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Missy & Oliver

Missy & Oliver

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Hello Everyone,

First of all, how much does a cat need to eat before giving insulin? Oliver only took a few bites of his breakfast and I’m worried. Should I skip it? Give 1 or 2 units?
—

Oliver is 11 and has been on inhaled steroids for 10 years. A few years ago he had a urinary blockage and last year started with chronic constipation. He recently started taking prednisolone by mouth. I thought all the soup (food mixed in water) and recently increased pred were to blame for increased urination, appetite and some weight loss. Over the last two weeks I realized he had lost muscle mass, he frequently refused to ea—or ate little—and was just not acting like himself.

I took him to the vet Saturday and she diagnosed him with diabetes, but not DKA. She sent us to the emergency vet clinic to stabilize him until he could get in to see an internist on Monday.

The internist kept him one night and sent him home yesterday with ProZinc and told me to administer 3 units twice a day, and to switch his food to Purina DM. No mention of BG monitoring.

Last night I didn’t feed him at his usual 6:30 time because I was told to adhere to the 12-hour schedule. I waited an hour, and then he refused to eat. I offered his old food and he ate a little of it. I panicked. I do have the vet’s cell number, so I called and asked what to do. He said give only 2 units. He mentioned that his level was 300 in the AM and he wasn’t worried it would go too low.

Here’s his pre-diagnosis daily regimen: I generally feed and dose at 6:30 am and 6:30 pm:
Food: raw diet, Primal pork. 3 nuggets (1 oz each)
Medications:
  1. 1/4 t. Miralax in 4 oz warm water
  2. 1- Prednisolone 2.5 mg chew
  3. 1- Alprazolam 0.125 chew
  4. 1- Cisipride mini tab 2.5 mg wrapped in a *Lysine chew
  5. Flixotide (Flovent) inhaler 250mg - two puffs
REPEAT ALL 12 hours later.
Ventolin salbutamol sulfate inhaler 100 mcg, 2 puffs-Only as needed
 
It’s really hard to know without home testing. The uncertainty you’re feeling right now when he only ate a few bites is why we recommend monitoring the bg at home so you know where he’s at and how much insulin is safe to give. I used to go through that with Minnie all the time. There were days she’d only eat a few bites in the morning, but I’d test her and adjust the dose according to her bg and keep testing throughout the day to make sure she wasn’t going too low. It removes the guessing out of the equation. 3 units to start is a very high dose in any situation but especially when your cat is having trouble eating. There are a few things your vets recommended that I don’t agree with, and these are things most of us have heard from vets before. I realized being here that a lot of the advice I was getting from my vets was old fashioned and unnecessary. Here you go:

you don’t need to feed only twice a day or every 12 hours. You can feed your cat smaller meals throughout the day, especially if you’re having a hard time getting him to eat. It’s also easier on their pancreas. Eating is a priority so that you can administer the insulin and he doesn’t develop DKA. The only time we say to withhold the food is 2 hours before you do the pre shot test so you get an accurate bg no influenced by food. I recommend you start feeding him more times a day especially with such a high insulin dose to avoid him from dropping too low. He also doesn’t need to be on Purina dm. Any low carb (less than 10%) food is fine, but I wouldn’t change his diet at all if you’re not home testing because if he goes from high carb to low carb, he could again drop too low. Was the Primal pork low in carbs?

I would also strongly suggest you start home testing. Are you willing to do that? We can guide you through it. 300 is high but not so high that a change in food and 3 units of prozync is safe to give without checking his numbers. We recommend starting at 1 units and increasing from there. I’d consider lowering his dose to 1 unit until you’re ready to home test.

what is the prednisolone for? The urinary infection? Did they suggest another steroid

lastly tagging one or our prozync users here @FrostD
 
If you can fill out what we call our signature that will be helpful,it's at the end of everyone's post in gray

To set up your signature which you will see is at the end of everyone's post in gray, click on your name up top and then tap on the word signature and add this information
  • Add info we need to help you:
    • Caregiver & kitty's name
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
    • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
    • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.
Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

Take a look at mine


We also use a spreadsheet to track our cats BG so we know how the insulin is working and how low they are dropping so we know when to either increase or decrease the dose
We adjust the dose by 0.25 units at a time . We don't adjust the dose by going by the Pre Shots

About the spreadsheet
AMPS - means AM Pre Shot the first test you take in the AM ,you need to withhold food 2 hours before testing so it's not food influenced

