? 3/26 Ozzy PMPS 92 +1 87 +2 133 +3 117 +5 153

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Haven't been on the board in a couple days since Ozzy's last low cycle on 3/21. Hope all the kitties and beans have been doing well. Going to check in on a few condos in a moment and see what my favorite sugar kitties and beans have been up to while we've been away.

Ozzy earned a reduction back down to .75 on 3/21. He bounced a little since then as predicted. On 3/24, we overslept alarm (shot an hour late) and woke up to a pink number which was disappointing. I decided to give him 1U that cycle just to try to bring him down a little because I knew there was no chance he was going to get to green on .75u when starting with a pink number. It looks like Ozzy might have gotten to blue that cycle and has had some blue cycles since then and a great cycle last night with good green numbers. He is currently cruising in blues right now and looking like he's going to continue to have a good cycle today as well. I am really hopeful he will hold this reduction and keep getting better numbers. I love seeing blue and dark green!!!

Ozzy started vomiting again the past couple days. I couldn't figure out what was going on until I realized Hubby had been feeding him the cans of ziwipeak rabbit/lamb in the back of the cupboard. Ozzy did not tolerate this food well in the past and I had been meaning to return it. We've taken it out of the rotation again and are hoping his tummy issues will settle back down again. I hope that is all that is causing the tummy issues. I can say that undigested raw food vomit + white burbur carpet = Other than that, he's the cutest, sweetest, furriest thing ever and doing very well.

I have a question/conundrum: In June, my family is planning a 5 day trip to the river (4 hour drive from my house) for my twin brother and my birthday. We are renting a huge river front house with a boat dock and my brother is bringing out his boat. Should be tons of fun! Problem is...what do we do with Ozzy????!! We could maybe leave after giving Ozzy his PM shot, and then no shot for 5 cycles and have someone come and feed him. But with him being unregulated on insulin right now and the fact that he is prone to DKA, I am kind of worried about him not having insulin for that long. My family suggested we could board him, but he's never been boarded before so I think I would feel awful doing so and honestly I am a control freak and not sure if I could trust someone else shooting my kitty with insulin. I have read some horror stories about others boarding their cats and the caretakers not following instructions. Plus, what, we leave Figgie here all by himself alone? Pay double to board them both? Ozzy would not tolerate a 4 hour road trip so that is also out of the question. I'm just conflicted with our choices right now and considering not going, but at the same time, it's MY birthday (well, with my twinsie of course), and a milestone one at that, and my entire family is going and they want us to go too. I just don't know what to do.... How have others traveled for several days outside the home while leaving their sugar kitties behind? I hope Ozzy will go into remission by then, but I just don't have a crystal ball, and he's already been on insulin for almost 4 months and it's not looking like he is going to come off anytime soon. This is also depressing me because if he never goes into remission, how is this going to affect us being able to travel in the future? My kitty is only 10 years old. If he ends up being a lifetime diabetic, this is really going to put a wrench in all future travel plans while he is still with us. ((Hopefully for a LONG LONG time!))

 

Lantus is a depot insulin, it doesn't work like that. It just makes it harder to figure out what is a good dose if you change up the dosing. On 3/4, he went from pink to green in a cycle on 0.75 units. BTW, you can colour last night's 96@+1.5 as green instead of blue.

Your birthday holiday sounds amazing! Are you sure he won't travel well? Neko used to complain loudly on the 10 minute trip to the vet, so I was pretty hesitant about the 3 day/9 hours drive per day each way trip to Colorado for her SRT. I gave her Rescue Remedy in the morning and sprayed the carrier with Feliway. Guess what, she turned out to be an excellent traveller. It completely changed my life. I still got a petsitter in for the civie, but it was substantially cheaper. And I enjoyed having Neko there with. Nothing makes a hotel feel like home than one with a cat in it. The other thing you can do is look for a petsitter that will give shots. Maybe there is a vet tech or other staff at the clinic willing to make a little money. I had a friend go to England for a month using a petsitter from a clinic I found for his FD kitty. Ask at your vet's clinic or at other clinics close by. Or google for a petsitter in your area that gives shots - the clinic may know of one. Sometimes retired vet techs go into that business. Normally we'd get you to reduce the dose to a safe dose while you are gone, especially if the petsitter won't test.

