tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22882124669755350792024-03-12T20:45:03.194-06:00Merry and Pippin..two kitties with diabetes A little help for those of us trying to take care of our diabetic cats. Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-43702660904070868282019-08-18T12:53:00.000-06:002019-08-18T12:53:12.278-06:00Hypoglycemia It's been an adventure with Pippin the last few days. His glucose starts out in the morning at 400+ so we give him his 4 units of insulin and then boom.. 4 hours later he is at 40. Which is a really scary number. We have some emergency instaglucose which didn't raise him as much as I thought it would. He's only gone up 10 points in the last two hours. But he's going up and that's what is important. I've given him a ton of wet food and he's eaten most of it. I worry so much when things like this happen. Honestly having a diabetic cat is stressful and I really don't want to have another one. Times like this make me worry because everything I've known so far is wrong. Meaning ... he's at 400+ so give him the 4 units, then BOOM he's at 40 which makes no sense. Everything I've been taught about dealing with a diabetic cat is out the door! The way we could tell that he wasn't right yesterday was because he was not steady on his feet, wobbly, walking on his haunches, and basically not normal. I just hope we get him regulated again. Update to come in later post.Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-63703824833925983422019-01-13T20:30:00.001-07:002019-01-13T20:30:32.865-07:00Pippin is almost 16!My friend recently found out that his cat has diabetes. I kind of helped him along figuring it out because his cat was just peeing all over his house. I told him there has to be something wrong, they don't just do that. So I brought over my glucose reader and sure enough.. the cat's glucose was super high. This made me look back at this blog and see that I've been updating it a few times a year since 2012! Wow. Pippin is now 4 months away from 16 years old. He has really slowed down. My mom gave us a heated bed that her cat isn't using at Thanksgiving and we brought it home and put a blanket and his bed on it and now he pretty much just stays there all day. He loves it in his old age.<div>
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He had also been seeming to slow down on his eating though, so my husband and I decided to get his teeth cleaned. I was very nervous about it since he's so old. I really actually didn't want to do it but knew if the vet wasn't comfortable with doing it then they wouldn't. So I took him in last week and he did well. His glucose was the worst thing that day. They told me not to give him a shot in the morning so I didn't, but of course by the time he got there he was at 477. So the vet gave him a shot and then had to watch him all day. Otherwise, he had no teeth pulled. She did say his gums weren't great but that's expected with old age. The cost was $520! Getting a pet's teeth cleaned is one of the most expensive things I swear. And this was WITHOUT any teeth pulled. We did use Care Credit, which is a credit card you can use for humans or animals that usually has a limited time where you can make payments without interest. I think usually a vet office's terms are 6 months. So you have to pay it in 6 months and if you don't you get a huge interest rate on your money. If you don't have the money you may want to look into this for your pet but be sure you can pay the money back in the time allotted for no interest. My sister right now is struggling with her cat... she really wants to clean her cat's teeth but it's so expensive and she doesn't have the money for it. </div>
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I learned another thing this week that I should've learned years ago but NO vet ever told me. Apparently, you have to do what is called calibrating to your diabetes glucose reader. UMMMM WHAT! Why was I never told this before. My friend who's cat I mentioned above is an RN. So since he just ordered a reader he mentioned to me that readers need to be calibrated to make sure that they are still reading the blood glucose correctly over time. WHAT THE! I've been using the same reader for like 10 years. I'm really disappointed no one mentioned this. I ordered the fluid from Amazon today for my Easy Reader to calibrate it. It was only $9. I'm not sure exactly how to do it yet but I'm sure there are Youtube videos out there plus my friend has done it several times at work so I'm going to have him come over to help me do it. Anyways... even after having diabetic cats for at least 10 years I am still learning new things. </div>
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Hoping your diabetic cats are doing well </div>
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Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-71560486472929441172018-09-30T21:33:00.001-06:002018-09-30T21:33:53.387-06:00Neuropathy in Cats Hello all. Thought I would stop in and write up a little update on Pippin. He is actually doing well. As he's getting older he's been not really wanting to eat his dry food so we put out wet food and dry food for him. One time a vet told me that for a diabetic cat any type of wet food was ok for them. So it doesn't have to be specifically for diabetes. I don't know if his teeth are hurting him but since he's 15 I'm a little nervous about having his teeth cleaned again. He had them done when he was 13 I think and he didn't do too well afterwards so I'm putting it off unless it seems necessary.<br />