Units is where you would put how much insulin you gave
+1 is one hour after giving insulin if you were to test then that's where you enter his _BG number
+2 two hours after giving insulin. ditto
+3 and so on until you get to PMPS - PM pre shot withhold food 2 hours before testing

+1 same as you do for AM cycle

We don't give times because we are all in different time zones that's why we use the + numbers
I'll give you the link to set it up , if you have trouble just ask and we have a member who will gladly do it for you


You can look at any members spreadsheet to see what it looks like, it's at the end of everyone's signature just tap on it

Link to set up our spreadsheet
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/

If you can tell me where you live I can suggest a meter to use
 
I’m trying to read posts/articles and monitor Oliver while working from home.
I’ll go pick up a glucose meter on my lunch hour. Consumer Reports recommends the Freestyle Freedom Lite. If I can find one today, does the group recommend it?

After reading another post, I decided to give Oliver just 1 unit at 8 am, then convinced him to eat a few bites of boiled shrimp 20 minutes later. I’ve offered him treats and food, but he’s not interested. He’s not peeing much either.

I have learned over the last two weeks that he does better when I let him eat anything anytime he’s interested, so glad to know that’s okay.

I’ll keep him on the raw food for now. Not sure what number to use to tell you about carbs. Under calorie content it says: 36 kcal/oz; 40% protein; 55% fat; 5% carbohydrates.

The prednisolone is for his asthma. The inhaled steroids alone weren’t effective anymore. We tried cyclosporin last year to replace the pred with no luck.

Thank you for responding to my post. I’m a nervous wreck!

Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
It’s really hard to know without home testing. The uncertainty you’re feeling right now when he only ate a few bites is why we recommend monitoring the bg at home so you know where he’s at and how much insulin is safe to give. I used to go through that with Minnie all the time. There were days she’d only eat a few bites in the morning, but I’d test her and adjust the dose according to her bg and keep testing throughout the day to make sure she wasn’t going too low. It removes the guessing out of the equation. 3 units to start is a very high dose in any situation but especially when your cat is having trouble eating. There are a few things your vets recommended that I don’t agree with, and these are things most of us have heard from vets before. I realized being here that a lot of the advice I was getting from my vets was old fashioned and unnecessary. Here you go:

you don’t need to feed only twice a day or every 12 hours. You can feed your cat smaller meals throughout the day, especially if you’re having a hard time getting him to eat. It’s also easier on their pancreas. Eating is a priority so that you can administer the insulin and he doesn’t develop DKA. The only time we say to withhold the food is 2 hours before you do the pre shot test so you get an accurate bg no influenced by food. I recommend you start feeding him more times a day especially with such a high insulin dose to avoid him from dropping too low. He also doesn’t need to be on Purina dm. Any low carb (less than 10%) food is fine, but I wouldn’t change his diet at all if you’re not home testing because if he goes from high carb to low carb, he could again drop too low. Was the Primal pork low in carbs?

I would also strongly suggest you start home testing. Are you willing to do that? We can guide you through it. 300 is high but not so high that a change in food and 3 units of prozync is safe to give without checking his numbers. We recommend starting at 1 units and increasing from there. I’d consider lowering his dose to 1 unit until you’re ready to home test.

what is the prednisolone for? The urinary infection? Did they suggest another steroid

lastly tagging one or our prozync users here @FrostD
Click to expand...



Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
It’s really hard to know without home testing. The uncertainty you’re feeling right now when he only ate a few bites is why we recommend monitoring the bg at home so you know where he’s at and how much insulin is safe to give. I used to go through that with Minnie all the time. There were days she’d only eat a few bites in the morning, but I’d test her and adjust the dose according to her bg and keep testing throughout the day to make sure she wasn’t going too low. It removes the guessing out of the equation. 3 units to start is a very high dose in any situation but especially when your cat is having trouble eating. There are a few things your vets recommended that I don’t agree with, and these are things most of us have heard from vets before. I realized being here that a lot of the advice I was getting from my vets was old fashioned and unnecessary. Here you go:

you don’t need to feed only twice a day or every 12 hours. You can feed your cat smaller meals throughout the day, especially if you’re having a hard time getting him to eat. It’s also easier on their pancreas. Eating is a priority so that you can administer the insulin and he doesn’t develop DKA. The only time we say to withhold the food is 2 hours before you do the pre shot test so you get an accurate bg no influenced by food. I recommend you start feeding him more times a day especially with such a high insulin dose to avoid him from dropping too low. He also doesn’t need to be on Purina dm. Any low carb (less than 10%) food is fine, but I wouldn’t change his diet at all if you’re not home testing because if he goes from high carb to low carb, he could again drop too low. Was the Primal pork low in carbs?