And yes, we need to find a way for you to have a life and an FD kitty.

 

Thanks for your feedback @Wendy&Neko Had a feeling someone would say the bump up to 1U on that cycle was probably not the best idea. I figured it wouldn't hurt but won't do that again.

I didn't realize I made that cell blue. Thanks for pointing it out. Don't want to cheat us out of a green!! We don't get greens that often!

Thanks for the suggestions. Will have to figure something out if we are going to go. What about not giving insulin for 5 cycles? How bad would this be? I'm curious about this option....

 

+7 = 49

Well that 49 just came out of nowhere. Wasn't even expecting it. Gave Ozzy his normal LC snack (at snack time) since he is so late in the cycle. Will check him again in about 30 mins after he finishes eating. He threw up a tiny amount of food from his last meal right before I checked him. I put some SEB and AV juice in his snack and he's getting a probiotic at dinner. Going back on that regime until the vomiting stops again.

So does this mean he earns another reduction? We just reduced him 9 cycles ago. But I threw in that extra bumped 1U 5 cycles ago. @Wendy&Neko See how I can really mess things up by not following the protocol. What dose should we give tonight??

 

Hi Jo,
My two cents: Ozzy has had a bout of DKA so you might not want to forego insulin for 5 doses.. They can be more prone after having it once. Is there any way you could start working on a little "travel desensitizing" by taking him for short drives that involve treats/Feliway/Rescue Remedy and gradually extend the time in the car?

 

I agree with Kris - I wouldn't go with the "no insulin" option. Of course, vacation is still 2+ months away and who knows what Ozzy has planned between now and then. One of our members who had to travel each week to another city for work, and took along kitty, wrote up this document. Leo was NOT a fan of travel.

As for that 49, it does make it tricky with that 1 unit dose in there, but I would reduce, especially if he makes you work to bring him up. It's been 4 cycles since his last reduction.

 

+7.5 =57

 

+8.15 = 52. Fed another TBLS of LC.

 

Wow! That's quite a write up and quite an experience described. I read the stories for the other family that travelled with their kitties (linked in the document) and their experience sounded wild too (although much more pleasant).

The trip is still almost 3 months away so we will see what the next few weeks bring us in terms of making a decision. We have another complicated situation going on too that may even trump the kitty situation that may prevent us from going. So we will just have to wait and figure it out.

Very much appreciate the comments and suggestions! This site still amazes me. I think just when I have a question or concern that no one can understand, I'm totally wrong. You all have seen and done it all and I'm so very grateful for all the knowledge and suggestions shared. I really appreciate coming to a place where people totally GET IT! It is hard trying to explain to my father who wants us to go on this trip, why my mother-in-law really can't take care of my diabetic kitty while we are gone (he most likely will not let someone else test him or shoot him with insulin, they might overdose on accident, not be able to monitor cycles, kitty will hide and not want to come out while we are not here...etc). Man, sometimes I think life would be so much easier with a dog which is HILARIOUS since we all know cats are much easier and independent than our drooler friends!

 

I agree that the "no-insulin" option isn't an option.
As someone who has been living with diabetic kitties since 2006 (first Stu, now Rusty), I am happy to tell you that you can arrange your life so that you still have a life. It might not be the life you had envisioned, but it is OK! We have always traveled with our feline diabetics. Where we go, they go. But we pick and choose where and when we go and we do have to make compromises. All our cats (including a civvie) have been good travelers because we expect it of them. We travel with a litterbox in the back of the car (small SUV), Rusty's carrier, propped open in case he wants to go into it to sleep, and some food and water for the trip; we offer food at rest stops. He rides "free" and is interested and engaged by looking out the window. Stu (and Alice) were the same way. We line the backseat area of the car with newspaper, just in case Rusty might get carsick (he doesn't, usually). That way the soiled paper can be torn off and thrown away and you don't have to deal with soiled puppy pee pads.
Rusty has a "Road ID" designed specifically for pet collars. Here's a link. You can have all your necessary info. engraved on it:
https://www.roadid.com/ The "scout" (small) is the one that fits on your kitty's collar. (Edward and I have Road IDs, too, and wear them all the time.)