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He's started to walk on his hocks a little which is called Neuropathy. Neuropathy is nerve pain that diabetics get in their limbs. I took him into the vet and she didn't seem that concerned and said we just need to get him regulated. He is regulated though so then she told me though eventually it can become irreversible. I came home though and did a lot of research on the internet about it and found some diabetic cat threads where people were talking about giving their cats B12 for Neuropathy. I found people were using <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ZobalineTM-Diabetic-Cats-60-tabs/dp/B008G3LI2M/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1538364172&sr=8-4&keywords=b12+for+cats" target="_blank">Zobaline </a>(specifically for cats) so I emailed my vet and asked about it. She said she doesn't tell people to use it because it's not proven to help cats with Neuropathy but told me that if I wanted to try it I could. Of course I ordered it. I think it's helping him but my husband says he looks the same. HAHA! So ... I'm going to keep him on it forever since it doesn't hurt and it's just a supplement and since it could be helping him why not? <br />
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As Pippin gets older I start to think about him passing away. People always ask me... will you get another cat? I am really not sure. It's going to be a long long time before I do. I just can't replace my cats like some people. I just feel like it's.. not right to go out and just get a "new" cat. Maybe it's because I don't have kids and Merry and Pippin are like kids to me. Anyways... hopefully I still at least have two more years with Pippin.<br />
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<br />Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-65882995672990232042018-04-29T18:05:00.003-06:002018-04-29T18:05:56.486-06:00New Vet... againWell.... everything with Pippin is going good. For the first time ever I recently completely forgot to give Pippin his shot. I've never forgotten. Sometimes, I've been late. But this time I remembered in the middle of the night at like 12:30 am and just let it go because my husband gives him his shot at 4:00 am. So I just thought it was best to keep the next shot at 4 am and get back on track from there. I felt terrible. After that I set a reminder on my phone at 5:30 PM just incase I forget again.<br />
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I recently sent Pippin's glucose numbers to my vet office (not that anyone there is really checking up on him, or paying attention). After sending the numbers over I did get an email back from the veterinarian I use stating that she was leaving and going back into emergency care. I'm so disappointed in this. I know that the people at the office are like whatever because it's one of those offices where they have like 5 or 6 vets. I hate that. I kept staying with the dame Dr whenever I go in for an appointment and when emailing in. I did ask her for a recommendation in the office of someone who could be my go to but she never answered me back. I hate to change vets and go to an office with one Dr because I'd have to pay $100 some bucks for that first initial visit and explain and go over everything about Pippin all over again. So I'll just stick with this vet and deal with it. I'm really surprised though that I lost another vet. If the Dr was going to a different practice I would follow her there but since she's going into emergency I can't. I do miss my old vet office. They would check in with how Pippin was doing at least once a month and review his glucose numbers with me... the new vet office (though I've been there like 2 years now) just doesn't take as much interest.<br />
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Pippin is 15 now. He sleeps soooo much. I can tell that he is starting to feel his age. We recently moved into a new house and it's taken him a little while to adjust. He used to love to sit outside at the old house and this house it's taking a little longer. He has finally started sitting out on the patio just for a little while. He never sits in the windows... he just likes to mostly be in his bed or sitting on a chair with me. It's hard to see my boy age. His diabetes is doing really well though and that's what's important.Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-84545223888047741852018-01-17T20:34:00.000-07:002018-01-17T20:34:03.358-07:00Diabetic Cats- Cat BedThere is nothing worse then having a diabetic cat and finding you left the insulin out. NOTHING. The knowledge that you just wasted $100 on a vial of Prozinc is awful. I came home from going out to dinner tonight to find that the insulin was still on the counter. Luckily it was only out two hours in the dark so I'm hoping that it is still a good vial. The only way to know is to take glucose measurements tomorrow and just hope they go down. It's the first time we have only left the insulin out a few hours rather then 12 hours so I'm really hoping it's good. Plus it was still foggy inside the liquid which I guess is a sign it's still good. I've looked all over the internet whether or not Prozinc can be left out for 2 hours and most say yes. I saw several comments saying that it's OK to leave it out even for 12 hours. I have found that this is false. Anytime we've left insulin out for 12 hours and checked glucose on our cats their glucose numbers are super high and it's obvious the insulin wasn't working anymore. <br />
