10/15 Papaya AMPS=494 +4=290 PMPS=424

Last condo - Saturday Oct. 12

Hello LL! It feels like Monday morning here after the long weekend, but at least it's one day closer to the end of the week than Monday usually is ;-)

Papaya surprised me last night by hitting green (a 52) at PM +6. When she's snuggling with me on the couch, if her BG drops she sits up in her eating pose and looks at me - hint, hint, feed me already! That's how I caught the 52. I wasn't expecting her to start getting green so soon on this reduced dose. So this morning is a bounce from that.

Her walking is still improving but a bit funny right now. She does the first few steps properly on her toes but can't keep it up, so then she goes back to on her hocks. I think she would do better on a floor with more grip than hardwood since her back legs seem to slip away from her a bit. When she comes into the bedroom to be brushed before bed, when I put the brush down and move to pick her up she squawks and wants to get up on the bed by herself. She stretches up and grabs the top of the mattress but then needs help to get the back end all the way up. When I do lift her up she walks quickly over to her side of the bed without any help. I think it's good that she is trying to do more on her own. I really hope to be able to tell the vet someday that she is walking fine again!

Re: 10/15 Papaya AMPS=494 +4=290

Aw, poor little sweetie. Would you consider putting stairs or a low stool beside the bed? I didn't see anything in Miss P's profile about Zobaline, Cosequin, etc. but would you try anything like that, or have you? Wendy recommended an arthritis remedy that I'm going to to try for River, Recovery SA, so maybe you could give that a go.

Re: 10/15 Papaya AMPS=494 +4=290

Hi Lara! I've been giving her methyl-B12 for months, 4 mg/day since May, (I guess it's just on the spreadsheet, I forget to keep the profile updated) and I think that's the only reason that there has been ANY improvement. Her blood sugar remains so unregulated that it's an uphill battle for the methyl-B12 to help . . . I was really quite surprised to see her walking on her toes again recently, so I think she's doing as well as I can expect. I took my bed off the frame ages ago so she couldn't hide under there when I needed to test, so it's pretty low, and there's a box that she uses to get down. I bought stairs but she didn't trust them! I have occasionally found her up on the bed when I wasn't home to put her there, so I think she can get up via the box if she's really determined . . .

Hopefully she will continue spending more time in decent BG numbers which will allow the methyl-B12 to help with the nerve damage. Probably to some extent she also needs to strengthen muscles that don't get used much, but how can you exercise if you can hardly walk . . . :?

Re: 10/15 Papaya AMPS=494 +4=290

I hope Papaya keeps walking and heals so she can walk normally again. Keep sliding down Papaya.

Re: 10/15 Papaya AMPS=494 +4=290

Hi guys .. nice drop down papaya! Sounds so cute, with her squaking to get up on the bed .. have a great day guys!

Re: 10/15 Papaya AMPS=494 +4=290

Hi Amy, Hopefully Papaya's walking will improve even more with time. I always think Papaya sounds like such a cute kitty with a great personality. What is Papaya sitting in on your avatar photo? Good idea about taking the bed off the frame! :lol:

Re: 10/15 Papaya AMPS=494 +4=290

Thanks Carla, Devon and Melissa!

Melissa - Papaya is sitting in a shoe box in the picture. She looooves boxes . . . especially if they have a hole in the side so she can stick an arm through! She likes to sit on shoes occasionally as well, as if they were a nest!

It sounds like Papaya is making forward progress with her walking - that's great! Sometimes they do need a bit of help from their beans, though. I agree.. I love Papaya's avatar - she looks so pleased with her box!

Have a great evening, Amy!