9/14 punkin amps 222 +3/186 +6/141 YAY Good Tests!

Status
Not open for further replies.
julie & punkin (ga)

julie & punkin (ga)

Member Since 2011
yesterday

late start this morning - our son is taking the car out of town at noon today and won't be back til tomorrow, so i had to make a run to the store while i could. just now i discovered the BG meter battery needs replacing, so i'm going to run back out. not sure how that works but i hope we don't lose all the history. maybe it doesn't matter.

punkin's fine today. it's a new day - good thing! there are 2 vets that i'm going to meet and get things ready to switch over. the not even looking at the spreadsheet carefully was the final straw - there's no excuse for it. it's not a case of "i'm not familiar with feline diabetes but i can learn" - i can live with that. not looking carefully at the SS - that's laziness/carelessness. he is too fragile for someone to be lazy and careless with him.

punkin is snoozing on the coffee table, having knocked everything light off of it with his fluffy tail action. anya is on my lap and they are both sending out major sleep molecules. that could knock me out if i don't fight it! :lol:
 
Re: 9/14 punkin amps 222

So 2 different vets you are going to talk to? I hope you find one that you and Punkin like. I happened to see a new vet at the same clinic and Leo and I both really like her and have sneakily made the switch, which seems to be fine with our old vet. She's young, that really seems to be key around here (tho I'm not speaking for everyone) young and enthusiastic!

I know on my meter when the battery crapped out I lost the history. :roll:

Punkin sounds happy and healthy today, hope you and the fur gang have a good day and good luck with the new vet(s).
 
Re: 9/14 punkin amps 222

hi, Punks! blues would be nice for the bean...hint, hint.

And Julie...may you find a vet that is as wonderful as Mandy Moorevet...we love her,
and it makes all the difference in the world to us to have confidence in his doc!
(note; she's young, confident, but very willing to research and learn...so the "young" thing may not be coincidence)
 
Re: 9/14 punkin amps 222

Glad to hear Punkin is feeling better today.. Also glad to hear you are dumping that vet. Good luck with the interviewees...
Now that I think about it , BKs vet (#3) is young as well. . .
eta - we have dropped our meter (Bayer Contour) and the battery fell out - it did not affect the memory.
 
Re: 9/14 punkin amps 222

Good for you to be interviewing new vets. I'm really glad we switched.
I think that if you change the battery in the meter within a certain amount of time (see your owners' manual) it will not lose any memory.
BTW, a low battery can affect your bg readings, I believe.

Thinking positive thoughts for finding a really good new vet.

Ella & Rusty
 
Re: 9/14 punkin amps 222

So glad Punkin is doing well today!

I agree about finding a younger vet or one that is truly still in love with their profession and is willing to learn. I have had so many problems finding a vet since I really need someone to come to my home and most of them are older, a little burnt out and are on the final lap of their profession. At least i have found that to be true. Then I used a feline only vet but that didn't work out well either so good luck. My cousin, a cardiologist, gave me this advice for myself and I am sure it also applies to vets. He said to choose doctors who are old enough to have some good experience but young enough to still have passion for their work.
 
Re: 9/14 punkin amps 222 +3/186 +6/141

So glad to hear that punkin is feeling better this morning! Good luck with the vet search- I hate stodgy old vets- I had to interact with the horrible one yesterday. It put a damper on the whole day!
 
Re: 9/14 punkin amps 222 +3/186 +6/141

I am reading your thread Julie and I know I need to switch vets as well. The ones I have now are real young husband and wife and I think they are good with dogs but know nothing about cats. They don`t have any cats that should have told me something. They own dogs and farm animals.
How are you interviewing vets? What do you ask them? My cat Lilly is having a hard time and I think she may have more wrong with her than just diabetes, possibly hyperthyroid or something else. She keeps losing more weight.

Terri
 
Re: 9/14 punkin amps 222 +3/186 +6/141

I'm so glad Punkin is feeling better, and that you are, too! Good luck with the vet search. My favorite vets have always been young(er) women. The only problem with that tactic is that I keep loosing them because they end up getting pregnant and never coming back! Our current vet, whom I adore, is expecting. Not sure what I'll do once she has that baby....
 
well - we're off to colorado on Saturday!

the test results came back in (10 pages!) and the bottom line is it all looks pretty good. he's a tiny bit high on the BUN, but the creatinine is normal - and those are the 2 that measure kidney function. the BUN was 35 and the reference number goes up to 34 - and the vet said that dehydration can increase the BUN. the creatinine was solidly in the normal range.