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I recently had to waste money taking Pippin into the vet. The new vet wanted to "see" him (get $60 and blood work) since his glucose was a little higher then usual. My old vet would just adjust insulin amounts... so that kind of sucked. Then she wanted to put him on an antibiotic just incase but I didn't pick that up because he's fine just needed a insulin adjustment. So complicated.<br />
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We sold our house so we've been staying with a friend until we get a new one. Pippin has done well. He has the run of two bedrooms and one bathroom. My friend has two cats of his own and Pippin just doesn't want to mingle with them. So he's enjoying his time upstairs in his own territory. Though I know he's ready to get into his own house again. <br />
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We have still been buying our needles and food online. Much cheaper then the store. Diabetes hasn't got any easier but Pippin is still doing well and hopefully lives another 5 years. We bought him a new bed finally. All these years he and Merry slept in these tiny circle beds we bought them when we first adopted them. I bought them a bigger bed once before but they completely ignored it. I was then in Petsmart and saw a superhero section (for dogs) and there was a Superman bed! I bought it and he ignored it at first. For a long time actually and now I can't get him out. Since we are staying in our friend's house we had Pippin's bed and food next to each other. This picture shows him not even bothering to get out of bed to eat. He's just leaning over to his food bowl.. so lazy!!<br />
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<br />Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-89356703876949760492017-08-23T22:02:00.001-06:002017-08-23T22:02:36.507-06:00New Carpet and other newsHello all. I haven't updated on Pippin for a while. Which is always a good thing. In May over the holiday my husband accidentally left Pippin's Prozinc (insulin) out for about 3-4 hours. Just in that time the insulin went bad. Of course it was a Saturday morning. So we gave him his normal shot Saturday night and his insulin stayed high. So we realized right away that the insulin went bad. Well... of course it was a holiday weekend so the vet office wasn't open on Monday. I was very worried about the glucose numbers so Monday morning we went ahead and called one of the local emergency vets who said they had insulin and that we would just have to come in and pay $100 for the vet appointment and they would sell us insulin because they had a full pharmacy. So I drove Pippin all the way out to the vet. We got totally wrong information. I get there and I tell them where his numbers were sitting at (which if I remember correctly was about 450). I say he is on Prozinc. The vet tech was like... well I've never heard of that, they only have human insulin. UGHHHH! I didn't want to switch Pippin's insulin which I thought would be worse then having him on no insulin. Plus, human insulin doesn't really work on cats. I then asked if maybe they had vetsulin and she said she would check. She was gone for a very long time. Finally, a totally different person comes in and says they just don't think there is anything they can do for me. Annoying. Why when we called did they act like they could help??? They didn't charge me anything and I left. <br />
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So Tuesday I called my normal vet and explained what was going on and why I needed to come pick up insulin right then and there. They were nice. I got up there an hour later when they told me to come and it wasn't ready, but I told them I had to wait because he really needed it. So he got back on his insulin again and has been fine ever since. <br />
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We are about to sell our house and buy a new one, so we installed new carpet everywhere in the house. Prior to having it installed we personally pulled up all the areas where the cats had peed. There is no better time to get under that carpet. If your cats pee a lot in certain spots it will stink no matter how much you shampoo that carpet. So we pulled up the carpet and put down Kilz in all these spots. The carpet installers still threw out the carpet we pulled up. The new carpet is amazing and smells amazing! HAHAH! Diabetic cats will pee a lot before you discover they are diabetic and will keep peeing in the spots that smell like their pee. Also, the year before Merry passed away he couldn't make it down to the basement so having the little box in the living room pretty much stopped both cats from peeing anywhere else.<br />
