8/11 Toeby - report on his exam, +6 is 97 today

I've been quiet for a few days, but I do have news so I thought I should post.
I don't want to "ghost" anyone who had/has an interest in what's going on with Toe.

A different vet, one he had seen in March, but not the one who dx'd him as diabetic in June, examined Toeby yesterday. He had blood work, and x-rays.

The blood work showed his kidney, liver, globulin, etc values were normal.
I was glad to hear his thyroid levels were "beautiful".
He's only lost about 7 oz since June, I thought more; and at 10.8 lbs she's not concerned that he's too thin.
His heart murmur is a bit louder but his heart is also a little enlarged on one side, and there were some "patchy" areas on his lungs which may be a little fluid. His other internal organs looked okay. He does have some gingivitis that we'll deal with later. First we're going to address what she saw with the heart/lungs with a diuretic to see if that makes a difference for him as far as feeling a bit perkier.

We talked about what might be causing him to not feel 100%, and possible treatments.
She mentioned the connection with steroids and diabetes and how it would be good to avoid them.
It's one step at a time for now.

The vet thinks he's gone into remission - I'm afraid to even write that, for fear it might not be true, or change. The vet thinks the early intervention with Lantus and monitoring him at home made a difference.
I'm not going to be giving him insulin for now, and I hope it stays that way.

I did pick up a box of FortiFlora, in the hope it helps him to enjoy eating only low carb wet food more.
The Dr. Elsey's dry gave his brother constipation issues, so Toeby's not getting any unless as a treat.

My intention is to stay here on the board, help where I can, and keep reading posts and trying to educate myself. I probably should check his BG's from time to time to be sure they are not going up. He was dropping so low on so little insulin - it will be a big weight off my shoulders even if he does have other health issues.

I sincerely thank everyone who took the time to offer support or advice, or even think positive thoughts.
I hope posting this hasn't jinxed anything... paws crossed for us, please.
Laura

 

Hope the Lasix helps Toeby feel better!!

And more paws crossed that he's in (the "r" word)

 

That's a much better way to write that!!
Thanks so much, Chris!
Paws, fingers, eyes crossed here that it is "for reals"...
I feel like so much happened so fast - I am kind of holding my breath.
June 25th I was in disbelief that it was happening to us again.
Then, he was so reactive where Harley had been so non-responsive...
I never saw close to a hypo number with Harley, never opened the corn syrup bottle.

 

I hope the ne treatment helps Toeby.
I would definitely test the BG daily for the time being

 

Wonderful! Thank you!!

 

I would see a cardiologist and get an echo. There is another medication that he might benefit from but I can’t remember the name at the moment. Now is the time to do this while his kidneys are good. I hope he’s in remission (anti-jinx).

 

I just checked him at what would be +6 and he is 97, so that was a nice surprise, to see a green number on no insulin. (anti-jinx) I'm not giving him the furosemide until tomorrow... we're monitoring his breathing today. You know, this board is interesting because I am always learning something. When I read your post, I thought "Hmmph, there's no veterinary cardiologist in this one horse town", but I Googled it, and lo and behold, there is a one who is based in the city but who works with local vets around the province.... you have to book an appointment through your vet. So that is excellent to know. His vet wants to try this drug for a week and see how he goes, so I will have the opportunity to discuss this with her.

May I ask, in future, if (anti-jinx) he keeps having nice green numbers, should I post any updates here on him, or in a different forum? I don't want to be a pain in the butt to others looking for help.
Laura

 

Please post daily here. One condo on this board each day. Keep the subject updated and change to add a question if you have one. You can post as many as you want on the main forum. The people more experienced with Lantus look here to see who needs help. The boards are getting a lot of newbies and vets aren’t giving enough or sometimes correct guidance putting the cats in potential trouble. Ask as many questions as you have. We like that as we know how to help you. You will never be a pain in the butt for asking. The only bad question is one that’s not asked. Just be patient if you need a reply and don’t get one. You can always reply to your own message by just writing bump!

The drug you are using is lasix, right? There are drugs that slow down heart disease. Lasix just removes the fluid. My boy ended up with CHF but had quickly developed kidney disease. My vet saw evidence of an enlarged heart but the radiologist he asked to review the X-rays didn’t and I lost him in days. I’m not at all suggesting this could or would happen but just the benefit of an expert weighing in.

 

Laura I want to wish you and that handsome boy of yours all the best.
Please keep us updated on how he's doing

 

Thank you, Diane.
I wasn't sure if (IF he stays good (antijinx)) I should be posting in this group, but this is where I started, so it seems like a good place to stay when I do have something to say. I see you're a red cat fan too. I love red/orange cats... dunno why, I just do. Although I read somewhere that red, neutered male indoor cats are more likely than other coat colours to get diabetes, so maybe that's not a good thing!

 

You can stay on the lantus forum absolutely, All of my cats have been orange, I've always liked them too.

 

Wishing the best for your beautiful Toeby. I will also look forward to you keeping us posted on how he is doing.

 

Just peaking in briefly - guess calipers are moot now. My DH got my pair for me at a local metal working tool store that's a chain in the west.

A cat isn't considered "in remission" unless they go two weeks without insulin.

As for heart - I second a cardiologist. Neko was on Vetmedin (pimomedin), which really helped her. Also Plavix (cholpidogril) to prevent strokes, which a previous heart kitty of mine did have. We tried to avoid Lasix as long as possible, because it's hard on kidneys and she had kidney disease when the heart issues were diagnosed.

 

@Wendy&Neko . I couldn’t remember the name Vetmedin. Thanks.

 

Hi Wendy,
Thanks for the info on drugs... this Lasix is a one week trial.
I wasn't warned it was hard on his kidneys, but his kidney function showed as normal on the bloodwork he had.
The vet is on vacation for a week and we are going to touch base next week when she is back.
She thought it might help if what she saw on the x-rays is causing him to feel low... if it doesn't make a difference we won't stay on it.

My biggest concern is that he is still not eating much - the FortiFlora is tasty enough, but he just licks it off like he does his probiotics.
I got him some Friskies today and of course, the cheaper the food, the more flavour enhancers or something it must have, because he ate some of that.
He hasn't barfed in days (touch wood) and is not taking Cerenia now that he is on the Lasix.
He seems to be feeling okay... I just wished he wasn't so darned picky about eating.
He watched the documentary Kedi with us tonight - it about the cats of Istanbul, Turkey.
Even some of those street cats were fussy, which I thought was kinda funny.
Cats. Go figure.

Monday will be his 14th day off insulin (last dose was Monday morning August 3).
I haven't done a lot of BG checks but I will do some.

I got my calipers at Princess Auto - there are 6 locations in beautiful BC.
There were a lot of DH's wandering the aisles there.

Laura

 

I think our calipers were Summit Tools or KMS Tools, so similar stores.

Lack of appy is common with heart issues. Neko got hers back when the Vetmedin kicked in.

I remember watching some rather spoiled "street cats" at a place we had lunch, might have been near the Topkapi Palace. It was open air patio, a lost cause for the staff shooing them away, clients were feeding.