8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 pmps 151 vet/gabapentin comment

last condo 8/7

okey dokey - things are looking better today!

not only have i recovered from my oral surgery last week, but punkin's numbers are back in the realm of survivable. we've increased the lantus by 2 units over the past 6 days, plus used more R than i've ever used before to help us get to this point. yesterday's bounce has already cleared and he's been in the blues for at least 3 or 4 hours this afternoon. we're getting there. i should be able to get him back into greens before long.

i took him to the vet this morning. had a senior blood panel run again (3 months since last one) and talked more about pain relief with her. i think the C Diff might be under control - he had the last dose of metronidazole yesterday morning (2 weeks total) and mostly his poop has returned to normal. if it goes back to diarrhea i'll take in another sample to get checked.

in the meantime, we talked about pain relief some more. I asked her if we could try a higher dose of the gabapentin and initially she said yes, but then she checked her manual and there was a warning on using it with cats with kidney issues. that was new info for me and i wanted to mention it to anyone else using it - i know many of the acro cats use it, but if there is kidney compromise, it might be good to look to another pain reliever.

for anyone reading who's new to punkin's issues, he has acromegaly, a tumor of the pituitary gland that causes the diabetes. the tumor puts out a growth hormone and one of the consequences of the forced growth is an acceleration of arthritis. acro cats are assumed to have pain from the growth hormone and often headaches from the tumor itself. i know he hurts because he doesn't want to be held or really even touched. the side benefit of taking him to the vet is that he crawls up on me like he used to and wants me to hold him and get him out of there! i take what i can get! :lol:

anyway, we decided to go back to the bupe and i'm getting it in the injectible so i know that he actually gets the dose. in the past we've tried the oral and it has to absorb through the mucous membranes. you squirt it along their gum line. if punkin were more cooperative that would be easier, but i never knew if it really got there or not. so i'm picking up injectible bupe today to try.

i also mentioned to her that while i didn't really think he has a bladder infection, he's peed on the carpet multiple times in the past few months. i clean his box multiple times a day and there are 2 boxes in the house, although he prefers one of them, but he still goes elsewhere sometimes. she asked what kind of litter we use and i told her the Feline Pine wood pellets. she said often cats with arthritis don't like the wood pellets because of how they feel on their feet. it can actually hurt them and they can have trouble feeling balanced on the pellets. so i threw out my environmental morals and in my typical "i'll do anything for punkin" went and bought clumping sand litter. i know he prefers it because he always uses my daughter's cat's box if it's available.

thanks to everyone for all the supportive comments on his last condo. i was feeling pretty despairing about the uncontrollable numbers, but that night, i decided i could be weepy or i could grab the bull by the horns, shoot the amount of R that was needed while we increased the lantus. it completely got rid of my whinies to get have a plan to get control again of his BG. and on the plus side, i'm getting a good understanding of how he responds to R.

knowledge is power.

 

Re: 8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 vet/gabapentin comment

Yay for punkin and yay for you! I'm glad you are feeling better and have some ideas about how to help your sweet boy. I do the same thing: anything for Zener, like run the washing machine with only 2 piddle pads in it or run the dishwasher every day. Anne has fewer reservations about these things but I have to overcome my German heritage. :roll: :lol: Great blues for punkin today. Hugs to you, Julie.
Liz

 

Re: 8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 vet/gabapentin comment

I'm glad you seem to be getting a handle on things with Punkin. Nice blue today for him. Hope things keep going well for you both.

 

Re: 8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 vet/gabapentin comment

Hi Julie,
I've been trying to fight Tuckers' "free peeing" as I call it, for a few weeks now. He has 2 clean litter boxes that he shares with Sophie, who always uses the box. I've switched one of the pans litter to "cat allure". It actually seems to be getting all the activity, and both cats like it.
In addition, I've started using the clear plastic carpet runners, turned upside down so the sharp nubs point up. So far Tucker won't walk on it. Also, I've read that cats hate the smell of citrus, so I bought natural lemon and orange deodorizer spray from Home Depot. That seems to be working also. I've only found 2 pee spots near the edge of the carpet.
It's a continuous battle, but hopefully it will work. Any ideas you have would be appreciated also.

 

Re: 8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 vet/gabapentin comment

Glad to hear you are recovered and things are looking better ! I totally understand about doing anything to help your kitty, I feel the same and sure many others here do too.

 

Re: 8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 vet/gabapentin comment

I'm happy to see Punkin in blues again today.

I asked Dr. Timian about pain relief today. She did mention Cosequin or it's equivalent as a supplement for the arthritis like symptoms but she was recommending bupe as well for pain. I did ask her about Onsior (I go the look that said - how did you know about that? :lol: ), they had just had a presentation on it 2-3 weeks ago. Apparently it's just for short term use, ie. after an operation and is not recommended for long term use.

ETA: Dr. Timian also recommended getting a urine culture every 6 months as UTI may not be as obvious with a diabetic cat as with a non FD cat.

 

Re: 8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 vet/gabapentin comment

Julie, I'm so glad you're feeling better. :smile:
It's good to see Punkin in good numbers, even tho it was a struggle to get him there. I'm also so glad the CDiff is under control.

I know the difficulty getting long term pain relief for he cat. I've been trying for a year. Gabapentin was not good for Checks because of the kidney issue. We tried Ultram, but the dose of 12.5 ml, made him loopy. Doc didn't want me to try cutting that further because it wouldn't be consistent every time.
The Onsior is hard on the kidneys also, so that's out for long term use.
So Checks gets bupe which works beautifully for him. He doesn't mind my putting it in his cheek pouch. It has no flavor.
I don't know what injeted dose he got at the vet yesterday, but he was loopy and couldn't settle down for hours. Just thought I'd throw that in.

