OTJ and now Tresaderm

[Ginny&Charlie]

Hi everyone. This is my first post, but I've been reading for awhile. Charlie has been OTJ since October after being on PZI for a little over a month. His BG averages about 90 now using an animal glucometer for testing. Anyway, the reason I'm posting is that his ears have been really giving him a fit for some time. On Friday he was prescribed Tresaderm. I just checked his BG and it is up to 200 after only 2.5 days of treatment (it was 139 this am and now 198 pm). The good news is he isn't scratching or shaking his head anymore. My question is, do you all think I should keep giving the Tresaderm, or stop and talk to the vet tomorrow? I am terrified he will need to go back on insulin and I won't be able to get him off this time. Thank you!

 

[Wendy&Tiggy(GA)]

Talk to the vet - I googled tresaderm and FDMB and it does seem to spike BG:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?p=713487&sid=504ca69f87758b3173d5a3722374988c

Problem is that an infection can also spike BG so you might be in a catch 22 situation.

Perhaps the vet will temporarily put her on insulin to control things.. or recommend a different antibiotic.. or you reduce the carbs in his food to offset it or something.

Wendy

 

[Ginny&Charlie]

Thank you for the quick reply. I'm not going to give him the Tresaderm tonight and will call in the morning. I'm mad at myself because it was against my better judgement that I gave him the drops anyway. I just didn't think it would go up so quickly.

Hopefully, they can prescribe something different. I have some PZI, but it is about 5 months old. I'm not sure if it is still good anymore or not. Charlie is eating FF Classic and boiled chicken for treats. I don't think I can reduce carbs there (wish I could).

Thanks again!

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Tresaderm contains a potent steroid that has raised the BG in my cats when I used it. The BG for may cats went down a couple of days after stopping it.
What is wrong with the ears?
The steroid reduces inflammation and may not be necessary. You can get ear treatment that kill yeast and ones for bacteria that do not contain a steroid. Note that Animax also contains a steroid and spiked my cat's BG too.

 

[Grayson & Lu]

Hi Ginny -

My boy Grayson is also on Tresaderm. He has a recurring staph infection in one ear, and when the infection is present, his numbers skyrocket. I would suggest you stay with it a few days and see if the ear doesn't clear up. Charlie may also need an oral antibiotic to clear up whatever he has. Grayson just got a new scrip for Zenequin.

If you need to do a small dose of ProZinc, and you've kept it in the fridge, it should still be good. Check it for clarity and floaties.

You may also want to post on the ProZinc ISG (insulin support group for questions about the ProZinc). We had to switch to another insulin due to another condition, but folks there will be able to offer some insulin specific advice.

Good luck,
Lu-Ann

 

[Ginny&Charlie]

Hi Larry - thank you so much for the reply!

I am not sure exactly what is going on with his ears because he is so horrible at the vet that he has to be completely knocked out for them to even touch him. I asked the vet if there was anything topical that could be used without them actually seeing him rather than having to put him through the sedation and the vet prescribed the Tresaderm. I do appreciate the vet doing this, as it is a bad experience for all when he HAS to go in.

That said, I am going to call the vet in the morning and hopefully they can prescribe a different medication that doesn't contain steroids. Would you give the drops tonight? I wasn't going to, but they do seem to be helping. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Thanks again!

 

[Ginny&Charlie]

Hi Lu-Ann - thank you for your reply. I will go post on the ProZinc board with more questions about the insulin. Thank you!

 

[BJM]

Are you able to clean his ears? If it doesn't put you at risk of injury to do it, talk to the vet about a regimen of cleansing and drying, followed by treating maybe with a lower amount of the steroid, or see if there is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drop that could be used.

 

[Ginny&Charlie]

Thanks BJM!

Yes, I believe he will let me clean his ears. He is great with BG testing and has been good about getting the drops. I am hoping the vet can prescribe something without the steroids.

Thanks again!

 

[Grayson & Lu]

Ginny - how many drops are you giving him? I give Grayson 4 drops twice a day.

Are you cleaning his ears too? What kinds of crud are you getting? G's gets a brown/beige pussy liquid from deep in his ear; and lotsa black crud near the outer surface. I finally sprung for a C&S (culture & sensitivity test) that they sent to a lab to grow in a petrie (sp) dish. [they couldn't do it previously because he'd been on the drops more recently than 14 days]. It came back as a staph infection that responds to most antibiotics. For him, he did well while on it and it was under control... but seemed like as soon as we stopped, it came back. The last time we were off of it was about 3 weeks. In 2 days, however, it went from okay to gunky again. That's why we've supplemented with the oral AB - the Zenequin, although he could've had Clavamox, or any other number of ABs, as the type of staph responds to most ABs. Grayson doesn't like to be pilled, but will take the Zenequin in a bowl of freeze dried chicken crumbs! ;-)

It's important to get the infection under control. In my mind, that means sacrificing the good BGs for a while. The other thing, you need to keep a check on his ketones. Infection is one of the key ingredients - and as Nancy said (on PZI), Payne can go from 0 to DKA in a blink of an eye. You don't want to go there.