I would also strongly suggest you start home testing. Are you willing to do that? We can guide you through it. 300 is high but not so high that a change in food and 3 units of prozync is safe to give without checking his numbers. We recommend starting at 1 units and increasing from there. I’d consider lowering his dose to 1 unit until you’re ready to home test.

what is the prednisolone for? The urinary infection? Did they suggest another steroid

lastly tagging one or our prozync users here @FrostD
Click to expand...
 
I set up a signature earlier but must have missed saving it. Sorry! I’ll get a spreadsheet started soon.

I’m in the US. Thinking of getting the Freestyle Freedom Lite meter. Or do you recommend something else?

Thanks for the tips. Really trying to read more and be more prepared before posting but it’s a frantic day here.

Missy & Oliver

Diane Tyler's Mom said:
If you can fill out what we call our signature that will be helpful,it's at the end of everyone's post in gray

To set up your signature which you will see is at the end of everyone's post in gray, click on your name up top and then tap on the word signature and add this information
  • Add info we need to help you:
    • Caregiver & kitty's name
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
    • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
    • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.
Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

Take a look at mine


We also use a spreadsheet to track our cats BG so we know how the insulin is working and how low they are dropping so we know when to either increase or decrease the dose
We adjust the dose by 0.25 units at a time . We don't adjust the dose by going by the Pre Shots

About the spreadsheet
AMPS - means AM Pre Shot the first test you take in the AM ,you need to withhold food 2 hours before testing so it's not food influenced

Units is where you would put how much insulin you gave
+1 is one hour after giving insulin if you were to test then that's where you enter his _BG number
+2 two hours after giving insulin. ditto
+3 and so on until you get to PMPS - PM pre shot withhold food 2 hours before testing

+1 same as you do for AM cycle

We don't give times because we are all in different time zones that's why we use the + numbers
I'll give you the link to set it up , if you have trouble just ask and we have a member who will gladly do it for you


You can look at any members spreadsheet to see what it looks like, it's at the end of everyone's signature just tap on it

Link to set up our spreadsheet
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/

If you can tell me where you live I can suggest a meter to use
Click to expand...
 
Missy & Oliver said:
I’m in the US. Thinking of getting the Freestyle Freedom Lite meter. Or do you recommend something else?
Click to expand...
A lot of us here use a ReliOn meter (there are a few different ones, I personally have the ReliOn Premier and very happy with it). It works just fine and you can buy it for $9 at Walmart. A box of 100 test strips is approx $18 (strips are the most expensive part).
 
Missy & Oliver said:
I’m in the US. Thinking of getting the Freestyle Freedom Lite meter. Or do you recommend something else?
Click to expand...
You can use the Freestyle ,the test strips are about 26.00 for only 50 of them and you go through them pretty quickly
Like Ale said nothing wrong with The Relion Premier monitor, most of us use it
Here is a meter from Walmart most members use , it's a human meter that's what our numbers are based on anyway. It's 9 dollars
https://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Premier-CLASSIC-Blood-Glucose-Monitoring-System/552134103

Test strips. 17.88 for 100
https://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Premier-Blood-Glucose-Test-Strips-100-Count/575088197



FreeStyle Freedom Lite meter requires a very small sample size, 0.3 microlitres of blood; about the size of pinhead (example: • ).

The Relion requires a little bigger blood sample but I never had a problem with it just get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
Small 0.5 microliter sample size for testing
 
Last edited:
Missy & Oliver said:
I just went to Walmart and bought ReliOn Voice on clearance for $7.50 or so. BG is 298 on that meter. Not sure how to convert yet.
Click to expand...
You live in the US so you don't have to convert anything
Hi Missy when I tap on your name and then tap on profile I get this
Feline Diabetes Message Board - FDMB - Error
This member limits who may view their full profile.
If you want to add any information you can tap on your name up too the profile then I think information and add anything but you don't have to :cat:


You can now go to your signature and delete no meter yet and
add your meter now
To do this tap in your name up top then tap on signature and add your Meter
Then save
 
Last edited:
Missy & Oliver said:
Hello Everyone,

First of all, how much does a cat need to eat before giving insulin? Oliver only took a few bites of his breakfast and I’m worried. Should I skip it? Give 1 or 2 units?
—

Oliver is 11 and has been on inhaled steroids for 10 years. A few years ago he had a urinary blockage and last year started with chronic constipation. He recently started taking prednisolone by mouth. I thought all the soup (food mixed in water) and recently increased pred were to blame for increased urination, appetite and some weight loss. Over the last two weeks I realized he had lost muscle mass, he frequently refused to ea—or ate little—and was just not acting like himself.