CREATININE 1.9 range 0.8 - 2.3 m g/dL
BUN 35 range 15 - 34 m g/dL
POTASSIUM 3.7 range 3.9 - 5.3 m Eq/L - apparently i've washed the potassium out of him with too much water! although he's also got some markers of dehydration . . .

other than high glucose & fructosamine the rest of the numbers are all fine.

i was afraid it would all come back with poor kidney reports or i don't know what, but something that would say he wasn't healthy enough to go. but i guess we're on! now i can get excited! road trip!

oh yeah, and dang it - our vet is so nice. i hate to leave him.
 
I'm so excited for Punkin. How long will you be gone? Are you really bringing Anya? Inquiring minds want to know. Oh, Yay! Punkin, yuz gonna get all better. Gus cries in the car on the way to the vet, about 2 miles! I can't imagine traveling out of state with him. But, I've read in your earlier posts that Punkin is a pretty good traveler. You know all of LL will be sending good thoughts, healing vines, and prayers your way until you all are back home safely.
 
Nice vets are great, but good vets are rare!--I have a great young woman who still has a passion for her job..I've had some good & bad ones, but the vet that listens to us about our FD kitties & will work with us, that's the one I want! So Happy punkin is well dancing_cat flip_cat dancing_cat flip_cat dancing_cat flip_cat
 
So glad to hear that Punkin's test results are good! Hope all goes well on the road and in CO. We'll be thinking of you beans and Punkin and Anya.
Liz
 
Re: 9/14 punkin amps 222 +3/186 +6/141

TrixieCat said:
The only problem with that tactic is that I keep loosing them because they end up getting pregnant and never coming back!
Click to expand...

ROTFLMAO!!!!

Gloria Steinem...DO NOT READ THIS CONDO!!!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hooray for good tests...

and SAFE TRAVELS!!!!
 
Congrats on the good test results. The other thing that raises BUN besides dehydration is food that is high in protein. And it's just a snapshot in time so while he might have been a little dehydrated at that moment, eh could be fine now.

Keeping you all in our prayers for your most important trip coming up!!
 
good tests = good news! yaaaaaaaaay!
happy to hear the trip to CSU is on! we'll be thinking of you.
wishing you and punkin the best!
 
CREATININE 1.9 range 0.8 - 2.3 m g/dL
BUN 35 range 15 - 34 m g/dL
POTASSIUM 3.7 range 3.9 - 5.3 m Eq/L - apparently i've washed the potassium out of him with too much water! although he's also got some markers of dehydration . . .
Click to expand...

Julie - I'm so glad your concerns were relieved by today's tests!! What I am about to say here does not change any of the YAAAAYYY results in relation to kidney function - but does confirm you are making the right choice about switching vets and in the interim, would warrant a follow up call with the one you do have now.

The two values I highlighted above and the reasoning your vet gave you are conflicting. I absolutely agree that the BUN would and could be elevated if Punkin was dehydrated and the very small elevation is not much cause for concern because the reference range is so large (15-34). I will throw in there....if dehydration was going on...you would likely see an elevation in other electrolytes as well due to the lack of volume in the vascular space. The point being, dehydration does not generally cause a spike in only one electrolyte. And of course, as you mentioned, creatinine would be out of whack as well if kidney function was to blame.

Then he goes on to say that Punkin is hypokalemic because he's getting too much water? Ummmm, that would be over-hydration and is not likely with a kidney that is functioning properly. Is it possible, sure, but a whole lot of stars would have to align for the body to misfire in sooo many ways to allow that to happen. The kidney is an amazing machine and is capable of regulating electrolytes, water, minerals, etc. with master fine precision tuning. Not to mention how can a kitty be dehydrated and over-hydrated at the same time....

In my opinion, it's likely that the potassium is low because of the insulin we give. The simplest way I can explain why is that as insulin moves glucose inside the cells and it brings along with it potassium (so you see the lower numbers in the blood). Punkin was also sick yesterday, and am not sure if that is cause or effect of low potassium, but more likely effect (unless he was throwing up for days).

Here lies where I would make a follow up call to your vet. Potassium has a very, very narrow therapeutic range, and if you had to call one of our electrolyte the "most important"....it would without a doubt be potassium. It's main critical roles involve the heart, the muscles (think respiratory as the most important muscle), the digestive system, and kidney function. These are critical actions for basic human functioning. No other electrolyte does so much with such a tight therapeutic range. If a human produced those numbers, we would immediately begin with potassium supplementation. It's too important and that 0.2mEQ/L off the low represents close to a 20% "off" on the number. I would call and insist that some sort of supplement be given to bring that number back up to normal.

Again - your results are beautiful minus the potassium, and it's a number I would expect to be low in a diabetic patient - it just needs to be addressed.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top