give a dose this morning, I think you can back off on the testing until tonight.

To both of us, getting a good night's sleep.
mail
tonight.
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IT was one of the ones mentioned here, it was a crisis, and it's what I was able to get. Walmart was not an option and I do very little buying online. Now i have a huge number of strips coming, so not going to switch out right now.
 
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Dyana said:
Sending eating vines to your girl Hester Sue 🐈. Maybe more soft baby food?
Do you have any anti-nausea meds and appetite stimulants that can help her?
Again, I wish you had some pain meds for her to help with her mouth and teeth.
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I wish I had pain meds too. And when she was on antibiotics for the UTI I am pretty sure her mouth felt better. But when i had both cats to the vet last Monday for their rabies shots, the vet did a quick look in her mouth and sated she didn't think antibiotics would help. I have friends whose cats take gabapentin, but it does seem to zone the cat out more.

Is "vines" used this way specific to this board's lingo, or is it a broader usage I do not know about?
 
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Morna & Hester Sue said:
I have friends whose cats take gabapentin, but it does seem to zone the cat out more.
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I don't want to talk about it.
I gave Ginger the Gabopentin the night before I had PTS. Crying now 😭 but it was time, she was over 100 when compared to human years. The vet hospital from weeks before where I had her admitted for 3 days said she was in "Pallitive Care" when released, and she made it 5 more weeks, but she was really old. ..tears.. In the end, she was anemic, and everything we tried didn help. She is with J.D. now who was her love and protector for all ofher life.
 
Connie & Parker & Moonie said:
Omg she’s so beautiful!!!!! I just love her coloring 😻

Look at that proud little strut and that fluffy magnificent tail up in the air. She’s gorgeous and she knows it!
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I am having problems with my computer today. I press buttons that normally respond.

MY HEART IS FULL AND MY TEARS ARE REAL.
She wasn't my heart kitty, I think J.D. was, but they sure loved each other. I probably have hundreds if not a thousand pictures of them loving one another.
Ginger had a mind of her own, as is typical. When we went for walks outside (mostly in the middle fo the night, when all of the world was quiet and the cats were comfortable, being out there on their leashes), she would want to go East and J.D. would want to go West, and I was in the middle of them like when I was ponying a foal and when I wanted the mare I was riding to go one way and the foal wanted to go another and I had a hold of both of them and was being stretched..apart trying to hold onto both. Ginger. slowly had to learn to trust me (and J.D.).. when out on those middle of the night time walks. All of the bonding experiences, are worth it.
 
Dyana said:
I am having problems with my computer today. I press buttons that normally respond.

MY HEART IS FULL AND MY TEARS ARE REAL.
She wasn't my heart kitty, I think J.D. was, but they sure loved each other. I probably have hundreds if not a thousand pictures of them loving one another.
Ginger had a mind of her own, as is typical. When we went for walks outside (mostly in the middle fo the night, when all of the world was quiet and the cats were comfortable, being out there on their leashes), she would want to go East and J.D. would want to go West, and I was in the middle of them like when I was ponying a foal and when I wanted the mare I was riding to go one way and the foal wanted to go another and I had a hold of both of them and was being stretched..apart trying to hold onto both. Ginger. slowly had to learn to trust me (and J.D.).. when out on those middle of the night time walks. All of the bonding experiences, are worth it.
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That sounds so lovely. Ginger pulling you one way, JD another - and then Ginger coming to love and trust you both. They sound like they shared a very special bond with each other and with you 🥰

They must be in kitty heaven now laughing their little tails off watching Jackson steal your bagels.

Thanks for sharing her photo with us and a bit more about her personality. I can just imagine her doing the exact same tail up strut now on your evening walks together.
 
Dyana said:
Do you have ketone test strips?
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Dyana asks an excellent question. Any time kitty isn't getting enough insulin, is not getting enough calories, and possible still some infection (?), we worry about ketones and worst case leading to DKA. Checking ketones gives us peace of mind.

Can you remind me again what food she is getting as her regular meals? And what the carb count is? We do ask that you that in your signature so we don't have to ask.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Dyana asks an excellent question. Any time kitty isn't getting enough insulin, is not getting enough calories, and possible still some infection (?), we worry about ketones and worst case leading to DKA. Checking ketones gives us peace of mind.

Can you remind me again what food she is getting as her regular meals? And what the carb count is? We do ask that you that in your signature so we don't have to ask.
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I do not have a way to test for ketones, and the pee strps will not work for this situation.

