bsmith
Member Since 2015
I thought I would finally post an introduction for Edwin. I've received some great help posting here already: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-diagnosis-where-to-purchase.132057/
Edwin is a 16 year old DSH originally from Albuquerque. He was a bottle baby and probably only 2 weeks old when I got him from the shelter. I've often wondered if he was originally feral as he has prominent ear tufts. I wasn't looking for a male cat, I wanted to get two females, but he insisted he had to come home with me NOW. His sister Irene (different litter, probably a month old) came home with me at the same time. She passed from FIP in late 2002. Edwin has always tested negative for FIP, but so did Irene when she first got sick, so I decided not to get Edwin a new sibling to avoid another possible FIP infection.
Edwin is doing pretty good for a 16 year old. He was diagnosed with kidney failure a few years ago. We've been dealing with it through diet and his numbers are pretty stable. My previous cat, prior to Edwin and Irene, lived to 17 with kidney failure and arthritis. Edwin also has arthritis in his back and hips and has been using Adequan for 3 years, so at least I have some practice giving shots.
A little over a month ago I was putting on his vest to let him go outside and noticed that he had licked all the fur off one of his front arms. I had gotten him the vest since his hair has really thinned this past year. For most of his life he has been an indoor only kitty, but now I'm in an area where he can safely go out during the day. Plus he's old and arthritic, let him go out and have some fun as he doesn't go far and comes in when called.
With the loss of hair on the one arm, it looked like someone had shaved him, I took him into the vet. I've never seen him get so upset at a vet appointment. His arm and the arthritis in his back and hips was really flared up. We started him on Tramadol and that seems to have really helped. He's less gimpy on the stairs, has stopped licking on his arm, and seems to be in less pain overall. Unfortunately he's started licking a patch on his side. Also, he hates the Tramadol with a passion as it makes him foam at the mouth even after I grind it up and mix it with yogurt to administer it with a syringe.
I thought we had gotten everything, but a few weeks ago he started peeing on the bathroom floor. He has been trained to use the toilet since he was very young, which has been great; no litter to deal with. He's been very good about going where he's supposed to except for a few years ago when a new medication I started taking totally flipped him out. This time he just kept peeing on the floor, for almost two weeks, even after I tried moving him to a different bathroom. Back to the vet.
This time I had the vet run a urinalysis to make sure it wasn't an infection or something else. Surprise, surprise, no infection, but sugar in his urine. It was almost time for his senior wellness panel to be run anyways so we did a blood test. Kidney numbers still stable, but a BG number of 400. Over the summer there had been a bit of an increase in drinking and urination, but we'd chalked up to the kidney issues. I finally gave in a bought a litter box. He's been very good about using it, but I'm still hating the litter and having it tracked all over. Oh well, it beats pee on the floor.
So after a week of trying to find better Lantus prices and sorting out glucose meters, Edwin had his first Lantus shot of 1 unit tonight. Trying to get the glucose meter to work involved much ear stabbing and finger stabbing (after the first two tries on Edwin I switched to practicing on my own finger). Note, you need a little gravity action to get the blood into the strip, not just the capillary action. Edwin was at 203 on the ReliOn confirm (I was a 66), but we had both just gotten up from a long nap. I would like to thank Edwin for being a trooper through all the ear stabbing and I think he's already forgiven me. There was some catnip action and he seems to be doing well. Next time will be easier since I have more of an idea of what I'm doing.
Thanks to all the posters that have already helped me and for those of you who have read through this long post. I'll be seeing you around.
Edwin is a 16 year old DSH originally from Albuquerque. He was a bottle baby and probably only 2 weeks old when I got him from the shelter. I've often wondered if he was originally feral as he has prominent ear tufts. I wasn't looking for a male cat, I wanted to get two females, but he insisted he had to come home with me NOW. His sister Irene (different litter, probably a month old) came home with me at the same time. She passed from FIP in late 2002. Edwin has always tested negative for FIP, but so did Irene when she first got sick, so I decided not to get Edwin a new sibling to avoid another possible FIP infection.
Edwin is doing pretty good for a 16 year old. He was diagnosed with kidney failure a few years ago. We've been dealing with it through diet and his numbers are pretty stable. My previous cat, prior to Edwin and Irene, lived to 17 with kidney failure and arthritis. Edwin also has arthritis in his back and hips and has been using Adequan for 3 years, so at least I have some practice giving shots.
A little over a month ago I was putting on his vest to let him go outside and noticed that he had licked all the fur off one of his front arms. I had gotten him the vest since his hair has really thinned this past year. For most of his life he has been an indoor only kitty, but now I'm in an area where he can safely go out during the day. Plus he's old and arthritic, let him go out and have some fun as he doesn't go far and comes in when called.
With the loss of hair on the one arm, it looked like someone had shaved him, I took him into the vet. I've never seen him get so upset at a vet appointment. His arm and the arthritis in his back and hips was really flared up. We started him on Tramadol and that seems to have really helped. He's less gimpy on the stairs, has stopped licking on his arm, and seems to be in less pain overall. Unfortunately he's started licking a patch on his side. Also, he hates the Tramadol with a passion as it makes him foam at the mouth even after I grind it up and mix it with yogurt to administer it with a syringe.
I thought we had gotten everything, but a few weeks ago he started peeing on the bathroom floor. He has been trained to use the toilet since he was very young, which has been great; no litter to deal with. He's been very good about going where he's supposed to except for a few years ago when a new medication I started taking totally flipped him out. This time he just kept peeing on the floor, for almost two weeks, even after I tried moving him to a different bathroom. Back to the vet.
This time I had the vet run a urinalysis to make sure it wasn't an infection or something else. Surprise, surprise, no infection, but sugar in his urine. It was almost time for his senior wellness panel to be run anyways so we did a blood test. Kidney numbers still stable, but a BG number of 400. Over the summer there had been a bit of an increase in drinking and urination, but we'd chalked up to the kidney issues. I finally gave in a bought a litter box. He's been very good about using it, but I'm still hating the litter and having it tracked all over. Oh well, it beats pee on the floor.
So after a week of trying to find better Lantus prices and sorting out glucose meters, Edwin had his first Lantus shot of 1 unit tonight. Trying to get the glucose meter to work involved much ear stabbing and finger stabbing (after the first two tries on Edwin I switched to practicing on my own finger). Note, you need a little gravity action to get the blood into the strip, not just the capillary action. Edwin was at 203 on the ReliOn confirm (I was a 66), but we had both just gotten up from a long nap. I would like to thank Edwin for being a trooper through all the ear stabbing and I think he's already forgiven me. There was some catnip action and he seems to be doing well. Next time will be easier since I have more of an idea of what I'm doing.
Thanks to all the posters that have already helped me and for those of you who have read through this long post. I'll be seeing you around.
Getting those first few tests is definitely trial and error. You might want to get a test before bed just to see how Edwin is reacting to the Lantus. When you've got time, could you create a spreadsheet to record your test values? That's the common language we use here to track how kitty is doing and figure out what dosing to use. Here are 
