It's been several months since I posted. In a nutshell, Casper was on vetsulin, diagnosed Dec. 2013, and had 2 week vet stay in January, trying to figure him out. He also was anemic and the vet told me that there was an underlying issue possible renal failure causing the anemic and protein levels in his blood tests. So, when he came home we were to test him every 4 hours, round the clock, give insulin every 8 hours, depending on the number and we did.
I watched his diet, he gained almost 1 pound and was eating. He was getting epogen 3X a week and that improved his PCB (?) number. We were very lucky to get an employee discount for his stuff (my daughter is a student vet tech and works in his office part-time).
Beginning of February, he had more blood tests done - more advanced and that diagnosis was Chronic Kidney Disease. So he was put on the KD diet, which he hated and wouldn't eat it. So, I mixed low protein/low phosphorus food in to get him to eat. I expected his sugar numbers to go really high because these foods were high carbs too, but they didn't.
Casper tolerated the every 4 hours of ear poking - plus he was also getting 250ml fluid daily (done at home), plus 2x a week epogen, plus vitamins and other medications to help. The vet suggested I keep him on the vetsulin because he had gone as low as 40 but had not hypo reactions and we were keeping copious notes and the spreadsheet.He would get anywhere from .5u to as much as 3u depending on the numbers. There were many days that he went 12 -16 hours between dosages.
Well, March was very hard - he really wasn't into eating much and by now, I bought various cans based on the lowest protein & phosphorus levels, and even added baby food to it. He was loosing weight. The last couple of weeks, he lost the interest in foods, would take the baby food and always ate treats (I didn't care about the carbs). He did have a vet visit last week and the vet didn't tell me something I didn't realize - that he was dying. The CKD was winning. We still tested and gave him insulin as needed, every 4 hours.
Yesterday was a bright warm (considering we've been in below norm temps) day, so I sat outside with him in my arms, saying good-bye. He was very weak, had trouble sitting & walking and needed help to cross that rainbow bridge. We took him to the vet last evening for his final visit. He was 14-1/2 years old.
I want to thank everyone here for the advice I've been able to glean, the information available, and the knowledge that I've learned from all of it. I appreciate it.
-gabriele
I watched his diet, he gained almost 1 pound and was eating. He was getting epogen 3X a week and that improved his PCB (?) number. We were very lucky to get an employee discount for his stuff (my daughter is a student vet tech and works in his office part-time).
Beginning of February, he had more blood tests done - more advanced and that diagnosis was Chronic Kidney Disease. So he was put on the KD diet, which he hated and wouldn't eat it. So, I mixed low protein/low phosphorus food in to get him to eat. I expected his sugar numbers to go really high because these foods were high carbs too, but they didn't.
Casper tolerated the every 4 hours of ear poking - plus he was also getting 250ml fluid daily (done at home), plus 2x a week epogen, plus vitamins and other medications to help. The vet suggested I keep him on the vetsulin because he had gone as low as 40 but had not hypo reactions and we were keeping copious notes and the spreadsheet.He would get anywhere from .5u to as much as 3u depending on the numbers. There were many days that he went 12 -16 hours between dosages.
Well, March was very hard - he really wasn't into eating much and by now, I bought various cans based on the lowest protein & phosphorus levels, and even added baby food to it. He was loosing weight. The last couple of weeks, he lost the interest in foods, would take the baby food and always ate treats (I didn't care about the carbs). He did have a vet visit last week and the vet didn't tell me something I didn't realize - that he was dying. The CKD was winning. We still tested and gave him insulin as needed, every 4 hours.
Yesterday was a bright warm (considering we've been in below norm temps) day, so I sat outside with him in my arms, saying good-bye. He was very weak, had trouble sitting & walking and needed help to cross that rainbow bridge. We took him to the vet last evening for his final visit. He was 14-1/2 years old.
I want to thank everyone here for the advice I've been able to glean, the information available, and the knowledge that I've learned from all of it. I appreciate it.
-gabriele
