Worried

I am worried as Lucy doesn't want to eat this morning. She loves her food so I will call the vet and make an appointment. Her AMBG this morning was 6/108 so I won't give her insulin if she won't eat until we see the vet to see what the vet says to do. I could give a small dose but it was a falling glucose level at AMBG so I will wait. I think it may be a tooth issue or her arthritis is causing pain. We saw the vet a few weeks ago when Lucy had lack of appetite and a bit of diarrhea. The vet said her teeth will need a dental in the next few months as there is quite a bit of gingivitis and tartar build up again. I have also noticed she is having more difficulty with walking the past week with a more pronounced limping as she walks so maybe we should try some pain medication. Thank you for any opinions.
My previous post:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/our-update.147250/#post-1532572

 

Sending appy vines for dear Lucy. I hope your vet can see her early. That way if it is her teeth that need attention it might be able to be done today. Since she hasn't eaten and doesn't have insulin on board she is all ready to go and that gives you less time to worry

 

I'd encourage the dental sooner rather than later. Likewise, if she's having problems with arthritis, either pain meds or maybe starting her on Adequate may not be a bad idea. (The latter is a prescription or your vet has to give the shot.)

 

I think @Sienne and Gabby means "adequan", not adequate (I'm sure that was an autocorrect!). It is a prescription, but you can give it as a SubQ injection at home. My GA civvie Mario was on it for almost 2 years and it was a miracle for his arthritis.

 

Thank you everyone. I will reply to you individually soon. The vet gave Lucy a cerenia injection and thinks it is just a digestive upset. She said if Lucy doesn't eat to skip the morning insulin dose. She has eaten a bit since the cerenia injection nearly an hour ago but not eating normally yet. I am thinking maybe half the dose might be okay but not sure what to do or maybe 1 unit instead of the current dose of 1.75 units, or skip the morning dose. Her AMBG was 6/108 and is now 7.7/139 at AM + 15 so not sure what to do. What you all think? Thank you.

 

Sending prayers. I hope the vet can see her soon.

Oops. Didn't see your reply.

I'm glad the vet was able to see her. I hope the Cerenia helps her feel better and she'll eat for
you. Not sure about the dose.

 

Thank you Carla. We saw the vet and it seems to be a digestive upset. Lucy had a little diarrhea after we got home from the vet. I am not confident she will eat if her glucose level drops too low so I am holding off on giving insulin at the moment. I could give a reduced dose but because she has a good AMBG I am concerned her glucose level might drop even more without food and with insulin so I decided to wait a bit until she eats more before giving her the morning insulin dose.

 

Thank you Serryn. Our regular vet was away today and we saw another vet who is very nice but I am planning to take Lucy to the vet teaching hospital for her dental as that is where we had the last one done. This is because they have dental xray machines there and a vet anesthetist too and with Lucy's vertigo issues it seems she has developed some issues with some anesthetics and sedative medications so last time at the vet teaching hospital they tailored the medications to her medical needs and she had a wonderful recovery from the anesthetic. The local vets do not have the range of anesthetic medications that the vet teaching hospital has plus since I have had so many surgeries myself I know what monitoring is used for people having anesthetics and local vets don't have this level of monitoring generally speaking whereas at the vet teaching hospital they do. It seems it is a digestive upset as Lucy had some diarrhea when we got home. I think I am going to skip this morning's dose as Lucy's AMBG at +12 and AM +15 glucose levels were good and I am worried she may not eat if her glucose levels drop too low so I think I will just go with the night dose now and give that at about AM +20 if Lucy is eating better by then. She ate a couple of teaspoons of tuna but won't eat her regular low carb food so I think she is still nauseous even after the cerenia injection about an hour ago now. Thank you again.

 

Thank you Sienne. We are holding off on pain medication in case it causes further digestive upset at the moment. Lucy had a cerenia injection but is still not eating properly. The vet said Lucy's abdomen felt good on examination but she could hear a lot of bowel sounds that are more than she would expect to hear with the stethoscope. I am hoping we can get the dental done soon.

 

Thank you Amy. I don't think we have adequan here but we have something called cartrophen that is similar to it. That is wonderful that adequan was so effective for your Mario. Thank you again.