Avery
Member
Hi,
I would like to introduce myself and my Kitty, Turtle!
She's 16 years old, with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy for which she's been on Beta Blockers for many years. She takes high blood pressure medicine also, and 1/4 baby aspirin twice a week. Last year she was diagnosed with an Osteosarcoma tumor in her leg. I didn't want to put her through a biopsy and possible amputation, so I decided to enjoy my last days with her. However, over a year later she is still here and her tumor does not seem to have spread, though her right leg is huge compared to her left. Did I mention she has Arthritis too?!
Anyway, I found out about her diabetes in a terrible way. My husband and I went on vacation for 4 days around Halloween, and we returned to discover that there had been a devastating miscommunication between our cat sitter and her boss. The result was that no one came to care for Turtle the whole time we were away, and she had not had any food or medications for 3 1/2 days. She seemed OK the night we returned, though very hungry, but the following night we found her lying on the floor, crying. She couldn't get up...her back legs didn't seem to work, and she seemed blind. We rushed her to the Emergency Clinic, and during the trip she had a seizure in her carrier.It turned out that her glucose numbers were so high they wouldn't even read on the Clinic's equipment. She was hospitalized for a couple of days, then placed on two units of PZI twice a day and given Hills M/D food to eat.
Five days after being on the insulin she went to the Vet for a glucose curve. They did two readings on her and decided that they were so high that she needed her insulin dosage doubled ASAP, over a period of two days. I had bought a Freestyle Lite meter and had been doing my own readings on Turtle during the previous several days and had never gotten any readings that high (the Vet was comparing my meter's results to her results at my request). Plus she was doing so much better -- she'd perked up and was drinking and urinating less. I talked the Vet out of increasing her dose. When I took her home that night her BG readings started dropping and over the next two days were back to the range of numbers I had been getting before taking her to the Vets'. So I really think those high numbers were due to stress and am terrified at trusting any measurements I would get at the Animal Hospital.
She seems to feel better every day. I have the day off today and am doing a full Glucose curve at home. I may try to find another Vet, too. It's not just her wantiing to double her dose so rapidly based on two glucose readings and not taking into account her clinical signs...she always seems so rushed, and the Clinic hours aren't too flexible for someone who works full time. I just don't think they are equipped to handle her condition (and my perhaps annoying questions and second-guessing) long-term.
So this is Turtle's background. I have a few questions....
About 6 months before all this happened, I took Turtle off of dry food completely, and changed the canned food I was supplementing that with to a lower-carb variety. She was having diarrhea regularly, and my Vet thought it might be dietary. I looked at Dr. Lisa's Cat Nutrition page and thought that the dry food/high carbs might be causing her diarrhea. I switched her over to Natural Balance canned Venison & Green Pea. Frankly I didn't know how much to feed her - I'd always free-fed Turtle dry food and added a large dollop of canned to it twice a day. I went by the can label and began feeding her a can a day, divided into two portions. About six weeks ago, I did notice that her water bowl needed filling up more often and that the urine clumps in her litter box were growing. I made a mental note to have this investigated at her next checkup. (I feel pretty stupid now for not taking action sooner). I did weigh her and she seemed to be holding at 10 lbs, her normal weight. Plus her GI issues had really improved.
But now I'm afraid I was under-feeding her. If she was on this improved diet, why did she start having these symptoms? I wonder now if I have been starving her all this time. She is now on the M/D canned, also a can a day. Now I'm dividing it into three portions per day to make sure she has food available when her glucose level is lowest. The vet says to just weigh her to see if she's getting enough. Between not eating while we were away to seizing, vomiting and defecating everywhere, her weight has dropped to 8 lbs. I'm not sure what to shoot for -- maintaining her present 8lbs or trying to gain back some weight? A lot of folks posting here seem to feed much more, maybe two or even three cans a day. If I've been starving her all this time, I'm going to feel terrible.
A second question is, she takes a potassium glucomate supplement, a teaspon a day divided into two portions per day. How might this affect her BGs and fit in with her diabetes?
Last Question, about Insulin. The PZI is $96 per 5mm vial. My Vet gets it from Veterinary Pharmacies of America (VPA). I've read that you can work directly with BCP directly (with your Vet's Rx) to get this insulin and avoid potential price markup from the Vet. Has anyone worked with VPA in this way? If I can get my Vet to work with me to get the insulin from BCP instead, is it the same insulin as from VPA (100% bovine PZI)?
Thanks so much for reading (if you've gotten this far without falling asleep!). I've gotten so much info and reassurance from the FD site and message board over the last week. I couldn't have dealt with all of this otherwise. Thanks for being here.