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I'm nervous about selling the house with a cat. I plan on taking him with me every time the house gets shown. I don't want to leave him here with strangers coming in and out. We'll see how that adventure goes and I'll update here with any advice for those of you who might also be trying to sell a house with a kitty living there. <br />
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<br />Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-44692288959827692082017-04-25T22:52:00.002-06:002017-04-25T22:52:59.248-06:00Updates.. dental, diabetes, artworkIt's been a while since I posted. Since Merry passed away actually. I just never really felt up to it. I thought I'd give some updates on Pippin. He's doing fantastic now. At first when Merry was gone he would meow for him. Especially when he went out to sit on the deck (they aren't outdoor cats, only in door but can go on the deck). Even writing this post and thinking about Merry is sad. Right after it happened I found myself getting two scoops of food, or hearing his nails tapping on the floor, every now and then I hear him meow. I still haven't removed his picture from my Facebook's profile picture. I just can't take it down yet. It's like he's really gone, or I've really decided that I'm over him. I don't know when I'll take down his picture if ever. It's been very difficult. Actually, actress Felicia Day just posted something about this on her Facebook:<br />
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SERIOUS QUESTION:<br />I have a picture of my dog Cubby on my phone lock screen. He passed away 2 years ago next month. I have a baby now and want to put her on the lock screen, but I feel INCREDIBLY GUILTY about removing his little face so I can't make myself do it. It feels disloyal, like I won't see him every day to remind me of how much I loved him and maybe I'll forget him. How do I overcome the guilt?!?! IS THERE ANOTHER SOLUTION?!?!</div>
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I know how she feels. Though I don't have children. Anyways... Pippin was doing well till a few weeks ago. On a Sunday I saw something by his food bowl but honestly I thought it was trash. Like a garlic clove or something. I got around to picking it up on Tuesday and thought it was so odd. When I first looked at it I thought maybe one of his claws came out. I handed it to my husband and was like... "what is this! I think he lost his nail! " My husband was like.. "um .. this is a tooth." So I grabbed it and sure enough it was Pippin's FANG! Oh my God! I felt so bad. I immediately called the vet. She put him on antibiotics and a week later he got his teeth cleaned. It had only been 14 months since his last cleaning so I have no idea why this tooth fell out!</div>
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And... when he went in to have his teeth cleaned (this is a new vet.. see previous posts) it was taking a long time for them to call with an update. So I called up there and they told me there were having a tough time but everything was fine. I come to find out that the previous vet LEFT the roots in for 3 teeth that they had pulled at his last teeth cleaning. ARE YOU KIDDING ME. The rear right molar was giving the new vet a hard time. The root had rotted and slipped under his jaw bone into an area where I guess blood and tissue gather and she had to get it out of that. I am pretty furious about this but what can I do. He was hurting for a while and had to go on pain meds for two weeks. He's great now and really spunky. It's so hard to know if pet's mouth's are hurting. I felt so bad when all this happened. </div>
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Pippin's diabetes is really doing great. He's on 4 units of Prozinc twice a day, his steroid at night, and after Merry passed we decided to start giving Pippin Cosequin to help with his bones. We've also done a lot of research (of course this is after years and years of paying high prices at the vet) and now order his prescription cat food through Petsmart. We set up auto refills and so we get an additional 15% off the food. Needles are the same. Insulin and the steroid cost the same from the vet so we still get those there. </div>
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I did have one of my favorite cat artists do a portrait of my cats for me. <a href="http://apofiss.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Apofiss</a> does amazing artwork.. especially of cats. They rarely do commissions so I was so lucky to be able to get one. PLUS lucky that he would do both cats. I told him if he couldn't do Merry and Pippin then I wasn't interested in the commission. Can't have one cat without the other. He did a great job. I sent him several pictures of them for him to use as a reference and this was the result:</div>
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Be sure to check out <a href="http://apofiss.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Apofiss</a>' work! </div>
Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-79302144278834413852016-12-05T14:55:00.000-07:002016-12-05T14:55:13.698-07:00Merry In the month of November my husband and I made the difficult decision to euthanize Merry. It was tough but he was getting really old. His arthritis was just getting to where he didn't really move from one spot in the living room. When he would go up and down the stairs it was clear it was so painful. One time I sat him on top of a box and he fell off. When I say he fell, he just fell. No trying to save himself or land on his feet. I also knew that if when I looked at him and felt sad for him it was time. We used an amazing service for him. We had a veterinarian come to the house to euthanize him. The man we used, Dr Humphries with Home with Dignity really made a huge difference. He came to the house and first game Merry a mini exam and did tell us that he thought we were doing the right thing. This made me feel better because I kept going back and forth all week if I was doing it too soon. The vet then gave Merry some medicine that was pain killer and also a drug to help him sleep. We got to hold him the whole time. After a few minutes when we were ready he then gave him a shot of the medicine that sent Merry over the rainbow bridge. My husband then took a blanket the vet had brought in at the end and carried him out to the vet's car. It was so dignified. I will always use in home euthanize. Now my Pippin is an only kitty. I miss Merry so much and can't believe he is gone. Life will never be the same.<br />
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<br />Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-90760954950315891812016-11-10T18:38:00.000-07:002016-11-10T18:38:21.234-07:00Skin CancerI haven't posted before about my cat Merry's skin cancer. It started at the beginning of the year. Around April. I noticed a scratch on his nose. About 6 weeks later it wouldn't heal and was becoming circular. I took him into the vet. The vet gave me some meds to put on it but said it's probably skin cancer. The way we would know is if the medicine didn't get rid of the cut then it was for sure skin cancer. He said really there is no reason to take a sample and send it in since I had already decided that I wasn't going to do chemo or radiation. I also refuse to have Merry's nose removed. Those are the only options if a cat has skin cancer on their nose. I have no idea why he got skin cancer. He's not an outdoor cat so there hasn't been that much sun exposure on his nose. When we went to the new vet she felt the same way. Merry is now 16 years old. Here are pictures from when we first discovered it:<br />
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Now that it is November it has progressed a lot since this then. Most of the year it has only been a superficial wound. Meaning it was really just eating away the top layer. I think that now it is finally actually eating through the skin. Now we must make the painful decision when to call it. He is walking very slow with a pronounced limp. Honestly I'm not sure if he will make it past the end of the year. But we'll see. I try to look at him and see if he still has quality of life.<br />
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Pippin my other cat is actually doing pretty fantastic health wise. We had a scare about a month ago though. One morning we gave the cats double shots. It was a scary day. I got up and gave the cats shots and then my husband got up and gave them shots again. We had to take a lot of glucose curves that day. The lowest reading Merry had was 54. After that though his glucose went up. Just goes to show communication is very important. The many years we have been giving these cats shots that was only the first time for that mix up to happen.<br />
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We will be taking care of another cat come January. My sister is unfortunately going through a terrible divorce. Her husband has left here with nothing. Of course she will fight for child support but she has asked me to take her little kitty. Toast is about 9 years old. I am of course going to help my sister out and bring Toast to my house. I am going to do everything in my power to make sure Toast doesn't get diabetes.<br />
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Well.... hope all your fur babies are doing amazing<br />
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<br />Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-72202205221419206822016-09-01T18:45:00.001-06:002016-09-01T18:45:29.906-06:00New Veterinarian OfficeA lot has happened since my last blog post, especially with the vet office. We'd been going to my last vet office since 2010. I was there so often I know most of the staff personally. 3 of the techs have been my cats sitters and even though 2 of them have moved we still texts or talk on facebook about my cats. I really have great relationships with them. Well... the vet finally was able to retire and sell his business. The new vet came in and boy were things changed. She pulled Merry off Metacam first thing which didn't surprise me. The old vet had him on it for only about 2 months but I know there is a black box warning for cats since it can really hurt their kidneys. The new vet wanted to do laser therapy, acupuncture, a shot for me to take home that inserts gel on his joins, a supplement, and a narcotic. Ughhhh I already pay so much money for his other meds for his diabetes I just couldn't do all that. I did get the supplement and the pain med. Merry is really old now, and honestly if his arthritis looks so bad that he can't get around happily then I'll just have to put him down.<br />
