Urgent - Rosa hasn't eaten since this afternoon

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manxcat419 said:
I might have to pick up a bag of the low-carb dry so she's got something for the times I can't be around to put out a small meal every few hours.
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A timed feeder can help there, and it can be used for wet food. Lots of members recommend the Petsafe 5. I got several timed feeders for Saoirse - they're a godsend. :)
 
Yes, those mini-meals can really help. I especially found the 'before bedtime snack' helpful, in that it kept the kitties from waking me up too early. Now, instead of 3 am, they don't start begging until around 5-6 am. :facepalm:

I swear Wink can tell when it's time for his bedtime snack. He starts to beg around 9:15 for his 9:30 snack. It's like clockwork.
 
I know - I'm really not sure if it's the individual vet or if the advice just changes every so often. We follow Shadow's potassium pills with water because they're so big and can cause damage to the oesophagus over time anyway - that must be the oesophagitis problem - so getting them out of there fast is important. She's never seemed to choke as long as we go really slowly with the water. So of course now I don't know if it was just a bad experience my old vet had had with a cat choking or something. I'd be inclined now to try it with Rosa if she ever needs pills for anything again as it would make it much more difficult for her to hold the pills in her mouth to spit out later.

I'll have to get her a timed feeder. That way I could make sure she gets an overnight snack so she's not screaming for her breakfast the moment I wake up. They do get into a routine with practice for sure. My 2 used to know exactly when I was due home from work and would wait at the front door for me to walk in.
 
My Psycho was like that. I used to do a lot of operational work so there was was no fixed time I'd arrive home and yet he'd always be trotting up to the driveway ready to greet me. I'd love to know how he did it. I miss him so ... :(
 
They do just seem to know somehow. I still miss my first cat too - my mom and I had found her as a tiny kitten where she'd been (we think) put out of a car and abandoned by the side of the road. No-one ever claimed her so we kept her. We had 10 lovely years with Tiggy before she was hit by a car and died. Every cat I've had since has been indoor only (or at least outdoor only when I can supervise them - I do like them to get some sunshine and fresh air when I can keep an eye on them to make sure they're safe).

Rosa's getting extra special cuddles now - she just gave me her first reading since Sunday night that actually has a number! :D We've still got a long way to go - she's all the way up at 515, but that's a lot better than seeing HI come up on the meter time after time. :)
 
I lost Saoirse's brother Amadán the same way as Tiggy. I'm sorry you went through that, too. :bighug: I've never got over his loss. Love of my life. Saoirse's loved for two. She's an indoor cat now. We lived in a 2nd floor flat for several years so she couldn't get out at all. Our new place is really enclosed and not on a road plus there's a courtyard garden. It's great to be able to let her out - under very close supervision - to get some fresh air and watch the birdies again.

Well done, Rosa! For all the stress and tears that come with the diabetes Dx, seeing any improvements in the numbers brings joy and relief to compensate. :)
 
It's just so sad and so sudden when it happens. I can't just let cats roam since that happened - I couldn't go through that again. Rosa particularly loves to go outside - she has a harness and leash and everything and will happily explore with me. In the UK I had a big, enclosed garden so she could go out and run around there. But here we're close to the road and there are animals here, like raccoons, that she's never seen before and might get hurt by. Regan has a harness but isn't really all that bothered whether she's in or out.

It does indeed. My problem with seeing "Hi" is that I don't know if it means 601 or 850. Both are bad, obviously, but I prefer to know exactly how bad it is. I was fully expecting to see "Hi" again tonight - I was putting cream on her ear when the meter beeped and I had to read it twice to work out what it was saying. Hubby was trying to work out why I'd picked her up and told her how good she was for doing so much better. ;) It just feels so good to see that she's taken a tiny step on the way to getting more controlled. :)
 
The actual number doesn't matter when it is that high due to the +/- 2%0 meters are allowed to read.
They aren't exact numbers. You'll only get that from lab equipment.
If 0.8* high is greater than 1.2*low, the numbers may be considered the same.
 
Oh, I did know the numbers aren't exact - I guess because my work has always involved numbers, I just prefer to see those than something less defined. I'm one of those people (strange, I know) who actually likes numbers! Though I do see your point that the numbers are, or at least could be, the same no matter which number you're given above a certain point.
 
Are you checking to make sure you are getting the insulin into Rosa? If you can, run your hand through her fur where you have given her the shot. Or do the sniff test. Some people describe insulin as smelling sort of like bandaids.

Here's hoping Rosa gives you some non-black BG readings soon.

Are you checking for ketones since Rosa is running so high? You could get some ketone test strips at your drugstore or pharmacy and test her urine.
 
