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Louieorangetabby

Louieorangetabby

Member Since 2011
Hi everyone~
I'm not sure what to do now with Louie~ I took him on another road trip with me, but this time for a shorter time~ so I think that he was way too stressed from the travel days with not enough rest in between~ his numbers are high!
also, our Lantus pen is almost 2 months old~ maybe we need to get a fresh one~
I feel so stuck with knowing how to proceed :sad: , and what changes I need to make with Louie's doses......I feel in the dark with this process~need some help and suggestions~
any ideas??
Louie seems ok, but I'm not sure I'm helping to regulate him~ his belly seems too full and I wonder if his body is getting the nutrition it needs from the amount he is taking in~

THANKS!
Tracy & Louie
 
Hello. Definately stress can cause a spike in blood sugar. What has he been eating? How is his urine? Sometimes stress can cause UTI, which can cause increase in blood sugars too. Just some thoughts.... I checked out his SS and his dose with Lantus maybe could be increased a little with the spikes?? Im sure one of the other sugar mamas will be on and might have better info for you. Good luck.
 
Louieorangetabby said:
Hi everyone~
I'm not sure what to do now with Louie~ I took him on another road trip with me, but this time for a shorter time~ so I think that he was way too stressed from the travel days with not enough rest in between~ his numbers are high!
also, our Lantus pen is almost 2 months old~ maybe we need to get a fresh one~
I feel so stuck with knowing how to proceed :sad: , and what changes I need to make with Louie's doses......I feel in the dark with this process~need some help and suggestions~
any ideas??
Louie seems ok, but I'm not sure I'm helping to regulate him~ his belly seems too full and I wonder if his body is getting the nutrition it needs from the amount he is taking in~

THANKS!
Tracy & Louie
Click to expand...

Hi Tracy,
Let's see if we can look at everything bit by bit.
First, the insulin.... if the insulin was fizzled, lost its punch, you would not be seeing drops in numbers, so I would guess that his insulin's still got some punch in it. Whether it's the right insulin or not, that's another matter. As it looks on his ss, you are getting lots of response from the insulin.

OK what are you feeding him, how much and when? Are you feeding low carb wet food? How often are you feeding him and how big are his meals? Very often, you can see a more level curve if you can feed several small mini meals, if you spread out the food evenly through the day AND the night, you are going to see nicer numbers.

Please explain what you mean about belly too full; does it feel very hard and does he feel like it is painful if you touch or press lightly on his belly?

What about his general health.... how are his teeth, when was last dental?
What about his litter box activity... is he peeing regularly and how much. Does it seem he is having pain when urinating?
What about his stool? is he having regular movements and what condition are they, hard, soft, too loose, and what color.

If he is travelling with you, he could be very stressed and it's affecting his numbers and health.
What sort of set up does he have if he's travelling with you.

With all this travel, it may be very hard for you to get him regulated.
Your ss comments mention 5hrs travel and one stop. Is Louie caged all this time, and what does he have access to - food water, LB, etc.

For the dose, it could well be that your dose it too high so he's bouncing up and then down again so often that you may try to go back down to a 1.25u dose. If you can try the lesser dose, maybe you can get Louie's numbers to settle down into a flatter curve, even if it's all in the 300s.

Then once the bouncing stops, you can try to raise his dose again to 1.5u dose.
you need to stop the bouncing, regroup, and then move when stable.
When are you travelling next.
 
Thanks for the responses~~
to answer your questions about Louie~
Its not that I travel so often, but maybe once a month I take Louie with me for the work I do, because I need to take care of him and can't leave him behind. I stop a couple times on the 5 hour drive for feeding and litter box breaks. He travels in a nice large crate, which is very soft and comfy, and can see me at all times. This last trip was shorter than usual, and so there was only one rest day in between two travel days~ so from now on if I take him with me, I'll be sure to prolong the days in between travel. I really get that his numbers spike from stress when traveling, so I'm watching that in future. Once we get where we are going he is so happy to have me all to himself! (I have 4 other civies at home)
Louie's tummy is just full, but not painful for him. I just get concerned that he is eating so much, and not getting what he needs from what he eats.
I feed him FF classic, or Evo Chicken or Duck....and sometimes Friskies low carb wet food recommended on the Binky's list. No dry food at all!
He gets fed 4 times a day, so he eats often.
Thanks for pointing out that his insulin still has some punch to it~ although it may be time to get a fresh pen.
Now I'm not sure if I should raise or lower his dose~ but his AMPS today was much lower......getting home again helped, I'm sure!
He has had some bouncing numbers so I've been wondering about what to do next~?
I appreciate the feedback!
Tracy & Louie
 
Hey Traci,

Sorry just getting to your condo today been a busy weekend here.

looking at Louie's spreadsheet I would say just hold him where he is until the bouncing stops then when you have a free day, get a curve in on him.

