Thumper 7/17 just plain weird

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Barbara

Barbara

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last night
PMPS - 338
shot 1 unit
+4 - 208
+6 141
very nice...right?
AMPS - 147
20 mins later 206
big jump in 20 mins
shot .5
I had no idea what to do really so I just went back to where we were before all this, guess that wasn't a good idea
+5 - 267

So what the heck is going on with this girl? She had 2 doses of carafate yesterday so this morning I thought that must be helping somehow. I did not give it to her this morning cause I just got up in time to feed & shoot then I couldn't get back to her until right before the +5 BG. I gave her another dose right after that. Could that really make such a difference? I guess I should have just dropped to .8? She's really unpredictable so I just don't know.
 
Wow...how strange are those numbers. Hopefully someone will have some insight into them. Maybe her Pancreas is sputtering--thus some lower numbers and less insulin needed at times and when there is no P action she needs more insulin. Even if that is the case, you can't predict when the pancreas is going to help. That is the only thing that comes to mind when I look at her numbers.

I am as lost as you are with Thumper. Hopefully it will improve today--does she act like she feels okay?

Go ride the Bike!
 
No bike today, I got sunburned yesterday!

I haven't been home much this morning so I'm not really sure. She seems fine though.
 
That's my impression too -- a sputtering pancreas. Shaikha gets like that sometimes too. I probably wouldn't have cut her dose as much as you did but you can see how it goes the rest of this cycle. Shaikha also has marked glucose changes like that when her insulin poops out, but remember that meters are correct within a range of =/- 20% usually. If I get numbers that seem inconsistent or odd I'll retest to see if the number appears "real".

Carafate just coats the stomach and GI tract, so it doesn't have any impact at all on blood glucose. If she's got a bleed, it will help the bleed to heal. It has no impact other than that.

Since she's rising so much, it seems she does need more insulin. I'd suggest trying 0.8U or holding with the 1U dose to see how it goes. More duration isn't necessarily a bad thing. She was surfing those blues for a while. At least the numbers have come down, no?
 
+9 - 374

wombat88 said:
Carafate just coats the stomach and GI tract, so it doesn't have any impact at all on blood glucose. If she's got a bleed, it will help the bleed to heal. It has no impact other than that.

Since she's rising so much, it seems she does need more insulin. I'd suggest trying 0.8U or holding with the 1U dose to see how it goes. More duration isn't necessarily a bad thing. She was surfing those blues for a while. At least the numbers have come down, no?
Click to expand...

I guess I was thinking ulcers in humans cause discomfort & that might be the deal with her, not feeling good/painful and causing her #'s to increase due to that, not really the med itself.

We've still got 2.5 hrs before shot time. I'm assuming she will be even higher by then. Since she did so well last night on the 1 unit should I shoot that again or go to .8? I'm sort of leaning towards .8.
 
I like 0.8U. It is a nice balance between the two doses. If that doesn't pack enough oomph then you can always go up later.

I've had cats with GI bleeds before and never thought about them being painful. I suppose they might make the cat uncomfortable depending on where they are. Is Thumper having any other GI symptoms, like looser stools or foul-smelling ones? Just trying to figure out what might be causing a bleed since she isn't on steroids. Did they see occult blood in her stool or were they just giving the carafate as a precaution since you said the stools were black?
 
Could be the 1u finally kicked in and got things back under control. 0.8 makes sense to me - it may be that you need 1u or a skinny 1u to keep things under control as long as she is zooming.

If it were me, I would probably go with a full 1u tonight since the AM dose was lite (assuming her PS tonight is still high), and then if you get another good PS, then I'd try either a skinny 1 (if you can monitor), or try the 0.8.

With Bix when he got results and needed dose lowering, I found moving in 0.1 or 0.2 increments worked well for him. With him at least, it seemed to be sort of a gradual process, so it might be lowering 0.1 every cycle for 3 cycles in a row and that kept him in good numbers, but if I tried lowering 0.2 or 0.3 all at once, then he would run higher.

It's just trial & error really, and with the Thumps of course, every time is a wee bit different than the last! ohmygod_smile Think what an expert you will be, lol! She's giving you the Navy Seals boot camp, right? Not just regular Army training like some of us got. :lol:
 
Oh dear. I agree, one unit. Joanna is right -- you did go down on dose this AM so going with 1U now should help. You can drop back tomorrow to 0.8U if she's low again.
 
I have no idea, I don't think anyone does. I know I was annoyed with the other vet last time but after seeing this other one yesterday I don't know if there's really anything else they can do. She really checked her out yesterday and if all the bloodwork comes back normal what is there to do? She's been xrayed, had an ultrasound, had bloodword a few times, had a urine culture and been seen by 6 different vets including the one specialist. I suppose I could still take her to the cardiologist for an echo cardiagram. I might ask about that after I find out if anything shows up on this bloodwork.

Wendy, I didn't take a stool sample in so they are treating just in case. She said there was no harm in taking the Carafate so I decided to try it. The one stool that I saw was just a little soft, not loose.

Joanna, I wish I were an expert! But mostly I'm just taking it one day at a time, I won't remember most of this I'm sure. Too much too fast!
 
It is times like this you sort of wish cats could talk, don't you? Or at least that they could answer questions and tell us how they are feeling and where it hurts. angry(2)_cat

It doesn't sound like you can do much more other than wait and hope she gets better, Barbara. That isn't a place I'd want to be either.
 
She could just have a really undecided pancreas? Just wild speculation, but maybe it is sputtering so inconsistently, or really sensitive to insulin levels, that it just shut down faster than maybe other cats' do? I have definitely seen when they spend time in good numbers their doses often go down, when they go a little high, their dose can need to go up. Now I've never seen *this* dramatic a change, but who knows? I mean, if she seems to feel ok, maybe nothing is actually wrong, Mr. P just went on vacation? I really don't know. I mean as I write it, it doesn't even really make sense to me ohmygod_smile but if she feels ok, then maybe it's not as big a deal as we think?
 
Sorry things are so confusing now Barbara. It would be great if Thumper could tell you how she feels instead of you having to guess. It sounds like you are doing all you can with tests and vet visits. The 'one day at a time' mantra is wise right now.
Wishing you less confusing times ahead...... cat_pet_icon
 
I am sorry too that Thumper's numbers are so frustrating. The good news is that she is on a low dose; the numbers are generally good and that, most days, she seems to be feeling well. I know the numbers are driving you crazy. Maybe time to take a step back, go with nadirs and preshot numbers for a while, breathe, enjoy her good days and just figure she is not in dangerous numbers?

You have checked out the possibilities and nothing seems to be wrong. Maybe time for some deep breathing, down time?
 
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