Wonky Weird Numbers. Advice?

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RenaRF

RenaRF

Member Since 2011
I posted the following late Friday night about what had been going on with Henry, just to give context:

The reason for all of this drama is a skin infection. I noticed what seemed like very mild chin acne a week and a half ago - but by Wednesday, one of the areas looked scary. Like he had a lump just below the right corner of his mouth. Having recently lost my sweet Clide to OSCC, I am paranoid about ANY appearance that is not normal. So off to the vet we went. Vet thinks it's bacterial or fungal. Took a scraping, sent it out for a culture (results not back yet). Didn't think it was cancerous. The whole bottom of his chin is kind of crusty/icky. And they found another area on his right butt cheek! So he prescribed Clavamox and a Novalsan rinse (topical).

I took him home and life was good. Numbers had been great (spreadsheet is up to date). Gave him the first Clavamox at 8am Thursday am, fed him, and then left for meetings an hour from my home. Got a call from my husband at 1pm. He said Henry had been throwing up. I got home by 2:30, and he had vomited like 6 times. Took his BG and it was 325!!! It had been like 93 that morning. He vomited another three times once I got home - liquid. And the last (10th) time, he vomited A LOT of blood. This was about 5pm. I put him in the carrier and ran out the door to our vet ER.

They gave him fluids, subQ anti nausea and subQ antacid. They prescribed a topical antibiotic and anti-inflammatory - the generic form of bactroban. And yes, it has a steroid in it and we discussed that but decided that because I home test, we would give it a shot and not risk another oral antibiotic. They also sent me home with sulcrafate - the kind without sugar that I have to crush and mix with water and then syringe. I was to withhold water until about 11pm provided he didn't vomit, and I did that (and he didn't vomit). He used the kitty box at 11ish last night and there was definitely blood in his stool and it was diarrhea. :( ER vet was called, agreed that it could be just blood from the stomach from the earlier incident and to watch him (it wasn't bright blood - like fresh; it was maroonish). I was to withhold food until the following am to give his GI system a break, and if he didn't vomit overnight, feed this AM and I did that.

I tested him this am (101), gave the sulcrafate, put the ointment on, put an ecollar on him (which he hates) and then fed him half his normal amount. He ate that willingly and I gave him the other half a bit later. Tested him at 2pm and he was 99. Fed him a little more and he ate and ate well (Henry eats FAST). 8pm BG was 90. But he hasn't finished all of his dinner and he clearly has diarrhea (although no blood), so he's not back up to snuff yet.

All from stinking Clavamox. Poor Henry.
Click to expand...

His BG has been WONKY since this happened. Thursday's numbers (the day of the issue that sent him tot he ER) were expectedly wonky. Friday's were pretty much back to "normal" before the Clavamox reaction. Yesterday he was in the blues, but higher than usual and below 150. This am he was 170 (!!!) but his recheck 3 hours later after breakfast was 81!!

So a few things. His pancreatic enzyme test came back as slightly elevated - 5.4. Very slightly, at least as of Thursday night. I had been thinking food allergy for the original skin condition, and/or a reaction to the plastic on his timed feeder. We introduced the steroid cream beginning Friday AM, AND I started monkeying with his food. Bad move. He didn't eat the new food overnight on Friday/Saturday, nor did he eat it overnight last night, Saturday/Sunday. I am going back to basics. No steroid treatment for the time being. I'm only using the Novalsan wash, which is steroid free. No oral meds at all. Back to his Merrick Cowboy Cookout and Ocean Breeze food. I used a paper towel on the timed feeder to keep his chin off of the plastic. Henry eats 4x daily, 8a, 2p, 8p and 2a.

Henry has NOT had insulin since the morning of 4/17, when he received .5U of Lantus. I am not practicing insulin regulation at all at this point (his SS is up to date, and you can see why I'm not administering insulin), and if I were, I would be in relaxed Lantus and not tight regulation.

Any suggestions as to why his BG is all wonky? I can say also - I use the AccuCheck Aviva and I've had to pull the battery out twice in the past three days when I got an immediate E-9 error when inserting the strip. Could the meter be wonky? It's practically brand new!! Meter and strips purchased less than a month ago.
 
Yes, the steroid cream will take a few days to a week to clear out of his system. It is dependent on how sensitive he is and how much was absorbed. Atlas took about 10 days, but he had been dosed with the ear drops for nearly a week.

Second, with all the changes in his diet and his tummy be tore up...it will take a few weeks to heal. Remember any inflammation in the body will wonk out the numbers. So be patient I think is the answer here.

I'd watch for consistently rising numbers to be signal something is still not right. A few highs or lows without insulin would indicate the body is trying to heal itself.

You might consider adding some probiotics to his food as the clamamox (1 pill) caused such a horrible reaction the flora in his digestive tract may need a boost too.

E-9 means the battery is low. Change the battery.

If you still get the message than the battery needs to be replaced and the meter needs to be reset. Take the battery out. Press the left arrow key on the front. Insert a new battery (do not turn the machine on). Press the left arrow button again. Now you should be prompted to set the time and date. Once you have done that, power the meter off and you should be all set. Of course, they don't tell you any of this in the manual.
 
Rena,

Think you are on the right track. Keep his food stable until he feels better. Than maybe you can shift him to something else. And Beth's suggestion to give him some probiotics to help repair his tummy is a very good one. (Hi Beth).

You don't have a long history on Henry. He may have seasonal allergies to something related to Springtime. The fewer changes you make, probably the better.

Those BG numbers aren't bad considering the reaction he had to the Clavamox, and all the ER drama (stress) for the poor boy. Hang in there. You are doing great by your boy.

Claudia
 
His numbers look not bad but the steroid cream probably didnt help. Maybe supplement with many mini meals to help his pancreas recover right now and keep a close eye on his BG.

You could try canned pumpkin ( not pie filling) for the diarrhea.
 
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