Heading Back to the vet... any advice?

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skippersmom

skippersmom

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I have been really uncomfortable with how Skipper is doing on the insulin this time. After DKA, the insulin would bring him into the blues pretty much every time. Now he is very inconsistent. Sometimes he only drops a little and a few times there has been a huge drop. Please look at his spreadsheet. I think something else might be going on that is just messing with his blood sugar. 2 things I've noticed is that his belly seems bloated all the time but doesnt seem to be tender to the touch and his eyes are often over dialated. The blood work at the last appt didn't show any infections. Is there anything I should have them look or test for?

Thanks! I'm trying not to be a worry wart! :(
Rae Ann
 
I'm right there with you Rae Ann. My Lucian has been doing good for several months, then last week just started throwing crazy high numbers at +8. I use a sliding scale and shoot when he's close to 200, but he's been going 11-12 hrs per cycle until last week. Hasn't done that since he first started PZI almost a year ago. Of course I threatened him with a vet visit, that I can't afford and he gave me a 10 hr cycle today and looks to be getting close to that again now. I dunno! I swear they can make ya crazy! @-) Hope everything turns out well for baby.
 
Just wanted to say that I've got my fingers crossed that everything is OK with Skipper. I'm no help as I'm still trying to find a good dosage for my cat and I'm starting month 4 :? Let us know what you find out.
 
The vet didn't seem to think anything else was wrong with him. She suggested upping his dose .5 units at a time and staying on the dose for a week before raising it. So I gave him 2.75 this PM and am testing him often. So far at +4 it still had only dropped him 100 points. I'm a little suspicious of a bad bottle of insulin. The vet also suggested switching to Lantus if things didn't change. She thinks it works best for cats. I thought Prozinc was for cats?
Thanks for asking about him everyone!
 
Some things just remain a mystery. Maybe new blood work will show something???
Hope all goes well
 
IMHO, I would get a curve first before increasing, Rae Ann.. What I am thinking: the 100 at +8 on 11/30 is unusual. Not only is a later than usual nadir for a PZI kitty but I wonder if he was quite low before that. Is there any chance he is getting late nadirs and your pm preshots are bounces? There is no question that the insulin is working; he is dropping more than 50% most days. It looks to me like he is either bouncing or the insulin is wearing off. I am leaning toward a bounce because he doesn't go as low at night and the am number is lower than the pm number. If he were mine, I'd do the curve and if it shows an am cycle much lower than the pm cycle, I'd consider lowering am dose and see if the pmps number goes down.

There's the saying around here that the best insulin for your cat is the one that works best for him. It is possible that Lantus might work better. I think it is also pretty common for a cat who drops out of remission to have a harder time the second time around.
 
Sue beat me to it! :lol: The best insulin is the one that works for YOUR cat. :thumbup

We started with Lantus, that was terrible for Lucian, then went to Levemir, which worked very well for a couple months then just stopped working. So we started on PZI which has done much much better for him. But that's just Lucian. From what I've seen here on the boards, Lantus seems to work for a large majority of cats and it certainly couldn't hurt to try it if he's not doing well on his current meds.
 
skippersmom said:
... 2 things I've noticed is that his belly seems bloated all the time but doesn't seem to be tender to the touch and his eyes are often over dialated...
Click to expand...

Rae Ann
Did the vet check blood pressure? Dilated eyes may indicate high blood pressure.
Abdominal bloating could indicate fluid in the abdomen. This could be chylothorax. Too much fluid could make breathing difficult.
 
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