Jetta- Day 2- she's worse

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Jacspets

Jacspets

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Hi all,

Well, Jetta spent the 2nd day at the vet. I got her at 5 and her BG was 491. They gave her insulin and sent me on my way home. Now she's at home, stumbling, not eating, trying to drink but changing her mind and walking away. This is all way worse thatn yesterday. Yesterday show got home dove into her food and was fine. I don't have a meter yet, just ordered my newbie kit.

I picked up her long-term insulin tonight at WalMart- Lantus - that the vet is going to start her on tomorrow. I had no idea it would be $110 per month.

Anyway, I don't know what to do tonight. I tried to force feed her and she foamed and didn't really get any in. Up until now she's been taking force feeding really well. She's also on Mirtrazipine, got her 3rd dose today (she's on every 3rd day dosing). And she's on Budesonide for her intestinal inflammation and also Cerenia.

Should I just watch her a while? Go buy a meter? Go to the ER Vet?
 
Did the vet check for ketones? I would get some ketone test strips if you don't already have them, and test her as soon as possible. You can pick them up at any pharmacy.
 
Yes, at 130pm today she was negative for ketones. She did have ketones yesterday, but the vet waas confident that resolved today.
 
I'm sorry Jetta isn't feeling. Unfortunately, I don't have any answers for you on that front, but I hope she's feeling better soon.

I just wanted to mention that your Lantus should last longer than a month, despite what the label says. Many people get 2-4 months out of a vial, when it's handled properly (kept in the fridge, not shaken, etc.) However, since our kitties are on such low doses, we often end up tossing a lot of insulin before the vial is finished, because it goes bad before we can get all the way through it. So, another more cost-effective option than the vial of Lantus is the Solostar pens. You draw the insulin from the pen the same way, with the same syringes, that you do the vials. But, since the pens contain a smaller quantity of insulin, so there is far less waste (so far, we've used every last drop from the pens as opposed to the vials, where we've had to toss half.) The pens are more expensive up front (5 packs run for about $225ish), but in the long run, they are much cheaper. My local Target pharmacy will sell me one pen at a time for $43, so it's worth it to check around.
 
Hi -

I don't know what Jetta's history is, but one thing to consider is whether she/he could be having side effects of the mirtazipine. My cat, Argyle, was in the hospital with DKA a couple of times this spring, and she was sent home with mirtazipine (i.e. Remeron) as an appetite stimulant. It completely knocked her out - she would stumble, flop over, had tremors, lots of bad stuff. It was really awful to see. She was prescribed a quarter of a 10 mg (I think) tablet every three days. These are the same tablets that are prescribed to adult humans, so a quarter of that dose is way, way, way too much for a little cat. If I had to guess, I'd say that the mirtazipine is making Jetta feel lousy, especially since he/she was eating the day before.

I don't understand why veterinarians are prescribing drugs like mirtazipine, which is a psychoactive drug, just because it sometimes has the side effect of increasing appetite. Particularly when it's important to make sure a cat is eating, giving them a drug whose main effects are likely to make them feel awful can't be helpful. Argyle improved a lot when I quit giving her the mirtazipine.

Good luck with Jetta.
 
Hi Keith, I have your Newbie Kit ready to go. There is a rice sock in there not to be mistaken for a toy. It is filled with rice to throw in micro for about 5 seconds to warm the ear if you have any trouble getting it to bleed.
For now I would start getting friendly with her ear if she will let you. Rub her head and work your way to the ear and gently massage it. Give her a treat if she lets you pay attention to her ear. This will help you be all ready to test when your kit arrives by, say, Saturday?
There are of course toys for her in there too. And you can use the lancets 4 or 5 times so they last forever.
Have some cotton balls ready...
I'm going to send you a video of how the testing is done k?
Lori
Newbie Kits
 
And no way it's gonna be 110 a month. Can you change it out for a set of pens? Did you already use it?
 
Thank you Lori for the kit update. I really appreciate it. I'm glad to have not only the knowledge I'm gaining from these boards, but now also tools in my aresenal to help Jetta win this war.