I took him to the vet Saturday and she diagnosed him with diabetes, but not DKA. She sent us to the emergency vet clinic to stabilize him until he could get in to see an internist on Monday.

The internist kept him one night and sent him home yesterday with ProZinc and told me to administer 3 units twice a day, and to switch his food to Purina DM. No mention of BG monitoring.

Last night I didn’t feed him at his usual 6:30 time because I was told to adhere to the 12-hour schedule. I waited an hour, and then he refused to eat. I offered his old food and he ate a little of it. I panicked. I do have the vet’s cell number, so I called and asked what to do. He said give only 2 units. He mentioned that his level was 300 in the AM and he wasn’t worried it would go too low.

Here’s his pre-diagnosis daily regimen: I generally feed and dose at 6:30 am and 6:30 pm:
Food: raw diet, Primal pork. 3 nuggets (1 oz each)
Medications:
  1. 1/4 t. Miralax in 4 oz warm water
  2. 1- Prednisolone 2.5 mg chew
  3. 1- Alprazolam 0.125 chew
  4. 1- Cisipride mini tab 2.5 mg wrapped in a *Lysine chew
  5. Flixotide (Flovent) inhaler 250mg - two puffs
REPEAT ALL 12 hours later.
Ventolin salbutamol sulfate inhaler 100 mcg, 2 puffs-Only as needed
Click to expand...
I'll tag a prozinc user for you but I think since you just did your first test to night she'll have to see more tests
@FrostD
 
I can't run the numbers on the food at the moment, but I suspect it is low carb. Everything Ale said is spot on...no need for DM, 3U is huge, etc.

Our recommendation for a cat on low carb diet is to start with 0.5U twice a day (12 hours apart), and give that as long as above 200. We start cats on a high carb diet at 1U twice a day. I know it's tough to walk to the line between what we say and the vet, but I would not give any more than 1U at this point. As long as he eats about a tablespoon you should be good to give the shot (assuming lower doses I mentioned, and above 200)


You will want to focus your tests on the preshot (be sure to fast for 2 hours before) and again about 5 hours after the shot (as this is close where nadir - the lowest BG - is).

Steroids do cause diabetes, I'm surprised it took this long actually!
 
I took him to the vet. I was just so concerned about him not eating, his BG 298 and whether to give him insulin under the circumstances. The vet noticed his labored breathing and did an X-ray. He has a mass on his right lung. He’s obviously not a candidate for surgery. They gave him fluids and sent us home with instructions to give 1 unit tonight.

Honestly not sure I want to further stress him with another ear prick tonight. He won’t take take his meds (fish flavored chews that he loves) and won’t eat. He just wants to hide in my room.

Do you think it’s really worth taking more big readings? I will if you think it will make a difference.
 
Let it go for tonight, sounds like you both need to relax and get some rest. It's fairly minimal risk of hypo, although we obviously can't guarantee how he'll react to a given dose.

Did they give any sort of prognosis or next steps with regards to the mass?

Did they give you any meds? Or check for pancreatitis via bloodwork? I'm suspecting he may be nauseous and/or in pain. You would want ondansetron for nausea (Cerenia is only better for actual vomiting), mirataz or ciproheptadine for appetite stimulant, possibly buprenorphine or gabapentin for pain. Timing for those is key to getting him eating again, we can help you with that if you can get the meds.
 
We didn’t discuss much about next steps. It was already 6 pm and I was shocked and crying. Not sure I could have processed much. He did mention starting pain management. He said we’d check in tomorrow and just take it all 24 hours at a time.
Thanks for being here.
 
Missy & Oliver said:
I have his test results as a screenshot but can’t post it. What numbers are you interested In?

I do have some gabapentin. I think I will give him some.
Click to expand...
What tests did they do?

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Oliver still hasn’t eaten. He won’t take his meds. His breathing is labored. He doesn’t want to be held. I’m afraid it’s time to let him go. If it was just diabetes on top of his asthma, constipation and FLUTD, I think I’d be pushing him to keep on. But that lung tumor is a game changer. He deserves better than this.
 
