Jack 6/15/11

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Darlene & Jack

Darlene & Jack

Member Since 2011
Hello all...kind of took a few days off from here (was still looking at a few posts) but felt I kind of needed a little break. I think this all has been making me crazy and I spending way too much time on here and getting so confused trying to figure things out. Talked with the vet Friday and then decided to try 1 unit since Jack was still having such high numbers. I know we were trying to keep with tiny increases and maybe I was losing patience! So i figured I would try it and take a break and just see how the dose worked. Certainly no disrespect to anyone or their advice, I guess it was just something as a mommy I felt I needed to try!

He seems to be settling down a bit and slowly coming down overall. He definitely seems to be more alert and awake, not sleeping so much. Eating well, no ketones.
Might hold with this dose another day or 2 then maybe a slight increase?

Also got an estimate from the vet on a dental...between $300-350. Does that sound about average? The thought of it still makes me nervous!

Todays numbers...
304 @ AMPS
359 @ +3
288 @ +9
326 @ PMPS
285 @ +3
 
Hi Darlene and Jack,
I totally understand about taking a break, sometimes it just feels overwhelming. Glad you're back.

Re: the dental cost, that sounds about right to me. We paid a lot more for Klinger's dental because of the extractions. I know it's scary, but if he has any infection in his mouth, it could really be affecting his BGs.

Good luck with increase.

Marcy & Klinger
 
Thanks Marcy...I was really feeling overwhelmed and a little crazy! Here I am, a nurse for over 20 years, and I can't figure out how to help my cat! Though my mom doesn't think I am a real nurse anymore since I now work at an insurance company, lol.

I hope jack won't need any extractions. Haven't made an appointment yet. Will look at finances and see when the best time might be in case it runs higher than expected. Out of my 3 cats, he definitely has the yellowest teeth!

Looks like Klinger is doing very well with his increases...great job!!
 
The last dental I got for a cat was $240. That included a cleaning and 3 extractions a year ago. They should give you a base price for a cleaning and then a price per extraction. I think back teeth cost more? Not sure. It shouldn't be $300-350 for just a cleaning. Maybe they are assuming an average dental cost because they expect a few extractions? Antibiotics should be given prior to and after because it always dislodges bacteria and with bleeding that happens when plaque is removed bacteria can get into the blood stream pretty easily.

Hope his numbers get better. He may need a dose increase before decreasing again to break through some insulin resistance (and/or the dental to get rid of infection).
 
Darlene flat is nice...slowly lowering that flat line.
Just remember you are giving Jack the 5 star treatment ok hon, he could'nt do any better than you for a care giver and a mommy. Seriously, he has the best treatment available. Give yourself acknowledgement at least knowing that much :YMHUG:
Lori
and tomtom
 
Thanks Lori, I know I'm doing the best I can for him. Our furry babies are very, very pampered.
I am actually feeling much saner now and happy with the lowering flat curve. Seems to get a tiny bit lower each day.
Got a 288 PMPS tonight! I guess I will hold with this dose a little bit and see how we do.

I will try to call tomorrow to set up the dental appointment or ask a few more questions at least. Thanks for the support, ladies!
 
Darlene & Jack said:
I will try to call tomorrow to set up the dental appointment or ask a few more questions at least. Thanks for the support, ladies!
Click to expand...

Darlene, here are a couple of links that I gave Marci not long ago. Not sure if you saw these. They are lengthy but informative. Also lists questions to ask and costs:

You quoted that it would cost around $1000? That seems kind of steep. You might find it cheaper if you call around. Here are two threads that might help in that regard. They are long but give good info:

http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=3134

http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=5390
Click to expand...
 
Went up to a fat 1 unit and numbers are coming down a bit more...past 3 days AMPS numbers in the yellow! Still with nice gentle curves.
 
Is there a reason that you are moving so slowly to raise Jack's insulin dose? The Tilly Protocol recommends increasing the dose every 2-3 days if the nadir is alway >= 200. The increase should be by 0.25 units if the cat is getting a low dose and 0.5 units if the cat is getting a high dose. The 0.25 is probably sufficient for Jack. Even though Jack has some blues, he is pretty much still having yellow nadirs. He is probably going to need 1.5 units. The sooner you can get him to the point that he is getting mostly green and blue nadirs, the sooner you can get some of the stress off his pancreas so it can hopefully begin to heal.

Lana
 
Lana, thanks for bringing this up. I think in the beginning we suspected Jack might have been getting too much insulin because he had some lower greens on .8U. So she lowered the dose. Now that does not appear to be the case.

The fat 1U seems to be producing more consistent results in yellows and I think at this point she wanted to increase more slowly. It can be very easy to overshoot the best dose. And given that he's had greens on a little less insulin than now says she might be close.

There are a lot of factors which contribute to a particular cycle - food intake is #1. I noticed in her notes that he seems to have off times for eating and his BGs may reflect that. That is another reason for her to move more slowly on dose increases.

Hope that explains the thinking here. And I sure hope I didn't misspeak about something, Darlene! :?
 
Vicky wrote, "Hope that explains the thinking here."
Click to expand...

Yes, it makes sense. You have much more experience than I so I defer to your advice. I will just say, when Yoyo is at too high a dose, he not only bounces, he kinda ricochets all over the place. Jack's BG is extremely mannerly by comparison which led me to think he might need a little more insulin. Not a lot more.... that he might settle in at 1.5u, stabilize, and Darlene might then be able to start reducing his dose. And reducing a dose, Darlene, is a whole lot easier, stress-wise,than raising it.

Lana
 
Thanks Lana and Vicky...and Vicky you explained it well. Jack had been bouncing all over the place for so long that I was trying to see if I could just hold the dose a little longer to see how he did on the 1 unit, almost like starting all over again. We weren't sure if he had been getting too much or too little before. Now like Vicky said we might be getting closer to a good dose, and I don't want to go by it.

I think I jinxed myself by posting this morning...we had no reds for so long, now I got that big ugly 454 this afternoon! But his eating has been off, so I'm hoping it can be attributed to that. confused_cat
 
Oh no, 454! Not sure what's up with that. Sometimes not eating enough can make them go low or drop faster and you get a bounce. That's pretty hard bounce though.

Oh well, probably not a good idea to change dose yet just because of this number.
 
Yea, I guess I'll hold the dose for now. So disappointing. :-( I'm hoping it was just a fluke.

He's eating again now. Last night he barely ate through the day, but then ate like crazy from about 8-11pm (he gets his shot at 6pm).
 
High day today, 300's all day and up to 399 at +3 PM. Ate OK but slept a lot, it was very hot and humid. Turned on the a/c for him tonight (didn't turn it on for the kids...but for the diabetic cat...so spoiled!).

Thought maybe I had given a fur shot this morning, but I think he got it, but maybe not in the best spot for absorption. He was curled in a box and I should have moved him. Tonights shot was good.

Should I hold the dose another day to see if he comes down or go with a small increase again? I'm thinking increase a little?
 
Thanks Marcy...I did see that Vicky and the other gals are pretty busy this week, so I did go up to 1.2 un. Maybe I should have gone higher, but Jack gets such crazy numbers I figured I'd better go slow.

I was happy with the 282 this morning!!
 
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