Sammy - TaTa - The Aftermath

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When I initially bought a vial.. many moons ago.. the pharmacist told me to roll it..and put a sticker on the bottle saying so.. luckily I realized pretty quickly how bad the math on the vial was.. and the first time I suspected the insulin was no good (was probably a bounce.. but I was a noob ;) ).. I started getting pens off my diabetic friend instead.. and HE gave me the right instructions :).

As for Sammy's LB action or lack there of.. if it's "in the budget" at all.. maybe it would be a good day to go get him checked out.. he really should be pooing something after all the junk food he ate yesterday..
 
Really, that was some entrance. Punkin, by the way, thinks Sammy to be quite the little drama queen. That was quite a read last night!

Hey, me-n-Punk are on Lawn Giland too! There are a few of us here.

Keep up the good work. :mrgreen:
 
Wow!!!! @-) I just read yesterday's thread and talk about making an introduction!

You handled that really well and had the support of some very good, knowledgeable people here. Way to go.

Welcome to the group.

Regarding earrings, I promised Maui one earring and I would wear the mate. She decided she didn't want to wear any and told me to go poke myself. So, I went to Claire's and let them poke me instead. Now, I have a hole dedicated to Maui.
 
I usually shot at about 6:30am/pm. That gave me a little leeway in the morning if I needed it before I had to leave, and it also allowed me to stay up until +6 (or later) at night if I had to. I often had to because Lucy was a drama kitty. It was helpful to be able to get lots of spot checks in the evenings, because I couldn't during the day.
 
Libby makes a good point, I'm shooting at 8's and usually I can barely stay awake long enough for +2 or 3 if I push it. On the other hand, I could sleep later in the morning if I were a late sleeper. Part of the reason I fall out so early is because I'm usually up between 5 and 6am. It's just when I wake up. Ideally, I'd like to shoot at the 6's but that's not a good evening time for our household. 7:30 worked out ok while it lasted. It just all depends on what you think will work for you the best.
 
392 at + 31.75.

OK I'm ready to do something. This is getting too high for my tastes.

Vet just called because I called him this morning about my thinking Sammy wasn't pooping. Sammy has none of the symptoms he reeled off: vomiting, straining and lack of appetite. His belly isn't distended or hard either. He suggested letting him lick a dab of Vaseline twice a day. He wants to see him stat if I don't think he's gone b/c it could impact his diabetes. I gave him a 25-word description of yesterday and now he knows about you guys.("Who's we?", says he.) I said I would love to introduce him. I told him you were thinking 1.5 twice a day. He wonders if Sammy might be a candidate for once a day and thinks we should try a 2U dose. When he said that he knew that Sammy was 324 at +29 at 1:41pm, which he rightly thought was high but I explained that we needed to establish a workable schedule and that's when he came up with his person-pleasing once-a-day solution. Re: yesterday. He wanted to know how low Sammy got and what we did to forestall him going through the floor. Odd, he never asked what I gave him.
 
The ladies will explain it much better but Lantus is not a once a day insulin. You'd be giving him 2 units which would be gone after 12 hours, then he'd be without it for 12 hours... at least as I understand Lantus and how it works.
 
There's the bounce we were expecting last night. Better late than never.

You can shoot your 1.5 whenever you're ready. I'm not sure what you're thinking would be a good schedule for you, but yeah, I would go ahead and get some insulin into him. We can fiddle with the schedule tomorrow if we need to adjust to a different time for your "permanent" schedule.
 
That's what I'm thinking. I'm worried about letting him go on like this. I'll take another reading and then shoot him up. I can always get up.
 
yep, I would shoot. You work from home, so if it takes us a couple of days to get to your preferred schedule, we can work it out. We've done that lots of times.
 
OK it's done.

He was at 452 +32.5

It wasn't the very cleanest shot I ever did, but he was in a weird position purring to get those endorphins for company. It wasn't a fur shot either. I never did one of those thanks be. I shot that itty-bitty 1.5U using a U100 needle. I did not shake the bottle. I did not roll the bottle. There was nothing floating in it. It looks like water. I filled the syringe and returned the bottle to the frig. Put the cap on the needle and in my best Dr House manner stuck the plunger between my teeth so I wouldn't be holding the thing in my hand and went to find him. He hasn't been this high since January of 2006. Now, I'm going to have a drink. Maybe two. Maybe three. Large ones. I'll see you in three hours.
 
