4/20 Guinness AMPS351|+4 349|+9 382|PMPS355|+3 337|+9.5 282

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linda and guinness

linda and guinness

Member Since 2009
Guinness tested at a 351 this am. Since I had been shooting a slightly heavy 2.0 for the last 6 cycles and since his numbers never really got any lower than a high 200, I decided to bump his dose to 2.5. I'm aware protocol here is generally to increase dose in .25 increments, but I felt he was at the 2+ for too long and was again not responding and felt this dose would be, hopefully, more beneficial than the 2.25. I will be home all morning to monitor, plus we are off to the vet at 9am, so I'm sure that will keep his numbers high. Hopefully, I will come home with some idea of what might be going on with him, what might have pulled him out of remission and if we can get his BG under control.

I will not be taking my spreadsheet to my vet this am. She's seen my spreadsheet and is generally supportive (add eye roll here, hers not mine). She knows that basically no matter what she tells me, I am the type of person who will do what I want with my cat. Not give him sugar-ladened antibiotics, not start the prozac, give the amounts of insulin I want to give, etc. She's been through a lot with my kitties, and has trusted me to do a lot of home care in the past. I'm just hoping I come back with some sound information regarding his possible hyper-t and where to go from here.

Oh yeah, and good morning to all my new friends here at Lantus. Thanks for checking in on us. Have a great day!
 
Re: 4/20 Guinness AMPS 351 Increased dose

Hi Linda, Do you think that Guinness is hyper-T?
 
Re: 4/20 Guinness AMPS 351 Increased dose

Hi guys .. sorry to see guinness up on the pink floor this morning .. hopefully the extra juice brings him down some .. Good luck at the vet's today, hope you get some answers you are looking for .. have a great day!
 
Re: 4/20 Guinness AMPS 351 Increased dose

Yes, maybe. How's that for a confident answer?

His T4 test was a 2.5 (I was told this was the high end of normal for a cat his age)
Free T-4 was 56.8 (<50 is normal), but vet felt this might not be the true indicator of Hyper-T.
He was diagnosed with an enlarged heart (a symptom of hyper-T)
Vet noticed his kidneys seemed small upon feeling them, but his BUN was normal (Hyper-T could be masking a renal problem)
And he is CONSTANTLY yowling for food (but this could just be his unregulated diabetes or OCD behavior)

Symptoms he is not displaying that are Hyper-T
He hasn't lost any weight
He's not aggressive or unfriendly
His coat is not unkempt or patchy
 
Re: 4/20 Guinness AMPS 351|+4 349 off to vet...

This is how crazy my cat is. Tried the rice sock method today to get some bigger drops of blood for meter. Poked his paw, went to grab blood, he smelled yummy cooked rice (rice sock was laying on ground next to him). Grabbed it in his mouth and ran away with it! I had to chase him down and wrestle it away from him and start over. Do not let carb-addicted cat smell warm rice sock. ohmygod_smile

Off to vet. Back at hopefully, +6
 
Re: 4/20 Guinness AMPS 351|+4 349 off to vet...

That is hilarious about the rice sock. I hope it was just hot uncooked rice and not really cooked rice!!! :lol: :lol: Because rice is so expensive ($4 for a small box of Uncle Ben's? give me a break), I filled a sock with oatmeal. It warms up really nice and is nice and soft on Champ's ears. I haven't tried the paw poke. I've been doing Champ's ears, mostly the right one. And it's true....the more you do it, the easier they bleed because they revascularize. He doesn't even hardly twitch anymore when I poke him and I always, if I make sure his ear is warm enough, get enough blood with one poke.

Good luck at the vet. Make sure you post what happens. We're all cheering Guinness on and wishing him luck. :-D :-D
 
Re: 4/20 Guinness AMPS 351|+4 349 off to vet...

Good luck with the hyper-T diagnosis. I went through this with Abby last year. Fortunately she was OTJ at the time, but I think that indeed the hyper-T did enough of a doosy on her pancreas to bring her out of remission...though several months after she had radioactive iodine (we're starting insulin again on Saturday when I can curve her)

I'm happy to share my hyper-T experience if you have any questions.
 
Re: 4/20 Guinness AMPS 351|+4 349 off to vet...

Oh yeah, that was UNCOOKED rice in the sock, not cooked rice, that would be kind of messy :lol: !

Back from the vet. Got lots of good information on how to move forward to find out a true diagnosis of Hyper-T or not. Vet is still not convinced that is what is going on, but told me I could get a thyroid scintigraphy at the same place that administers the radio-active iodine test which would say 100% whether he is actually hyper-T or not. It's a pricey test ($500) but would say one way or the other if it's that. I can also get a ultra sound for his heart while we are there (for another $400) which is really what she thinks needs to be done sooner rather than later. She's concerned about his enlarged heart and wants a diagnosis on that for sure. If he gets both tests and is Hyper-T and is a good candidate for the I-131 treatment, we would just pay $100 more and have it done.

So....my plan is to move forward with the scintigraphy test and the ultrasound (spending my 6 year old child's college money in the process, gosh I hope she gets a scholarship when she's older). Hopefully, this will rule in or out hyper-T for sure and see what's going on with his heart so we can start some sort of regimen with that.

Stopped by the pet store on the way home and picked up DaBird and some treats to reward them for the long ride and the scary lady with the stethoscope.
 
Re: 4/20 Guinness AMPS 351|+4 349 off to vet...

Hi Linda,
That sounds like a good plan. If Guinness is a good candidate for the I-131 that would be what I would do. (We had hoped that Stu would be a candidate, but he was not.) Many kitties here have had the I-131 and a successful cure of their Hyper T. Good luck!
Ella

p.s. If your child is only 6 you have lots of time to save for college!!!
 
Re: 4/20 Guinness AMPS 351|+4 349|+9 382

Looks like you returned from the vet with no answers, but a good plan of action so that's good. :-D I can't wait to hear what you find out. nailbite_smile
 
Re: 4/20 Guinness AMPS 351|+4 349|+9 382

Hi LInda,

I couldn't wait to come home from work to see Guinness's update today! Glad to hear there is another test you can do to know for sure!!
 
Re: 4/20 Guinness AMPS351|+4 349|+9 382|PMPS355|+3 337|+9.5

It's good to see Guinness hit the yellows before you hit the hay!! nighty night!!
 
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