VET APPT. TODAY (please advise what we should cover) 3.23.15 Zoey 388

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Rose

Rose

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Good morning!

I found yesterday's post sitting in draft mode so I went ahead and posted it this morning. The morning half of yesterday was wonderful. Zoey was in blue the better part of the day and she was relaxed and content. The second half? Not so much. I'm assuming that's the bounce from the morning? Her evening hours always seem to be elevated when compared to her morning BG. Is that odd?

Well, time to go and slay some dragons. Hope y'all have a great day!

path to yesterday
 
+4 is 341.

I've got a vet appointment today at 5:15 and plan to have her teeth looked at, our spreadsheet, and our food/drug regiment. This is vet #3. I also want to have her checked for impaction. She originally had that problem but the first vet kept her, she had a bm and then he checked her a few more times on visits after that and said she was okay. I'm not so sure because she doesn't poo every day even though I continue to put Miralax in her food daily. Seems to me there's a relation between her lack of pooing and her higher numbers. When she does poo (it's longer and softer now) the numbers *seem to be more cooperative. I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I'm grasping at straws.

Anyway, please let me know if there's anything I should cover with this vet, any medicine I should have in my arsenal, or any special dance I should do to shift the favor back to our corner.

thanks bunches!
 
Looks like Zoey is bouncing from those blues yesterday. :rolleyes: Paws crossed she gets over it quickly.

Good luck with the appointment with the new vetty. Your spreadsheet mentions she was sneezing a week ago, so I'd get that checked too. Infection/inflammation (including teeth and gums) are a common reason for higher numbers to it's good to get that ruled out. As for the pooing, many senior cats go to a every other day routine. I add a bit of pumpkin to Neko's diet for a bit of roughage and that seems to help. I prefer that to Miralax. But that's a good discussion to have with the vet. People here have often noted that being constipated can result in higher numbers.
 
Thank you @Wendy&Neko . I had forgotten about the sneezing. I will pick up some pumpkin when I'm out today. I would rather use natural stuff than drugs if at all possible so I'll keep my fingers crossed that she likes it. Did you tell me about your cat turning red/ginger and it being a nutrient deficiency? When we first arrived on FDMB, I mentioned her black coat turning ginger and had a response regarding deficiency. The last vet told me it was from her licking fleas but all of the new hair that's growing in has a ginger tint and there is not a single flea on her and has not been for several weeks now. So there's been no licking for her hair to be turning ginger again.

I'm just sick with worry. I'm watching Zoey hobble around and I've been blaming it on the neuropathy. I really think she's hurt herself jumping down from the bed. I have her steps to use but she was insisting on pulling herself up from the smaller stool (and still will - hard-headed cat!) and did not want to use the friendlier steps. And she's been determined to jump and not take the easy way down off the bed. I've put soft rugs for her to land on ... everything. But she's really favoring her front leg now to the point that she can't prop herself up for very long and when she went and pooed, she ended up sitting down in the poo so she could rest. I just want to cry. She's been peeing on rugs now for about a week and it's to the point where I just put towels down (on plastic) for her to wet on. She's not wanting to walk around in the sand at all.

The hobbling doesn't slow her down though when she thinks she's going to get food. I've been picking her up and down and carrying her places because I know she's going to follow. But even now, she insists on walking and will rest every few steps and then keep going. I'm sure hoping that she's just sore and nothing is broken. She doesn't cry if I mess with it but she does hold it out when she lies down and positions herself just so. I'm sure if she's in pain that could be affecting her numbers.

If her appointment is at 5:15 but her shot is scheduled for 5:30, should I try to keep her on schedule or wait? Her numbers are pretty high. At +7.5 she was at 427. I gave her 1/8 c of food because she was stressing herself out looking for it since I was messing with her feet and she knows she gets a treat when I mess with her feet. If she's up there in the reds/blacks, am I okay to shoot her early -- say 5:00? The vet is not far so that should be able to work as far as timing.

I don't know what I'd do without having a kind stranger out there somewhere to read these vents/concerns/inquiries. You all have hearts of gold. <3
 
Obviously, get the vet to take a look at her leg and make sure that it's a strain and not something more serious. If it's arthritis, you can try Cosequin -- you can buy that through Amazon or some of the big box pet stores may carry it.

Also, my cats don't like pumpkin. Squash baby food is an alternative that Marje uses with her kitties.
 
hugs to you Rose and gentle scritches for Zoey; hoping her leg is ok! Thankfully you have this vet visit and can get this checked out too. Hoping it goes well. I can't really offer advise on her afternoon shot, but I think anything less than 1 hr is less problematic. Perhaps you can adjust tomorrow a.m a bit also? Take deep breaths and you'll get through!:bighug:
 
Hi Rose:

I'm not really an advice giver, but I thought I would jump in here and try to answer some of your questions. I'm sure someone else will be along later to provide more guidance.

Regarding your PM shot, it's okay to adjust it by 1/2 hour one time. You can do the same in the opposite direction tomorrow to get back on track. Remember that an early shot acts like a dose increase, but Zoey's numbers are high enough that I don't think that will matter. For some cats, vet visits raise BGs, too. My Cinco likes to be different, so his drop! :rolleyes:

Like Sienne's kitties, mine don't like pumpkin so I also put squash baby food in Cinco's breakfast - about 1 teaspoon. Works great. Be sure to get some that is just squash and water, no other ingredients. Cinco's numbers go up when he is constipated.