Good luck with the bupe for precious Punkin, Julie :smile:

 

Re: 8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 vet/gabapentin comment

I'm glad to hear that both you and Punkin are feeling better. I glad you got a handle on Punkin's numbers. You're doing a great job with him.

There are a couple of resources that recommend 1.5 litter boxes per cat. I don't know it that may help, as well.

 

Re: 8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 vet/gabapentin comment

Hi Julie,
I haven't visited your condo in a while and didn't realize what you were dealing with. I'm very glad to hear that Punkin is doing better (you too!) and hope that you can get his pain issues under control. I'd like to put in a pitch for "The World's Best Cat Litter" (clumping). It is made from ground-up corn kernels and is super soft on cats' feet. We started using it with Stu because it was required as part of the post- I-131 radio-iodine treatment for hyper-T. Stu never got that far and did not have the I-131, but he (and we) loved the way this litter performs. I use it now for Rusty. He loves his litterbox and takes great care of it. World's Best Litter lasts and lasts, so although it is seemingly expensive, it is really cost effective. I scoop several times a day, add litter when needed, and only have to change the litter once a month. It stays soft, clumps well, but it does not clump up like cement on a cat's feet.

Sending lots of no-pain vines to Punkin and wishing you all a good rest-of-the summer

Many :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG: s

Ella & Rusty

 

Re: 8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 vet/gabapentin comment

Hi Julie, glad you've recovered from the oral surgery and punkin is doing much better, too. We were checking on the poo issues from fellow friend Maggie. Glad all is okay there with punkin. I also use "World's Best Cat Litter" and second everything Ella & Rusty said about it. Sending some healing vines for punkin and hope you find a good pain treatment plan for your baby.

 

Re: 8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 pmps 151 vet/gabapentin com

i may try the corn litter - i've heard of that one but forgotten about it and didn't know it was soft. i've bought a package of no-doubt-strip-mined clay litter called "integrity" and will try it since i've got it, but thanks for the tip on the other one. i'll try it next.

for whatever reason, the cats almost exclusively use the litter box downstairs. same exact box, same exact litter is upstairs and we mostly live upstairs, but they don't use the upstairs box that much.

i gave him the injectible bupe with his insulin shot tonight. on the one hand, i'm hoping it brings great relief to him. on the other hand, if we were going to do something that will cause his numbers to drop, i might've liked a crystal ball to know if it was going to happen before i shot the 10u on a 151. i went ahead . . . but it might be a poke carb night. i don't care - i'm so glad to see some better numbers that if i have to stay up all night it's ok.

 

Re: 8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 pmps 151 vet/gabapentin com

Julie - you've got a great attitude about staying up! I'm feeling my age more and more... so if there's one good thing about Graysons numbers, it's that he doesn't keep me up much at night!

I consistently use Tidy Cat multi cat w/ the blue lid. As long as I keep it deep and scooped, it seems pretty well received. One of my friends uses the Arm & Hammer product - it seems really good - no smell and seems soft. It still tracks, but I have yet to find one that doesn't w/ my tribe!

Glad to hear Punkin is improving and you're doing well too! Keep it up - looks like you've about found the "magic" for him!

 

Re: 8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 pmps 151 vet/gabapentin com

Hi Julie,

I'm glad to hear that both you and Punkin are feeling better. What nice numbers he had today! I hope you are able to sleep tonight and the new injectable bupe works out.

I also use the natural pine pellets for Racci. The main reason I don't use clumpable litters is because of the cement that gets in between her toes and all over her fur on her belly and feet, legs. I never tried the corn litter. I assumed since it clumped it would be the same. Racci is polydactyl so there's lots of toes to get stuck in. :lol: If you try it, please let me know what you think of it too since Punkin is used to Pine.

I hope things get better and better with Punkin.

Melanie & Racci

 

Re: 8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 pmps 151 vet/gabapentin com

((((Julie))))

If anyone is a champ at putting on her big girl panties and getting on with it, it's you, my friend. I'm sorry about your dental surgery and Punkins numbers but am glad his clostridium is under control. I hope the bupe works. I tried gabapentin for Gus's arthritis and it never touched the discomfort like the bupe does...and you'd never know he's on bupe so I know they can get the doses where the kitty is not loopy.

I also use Worlds Best and have since it first came out....many years ago. I think it's great and I have the same concerns as you about mined litter.

Big hugs....love...and keeping you and Punkin in my thoughts.

Oh yeah..and thanks for the Borg Queen comment....my new alter ego :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Re: 8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 pmps 151 vet/gabapentin com

Resistance IS futile. :lol:
Liz

 

Re: 8/9 punkin amps 357 +8.5/127 pmps 151 vet/gabapentin com

For litter, we've been using "World's Best" for many, many years and love it. Both my civvie, Frankie, and DH were allergic to the "traditional" clay litters, plus I have great concerns about them breathing in the silica dust (ceramics artists wear masks for a reason!). I highly recommend it. Frankie and DH do, too! It clumps well, and controls odor adequately, and the kitties don't object to the feel of ut under their little toes.

Is Punkin a candidate for Adequan, as far as his arthritis goes? It has worked wonders for my Mario, but obviously Mario is not an acro-cat.

I"m glad you're both feeling better!