{{{Maureen}}} Enjoy your drink, drinking09 even two or three if you think you can still test after three ;) I personally fall asleep on the couch in front of company after one :lol: :lol: You sure deserve it though after all you've been through!

I feel your frustration on the vet thing. Mine was all wrong on a few things and a little wrong on a few things... but at least he keeps me supplied with what I need for the folks here to actually help me get my boy better :lol: *said as I look over at the script for syringes that I stopped in today to pick up while admirably keeping my mouth shut the entire time I was there* I have a letter saved on my computer that I plan to take to him when I go in next, detailing the many ways he steered me wrong and suggesting he take a look at some more information on FD to better serve his future FD patients and the people who have to deal with it.

But you're in great hands here! Maybe your vet will be open to learning more if you approach him in the right way, some people have convinced their vets to work with them on this, while others just smile and nod and go home and do it this way ;) Either way, you'll be getting a handle on all of this very soon. Trust me =) I thought those first few days were crazy (and mine were nothing like yours have been!) and my brain would explode but here I am, brain's still in my head and Tugger is doing SO well. Plus, I've met lots of people who are full of awesomesauce!
 
Return with me now, if you will, to either late December of 2005 or early January of 2006 at least a month - I will burn in hell for this - after I knew in my heart that Sammy was diabetic. Vet 1, who I used for years and watched go from an idealist to a money grubber, wanted me to shoot without testing. Didn't make sense to me. That's how I found you guys. So I go back to him and I say I want to test before I shoot. And he says to me - swear to God - "There'll be blood all over the room." I had to shop around for a malleable vet who didn't believe but let me do what I wanted. Imagine, shooting without testing.
 
BTW you do NOT need a script for syringes. Suprised the heck out of me too. But I've been getting syringes thru the mail since January 2006 and never had a script.
 
Well, I hate to admit it, but I shot PZI Vet without testing for 4 years. Fortunately Stu survived. It was only with the switch to Lantus that I began to have doubts about the whole process, and that's when I found this board. The FDMB has literally saved my cat. The change in him is remarkable. The people here are so knowledgeable and so compassionate. And my vet has turned out to be totally supportive. I hope things will work out for you with your present vet. Lantus really needs to be dosed twice a day in cats.

Good luck this evening. You'll get Sammy straightened out with a little help from your new friends here.

Ella
 
I don't... no, but that's not sayin' much. I vaguely recall my step-mom putting it on our cat Stubby's paw a few times and he lived 19 years... that's about as close as my experience with it gets though. Vague memories and second hand stories from friends who've used it for hairballs and bm's. None of whom have ever come back and told me what happened after giving it. Some of them I think would have if there had been *messy* consequences (frantic calls asking how to get cat poo off walls or something I'd think :lol: ) Maybe google vaseline cats constipation and see what Dr Google has to say, and/or try the search function on the forum and see if anyone else has asked the same thing here.

I apparently need to decide what's for dinner. Like, five minutes ago. I have 6 starving four legged kids and the other beans are acting a little bit like starving jackals themselves....
 
Maureen, my vet told me that Vaseline does not work as a laxative, but that it does coat hairballs, and they pass easily.
Don't ask me how that works. I give mine Checkers Vaseline for hairballs and he has never had loose stools from it, so my guess is,it will not work as a laxative.
However.......other people say it does have laxative effect. So, how do you know who to believe?
Umm, are you Catnip Cottage, Maureen?
 
Yeah any hairball goo is just vaseline with sugar in it so most cats will like it.. (1 of my 3 can't stand it.. luckily, the one who needs it likes it).. it helps the hairballs go in either direction.. up or down.. though it's never been my choice which :).
 