If finances allow, puppy pee pads are great to spread around for kitties that are not making it to the box. I don't know how I managed before I found out about them!

No, it's not unusual for the evening numbers to be higher. It often happens with Cinco. I think there's a name for it, but I don't recall what it is.

Good luck at the vet today. I hope they can figure out what's going on with Zooey's leg and it's something easily treatable. Please post after your appointment and let us know how it goes. Sending healing vines for Zoey and good vetty vines, too.
 
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Another site to add to your reading list on Feline Constipation. Baby food squash didn't work as well for Neko as the pumpkin does. She'll come begging for samples of pumpkin when I'm making pumpkin scones. My civie prefers the taste of the squash.

Do get the vet to probe for arthritis. Fish oil is an antiinflammatory that can help with arthritis. EntirelyPets.com also sells Cosequin - just got a shipment in the mail today. If the vet suspects arthritis post here, lots of people here have experience with kitties and arthritis (including my Neko).

If she's in the reds/blacks, I think you'd be fine shooting up to an hour early for tonight only. Here's a post on Getting Back on Schedule.

Neko's hair goes red/browner in the summer when she spends a lot of time in the sunshine - which is where she is right now. I've also seen that it can be an indication of a tyrosine deficiency (needed to make melanin), but there are other things that can cause this. Another thing to discuss this with the vet. Neko's vet has never been concerned about it.
 
Thank you all for the vetty vines. It was a good visit and I really like this vet. While all of the things that I was worried about didn't cause him any immediate concern, her big belly did. He is doing a complete blood work up (vet #1 only did in house and didn't do thyroid and other things), a fructolose (is that the correct word?) and a urinalysis. The tests should give him a better picture of how she's really doing. Zoey has gained a pound in the last month so I'm probably feeding her too much but until he has the results from the tests he doesn't want to reduce it. We should hear from him by Wednesday he said.

Zoey's foot didn't appear to be sprained or anything. He felt around on it and didn't have any concerns. She's lost a toenail so it's probably sore and could be causing it or it could be the neuropathy. She does have dermatitis but nothing to cause concern. He felt her teeth were normal for her age and didn't see anything that he thought he should put her under anesthesia for. The vet tech said black cats just turn ginger sometimes. Once the test results come back and he's ruled out other possibilities, he might revisit some of the above. He did mention her belly at least twice though so that's his focus and making sure she has no digestion issues. I mentioned the sneezing and wondered if it's allergies but he's waiting for the test results to see where things are. She's not really sneezed a whole lot in the last 24 hours so maybe that's behind us.

He thought all of the steps we were taking with the B-12s and Potassium Supplements and other stuff (all suggestions someone here originally told me to request from Vet #1) were good and we should continue. He didn't automatically dismiss the progressive and hands-on protocol of this site and surely did not suggest that I put Zoey down if she became a high-dose cat (vet #1) or shoot down the idea that Zoey could ever come off the juice (vet #2). I want to think he was intrigued with the site. (Or maybe he was just humoring the lunatic standing in his exam room) He asked for and I gave him the name and showed him the spreadsheet and how it was all linked and was pretty much 24/7 with support from people all over the world who were dealing with this, worked with this and have helped an impressive number of kitties and their beans. Maybe he'll check it out and come to the same conclusion I have and start telling anyone who has a diabetic cat to get involved here for 24/7 support and advice. To have the availability of this site and to have a vet who supports being proactive with cats would save so many.

Anyway .... I'm thankful for all of the help and encouragement from you guys and the renewed hope of having found the right vet. :bighug:
 
That sounds like a pretty good vet visit! I'm glad you were listened to respectfully and all of your concerns were addressed.

3.0u does not make a high dose cat. Lots of things can cause a slightly elevated dose like this. Pancreatitis, hyperthyroid, dental or bladder infections and pain can all increase blood sugar. Many people have reported that constipation also increases their cat's blood sugar.

You got blue numbers yesterday on 3.0u - that's fantastic. Let's see if she can get to blue again when she clears this bounce. We don't suggest people get their cats checked for one of the high dose conditions until they pass about 6u per shot.

Did he have a comment about posible arthritis? There are many things you can do to help with that and it is pretty common in senior cats.
 
An example of something which may help arthritis: fish oil has some anti-inflammatory properties. I take it myself because I can't take NSAIDS like ibuprofen.
 
Sounds like the third vet might be the charm! I'm glad you felt good about the visit and I hope all the test results come back with no surprises (unless they are good ones).
 
BJ's suggestion is good if your kitty will eat anything fishy! My guys won't. Anything with omega-3 oil will help with inflammation. Cosequin is also a possibility if you think this may be arthritis-related. One other thought -- how long have you been giving Zoey B-12 (and is it methyl B-12/methylcobalamine/Zobaline)? It can take a couple of months for methyl B-12 to work. You may also start to see the neuropathy improving since Zoey's numbers have been improving.

As for the poo question, we have a former member who was absolutely certain that a bowel movement dropped her cats' numbers. It's certainly possible.
 
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