Fur Shot

When you have a fur shot, how many cycles (if any) does it take for kitty to be back in line with what numbers were previously? So if I give him his dose tonight, should his numbers fall back in line or will it take some time to catch up?

Thanks!

 

In Silver’s case he’s back to usual on the next shot. ECID tho. It’s a bummer. It happens to all of us but you just have to keep going. Never give a second shot tho as you don’t know much of the shot they got. Today I thought Silver got most of the dose so if anything he is bouncing and having a reduced shot.

 

Thanks. This isn't my first (or probably last) fur shot, but first time happening while trying to collect data. Happy to hear that it won't affect later numbers. Maybe you could answer this question. Obviously I will do whatever in my power to give him his insulin. But what happens if I have something going on and am not able to give him his dose and he misses 1 time. I really don't plan on that, but it sure is hard to ALWAYS have to be home to do it.

 

Having a diabetic cat does wreck your social life. Personally. I don’t go out at shot time and make sure I am home to do it. I was invited to the movies tonight but I can’t go because Silver’s shot is due in the middle of shot time.

Worst case scenario of you skip a shot you are upsetting the depot and it can take a few cycles to get back to normal. That’s where getting the data will help because you have no idea the effect on his numbers of a fur shot (which acts like a skipped dose). My cat bounces back right away. You don’t know how your cat will respond yet. Sooo if you want advice: keep to the 4.5 u as advised by others. Get at least four tests a day and do a curve next weekend. I am going to stop responding in this condo as you need to stick to ONE condo a day. Did you read the sticky I copied in your other condo?

 

Have you taken a look at the sticky that discusses whether you can work full time and follow TR? It may not exactly answer your question but it may give you a feel for how others deal with not being around 24/7.

I think that saying having a diabetic cat wrecks your social life is a bit of a drastic statement. Members here run the gamut with regard to how they manage their cat's diabetes. There are some people who's style of management scares me to death. There are others who test more than I did (which would probably mean they never left the house). There has to be a balance otherwise you burn out. I was lucky in that most of my friends knew that I prioritized Gabby's safety. There were times I stopped home to check on her. There were times I cancelled plans. But, that was the exception, not the rule.

Missing a shot isn't the end of the world. It helps to think of it as a fur shot -- it happens. There's no way to predict how your cat will respond to a missed shot. With some kitties, there's no change. With others, there can be a change in numbers. If you decide to follow TR, the biggest complication is that the cycle count starts over.

I would definitely encourage you to start getting a test before you go to bed every night. At this point, you're missing half of your data. You don't know if Rufus' numbers may be dropping during the PM cycle and he then bounces into high numbers.

 

Ok. I will read, but I understand. Thanks!

 

Thanks for the advice! I am still new to this and will do anything for little guy, but I need to have a life everyone once in a while. I have zero plans to miss a shot, but if it happens once every other month, and he can deal with I'd be happy. I will get more night numbers. I am not going to attempt anymore until tominght pmps. Also, I really need to get a human meter. I'm not sure I can afford all these Alpha Trak test strips.

 

Many people love the AT but they don't love the price of strips. Find a meter that works for you and doesn't break the bank. I used a Bayer Contour and was conscientious about finding the best price for strips on Amazon, Ebay, etc.

If you don't take care of yourself, you won't be able to take care of Rufus. I don't care how flexible your life is, things happen. You get delayed. There's traffic. You lose track of time. You have an event that you really have to go to and won't be home to either shoot and/or test. It may mean you find a cat sitter who is reliable and you trust who can come by if you're not able to be home. The bottom line though is that the world won't end if you miss a shot.

 

Thank you for saying that. You're not the first person to tell me "If you don't take care of yourself, you won't be able to take care of Rufus". But never heard from someone who has dealt with this. I already feel bad enough for him because I believe it's my fault for him getting diabetes (I wanted him on pred, vet said wasn't a good idea). So right now I feel total obligation to get him back to "normal". Just super stressful with other things going on in life, and him being unregulated for 9 weeks is getting to me. Crossing fingers things get better for my little buddy!

 

We have as saying around here (truth be told we actually have many ):

‘It’s a marathon, not a sprint ‘​

Granted, some kitties do sprint, my BK was not one of them. It took 6 months before we saw green - it lasted for about three hours. It was about 6 weeks before we saw green again. About 9 months in he was diagnosed with IAA, a high dose condition that no FDMB kitty had ever tested for. He was the first...

He was the last cat anyone, including myself, imagined would be regulated much less go ‘off the juice’, but in October of 2009, after 21 crazy months on insulin, we were celebrating. BK was OTJ. He remained OTJ for 6.5 years, which was the rest of his life.

Patience, perseverance and persistence are required.
Hang in there and hang in here. It will get better.

 

I’ve been going at this with Silver unregulated for over three months. It does take time.

 

Thanks guys. Good to hear about taking time. We had a scare tonight and had to go to the emergency vet. Anyways, the emergency vet thinks we should see an internist, as she believes other issues are causing the number to rise, and not getting better. We shall see..

 

I'm a little late catching up on yesterday (family emergency). I see you took Rufus to the vet for a high number. Don't stress the high numbers, he will come down. And looks like better numbers today. Many times when I started, Neko's meter greeted me - said "Hi", which means higher than it registers. She lived 4.5 years after that. Too high is not an emergency. Just distressing on the people.

Numbers will be higher after a fur shot or skip, because the depot has drained. Time for patience.

If you do go to an internest, you could ask if whether you should test for high dose conditions. In particular, acromegaly and IAA (insulin auto antibodies). Neko had both conditions, which meant she needed more insulin to get her into good numbers.

 

Yeah, the plan wasn't really to go to the emergency vet. I was actually curious what a "too high" number was. I should have asked here first, but I called them for advice. The lady who answered was hysterical about the number which in turn made me nervous. The vet said to see a internist because she thinks his underlying issue is causing a resistance. He had pancreatitis, possible tooth issue(s), and maybe IBD. Tooth issue can't be looked at until his numbers get better, but they might not get better if they are causing elevated number. Quite the catch 22.

 

And I will defiently ask them about those things Wendy! I think it's a really good idea to see an internist. I've been thinking about it, and my vet was kinda telling me they probably will tell me the same things she's been saying. While I'm not happy to have spent the money last night, it was actually nice to have a vet listen to what I was saying about Rufus. She really seemed concerned about him, not that my regular vet doesn't care.

 

Is there a dental vet specialist near you? They might be more willing to take on a kitty with higher numbers. For what it's worth, Neko's first dental she was still in "red is my favourite colour" phase. And it was just her regular vet who did the dental. For some reason, some vets seem reluctant to give dentals to kitties in high numbers, even if it's the bad teeth that are contributing to those numbers.

 

Yeah, this was at a specialist referred by my regular vet. She said his fructosamine was too high and "poor" to do anything now. She said do another fruc. Test every 2 weeks and and soon it comes back "fair" we can proceed. This was 2 weeks ago, but I doubt his test will be any better yet.

 

If you are home testing regularly, you don't need to go in for regular fructosamines, which just give you an average over two weeks. And it's much cheaper to test at home.

 

I'm going to get data for another week and then have my vet send the info to her. Hopefully we can go forward.