-Avery
I would like to introduce myself and my Kitty, Turtle!
She's 16 years old, with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy for which she's been on Beta Blockers for many years. She takes high blood pressure medicine also, and 1/4 baby aspirin twice a week. Last year she was diagnosed with an Osteosarcoma tumor in her leg. I didn't want to put her through a biopsy and possible amputation, so I decided to enjoy my last days with her. However, over a year later she is still here and her tumor does not seem to have spread, though her right leg is huge compared to her left. Did I mention she has Arthritis too?!
Anyway, I found out about her diabetes in a terrible way. My husband and I went on vacation for 4 days around Halloween, and we returned to discover that there had been a devastating miscommunication between our cat sitter and her boss. The result was that no one came to care for Turtle the whole time we were away, and she had not had any food or medications for 3 1/2 days. She seemed OK the night we returned, though very hungry, but the following night we found her lying on the floor, crying. She couldn't get up...her back legs didn't seem to work, and she seemed blind. We rushed her to the Emergency Clinic, and during the trip she had a seizure in her carrier.It turned out that her glucose numbers were so high they wouldn't even read on the Clinic's equipment. She was hospitalized for a couple of days, then placed on two units of PZI twice a day and given Hills M/D food to eat.
Five days after being on the insulin she went to the Vet for a glucose curve. They did two readings on her and decided that they were so high that she needed her insulin dosage doubled ASAP, over a period of two days. I had bought a Freestyle Lite meter and had been doing my own readings on Turtle during the previous several days and had never gotten any readings that high (the Vet was comparing my meter's results to her results at my request). Plus she was doing so much better -- she'd perked up and was drinking and urinating less. I talked the Vet out of increasing her dose. When I took her home that night her BG readings started dropping and over the next two days were back to the range of numbers I had been getting before taking her to the Vets'. So I really think those high numbers were due to stress and am terrified at trusting any measurements I would get at the Animal Hospital.
She seems to feel better every day. I have the day off today and am doing a full Glucose curve at home. I may try to find another Vet, too. It's not just her wantiing to double her dose so rapidly based on two glucose readings and not taking into account her clinical signs...she always seems so rushed, and the Clinic hours aren't too flexible for someone who works full time. I just don't think they are equipped to handle her condition (and my perhaps annoying questions and second-guessing) long-term.
So this is Turtle's background. I have a few questions....
About 6 months before all this happened, I took Turtle off of dry food completely, and changed the canned food I was supplementing that with to a lower-carb variety. She was having diarrhea regularly, and my Vet thought it might be dietary. I looked at Dr. Lisa's Cat Nutrition page and thought that the dry food/high carbs might be causing her diarrhea. I switched her over to Natural Balance canned Venison & Green Pea. Frankly I didn't know how much to feed her - I'd always free-fed Turtle dry food and added a large dollop of canned to it twice a day. I went by the can label and began feeding her a can a day, divided into two portions. About six weeks ago, I did notice that her water bowl needed filling up more often and that the urine clumps in her litter box were growing. I made a mental note to have this investigated at her next checkup. (I feel pretty stupid now for not taking action sooner). I did weigh her and she seemed to be holding at 10 lbs, her normal weight. Plus her GI issues had really improved.
But now I'm afraid I was under-feeding her. If she was on this improved diet, why did she start having these symptoms? I wonder now if I have been starving her all this time. She is now on the M/D canned, also a can a day. Now I'm dividing it into three portions per day to make sure she has food available when her glucose level is lowest. The vet says to just weigh her to see if she's getting enough. Between not eating while we were away to seizing, vomiting and defecating everywhere, her weight has dropped to 8 lbs. I'm not sure what to shoot for -- maintaining her present 8lbs or trying to gain back some weight? A lot of folks posting here seem to feed much more, maybe two or even three cans a day. If I've been starving her all this time, I'm going to feel terrible.
A second question is, she takes a potassium glucomate supplement, a teaspon a day divided into two portions per day. How might this affect her BGs and fit in with her diabetes?
Last Question, about Insulin. The PZI is $96 per 5mm vial. My Vet gets it from Veterinary Pharmacies of America (VPA). I've read that you can work directly with BCP directly (with your Vet's Rx) to get this insulin and avoid potential price markup from the Vet. Has anyone worked with VPA in this way? If I can get my Vet to work with me to get the insulin from BCP instead, is it the same insulin as from VPA (100% bovine PZI)?
Thanks so much for reading (if you've gotten this far without falling asleep!). I've gotten so much info and reassurance from the FD site and message board over the last week. I couldn't have dealt with all of this otherwise. Thanks for being here.
-Avery