The food situation is, as I have mentioned elsewhere (but do not expect you to go digging for) is unsettled. I am trying to find food that works for both FD & CKD that both of these cats will eat.

Right now it's Weruva BGG OMG, (but would be better if it were a pate version), Snappy Tom's chicken in broth, the "I and Love and You" Whascally Wabbit Pate, (which i have not looked up so do not know if it is okay for them, but they like it)

I cooked a chicken and have been using the broth to soup up the food. They don't care much for the plain chicken in broth pureed. I am sprinkling PORUS and fortifolora on one meal a day.

I plan to ask the vet to look at the SS on here. I really am afraid to shoot any more after the extreme response to just one drop.

I did get more test strips yesterday, but the syringes were on back order.

I am dealing with my own health issues, and having to struggle through my own exhaustion. I feel guilty that I am not able to do mroe right now, and am doing my best to not hear criticism in some of the suggestions. I appreciate the help.
 
I was lucky with the pee strips, in spite of having more than one cat. Neko was very predictable about her litter box habits and had no problem with me following her into one the rooms where the boxes were. Oddly enough, she often greeted us in the morning after we came back from our workout by using the LB while we were washing up. One member had a cat that always peed after eating, so she fed him in the bathroom with some washed lentils in the litter box, and let him out after he'd gone.

I was wondering about food, cause one option I was thinking about was feeding her a little bit higher percent carbs, like 8-10% which is still low carb. Some cats actually do a bit better on the slightly higher carb food instead of one of the really low carb ones. When Neko got CKD, Weruva Lamburgini was one I fed that she liked and relatively low phosphorus. I think it's 8% carbs. With a little higher carbs, Hester Sue still might be able to get that drop of insulin.

Definitely trying not to criticize, just trying to brainstorm to find ideas that might work for you. We get people with all sorts of situations and lifestyles.
 
Morna & Hester Sue said:
I do not have a way to test for ketones, and the pee strps will not work for this situation.

The food situation is, as I have mentioned elsewhere (but do not expect you to go digging for) is unsettled. I am trying to find food that works for both FD & CKD that both of these cats will eat.

Right now it's Weruva BGG OMG, (but would be better if it were a pate version), Snappy Tom's chicken in broth, the "I and Love and You" Whascally Wabbit Pate, (which i have not looked up so do not know if it is okay for them, but they like it)

I cooked a chicken and have been using the broth to soup up the food. They don't care much for the plain chicken in broth pureed. I am sprinkling PORUS and fortifolora on one meal a day.

I plan to ask the vet to look at the SS on here. I really am afraid to shoot any more after the extreme response to just one drop.

I did get more test strips yesterday, but the syringes were on back order.

I am dealing with my own health issues, and having to struggle through my own exhaustion. I feel guilty that I am not able to do mroe right now, and am doing my best to not hear criticism in some of the suggestions. I appreciate the help.
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Hi Morna, I wanted to write to you before, but I wasn't able to.

When I stopped giving Mami Cat the drop before, because I was terrified by her drops, I also felt bad and guilty. So, no criticism at all - I really know how it feels. To stop and observe is also a strategy, so you can feel calmer and more confident about shooting again.

In fact, back in July, I was giving more than one drop (because of an incorrect technique on my side), although I thought it was only one drop. Long story short, after some time without giving the drop, the depot was really gone - totally gone. Then I started the dose again in August, after she had an inflammation episode, giving one drop the right way. With no depot and the correct drop, things went much better - and only recently did I have to remove her drop again because she reached low with it.

I'm telling you this because Mami is a diver, probably similar to Hester Sue. And I think you are doing something that can be positive: stopping for a little while, observing her numbers, and deciding what to do.

A little suggestion, although I am not super experienced: maybe feeding the curve with a little more carbs (still LC, but on the higher end, just like Wendy suggested above) and then giving a single drop, once the depot is gone, could also help you support Hester Sue through this final stage of lower numbers.

Be kind to yourself, too. We feel guilty and worried when we stop giving the drop... we judge ourselves.
But it can give you some time to analyze what is best and find some courage again.

I wish the best solution finds its way to you!
As I usually tell myself: “There is a way.” And I pray for answers to come, and to have clarity.

Please, take some good care of you too, while you gain more and more clarity.

There are some gorgeous divers around at the moment on the Forum!

I’m rooting for Hester Sue ❤️
 
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