As far as traveling goes and his stress for the ride. Couple of things come to mind, one would be getting a hold of either some Rescue Remedy or Feliway and spray down his crate and blankets with it before he has to travel to see if that helps calm him some while traveling.

The other would be to make him a little more seasoned traveler by taking him on short trips where he gets to come right home, like take him with you for trips around the block, a drive in the country, we even take Maxwell on his harness to the park every now and then just to get him use to traveling with us for when we have to travel for gigs, so far its been too cold to start this with Musette but once spring is in full force she will get the same training. Of course lots of treats before and after the short jaunts so they associate going in the car as a good thing that is rewarded with a yummy treat than something to fear because it means the vet's.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Louieorangetabby said:
Thanks for the responses~~
to answer your questions about Louie~
Its not that I travel so often, but maybe once a month I take Louie with me for the work I do, because I need to take care of him and can't leave him behind. I stop a couple times on the 5 hour drive for feeding and litter box breaks. He travels in a nice large crate, which is very soft and comfy, and can see me at all times. This last trip was shorter than usual, and so there was only one rest day in between two travel days~ so from now on if I take him with me, I'll be sure to prolong the days in between travel. I really get that his numbers spike from stress when traveling, so I'm watching that in future. Once we get where we are going he is so happy to have me all to himself! (I have 4 other civies at home)
Louie's tummy is just full, but not painful for him. I just get concerned that he is eating so much, and not getting what he needs from what he eats.
I feed him FF classic, or Evo Chicken or Duck....and sometimes Friskies low carb wet food recommended on the Binky's list. No dry food at all!
He gets fed 4 times a day, so he eats often.
Thanks for pointing out that his insulin still has some punch to it~ although it may be time to get a fresh pen.
Now I'm not sure if I should raise or lower his dose~ but his AMPS today was much lower......getting home again helped, I'm sure!
He has had some bouncing numbers so I've been wondering about what to do next~?
I appreciate the feedback!
Tracy & Louie
Click to expand...

It's great to hear Louie's got some classy travel accommodations, but I bet the short trips more often could cut back on his stressing. You can also try a calming collar for his trips; mine did well with their phermone collars, but I think you can get a spray as it would be good when he's confined in his carrier.

As you are seeing, his numbers are better now that he's back home so, just like a trip to the vet, his numbers will come down and no dose change needed. Stick with what's good when he's home and happy.

About the tight abdomen, just make sure his bowels are keeping on the move; you don't want to worry about constipation difficulties.
 
Thank you!!! great feedback~
I will investigate some calming help for Louie like Rescue Remedy...and investigate the other options you shared with me~ Like the collar and spray~ which I knew nothing about, but am thrilled to hear of. I wanted to keep with something natural and calming~ no drugs!
and great idea about taking him on shorter trips in the car.....I can ply him with treats and return him home right away! He has a nice roomy crate, and I'll just keep it in my jeep~
I really appreciate the great help and suggestions!
Yes, his numbers dropped right back down again once we got home.......it was too much stress with the long travel days so close together.
I'll try to keep a lookout for constipation, but Louie seems pretty comfortable right now~
Tracy & Louie
 
Louieorangetabby said:
Thank you!!! great feedback~
I will investigate some calming help for Louie like Rescue Remedy...and investigate the other options you shared with me~ Like the collar and spray~ which I knew nothing about, but am thrilled to hear of. I wanted to keep with something natural and calming~ no drugs!
and great idea about taking him on shorter trips in the car.....I can ply him with treats and return him home right away! He has a nice roomy crate, and I'll just keep it in my jeep~
I really appreciate the great help and suggestions!
Yes, his numbers dropped right back down again once we got home.......it was too much stress with the long travel days so close together.
I'll try to keep a lookout for constipation, but Louie seems pretty comfortable right now~
Tracy & Louie
Click to expand...

next time you are at the store/pharmacy, pick up some miralax so you will have it on hand. Many people use it to keep constipation out of the picture....if you notice stool is a big hard, you can try adding more water to the cat's food. and if you need, just put 1/8 or 1/4 tsp into the food and add lots of water to the mix as the miralax draws water from the cat's body to soften the stool.
Should the stool become too loose, you can cut back the miralax or stop it.

Stress from being at the vet affects two of my cats quite diff. One always tests high at the vet and the other often tests LOW at the vet! I always take my meter with me, and test the cat at home, when at the vet, and then again when back home for about 30min. Those 3 tests are going to tell you quite a bit about how your cat's numbers are affected by vet visits.
 
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