1/25 Latte AMPS- 287,PMPS-130 (vet update)

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carolynandlatte

carolynandlatte

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yesterday
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3806
pmps-210
+2- 320 :o
+6.25- 220

Getting closer to a more 'normal' amps for her. Even if they were not great, they were better than what we have been seeing lately.

Latte has been a curious cat this a.m. - exploring and sniffing out the screen door leading to my roommates part of the house. There is a cat up there who sometimes likes to sit at the bottom of the stairs. Occassionally they surprise each other. Latte says the only black cat she likes is Shadow. :roll: cat_pet_icon She has also been investigating the best way to get behind the litter box for a crunchy appetizer. Not a good eater yesterday evening or overnight. She is doing okay this a.m. Lets hope she can keep it inside her tummy this time!

Latte goes back to the U today to actually see her specialist. Ive been worried about what he may say with the condition of her ears after this weekend. At least I have good data to show why it is important to test...and proof that even a cat on a steroid can go near hypo!!!! Late last night, I decided I should probably be more worried about explaining how I increased her from a f1.5 to a fatter 1.5 haha_smiley I should probably bring a syringe with colored water to show them the difference in case they think Im looney. ;-)

The real purpose of the visit will be to discuss her recent labwork, the metabolic acidosis and treatment, recent symptoms of innappetance/vomiting/weight loss, and I may throw out the gagging/choking issue. It is likely too early to do any blood work checking on the MA and potassium/sodium. This was the only appt I could get during his rotation in clinic, though.

Two out of two times I have taken her to the vet and tested both before and after, she dropped 100pts. Lets see what happens today, with no blood draw.

Hope everyone has a good Monday (it is Monday, right?) :YMSIGH:
 
Re: 1/25 Latte AMPS- 287

I think you should be able to get a reading on the potassium levels. This can change pretty quickly. The question is more whether Latte will require on-going supplementation (maybe to address the MA) or if she's producing enough on her own.
 
Re: 1/25 Latte AMPS- 287

I sure wish I knew how to help her better control these a.m. drops. Grrrrr! The drop is good, but all in one swoop?!?!

Hypothetical question - What do you do if your cat is low or too low at the time you need to leave for the vet? Especially if they show history of dropping rather than rising from the stress of a vet visit?
 
Re: 1/25 Latte AMPS- 287, +2-128

Good luck today Carolyn....will she eat kibble if you bring some with you too?
It would be good if you can get her to eat some MC as Sienne suggested...but will she comply?
Happy trails to you today....hoping you have a productive appointment! :YMHUG:
 
Re: 1/25 Latte AMPS- 287, +2-128

Pat+Raja+Shadow said:
It would be good if you can get her to eat some MC as Sienne suggested...but will she comply?
Click to expand...

haha_smiley Will she comply?! haha_smiley
Thats funny, Pat! :mrgreen:

Getting her to eat some kibble at any point from now until we have to leave at noonish (thats her +6) would be great, actually. The timing of it spiking might be a little too late though. Never know! Of course she just finished off her wet food and is settled in under the piano for a.m. siesta. No desire for kibble when momma wants her to eat it. :evil:

I dont even know what the difference between MC and HC would be for her. When she went into the 40's this weekend I gave about 3 tbsp babyfood with 2 small drops of karo, each round. It brought her up slowly, so I thought it was the right amount. But then Libby mentioned it took a while to get her up....so maybe it was not enough karo and I gave her an MC mixture vs an Hc mixture?

She wont eat at the vet, but I will surely test her before we go, then spoon feed babyfood, if she will not eat anything on her own.

Im not saying we are going to run into a problem...just wanting to cover all bases in case.
 
Re: 1/25 Latte AMPS- 287,+2-128,+4-100

I'm a believer in "if you plan for it, it's likely not to happen!" So I'd bring with you to the U:
A jar of baby food, some Karo, some kibble. Your testing kit.

That way if you need it you have it, and if she really is dropping too low, she'll likely eat what she needs regardless of where she's at. And if she really does go too low - you're in a good place for it to happen and get assistance... :roll:

Give us an update when you get back! ;-) Happy trails and good visit/info to you!
 
Re: 1/25 Latte AMPS- 287,+2-128,+4-100, +6-126

Alright! Numbers are looking good to go!!!! :mrgreen:

Let's just hope the roads are as nice.
 
Re: 1/25 Latte AMPS- 287,+2-128,+4-100, +6-126

cleo used to hypo after vet visits routinely, so i give a skinnier dose before and after the vet visit. her numbers do not tend to go up with vet stress, just down after.
 
Re: 1/25 Latte AMPS- 287, PMPS- 130 (vet update)

Steady as a Rock this time! Though I was a little worried when for the first time EVER she actually ate a little food and many treats I brought for her while we were waiting. I opened the can because normally she sits under a chair when we wait in an exam room. This time she was pacing around frantically and meowing. I was just about to test, when the doc started opening the door.

Both of these were done on return.
+9.5- 147
+10.5- 153

She was SUPER stressed today. I think she is not as familiar with the U, so its a different place. Its always real funny when you sit in the waiting room with a dozen droolers barking at each other...and owners encouraging social hour...that is until you are the one with a diabetic/multi health issue/elderly cat!!!!!! angry(2)_cat

The student vet complimented Latte on how young she looks for her age. cat_pet_icon , and was not aware that people really home test their cats. I showed him the ss and he was amazed. One thing about the U is you get private time with the students to help 'mold' them, :lol: I dont think he believed me when I said I increased her from a f1.5 to a fatter 1.5, but also made it clear she was not getting a 1.75 because she hypo'd on it this weekend. :? Wonder what he wrote down for the dose?

