Week of 1/9/17: cliff notes

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MiCo

MiCo

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Quick notes, hope to update in more detail later.

Vet emailed with detailed ultrasound results, but basically the results were the same as she suspected/saw on Friday. Slightly enlarged pancreas, but that is to be expected with FD cats. I will fill in the other specifics later. But, basically, good news from the ultrasound.

Labwork is expected back on Thursday.

Since he seems to be eating better, we are going to try to decrease his doses of the appetite stimulant, and if he does well with that decrease, also try to wean him off the cerenia.

I'm adding Miralax 1/8 tsp twice daily because he had issues when this all started. And even though he had good poops, they are on the small side again.

Now that he seems to be eating better, and we are past all of those vet visits, I would like to get back to better monitoring his insulin. I was really just coasting with 4units and 4.25 units because he was having crazy lows that I think were due to all the stress/not feeling well and maybe something else.

Thinking of increasing to 4.5 units tonight, and see how that goes.
 
I would think it is gone. You just want to be careful not to increase just as the infection clears and antibiotics are no longer on board because those factors can change the levels downward. But it sounds like you are in a safe place.
 
Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
I would think it is gone. You just want to be careful not to increase just as the infection clears and antibiotics are no longer on board because those factors can change the levels downward. But it sounds like you are in a safe place.
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Hm, maybe I will wait one more day then... I don't know. I'll see what his PMPS # is tonight.
 
Cliff woke us up at 330a with a little vocalization and by climbing up the stairs (which is hard for him right now.) he's not the kinda cat to let me pick him up/carry him. I'm considering getting a baby gate to keep him from trying the stairs,but that might upset him. I also want to get a basket or box for him to jump in that I would use to carry him up. I dunno... Gotta get the BGs down so his legs get better.

1/11 amps
BG=373
Cyproheptadine-down to once a day
Feed
Shoot 4.5, increased last night, today is 2nd day at 4.5
 
Glad to hear that the ultrasound didn't show anything bad. Sounds like maybe he just had some kind of infection that caused him to not feel so good.

I think coasting with the insulin was fine while you were trying to figure things out. Now that you're back on track, you can work on adjusting as needed.
 
Cliff woke me up crying at 2:30a. This is the second night in a row. He seemed fine, but I have a rule, if he cries/wakes me up-I test him to see what's going on.

# at +9 was 387

I don't know what was going on, but I gave him two TBS of food and went back to bed.

He cried again at 5ish, which is his amps, so I got up.

Amps=357
I am a little confused that this # is lower than his +9?
Gave cypro, fed. He needed a little prompting to eat. Maybe he was less hungry since he had a snack at +9.

Gave him 4.5 again.

Good poop in box. Yay! :) haha, I need to start a chart for that.
I also need to update SS to 2017, hopefully this weekend. Our new year was too busy, with Cliff's shenanigans.
 
MiCo said:
Cliff woke me up crying at 2:30a. This is the second night in a row. He seemed fine, but I have a rule, if he cries/wakes me up-I test him to see what's going on.

# at +9 was 387

I don't know what was going on, but I gave him two TBS of food and went back to bed.

He cried again at 5ish, which is his amps, so I got up.

Amps=357
I am a little confused that this # is lower than his +9?
Gave cypro, fed. He needed a little prompting to eat. Maybe he was less hungry since he had a snack at +9.

Gave him 4.5 again.

Good poop in box. Yay! :) haha, I need to start a chart for that.
I also need to update SS to 2017, hopefully this weekend. Our new year was too busy, with Cliff's shenanigans.
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Those two BGs are within meter variance. I wonder if Cliff has a bit of insulin resistance built up because of his higher numbers while he was unwell, etc.? Teasel gets resistant quite easily if he sits in high numbers. Cliff had some blues and green at 4 - 4.25 u earlier but he has more red, purple and black since. The way to overcome resistance is to do what you're doing - raising the dose carefully over time. Eventually you should see a better response and then his dose might have to come down.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
Those two BGs are within meter variance. I wonder if Cliff has a bit of insulin resistance built up because of his higher numbers while he was unwell, etc.? Teasel gets resistant quite easily if he sits in high numbers. Cliff had some blues and green at 4 - 4.25 u earlier but he has more red, purple and black since. The way to overcome resistance is to do what you're doing - raising the dose carefully over time. Eventually you should see a better response and then his dose might have to come down.
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Thanks for taking a look and weighing in. I appreciate the comment about meter variance (I'm still learning!) and I agree he probably built up some insulin resistance. If I am being completely honest with myself, I am/was a little nervous about increasing doses since he had that low # incident before the holidays. However, now that he's on the mend (fingers crossed) I want to get back on track and build my confidence again. I just have to keep telling myself this is what I NEED to do to help him. The good news is, if I increase at tomorrow's PM dose, that gives me the weekend to monitor him pretty closely. And, I have a 3-day weekend.
 
MiCo said:
Thanks for taking a look and weighing in. I appreciate the comment about meter variance (I'm still learning!) and I agree he probably built up some insulin resistance. If I am being completely honest with myself, I am/was a little nervous about increasing doses since he had that low # incident before the holidays. However, now that he's on the mend (fingers crossed) I want to get back on track and build my confidence again. I just have to keep telling myself this is what I NEED to do to help him. The good news is, if I increase at tomorrow's PM dose, that gives me the weekend to monitor him pretty closely. And, I have a 3-day weekend.
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I truly understand the loss of confidence after a scary low episode, Michele. You'll get your mojo back and having been through a low once you'll be better able to cope if/when it happens again.
 
Its tough when you've had something scary like a low number happen. Remember that you know how to handle it if that happens.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
How's Cliff doing, Michele? It seems that he might be joining Chuck in the "Big Boy" dose range.
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Oh! Just seeing this reply now. I don't recall seeing a notification? And I've been off and on all weekend.

Yes, I upped his dose to 5units tonight. Eep! The bottle goes fast when giving big doses. We will see. He seems good. Good spirits and activity all weekend. Good appetite and mostly okay litter box. (Some small poops, but then okay poops, so I'm not worried.)

Trying not to stress, just collecting data. :) thanks for checking on us!
 
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