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Anyways... the new vet ended up requesting that I bring Merry in. She wanted to do a free consultation. It was odd to me that she didn't want to see Pippin also since they have pretty much the same issues. I took Merry in and she was really wanted me to switch their food to wet food. She said each cat would need 3 cans a day. So that's 180 cans a month.... I would guess that's going to be at least $150 a month doubling the amount I pay on food now. Plus Merry is regulated really well on dry food and I'm afraid to switch him. OK... fine. So I had already made up my mind that I wasn't going to do that. Then I did a glucose curve on the cats. I did it every three hours for a 12 hour period. Now that they are more regulated my original vet set this was fine to do instead of the every 2 hours for 12 hours. I emailed the results of this test and then I got a snarky email back about how I did the curve completely wrong and that I needed to poke their ears every hour for 12 hours. That's 12 pokes in their little ears. After this email I googled cat glucose curves and the information I found was ever 2-3 hours. So I was doing it correctly. Then one of my vet tech friends (who got me my records for the new vet) told me a lot of long term clients are leaving because of the new vet's bedside manner. This tech also told me that the doctor had without insulin refill for another client who had decided to find another vet. I was shocked at this because insulin is life saving. Not just some vitamin. I knew I had to go.<br />
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Changing vets is not easy if you have special needs cats. You have already established records at the old vet. When you switch vets you have to do a whole new wellness visit. So there went $120 for both cats. Then since Pippin's glucose is high and he's already on 6 units of Prozinc the new vet wanted to get some more current blood work on him just to see if something is triggering it, another $140. The results came back just find so now we are going to try Pippin on 7 units of Prozinc. So $260 to switch vets. Another unexpected cost of having diabetic cats. I never imagined it would be as expensive as it is. I am happy with the new vet office. I am already more comfortable there then I was so that's good. I recommend if you ever feel it in your gut to switch vets just do it. In the end it'll be worth it.<br />
<br />Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-39731679142504619562016-06-15T17:02:00.003-06:002016-06-15T17:11:11.226-06:00Cat Paw Prints Framed My cats are my world. I would never abandon them.. even if I was moving, they were sick (see previous posts), or for any reason really. They are getting older so I've been thinking more about ways to enjoy them and be able to remember them. Sooooo I started thinking about making their paw prints into cute art. I looked all over the internet to find out how. Pinterest and blogs all gave some great advice. All the posts I saw were for dogs and the paw prints always looked perfect. That certainly was not the case. <br />
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I got my supplies together first. I ran by IKEA the other day and picked up some frames (I can't find the frames on their website... they have them in stores only $2.99) and then I went ahead and grabbed some popsicle prints that were .99 cents that are supposed to go in the 2.99 frames (<a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40285633/" target="_blank">found here</a>). Honestly those .99 cent prints were way cheaper then any card board stock I could find in a store. I then went by Michaels and bought some paint and stickers. Then paint was $1.69 Crayola Brand Washable Kids' Paint. You want your paint to be washable and you want it to be nontoxic. Believe me! The paint will get everywhere (so you want it washable) and your cat will lick their paws even after you wash their paws so you want to make sure it is nontoxic. I did see some people use acrylic paint but I was worried about using that. The stickers were in the scrapbook section and were $4.99 but I used the Michaels' app and got 50% off those. I have horrible handwriting so that's why I used stickers. If you have nice handwriting maybe paint their names on the print. <br />
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Strong Paper for the art work (card stock)</div>
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Scratch Paper to practice</div>