Missy & Oliver said:
Oliver still hasn’t eaten. He won’t take his meds. His breathing is labored. He doesn’t want to be held. I’m afraid it’s time to let him go. If it was just diabetes on top of his asthma, constipation and FLUTD, I think I’d be pushing him to keep on. But that lung tumor is a game changer. He deserves better than this.
Click to expand...
I'm so sorry to hear this :( I'll tag a few members for you
@FrostD
 
Missy & Oliver said:
I took him to the vet. I was just so concerned about him not eating, his BG 298 and whether to give him insulin under the circumstances. The vet noticed his labored breathing and did an X-ray. He has a mass on his right lung. He’s obviously not a candidate for surgery. They gave him fluids and sent us home with instructions to give 1 unit tonight.

Honestly not sure I want to further stress him with another ear prick tonight. He won’t take take his meds (fish flavored chews that he loves) and won’t eat. He just wants to hide in my room.
Click to expand...
@FrostD

@Suzanne & Darcy
 
Are you certain he has a mass on his right lung. You cannot always tell from an x-ray. When I first took my cat Ginger to the vet for labored breathing, the vet did x-Rays and told me it looked like a lung mass. She had some fluid around her lungs. When they drained the fluid, they could see more clearly and could see that there was no mass on her lung at all. I’m just asking.

If it is really there….how large is this mass? What is its location in the lung? Are we certain it is not pneumonia? One of my cats also had pneumonia and they first thought it was a mass. Oliver’s elevated neutrophils definitely can point to an infection and are not just indicative of cancer. Either is possible. You could try a course of antibiotics to see if he improves. Also, as Melissa said, Cerenia and Ondansetron and pain meds (Buprenorphine) can get him feeling more like eating. Did they take his temperature? I’ve had cats though with infection with no fever, but they should have checked. Also, Mirataz is an effective appetite stimulant but should not be given unless nausea is addressed first. A smaller than recommended amount is best. It is applied to the inner ear.
 
Other comments on the bloodwork which are obvious are: he’s anemic but not at a critical stage. My cat recently has this same problem and I actually was able to bring her Hematocrit (HCT) up to within normal levels by giving B-Complex daily and B-12 injections monthly (more frequently at first.). This is not the first order of business. First order of business is getting him feeling better and eating again. He may also be dehydrated. Did they check him for dehydration? When you pull up on his skin on his scruff or back, does it take a long time to return to normal? Another way to check is to touch his gums (if possible) and see if they feel moist and slick or tacky/sticky. He may benefit from some subcutaneous fluids. I’ve seen a lot of cats really perk up with fluids. Is he still drinking? You said he was not urinating, right? This is not good. If his heart is sound and he doesn’t have fluid around his lungs then, fluids could be given. Otherwise you may need to syringe some water or watered down tuna water very slowly into the side of his mouth with a small (3 cc) oral syringe. Never squirt it toward the back so he will not aspirate the water and get pneumonia. Sorry if you already know all this stuff.
 
On the X-ray, it looked like the lung mass was pressing against the heart. They’d need a scan to know for sure.
I don’t see any urinalysis results, but I know they pulled urine, maybe for a culture due to his history. he was given fluids every day except Tuesday I think. He got some last night at 6.

He has peed since the fluids last night and pooped a little.

He’s alert now, but hiding. Doesn’t enjoy being pet. He was making an unusual gurgle/gulp kind of noise for a while this morning. Still refusing food.
 
The X-ray is only as good as the radiologist interpreting them. Minnie also had pneumonia in 2020 and not wanting to eat was the main symptom. She needed a feeding tube and antibiotics but she recovered. I’d ask your vet some follow up questions now that the shock wore off and also ask him about the things Suzanne is mentioning as treatment options. Anti nausea and apetite stimulants are always worth a shot. I had to give Minnie those even when she had the feeding tube on
 
Last edited:
The internist told me why he knew the mass wasn’t pneumonia, but honestly, I don’t recall what he said. I was crying at the time.
He was given antibiotics in his IV at the emergency clinic on Sat & Sunday. His temp is 102. The mass looked large? Up high in the lung. It wasn’t there just over a year ago.

Suzanne & Darcy said:
Are you certain he has a mass on his right lung. You cannot always tell from an x-ray. When I first took my cat Ginger to the vet for labored breathing, the vet did x-Rays and told me it looked like a lung mass. She had some fluid around her lungs. When they drained the fluid, they could see more clearly and could see that there was no mass on her lung at all. I’m just asking.

