Jacque- Tiger & Jazz Man
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Yes I test for Ketones when I can get to him before he pees. I have like 10 litter boxes hard to watch all of them at once. His ketones have been fine..no trace.Are you testing for ketones if you are skipping shots? You do this by buying a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy and dipping the test strip into a urine sample, then reading it exactly 15 seconds later against the colours on the side of the bottle. Anything above a trace needs vet attention.
I see you went from Prozinc to Vetsulin. I don't like chopping and changing the insulin, but have you thought about Lantus or Levemir insulin? It is a longer lasting, more gentle insulin and it might give you better munbers.
Vetsulin is not the best insulin for cats, its really an insulin for dogs, and the duration is not as good as either Prozinc or Lantus/Levemir.
Part of your problem could be the dry food you are feeding. How much dry food does Tiger get? It is high carb so would be raising the BG levels.
Are you able to test at night at all? Cats often drop lower at night and unless you are testing, you would have no idea how low they are testing. Getting a before bed test done each night will tell you if he is likely to drop low overnight. If the before bed test is lower than the preshot, then it would be wise to set the alarm and get up and test again later.
Looking at his SS, Tiger is getting a lot of red and black preshots. This can be from lack of duration of the Vetsulin or from bouncing.
The reason he has had a few blue AMPS, I think, is because he has dropped low during the pm cycle preceding the blue preshot and he is just on the way back up. Then he goes up to black because he has had no insulin during the am cycle....he could also be bouncing a bit from the lower numbers.
Maybe cut back on the dry a little bit each day? Give him a bit more canned food to substitute.He eats at most a half a cup of dry a day.
Should I give him alittle canned food? Then shoot how much insulin?
Right usually shot at 11pm or MidnightMaybe cut back on the dry a little bit each day? Give him a bit more canned food to substitute.
But you have so many other rescue cats, besides Tiger (Jazz man is one of them) , not sure how practical taking away the dry food would be.
Is the dry left out all the time, for free feeding? Only during the day? Only during the night?
OK. you got a 450 at +7, Now what? Next shot is not due for 5 hours.
Free feeding 24/7Right usually shot at 11pm or Midnight
No 12hrs Doc said no on the 8'sAre you trying the every 8 hour dosing?
Should I just do 8's anyway? Whether she said yes or no? Because he is at the 8 hr mark nowNo 12hrs Doc said no on the 8's
Yes, lets try that...these guys work around my schedule..eating etc..real quite at night which is opposite of other homes lolDo you want to change his shot times to earlier than the usual 11am/11pm?
I'll make it work..You know me, I will do anything I can for my furbabies. Sounds like a plan.Why don't you go ahead and shoot at 8pm/8am? Will that schedule work for you? It would also allow you to get more tests on the PM cycle since it wouldn't keep you up all night
Might be worth trying a 6.5U dose and see if you can get it where he can get 2 shots a day in.
do I do the weird characters in the 11th hour box?OK...you'd put the test you get at 8pm as your PMPS on your spreadsheet.....put something like ### @ + 20 (since it's been 20 hours since the last shot)
That way your +1, +2, +3's still correspond to the number of hours since the shot.
do I do the weird characters in the 11th hour box?
Cool Cool Thank You My FriendI did it for you so you'll know how to do it next time
Ya gonna do a +6 in about an hourThat’s a big drop. Are you able to get another test in, in a couple of hours?
Now you can see why he is driving me madYa gonna do a +6 in about an hour
182+6 and gave him a Lasix. Going to set my alarm and get a +8 readingYa gonna do a +6 in about an hour
250+8Did you manage to get a +8?
I'm an awful Mom, I'm failing him..he has had to be but 3rd in my ailing furbabies for about a week now. I'm so sorry Tiger. I promise to do betterMan overslept just now 560+13
Now you are making me cry. Thank You for giving me hope, I need that ALWAYS!!Jacque, CUT YOURSELF SOME SLACK. Rant over.