So everyone doesn't start calling me Keith, my name is Jaclyn and I'm Jetta's mom :) Keith is my husband and the Pay Pal account was in his name. lol.

Jetta is my baby. We've been together just over 13 years since I adopted her from the Humane Society at 5 months old. I never thought of her as mortal until all this happened. I know that sounds crazy. If cats can be soul mates, she is mine. (am I crazy?) Anyway, I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to help her through this.

I haven't opened the Lantus yet, but I'm supposed to drop it at the vets office when I return Jetta there in the morning. I'll eat the $110 this time and look at the pens you're suggesting for next time.

I agree about the Mirtrazipine. The 3 times she's gotten it, for the first few hours I feel like she's on Mars. I'm not giving any more and I do think she's better when she's not on it.

Speaking of better, she is eating as I'm typing, so I'm not in the panic I was in earlier. I think it just all came crashing down on me today when I realized this wasn't a bad dream, but my new reality. I just wish I could understand how this happened. Jetta has been the picture of health her whole life and has never even been an ounce overweight. Oy vell, it is what it is, right? Is there an acronym for that?
 
jaclyn, don't ditch the lantus vial. the latest information on it is that it can last 6 months if you draw and take care of it properly! so let's just get it cared for you and should be good for a long time.

Don't roll it or shake it!

Never put anything into the vial, except air into air. So here's the way you draw it up. Set the vial down on your counter. Slide the plunger of your syringe in and out a couple of times so it moves smoothly. Draw up 1 unit of air (or whatever the dose is they start you on - and let's hope it's somewhere around 1 unit) then insert the needle into the rubber stopper. inject the air into the air of the vial! Very Important Step.

Flip the whole thing over in the air so the needle is still in the vial stopper and the vial is upside down. Withdraw slightly more than the dosage into the syringe. Now withdraw the needle from the vial and set down the vial.

with your needle pointed upwards, tap fairly vigorously on the syringe to let any bubbles go free and move to the needle end. Squirt out the bubble and excess insulin til you have your just right dose.

The important thing for your insulin to last months - never inject the insulin in and out of the syringe into the lantus. the syringes have a lubricant in them so the plunger slides and it will contaminate your lantus. also, store the lantus in your fridge - i put it in the back on a shelf - so it stays cool but never freezes.

we had a cat last night with Mira . . . that had those same kind of symptoms you're describing. it's very unnerving.

Don't give up hope for your sweet Jetta to be back to a picture of health. we've seen cat after cat come back to themselves with proper insulin and care. Please come over to the lantus forum for daily support - we'll teach you how the Lantus works and how to help Jetta be as healthy as possible. Most of us post daily and we get to know the cats and can help them thrive. really.

and we all love our cats too. personally i'm totally infatuated with mine. :-D wanna hear about his oddities? ;-) i'd love to tell you!? :lol: i even have videos to bless people with. :-D :-D you're in the right spot now.
 
I agree about the vial. Take good care of it and it will last. I paid $120 for mine (10ml I think it was) and only used it for a month (Cedric is in remission). I had it for another 4-6 weeks before giving it to a friend who also has a FD cat (now 2, 2nd dx last weekend) and it looks perfect. She was so grateful to have the lantus and I was glad it didn't have to get wasted, since I really couldn't send it to anyone.

Welcome to the best palce on the web to learn about FD!
 
Jaclyn - Good luck on the Lantus! You will definitely want to look into the pens once you are settled in. Just use the vial for now. That is what we did in the beginning. You can get pens from Canada for a lot cheaper, so, once you are ready to think about that, just ask and there will be a lot of people who can help you out there.

It doesn't seem like it now, but Jetta will get better. Our kitty was really sick at diagnosis and is back to his normal happy self for the most part. There is a lot of information and it seems very overwhelming at first. Just take a deep breath and do the best you can. This board will become invaluable, so stay tuned in and ask lots of questions.

Good luck and welcome!
 
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