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Get ready to begin. Corral your cat into the location you want to do this. Don't do it on carpet. I brought in a tray thinking I was going to have them stand on it to get the print but I found it easier to just have Merry and Pippin lay down and hold the paper up to their foot once the paint is on it. Also... originally I had painted his entire foot. Don't do this. Try to use a paint brush and only get the paint on the paw pads and none on the fur. If you do get a lot of it on their fur you may end up with a blob of paint rather then a paw print. There were five of the popsicle prints from IKEA so I only had five shots at getting a good print so I practiced some. <br />
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After you push their paws onto the paper get their paws washed off right away. Not only so the paint doesn't get everywhere, but also so they don't have a chance to lick their paws. I have no idea how people get a perfect paw print. I did read some people were using ink pads but I like the look of paint better. The advice for this project I can give you is have fun and don't worry about perfection. I do believe that cat paws are going to be harder then dog paws because they are smaller. Luckily my cats are short hair too because cats with long fur in their paws might be messy to wash off! <br />
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Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-60014125670910633662016-05-22T22:08:00.001-06:002016-06-15T17:06:39.480-06:00Homemade Cat BoxSo you may have read on my previous post that Merry has arthritis and it's getting advanced. So he does have a harder time getting up and down stairs to use the litter box and was even having a few accidents. I knew I needed to move a litter box up into the living room but really hated the idea because litter gets everywhere. One night my husband went out in the garage and created a box he had seen online. I wanted to wait and post about it after we sanded it and painted it but we still haven't got around to that so ... I'll post what it looks like now. It's still pretty.. but I would like it to be painted white.<br />
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It's easy to clean out and really makes a big difference for Merry going to the bathroom. He hasn't had an accident since we built it. I had Merry on only a narcotic (torbegesie) for his arthritis but since it's getting worse I asked the vet to try something different. He is now on Metacam and was also on Tramadol for pain (Tramadol comes in little tubes and you wipe it in their ears). Well, turns out that now Tramadol is under control from the FDA so I have to get a prescription and take it to a pharmacy? That doesn't totally make sense to me because isn't a vet office technically also a pharmacy for pets? Anyways... it wasn't really working so I was just about to switch him back to Torbegesie. So when I went to the vet and asked to switch apparently Torbegesie has been on back order for 6 months. I was like... what are cats getting for pain then if neither one of these meds are available at the vet and they just kind of shrugged. Annoying. A new vet takes over the practice tomorrow (see previous posts). I am kind of excited about it because maybe they will be able to help me get Merry on something better for the pain.<br />
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I had to find another cat sitter. Sigh. The second one I found is now moving. So the third one is also from my vet office (this is my third vet tech who will be a cat sitter). I am really comfortable having them sit my cats incase something bad happens. My other cat Pippin has been doing really well. We did just do a glucose curve and he was a little high so we upped his Prozinc 2 units. It's scary though since he had that major drop in glucose last summer. <br />
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If you ever wonder how to make a cat box like this for your little box be sure to check out Pinterest. They have a lot of ideas.<br />
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Edit: We added another entryway for us to be able to clean the litter. It makes a big difference to not have to take everything off of the top every time we scoop. I tried to get an up-close shot of the hinges being used. Now I just need to paint this thing!<br />
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<br />Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-72871680345521781332016-02-11T17:42:00.000-07:002016-02-11T17:42:16.870-07:00Updates!! #diabeticcats Well... next cat (Pippin) was up for a teeth cleaning. I had been putting it off for a couple years. <a href="http://catsdiabetes.blogspot.com/2014/02/teeth-cleaning-sucess.html" target="_blank">Merry went in a few years ago </a>and it cost soooo much money. So I had to wait. I wish cat teeth cleanings weren't so expensive, maybe more people would do it. Pippin's teeth aren't as bad as Merry's. Even though diabetes can ruin their teeth Pippin's has stayed pretty good. In Pippin's 12 years of life I've had his teeth cleaned 5 times. I do think it's well worth it. We had a cat growing up who passed away because an infection that went from his teeth to his liver. Plus... have you ever had tooth pain??? Wowsers. A cat can't even tell you if they have pain so it's pretty important to get their teeth cleaned. Pippin did have two teeth pulled. Both had Resorptive Lesion. I had no idea what this was so I had to look it up. Apparently.. <a href="http://www.avds-online.org/info/felinelesions.html" target="_blank">this is where cells will absorb the tooth into the gum until eventually the tooth is gone! </a> WHAT THE! It is supposed to be quite painful. Just goes to show why it is even more important for you to clean your cats teeth.<br />