You are not an awful mom. You are not failing Tiger. You have so many other responsibilities in life with all your other sick animals to take care of, plus you are exhausted my dear woman. Plus this damn virus has us all worried and on edge. You should have seen my crying jag this morning. I totally lost it.
Tiger is bouncing again this morning, from those low yellows yesterday am and last night. Nothing to do but wait it out.
Patience pants to hold you over and make you smile, for at least 1 second. I hope.
Every color in the rainbow, to remind you that after the rain, rainbows do magically appear.
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At least you realized that you needed help , and sought out that help.We are so totally broke. I couldn't cope, suicidal thoughts and panic attacks started. I would sit in a corner in the fetal position for hours..thats when I knew I needed some meds.
I belong to several panic attack groups. They have helped enormously, it helps to vent with no judgement and get encouragement from others that know what you are going through. My panic attacks got so bad that I thought I was having a heart attack..much better now. My Doc first prescribed Lexapro(side effects too harsh) and then Zoloft same thing..side effects. And now Doxepin which seems to be helping me somewhat at least the side effects aren't as bad.At least you realized that you needed help , and sought out that help.
Counseling? Sometimes talking out what you are going through with other people is helpful. Don't know if there are any on-line counseling groups that you could use. Something to think about.
There is hope and life in this world to still appreciate what we do have. Sometimes, those loses become overwhelming and we do what we have to do to get better.
m an awful Mom, I'm failing him..
I wish I could totally cut dry out but I have 20+ rescued cats, totally impossible financially, and some of them refuse canned food and some only like certain brands and flavors. Some of them get canned food for breakfast and dinner. It already takes me 2hrs to feed the kids. Thank you so much for your encouragement and you betcha I'm listening to advice from the veterans.Dear Jacque, Ohhh how I remember those days! Sigh Believe me you are NOT alone. I am no way an expert Trouble was eons ago (heck spreadsheets hadnt even been invented) it seems. But theres one thing I learned here. I was doing the best I could, and you are too! Its so easy to blame ourselves when things arent going right. But from what I've read in this thread you are going above and beyond what a lot of others do. Tiger is LUCKY to have you as his partner.
Now theres one glaring thing I've read and that is the use of dry food. I was hesitant from pulling that away from Trouble because thats all he knew. The people that dumped him only fed dry and not on a regular basis. It was NEVER in a clean bowl and never dumped when it got too old. But thats ALL he knew. Well? After nothing I was doing worked and his numbers remained in the highs. I put on my big girl panties (begrudgingly) and at the urgency of people here took it away. It was like magic. His numbers dropped. and he became manageable. I am not saying this happens to every cat.
I ALSO say this with caution because you really have to test closely. Making sure he doesnt drop dangerously low. BUT ITS DOABLE! If I can do it...trust me...anyone can. I didnt come here to preach the good or bad about dry foods but what I mean to say is, there IS light at the end of this tunnel. YOU CAN AND WILL DO THIS. and one day you will be here helping others with Tigers stories.
HANG IN THERE,
Listen to these folks! They all have been there and back.
Heed their advice because believe me they ALL want the best for you and Tiger
omg Ive written a novel!sorry
hang in there girl! its going to get better!
jeanne
You should see my fb profile page and I also have a group where I post all my kids lolJacque, believe it or not I have some idea of how you're feeling. Multiple losses, PTSD and anxiety is part of my baggage but I keep that stowed away because like you someone else needs me. You know deep down you're not an awful mom and I know it because it's all over your profile.
You're in a safe place here where people care and it's okay to cry, then we start again the next day.
Np..no my kids are the Angels. Nice to meet you too.Sorry I didnt take the time to read your history. OH my gosh you ARE a live walking on earth, ANGEL! Nice to meet you!
You HAVE found the best place, to help you, help Tiger! We WUVS Angels here![]()