It's definitely going in - I'm parting the fur where I give the shot to make sure the needle's in. I am checking for ketones too - she's all good on that score at the moment fortunately. Having a tantrum at the moment because I just noticed our housemate had left a whole bowlful of Temptations down AGAIN when I'd only told him TWO DAYS AGO that he CAN'T do that anymore. She'll have taken some for sure - she can't resist them. I'm furious. She's been hungry all day and I've been feeding her mini-meals every 2 hours because she doesn't want the wet food if it's been down any length of time. Then I find that. Going to have to talk with him again tonight when he gets home - I can't have her sabotaged by this. He means well, he just doesn't always think and I need him to...I can't think for everyone in this house.

Sorry - that was a complete rant. I do appreciate the advice, I really do. I'm just so angry since I found those stupid treats left out. And they're actually out where they can all get them after I'd asked him to put them only in his room with the door closed. I think he doesn't get it - he sees us calculate a dose for hubby's youngest depending on what he's going to eat but that's a different type of insulin. It isn't going to work like that with Lantus.
 
Hmm - interesting idea. I might try that one. And that way he'd be helping to pay for Rosa's treatment - the longer she isn't regulated, the more it's going to cost me!
 
Oh rant away! We understand and have all needed to vent our frustrations here. It does make it more difficult when there is someone else in the house that just "doesn't get it". Not fun to think that someone else could be sabotaging your kitties progress.

Perhaps you would consider adding your ketone tests to the remarks section on Rosa's SS? I didn't see anything there about them so that is why I asked.
 
Thank you - I was just so so angry with him. I'm calming down now and trying to think of ways to get the information through to him in a way he might remember instead - it'll be more constructive in the long run than me just going off on him the minute he walks in!

I will add the ketone tests - I hadn't even thought of putting those on there until I just read your post but of course the more information I can give everyone, the more you can all help.
 
Ask him if he wants to buy her insulin ... and she'll need more if he screws up her food!

Or say she is allergic to it and it will make her deathly ill (eventually).
 
I like that idea. And really, she is allergic to it - it messes up her BG to the point where it'll make her ill. That just might work! If I explain that insulin is the antidote and I'm buying her what she needs to counteract the regular food she has, it might get through to him that way.
 
... I am an evil, evil, person ...
and a good background in counseling teaches you ways to make folks decide to do things your way because you present it in a way that it is in their best interests to do so ....
 
Oh, see, I don't think that's evil at all. It's all about consequences - the consequence of making Rosa need more insulin than she would with good dietary control helping her is that the person responsible for that should pay for it. I think that's completely fair. ;)
 
Just a quick note on the pilling. I use empty gelatin capsules with remi. I have used them for the last four years and I currently put 4 tablets in one capsule and give it to him twice a day. The beauty of the capsule is that they are smooth, tasteless, can fit multiple pills in one go and slip down easily if followed with water.
 
Oh no!!! Damn that errant roommate! I was just looking at our pack of temptations treats and cereal is the FIRST ingredient!! Ugh!

Rosie will be just fine, but UGH, i say again! She does not need more BG spikes!

I agree with other people here that making it clear that if she eats anything other than her own safe food is like poison to her. He might remember then.
 
The no tolerance policy might well be the easiest in the end. If the treats aren't in the house, Rosa can't get into them. She seems to have got past the spike - I got her lowest reading to date by a long way this morning at 294 AMPS so it looks like the dose increase and making sure the treats were gone worked. :D

Of course it meant she woke me up early this morning to let me know she doesn't appreciate being confined to the bedroom now she's feeling better, but I'll take it. ;) It was worth waking up to see that pretty yellow number show up!

I haven't tried the gelatin capsules - my old vet didn't really offer anything much in the way of ideas to make things easier. I'd definitely get them if she needs pills again though now I know about them - anything to make it a bit easier all round.
 
If you do get them you want the size 4. My vet has never mentioned them to me. I found out about them through the yahoo feline pancreatitis board. I buy mine through the local pharmacy but there are lots of online stockists.

That's a good AMPS after what you have been getting.
 
Good ideas on getting your roomie to stop the high carb treats.

@manxcat419 I see you have a condo going over in the Lantus/Levimir support group. Good job! I think you have "graduated" and are really getting a handle on things. Doing your own curve today with the dose change, not wanting to stress your kitty out by having the curve done at the vet, especially since Rosa was so anxious the last time you visited the vet.

Keep up the good work and hopefully Rosa will be showing you some green numbers soon.
 
Thank you for the encouragement. I knew I had to get to grips with things quickly for Rosa's sake so she doesn't have to spend a lot of time at the vet and today I finally feel like I'm winning and I have a better idea of what I'm doing.

I'm so pleased with her progress - it's gone from really seeing no improvement at all to a great day with her today. And it shows - the last week she's been wanting me to lift her onto her chair with her fleece bed on it because when she's tried to jump up she's been pulling the bed down onto the floor. Today she's jumped up there with no problem at least 5 or 6 times. I'm so proud of her for coming on so well for me. :)
 
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