high doze prozinc - diarrhea + lower number than normal

[taffysmom]

Oh my roller coaster taffycat
Its been a few weeks since I have posted but just wanted some input from our last couple of days. She has been at 7.5 units of prozinc for the last 10 days. Apparently she gets really bad diarrhea when she is stressed. She met her holiday pet sitter for the first time on Wednesday. Had diarrhea that night and all next day (Thurs). I mixed some pumpkin in her food, gave her a nausea pill and later on a Pepcid AC (also Thurs). Today (Friday) had a good solid (and huge) poo. Pet sitter came by again to feed and give her shot. By 10pm (Friday) more diarrhea. Gave another 1/4 Pepcid AC. I had tested taffy before the sitter came b/c she will not be able to test her (the cat won't let her get close to her ears but can give shot). she had 331. Just tested her at +6 and its a 105...little freaked out b/c haven't seen that low of a number yet but at the same time it's nice to see a low number for a change. I have lots of info in her spreadsheet (but could probably use a bit more) if someone could take a look.

About 5 weeks ago (just before Thanksgiving) taffy had a vomit/diarrhea episode which prompted a vet visit and lots more tests. Her panel came back normal with the exception on high BG. The pre-pancreas (pFPI???) test came back abnormal so it went on for further testing. Also had her tested for acro. Still waiting to hear back on those two.

I think the diarrhea is caused by stress but the pancreas thing could have something to do with it too?? She is not lethargic, she has zero loss of appetite, she plays with her mice, purrs and overall seems ok.

I am planning on testing her more randomly throughout day tomorrow. I think she is trying to tell me to not go out of town but we have to go.
She gets 2 cans of fancy feast chicken 2 times a day and freeze dried chicken treats.
Thank you for any input.

Just tested her again about 45 mins after the 103 reading and it is 101 - guess I wasn't seeing things

The above was last nights post. Her amps test is 479 - ugh!

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

I answered on Health. Wish I can something more helpful:


So your ss reads from bottom up - for a moment there, I was worried. She has always seemed to be lower at night but yes, the recent blues are lower than you have seen. Where is the pancreatitis diagnosis? Does the vet think she has it or not? Has she been given anything for it? Untreated pancreatitis can be painful, certainly cause stress but generally causes inappetite also. Not having food in the tummy (diarrhea) can mean lower than usual numbers.

I am sorry. I don't know what to say. Will the petsitter be staying at the house or just coming in twice daily? It would be very scary to just have her dose the usual amount when she has so much going on. It would also make me nervous to lower the dose when she is on so much insulin. In either case, especially if your petsitter can't test. If she can't test, then you might get the litter that shows if the sugar in her urine is more than usual - that would be better than nothing.

I guess test today and see how things look. See if the vet would prescribe something for the diarrhea or if the Pepcid helped. Do you have her on any kind of a probiotic? Lots of people here like FortiFlora. Have you ever used the calming defussers that you plug in to help with possible stress?

It is always difficult to have a trip planned and then have your pet get sick. I wish I had more ideas.