:lol: Maureen is a beautiful soul, who runs a rescue called OLM Catnip Cottage. I knew of her from old board. When you mentioned the old board yesterday, I wondered if you were her. :smile:
 
Hey Maureen,--But I do like your explanation!
I'm in Long Beach and been here on FD 2 yrs.
Lantus land here is an amazing place where you & your kitty will both get So much better!!!
Hairballs--I give my cats olive oil(10 drops for both in am), and vitacoat-omega 3 oil ( 5 dropsin pm) mixed in their food.
They rarely have them, but I did discover that my civvie was allergic to candles-the scent was am irritant to him, & he groomed himself twice as much, causing hairball city--Since I stopped, it stopped- :o amazing!
Did they tell you to start a new condo every day here, and how to post your numbers??
Looks like you are doing Ok so far--Good work! :mrgreen:
 
OK every day we go on top of page & click on new topic--In heading date, name, numbers: 4/19 Sammy AMPS 138 (for example)+3~110,+6~98
Then just write like you did here , posting the numbers like I did throughout the day--writing like you did here...
Look in other condos & you'll see!
Then there's the spreadsheet, well I'll leave them for others to help with..as I am not computer expert!
 
Yeah, I tried to read some of those spreadsheets to see what I should do and, pshew, my eyes crossed . But right now I should have done something like 4/19 Sammy AMPS 452 +3~419. (I love the uncertainty, how true, how true.) AMPS even if we're starting now, I suppose
 
Maureen & Sammy said:
sorry Catnip Cottage sounds like something I'd like to be until they legalize marajuana but I don't know what that means.
Click to expand...

Just move to Canada..where the laws are fuzzy and nobody cares anyways! :)
 
Maureen & Sammy said:
Return with me now, if you will, to either late December of 2005 or early January of 2006 at least a month - I will burn in hell for this - after I knew in my heart that Sammy was diabetic. Vet 1, who I used for years and watched go from an idealist to a money grubber, wanted me to shoot without testing. Didn't make sense to me. That's how I found you guys. So I go back to him and I say I want to test before I shoot. And he says to me - swear to God - "There'll be blood all over the room." I had to shop around for a malleable vet who didn't believe but let me do what I wanted. Imagine, shooting without testing.
Click to expand...

Maureen I am a vet tech and have worked with my vets for almost 16 yrs and they also shoot without testing I just had a BIG confrontation on the phone last thursday with Do Lou's vet going on and on and on about how I am hurting my cat by sticking him over and over <sigh> I will see him tomorrow and have not called in to talk to him since so I know I will be in for yet another one on one with him, we are a great animal clinic but so backwards when it comes to FD I have learned that the people here know a lot more then he does so glad you are hometesting and hope you and Sammy find a schedule soon :mrgreen:
 
Spreadsheet info is here, it's pretty easy to follow instructions. I managed it without tearing my hair out ;-)

Once you get it set up it's super easy to maintain and you'll love being able to see things at a glance with the color codes. I do anyway =) Some of the ss's around here are pretty cool to look at.
 
yes, I heard that "you're hurting him" line from Vet 3 - the current guy - Sammy is like me - or like my mother always said I was - two people - charming as can be but I wouldn't mess with him. He'll turn on you if you cross whatever line it is he's established - completely different from my other two cats. Fact is he's tolerated all this abuse all these years for the simple reason that he understands exactly what's going on - and has from day one - and wishes to live. What I cannot understand is that people have lived cheek by jowl with animals for 10,000 years and are so stupid or heartless they don't understand that animals think - and pretty much feel exactly the way we do for exactly the same reasons. All you have to do is watch them to understand that.
 
You are so funny!! My old vet and the CSVC(center for specialized vet care, westbury) told me not to bg test Moonie either-
For the 1st 11 months, I urine tested with glucotest , and all I did was plow thru clumps of pee, never really knowing where Moonie's BG was at a given moment..I believe that Moonie could have been OTJ, if only she had cooperated instead of freaking out every time I touched her then, and if I had been braver!! Oh well, what was was & what is is, & she iz fine now.
I was on the Alternative Monitoring forum for a long time--It sopped when I came here & not on this new board now--But I still help where needed. I am the Pee Queen still! :mrgreen:
Her ear looks quite beautiful & unless you use 4x glasses. cannot see the latest little spots where I tested--She has bootiful ears!
SO Glad I finally did test, when a member here came over & showed me how to test Moonie!! She is still my hero for that, but is shy :lol: about it!! That's how it is here--we all look after each other, in so many ways!!
 
I have to be. Cats are a very tough audience. They keep reminding me they are gods and like that mere mortal Queen Victoria are not amused.
 
Can anybody look into their crystal balls and predict how Sammy's numbers might run. And suggest what I might be up against at 5 o'clock tomorrow morning when you all better be in bed?
 
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