More issues with Tiger-Lamb!

i posted last night about him vomiting and not eating Sun am, and Mon pm. He had his other shots, but nothing at those times. No more vomit, been to the vet (she thinks just hairball, gave me Laxatone which is full of sugar, so I haven't used it), tested him after we got back and he was 75! We've had a day of low numbers, with gravy food and extra checks, and now he is up to 143. I can't give him 3 units, which is what he had this morning - he didn't eat a lot of supper, and I don't know what to do! He's been super high numbers for ages, been raising slowly as advised, up to 3.5 which had no effect at all. Now he drops like a stone! I'm about ready to shoot him - I know he's laughing at me!

 

He was up to 222 at +2, so I went ahead and fed him a can of Fancy Feast and gave him 2 units. Will see if he's alive in the morning.

 

Hi Mandy!!

I glanced at your spreadsheet.....it's really important to get at least a "before bed" test on the PM cycle....Most cats go lower at night, so it's always good to grab a test before you go to bed so if he's dropping too much or too quickly, you can plan on setting an alarm if you need to.

Without any tests on the PM cycle, you're really missing half the picture!!

Think of your spreadsheet like it's a puzzle....if the only puzzle pieces you have are on one side, you have no idea if there are flowers or trees on the other side!

It's possible he's dropping low at night and then bouncing during the day. We've seen cats that could go from 400 to 40 and back to 400 in one cycle before!!

Getting some tests on the PM cycle will help us to see what might be going on

 

Oh Mandy, you've been through a lot the past couple of days! Sending hugs to you and Tiger-Lamb!

What a surprising cycle today! And I agree with you - sometimes I'm sure our cats are laughing as they pull these little stunts and leave us scratching our heads.

I'm so glad to hear that the vet doesn't think it's anything too serious. Did she do any blood work? Good call to avoid meds that are made with a lot of sugar. Has T-L had problems with hair balls in the past? You might post out on the Main Health forum to ask about diabetic-friendly ideas for managing that if it is something he's had trouble with before.

 

He normally takes a day or so to hack up a hairball, but it never affects his appetite. Vet didn't do any blood work, we decided to try the hairball treatment first, and go from there. He likes plain Vaseline, which seems to be what the Laxatone is mostly made of (besides sugar), so I'll give him some of that for a couple of days. He is normally a pretty trouble free guy, who loves his food, which is why I was worried when he didn't want to even eat Fancy Feast. He's back to being a pig again now; I'm wondering if he was holding out at supper time, waiting for more of the gravy food he had at lunch time.. Not happening! If I wake up in the night I'll try to grab a test - even though I'm blind as a bat without my contacts in.
Thank you for the hug - my hubby works away during the week, so I'm low on moral support!

 

That's what we're here for! While there are lots of rules about how to manage FD, there is also a fair amount of mystery. We are all in it together!

Good luck with the middle of the night test! (if you wake up)

 

It's not necessary to get up in the middle of the night (although a lot of us drink a big glass of water in the evening just so we DO) .....just grab a test before you go to bed...Even a +2 or +3 will be helpful

 

Hi Mandy! I'm sorry it's been tough lately...it's always hard when our fur babies are ill and with your husband away all week, I can't imagine how stressed you feel! Hope all went well last night. As Chris said, a lot of the time you can just grab a before bed test...+2 or so before heading up to sleep. That'll help you determine where he's going overnight.

 

Hi Mandy,

I've been following Tigers posts... I'm Sorry you're having a rough time. I'm still learning so I don't have much to give other than support. I've read online that olive oil is also an option to help with hairballs.... hope things turn around for you!

 

Hi Allyson - I see in your signature that you said any advice would be helpful. You're always welcome to start a thread here - we'd all be happy to help out any way we can!

 

Yes, please do come here. We can help you with ProZinc.

Whoopee! Look at today's blue pre shot!

 

You guys rock - it's so nice to know that there is someone out there ready to help!

I slept like a log, so no midnight test. He is at 226 this morning, at his normal 9am shot time. How soon can I actually shoot him, as it was 2 hours past shot time last night when I did him? I've fed him breakfast (he was starving to death, according to him), so I know another test will be higher.

Would 30 mins early be ok? So 10.30 instead of 11? I need to get him back to his 9/9 times.

 

You can move one hour/day, so you can either bump the whole hour now, or 30 minutes now and 30 minutes for the PM cycle. And all of that depends on how close he is to a normal, shootable number. Since he's already just about there, you should be able to shoot at any point now and be okay.

 

Thank you!

 

He is up to 303 2 hours after breakfast, so I gave him 2u. Same as last night, but lower than yesterday morning! We will see what happens now!

 

One little note about yesterday - 59 is still quite safe, especially since it fell during the likely nadir hours. Those greens can be scary when we aren't used to seeing them, but those are the kinds of numbers you are really aiming for for Tiger-Lamb. Those are the numbers that are most likely to allow for some healing.