Quincy - honeymoon over? help!

[Laura and Quincy]

Hi everyone,

It's been months since I have last posted. I will have to update you on Quincy's various ups and downs since he went OTJ in March. Right now I thought he was finally doing pretty well, but when I did a few BG spot checks this week, for the first time they were elevated. I took two measures on Wed, which came in at 133 and 125, and I just tested him this morning, and he's at 200! Crap. What do I do? I guess I should start testing him more regularly, but what next? When do I have to break out the Lantus?

Looking at his situation, his food has been the same for a long time. He recently was treated for bladder infection - had a nasty strain of e. coli that required an old antibiotic, chloramphenicol. He finished the AB about 3 weeks ago, and it definitely did the job in clearing the infection. I did not test his BGs during the 2 weeks I gave him the AB. It's actually been about 5 weeks since I tested (BG of 91 on Oct 11). Could this AB have hurt his pancreas a bit?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this. I'll starting testing him 2x day and will update my spreadsheet. I so hope he doesn't need to go back on insulin. I'm not in a position anymore to give him shots every 12 hours - will just have to do my best, I guess!

Laura

 

[Libby and Lucy]

sorry Quincy is seeing some elevated numbers. :sad: Can you put them on your spreadsheet when you have a chance?

The first thing I would suggest is to go back to the basics of when he first went OTJ. Test, feed a small meal, and test again 3 hours later to see if the food stimulated his pancreas to bring the number down. Feed small, frequent meals instead of larger ones, as much as possible. See if he can bring the numbers down on his own.

If he does stay in this range, then resuming insulin would help.

If you're sure the infection has cleared, then is there anything else going on that could have caused his numbers to go up? Does he need a dental? Any food or environment changes?

 

[Blue]

Yeah, that was my first thought too ... what about teeth or some other infection?
Aside from all the Libby said, I think I would be scooting off to the vet to get a complete checkup/ bloodwork/ u/a and make sure nothing non FD is going on.

Sorry to hear about the infection and now the higher BG; I hope all turns out OK.

 

[Pat+Raja+Shadow (GA)]

Hi Laura! Raja threw me some 200s and I brought her in for blood work as Gayle had suggested. Everything seemed okay with her but after 9 months of getting greens spot checks, I was surprised...as you are to see the numbers in yellows.
I would check him out at the vet to make sure there isn't a lingering infection, including the dental.
I have put Raja back on a little insulin now since her numbers didn't come down so much after retesting in 3-4 hours after eating.
The elevated BGs are a good way to get a hint at something else that might be going on. If you rule out any other issues, then a little more insulin might be what is needed to help his pancreas along a little.
My vet was surprised that i was fussing over the 200s since they seem to think that range is acceptable. But after seeing consistent greens, the 200s are not something that we here are content with, right?
Good catch on your part! Hoping that Quincy will be okay....let us know, okay?

 

[Deb & Spot]

Good morning, Laura. I'm sorry to hear that Quincy hasn't been feeling well and that his bg's are starting to climb. I agree with everything Lucy and Gayle has said. Important to do all that to make sure nothing else is going on. If Quincy needs a dental, that could very well raise his bg's. When Spot's bg's start to raise, it has been only one thing that causes it...his teeth.

I hope that you can get a grip on this and that you can get Quincy in those nice numbers again.
BTW, Spot has become the king of otj travelers in LL. He goes off the juice for a little while, goes back on. Currently he is on. I have resumed myself to the fact that Spot will always need insulin at one point or another. But that's ok with me. I enjoy the times he is off....the freedom to NOT have to be home at certain times, but I miss the times he spends on my lap and the loud furry purrys during testing time.

 

[Lydia--(Rosie & Basil) GA]

We had a similar thing with Basil a few months after he was OTJ and a couple of weeks post dental. He wasn't in the 200 range, but he was higher than normal. The vet was very surprised we were concerned, but as you say, change is meaningful, not just the absolute number.

In any event, he returned to normal after a few weeks, so maybe some kitties take time to recover after infections and such?

Best of luck and I hope it passes soon!