? Newly diagnosed - Just started testing

Yes, Teddy has been coughing as well. It seems like he always coughs some. We are never quite sure if its fluid, (sometimes it is) or his cardio doc says it is possible that since Teddy has only one lung he may get into positions where he wakes up coughing reminiscent of a person with sleep apnea. We have done a lot of x-rays and we know its not his asthma.

He needs to go back in for a check up next week so I will be asking if they can do an ultra sound to see if the fluids he took in the Hypo/drip have further complicated his heart or kidneys.

 

Cheryl, you've had quite a time. I just want to lend a little moral support - what is scary and overwhelming now will become more understandable and not as awful in even just a few days. You'll get the hang of things, Teddy will forgive you and begin to accept the testing. You've made it through the worst part with the dosing issue.

I didn't see if anyone had given you the link to tips to stimulating a kitty's appetite. You've gotten some good ones here, but there are many more tricks to try before trying the mirtazapine. That link is located at the bottom of the "The Basics: New to the Group?" sticky, which is an excellent place to start.

There is also a thread that can help you navigate to information: "Where Can I Find?" You may want to bookmark it for future reference. At the bottom of that thread there is a section with tips for people starting out. Some of the testing tips may help you convince Teddy that it's going to be ok.

Starting out with a diabetic cat:
A New Member's Advice to Other New Members
Counting Cycles
Dawn Phenomenon
Expectations, Why You Should Manage Expectations
Pet Specific Glucometers, discussions about pet meters vs human meters: spreadsheet conversions: Pet Meter to human glucometer spreadsheet and AT/Merck value spreadsheet ; Low numbers on pet glucometers
Lantus, repackaged by Wedgewood Pharmacy
Shooting Schedule, getting back on time
Somogyi, latest research disproving its existence: ; Somogyi, Bouncing, Overdosing, Charlie
Spreadsheets: Whole Cat Report and Spreadsheets, Spreadsheets - Jigsaw Puzzle Analogy, Coleman: Adding a new year to the ss
Testing & Shooting Tips: here and here ; Dosing with Calipers; Preventing Overdoses​

I think you are ok dropping to 0.25u tonight if you want. It may be that you will need to go back up in dose but when you're new, it's infinitely easier to be slightly under dosed and come up in dose than it is to have to test frequently and bring up low numbers. Like Sienne, I would think that fast drop to 76 may have been as much from him not eating and the 0.5u might be a better dose, but for now I could understand if you wanted to drop to 0.25u. If you decide to do that, plan to stay there (saying that so you don't have to ask in the morning what the dose should be.) There's not really any strong pro/con to either of these doses at this point in the process with Teddy.

If you can switch to a human meter, I'd encourage it. Not only are the strips about one-quarter as expensive as the AT strips, but all of our dosing documents are written with human meter numbers. That makes dosing adjustments easier for you. More people are also experienced with human meters and you'll find more people will be comfortable helping you if you are using a human meter.

Is Teddy = Korat? I see Korat listed in your signature line and am confused about the names.

And welcome to the group - as Tricia said, it's the nicest place you never wanted to be. Keep asking questions and people will teach you what you need to know to help Teddy.

 

Wow! Thank you, Julie for the references. This makes it very easy for me to find the info. I have a human meter that I bought while I was waiting for for the AT to get here. Its a TrueTrack sold under the CVS brand. It looks like the other TrueTrack Meters I have seen online. Is that a good human one? I bought the AT since my vet was adamant that I use it if I wanted to test him at home (she doesn't seem to believe in this, which seems crazy to me). I don't believe that its any better but she doesn't listen to my BG numbers from the human ones. Yes, Teddy is a Korat. I noticed that some people were listing what kind of cat so I added that in for him. Certain breeds have a predilection for getting Asthma, so I wasn't sure if Diabetes was the same.

 

Oh, I didn't know that was a breed of cat, I thought it was his name. I'll have to look that up.

I'm not sure about that meter. Several years ago Consumer Reports reported that some of the meters with 'true' in the name were less accurate than others. But I'm not up on the latest info on them. Take a look at the "Basics, New to the Group?" - fairly near the top are some links about comparisons with glucometers. That may answer your question about how accurate it is.

It's not uncommon for vets to not like hometesting, but really, it's essential. I suppose they don't want clients tinkering with the dose if they don't know what they are doing, but it's far better to learn what you're doing and be able to adjust it yourself. We've seen disasters here from people not hometesting, but it's rare to see a hypo in someone testing.

I think there is one breed that is more prone to diabetes, but hesitate to say the name because I'm not positive. I'll look it up - it's not Korat.

 

"The cat breed most prone to be diagnosed with diabetes is the British Shorthair, followed by Burmese, Foreign Shorthair, Maine Coon and Abyssinian. "
http://petcha.com/pet_care/overfeed...tes-by-up-to-900-percent-study-says-trending/

 

I never heard of that breed either, I will look it up. And Cheryl, I think you now realize home testing is vital regardless what the vet says. I learned the same way you did in a crisis. I'll check in closer to your test time. I was thinking the same dose .25, I justed wanted to wait until closer to giving it.

 

Yes, will be home testing and I told her that. I can't imagine not testing. Teddy work up and refused his heart meds again. My neighbor also gave us a can of Trader Joes Cat Tuna so I heated up some of that (he likes it warm) to see if he would eat at all and he ate a few bites. I need to pick up his food before I run out so he will not get another chance to eat until I get back. I will have to syringe his meds to him again.