I hope you'll be able to make the trip. It sounds like it will be lots of fun. (by the way, our trip to NY City, which we do frequently, takes over 6 hours. Rusty is a purrfect traveler).

 

Hey Jo !! So glad u r getting such good ideas/wisdom about traveling with Ozzy. I hope it all works out for ur special bday trip( 21st, right ?) and how cool that u r a twin !! Take good care of yourself and tell all ur guys that we said hello

 

PMPS 92. I totally forgot I was going to reduce this dose and gave .75u but it was kind of a skinny one. Nice way to give myself a possible pj party on a sunday night before work! Maybe Ozzy will bounce (likely) after his 49 today or at least stay flat. Fingers crossed.

I don't know what's going on with me! My mind has been all over the place lately. Left my car door open all night in the garage last night too. Just so much stressful stuff going on right now in my life its like I am a basket case or something which is not normal for me.

 

Btw...Ozzy stayed pretty flat in the 50s in the mid-near end of his cycle today. He only got LC food.

 

Oh ,Jo, totally relate to the " basket case" feeling. Seems things are crazy a lot of places for a lot of people . I have been purposing to quiet my heart and mind as much as I can each day, if only for a little depending on that days demands . Hoping and praying for u to be able to do so as well. Like you, it's not my nature to feel so scattered

 

I have absolutely no clue where my cat is headed tonight. He is eating again now so I am expecting a food spike but you just never know with Mr. Ozzy Paws. Poor little guy has been a pin cushion all day due to lower numbers. He always lets our a tiny tinky cry when I poke his ears and sometimes will reach up and rub it with his paw which breaks a tiny piece of my heart off every time.

 

Looks like Ozzy is on a slow ride up. I guess he is bouncing.

 

If it is a bounce, so far it's a nice, gentle one. But I think you might actually be able to get some sleep tonight.

June is a long ways away, and much can change before then. If there is any possibility the family would be okay with your bringing your kitties (both of them), then I like that option best. You would be so much more relaxed and able to enjoy yourself if you knew they were okay. We used to take our two cats (who were civvies) down to LA with us once a month for a weekend at my in laws'. Seven hours each way. They did amazingly well. We very much regret that we didn't get our last bunch of kitters used to travelling. We plan to take our next kitties with us as much as possible, so that when we HAVE to, it won't be a big deal.

Failing that, I would start looking for that vet tech. You can get her to come over a few times and get Ozzy used to her (how sexist of me - it could be a "he"), and make sure she/he totally understands t/f/s and will follow instructions. Reducing the dose is an option many of us use when we don't trust the sitter to test as much as we do, or know they can't. I was very lucky the last couple of years to have found a tech that started her own business caring for special needs animals, and she mostly followed my instructions (plus all the doctors at UCD boarded their own pets with her, and she had them all on her speed dial). The key is that she became familiar with my kitties (soon considered them hers, too), and it made my leaving them much easier.

Try not to stress too much about it now, but consider your options and do some research. Yes, you can have a life and an FD kitty at the same time.

I hope that, whatever your other issue is, it can be resolved quickly and successfully and you can get rid of some of the stress you're feeling. Remember, you have a family here that understands, and you can vent to us any time.

 

Thanks for such a sweet post @Tricia Cinco(GA) & Harvey!

 

I have not gone anywhere since Taffy's FD Dx, but this is exactly what I would do, and what I have always done. I had an epileptic Dalmatian, as well as several cats with special needs or behaviors (Baby Kitty won't eat unless you sit with him). So, I have a reliable young woman I have used for years and I pay her well to follow my special instructions for each pet. She sends updates and pictures each day. Otherwise, I can't enjoy myself. Plus, like you said, you may want to travel in the future and it would be great to get someone reliable familiar with you and your pets.

My only concern about taking your kitties on this particular trip would be all of the people in the vacation home. Would there be a safe room for them and could you be sure that no one would accidentally let them out?