If it is really there….how large is this mass? What is its location in the lung? Are we certain it is not pneumonia? One of my cats also had pneumonia and they first thought it was a mass. Oliver’s elevated neutrophils definitely can point to an infection and are not just indicative of cancer. Either is possible. You could try a course of antibiotics to see if he improves. Also, as Melissa said, Cerenia and Ondansetron and pain meds (Buprenorphine) can get him feeling more like eating. Did they take his temperature? I’ve had cats though with infection with no fever, but they should have checked. Also, Mirataz is an effective appetite stimulant but should not be given unless nausea is addressed first. A smaller than recommended amount is best. It is applied to the inner ear.
Click to expand...


Suzanne & Darcy said:
Are you certain he has a mass on his right lung. You cannot always tell from an x-ray. When I first took my cat Ginger to the vet for labored breathing, the vet did x-Rays and told me it looked like a lung mass. She had some fluid around her lungs. When they drained the fluid, they could see more clearly and could see that there was no mass on her lung at all. I’m just asking.

If it is really there….how large is this mass? What is its location in the lung? Are we certain it is not pneumonia? One of my cats also had pneumonia and they first thought it was a mass. Oliver’s elevated neutrophils definitely can point to an infection and are not just indicative of cancer. Either is possible. You could try a course of antibiotics to see if he improves. Also, as Melissa said, Cerenia and Ondansetron and pain meds (Buprenorphine) can get him feeling more like eating. Did they take his temperature? I’ve had cats though with infection with no fever, but they should have checked. Also, Mirataz is an effective appetite stimulant but should not be given unless nausea is addressed first. A smaller than recommended amount is best. It is applied to the inner ear.
Click to expand...
 
If I’m being honest, I think you need to focus on pain management and trying to get him to eat while you decide how to move forward. Ask for the pain meds. It sounds like he’s behaving like he needs it. I’d also try to add the nausea meds to see if he’ll eat. The pressure on the heart from the pneumonia is what caused Minnie’s cardiomyopathy. Did they talk to you about monitoring his resting breathing rate?

Missy, we’re giving you options but only you know if it’s time or not. I know the feeling. I just lost Minnie in June and she had IBD, diabetes, cardiomyopathy and asthma. When she stopped wanting to eat and they found a lump in her intestine, I decided it was too much for her and it was time to let her rest. She had already been through so much. Whatever you decide, we’re here for you.
 
How long does it take the ondansetron to take effect? And is oral buprinex good past the expiration date? I’ve still got some syringes of that in a drawer from a previous surgery. Says it expired 8/12/20.
The gabapentin had no effect on Oliver’s appetite last night, but it did enable him to rest a bit. (He’s never been a good sleeper. He’s always on alert. )

Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
If I’m being honest, I think you need to focus on pain management and trying to get him to eat while you decide how to move forward. Ask for the pain meds. It sounds like he’s behaving like he needs it. I’d also try to add the nausea meds to see if he’ll eat. The pressure on the heart from the pneumonia is what caused Minnie’s cardiomyopathy. Did they talk to you about monitoring his resting breathing rate?

Missy, we’re giving you options but only you know if it’s time or not. I know the feeling. I just lost Minnie in June and she had IBD, diabetes, cardiomyopathy and asthma. When she stopped wanting to eat and they found a lump in her intestine, I decided it was too much for her and it was time to let her rest. She had already been through so much. Whatever you decide, we’re here for you.
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I’ve decided to let Oliver go. I’ve got a vet coming to the house in an hour or so to euthanize him. Thank you for investing in us—your support, thoughtful questions, and reviewing his test results. It’s so painful for me, but I can’t find justification to prolong his discomfort.
 
Missy & Oliver said:
I’ve decided to let Oliver go. I’ve got a vet coming to the house in an hour or so to euthanize him. Thank you for investing in us—your support, thoughtful questions, and reviewing his test results. It’s so painful for me, but I can’t find justification to prolong his discomfort.
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I am so sorry. So very sorry. I understand how much this hurts. Oliver will always be a part of you. Hugs... and tears for your boy.
 
I’m so sorry. It’s such an impossible decision, but I hope you find comfort in knowing you’re putting his needs and well being ahead of your own. He’ll always be watching you from across the Rainbow Bridge. Sending you lots of strength and love :rb_icon:cat_wings>o:rb_icon:
 
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