Whatever is killing his appy its still happening. At some point t I will need to take him back to the vet and see whats going on. not sure when that should be. I'm thinking if he doesnt start eating by tomorrow morning.

 

When do you give the meds in relation to his meals? Before after or at same time?

 

Normally, I give his heart meds ground up in baby food around 4:30 or 5:00. He is usually so excited to get his "treat".

Now the we have the insulin to give, I added this: I wait two hours (7:00 or 7:30) and test him, feed him and then give the insulin. Thats been my plan. I just gave him his heart meds in a syringe so at least I don't have to worry abut those. Im thinking he is nauseous because he is interested until he starts eating, then nothing.

 

Sorry, I'm more conservative than others. If he doesn't eat decent at dinner, if it were me I would skip insulin. He has too many conditions that I'd be concerned about. Just my opinion.

 

So maybe the meds are making him nauseous so he doesn't want to eat 2 hrs after them which is about when they would start working.

What about giving them after he eats? I had to play around with Smokey meds til I found what worked.

 

So his BG is 374. What do we think?

 

That us probably a bounce from the low number and fast drop. I think considering everything I would do 0.25u.

 

He's actually eating! Trader Joes Cat Tuna. A nice amount and without hesitation!
This si the best he has eaten all day.

 

In the morning try test/feed/shoot if eating and high enough before meds. If you can give meds after he eats, give it a try.

Maybe flavored liquid meds might be can option. Stokes Pharmacy and Diamond back can do it with out sugar or sweeteners.

 

Woohoo, shoot while he's eating.

 

Yes, until we discovered the ground up med in the meds, we always got his meds compounded with a nice flavor. Unfortunately he never ate them on his own. It was very hard on us all because we had to pick him up and syringe it into his his throat. He hates the whole thing. The babyhood has been magic. He stopped eating even before he got this meds so that can't be what is upsetting his stomach.

 

I got his BG like 5 minutes before he ate. Di I need to do it again? Or do you men the insulin?

 

Tomorrow start a new thread.

Start with date, his name, AMPS and the number.

 

No. Check it in 2 hrs and before you go to bed.

 

OK. Will do.

 

Watch his behavior. We want to see if he drops, how fast and how low. We don't know yet what he does. Make sure you keep your ss up to date. I will still be up, so no worries.

 

ok.

 

Hi Cheryl

I haven't had a chance to pop in since I did the SS for you but just wanted to drop by.

With that number at PMPS, I would have probably used a little technique we have called "shooting through the bounce". As an example, he was on 0.5u but with the 76 on an AT, he earned a reduction to 0.25u. But if numbers zoom up before the next shot due to a bounce, we will sometimes shoot one more time with the old dose (e.g. 0.5u for Teddy tonight) just to help keep the numbers down a bit.

However, it is not incorrect to shoot the 0.25u. I also wouldn't be surprised if the 76 was due to him not eating so you might find the dose needs to go back up but we shoudl give him a few cycles to see what he does.

You've had a busy day. If he continues to head up by +2, I'd save the strips and sleep tonight.

Glad you are with us!

Edited to add:
@julie & punkin (ga) I think that study was a bit skewed because BSHs are the most common cat in the UK. In larger studies encompassing more than just the UK, domestic shorthairs have a 20% higher risk of FD than purebred cats and Burmese cats have the highest incidence of FD among purebreds. When looking at the larger study groups that don't just center in the UK, BSHs actually have a fairly low risk of FD.

 

I really appreciate the help with the SS. Teddy is eating tonight but it is clear to me that he does not feel good. I would love for him to just hang out here at home and feel good for a few days. Its been a couple of weeks since he has felt OK. Maybe he will feel better in the morning.

 

You're so welcome and you are doing a great job with it.

I hope he will feel much better tomorrow. I was surprised to read they've tapped his chest so much instead of increasing his lasix.....

 

His Cardio doctor didn't think it would be good for his kidneys. He has an elevated creatine (sp?) level.

 

If he has any elevated kidney numbers, that is correct, they have to walk a fine line because you can't give fluids to help with any potential CKD. Have they run an SDMA on him which is the new test which is a better indicator of potential CKD than just looking at USG, creatinine, and BUN.

I know Karen's cardiologist, which is the same one I use, is very cautious about the effects of the lasix on Doodles' kidneys and keeps an eye on his kidney levels.

 

I'm not sure about that test, I'll have to look for it on his paperwork. Also his internest mentioned to me after the Hypo that his creatinine had gone up a little. I need to find out what it was. I think his cardio feels that its better to remove the fluid than further damage the kidneys for now. He says he really good a tapping.

 

So... Teddys +2 is 245. I'm so happy he didn't drop. He ate a nice dinner. He's still a little out of it like he's been all day. Praying for a good night and a happy morning.

 

Very nice a small drop. Nothing to drastic. If you can you might want to leave a small mini meal out (before you go to bed) over night so he can graze if he wants too.

 

Yep! He has some of the Trader Joes Tuna for cats out in case he wants it. And for our other kitty to eat as well. If he doesn't want to come into the bedroom, I will probably sleep on the couch with him.

 

This kind of bothers me. I understand the tap. The idea of lasix will help the fluid from building up so they don't have to tap. Yes, there can be times where it might be best to avoid it. Tapping is invasive I'm sure it hurts. Possibly discuss it again with the vet.

 

Okay I'm going to log out now. It's 1 am and I'm fading. You know what to do come morning.

Good job and good night.