On to business...

1. Recheck of blood gas, electolytes, glucose, and renal profile. had I known the renal profile was only 20 bucks cheaper than the full chemisty I would have done the later so we could see if the amylase went down. That would have told us a bit more as to whether or not she was having a pancreatic attack/flare the other weekend. Oh well. I did not realize the potassium citrate was long term...as in forever. :sad: Because of how difficult it is to give and respect to her quality of life, he said we may want to take it out of the equation if its not making a difference in labs/clinical symptoms.

2. He agreed she could have been having a pancreatic attack a few weekends ago. He was very understanding in not pushing labs to confirm where she is at with that, because we are already doing everything (except pain meds) to treat it.

3. Cerenia injectible - Apparently the manufacturer claims cerenia in a syringe is only good 24 hours (as in potency). The pharmacy believes it can be stretched for 48hrs. Because of this he would not let me leave with a few syringes of cerenia. BUT, he did say if I ever need it, call and he will send in a script for a dose or two. I never knew this! Found it interesting.

4. Meds - she is on too many! (ya think! ohmygod_smile ). He is very much concerned of unknown interactions AND the fact that she can still be vomiting despite the ondansetron and pepcid. Though he said some cats, depending on the stage of their illness may need both, but also something additional, like cerenia, to feel better (basically how we are doing it now). Im not sure how he wants me to go about removing one med at a time. Everytime I skip her ondansetron she vomits within 8hrs. yet she can still vomit while on it as well. So is it working?!?!?!

5. I was unable to explain the choking/coughing and wierd breathing sounds well enough. *sigh* He listened to her breathing and watched her respiration. They were abnormal (a little wheezy/crackly lungs and fast respiration), but also normal for a stressed cat. LOL, the student said she does have pretty old lungs. :lol: So, w/o thousands of dollars of testing we will probably never know what is going on. The student did say at one point that they would not put a cat under anesthesia for chest xrays, like my regular vet said they would have to do. That is nice to know, in case I win the lottery!

6. Regurgitation (different than vomiting)-He said she could have damaged her throat with all the vomiting over the years, causing frequent regurgitation. Also could be just drinking/eating too fast.

7. He always asks if she has been tested for hyper t, but never recommends testing or speaks anymore of it :roll:

8. He poo pood the idea of increasing pred, which is good because I dont want to. But I had to ask if that would be a reasonable thing to consider.

9. Pain Meds - he feels it might be appropriate to discuss a little further. He did not think that anything other than an NSAID would be extremely helpful for severe arthritis...but of course she cant have that! Im going to think about it a little more and hopefully discuss it with him when he calls with the labwork. He is more than willing to talk about other options.

9. He fully understands that we are in a state of palliative care. I think he knows as much as I do that all her problems are a ticking time bomb....never knowing exactly which one is going to go off, when, or how bad it will be. All things considered he said she looked really good!

Should get a call with lab results in the next day or two.

off to work for a few hrs...then I have to figure out how to get the bandaid off the back of her leg. I want to know how they got it on in the first place! She is VERY sensitive back there and the only time she will try to hurt me is if I touch her back legs.
 
Well, that was a very interesting report Carolyn....glad it went well....
I don't have an idea for you about the bandaid...sounds as if that will be a bit of a problem if
she doesn't like you touching her legs.
You certainly have a lot of issues....but it seems as if you were able to discuss all those things without
being rushed....very thorough appointment. Great job! You are so good...you could write a book, eh? :YMHUG:
Hoping too for good lab results!! :thumbup
 
That sounds like you had a pretty good visit at the vet's. I hope the results are good.
 
Sounds like a good vet, Carolyn. You really do have your hands full, don't you? But, you do such a great job with Latte. She's very lucky to hve you in her corner. We'll keep our paws and fingers crossed that you get good bloodwork results!
 
i imagine the bandaid is off by now but a towel over the head usually works for me to calm them down.
sounds all in all like a decent vet visit.
good luck with the results.
 
Got home early, VERY eager to test her...even more so when I saw she had eaten almost 1/3 cup kibble! :shock: Very unusual time for her to do that. She had just eating 3/4 jar babyfood as I walked out the door 3hrs earlier. Unfortunately +3 was 260 :-Q Wonder what kind of strange events took place between pmps and +3 ?!?! I did shoot a dropping number and then walked out the door.

She is very happy tonight and bandaid is OFF! No blood involved.

Did get a call back from the U. Dont have specific numbers yet, but was told nothing had really changed. pH is still low, as is bicarb. They want us to stop the icky medicine since it was making no change. Recheck in a few weeks and if it is getting worse THEN consider restarting potassium citrate. I guess at that point I have to ask, is giving her this stuff that makes her gag and drool worth stalling the natural decline of her kidneys? Is she becoming symptomatic because she is not taking it OR is it related to another disease process. Tough call. But we are not there yet.

I think that is why she is so happy tonight...because I told her no more icky medicine! :mrgreen:

Keeping with the ondansetron for now.

Holy bageebers that last post was long..sorry, but thanks for those who made it through!
 
Love reading all of the posts Carolyn...long or short!! :YMHUG:

Latte has a pretty good appetite going, icky stuff gone & sticky stuff removed. Not a bad PM report. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Keeping those healing vines going for ya!
 
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