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Merry has been limping a lot, so I contacted the vet office and told them. I asked if we could try a different medicine to treat it. My old vet had put him on Torbugesie which I think he's been on now for about 1 1/2 years. He doesn't seem to be doing great on it. So now we are trying Metacam (anti-inflammatory) and Tramadol for pain. I really hope we get him able to not limp as much. He is still mobile though, gets around the house. Can get to his food and water. We noticed he's had a few issues with his bladder (Merry is supposed to be about 15 1/2 years old). He was sleeping on the couch recently and must've been so comfy didn't bother to get up to pee. So there was pee on the couch. We built a litter box cover and moved one of the litter boxes up to the living room which seems to be really helping him. In my next post, I'm going to show you what it looks like.<br />
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My vet office is now going to switch vets. So if you've read previous posts you would've read that my vet was let go... and ever since she left I haven't really had to see the owner of the vet office. He's an older man and wanted to pass the vet office onto his niece (the vet who was let go). Since that didn't happen the office has been up for sale. On March 1st a new group is going to take over. I am not sure if they will keep it a cat only veterinarian office or what. One of my favorite vet techs (and current cat sitter) left before the new company takes over. I am so sad. It is hard to find a good vet and now everyone is leaving. I hope the girl at the front desk doesn't leave, I interact with her a lot. March 1st we'll see what happens. <br />
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How are your diabetic cats??? Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-48650923463820184672016-01-10T18:32:00.000-07:002016-01-10T18:32:06.327-07:00Drastic Glucose Drop in CatsEverything is going well right now with Merry and Pippin. Though... back in July I was out late one night. When I got up in the morning Pippin was acting really strange. Pacing, strange meows, and his tongue hanging out. The only time I have really seen a cat have their tongues hanging out is when they are really hot and panting (they have no sweat glands so they have to pant). Pippin was not panting just had his little tongue hanging out. If you have had your cat for a long time.. you should recognize when something is off and I knew it right then and there. I called the vet office.. luckily I have a really good relationship with them and so when the vet tech answered the phone and I described to her how Pippin was acting she told me to bring him in right away to make sure he was stable.<br />
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I dropped him off and came home impatiently waiting for the phone call. I thought for sure he was going to die. When I dropped him off I told the vet to be sure to call me because I didn't want him to die alone. The vet wasn't worried one bit though so that made me feel better. I got home and they called me to tell me that Pippin's glucose was at 54. This is SERIOUSLY low. Coma low. I don't even know how or why that happened. The vet told me that this can happen at any time really. A cat could be going along with their insulin regulated (Pippin's had been regulated over a year by now) and then just drop out of no where. I was so worried. He stayed there all day but of course he refused to eat for them. So they gave him an emergency sugar kit. Eventually when I picked him up at the end of the day he was at 176. My vet tech sent me home with an emergency kit (be sure to ask your vet for one if you have a diabetic cat, I'm surprised I didn't have one in the house prior to this). The product is similar to this one:<br />
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That night Pippin still didn't seem to be doing well. He was straight moaning under the bed. Moaning. I have never heard a cat do this before in my life. He looked confused... jumping on the bed.. jumping off.. in the bathtub, every where. Restless. I knew he was in pain. If you have read previous posts, you know Pippin not only has diabetes but pancreatitis too. I called my sister and told her how worried I was and that I wanted to get some blood work done. She finally told me "he's your cat, you're paying for it so just bring him back." That made total sense. So the next day I set my alarm for as soon as they opened and called and requested some blood work done. Pancreas blood work is a different panel then the general blood work a vet normally does on a cat. So I had them do both. I went back up to the vet office and they did the blood work. The vet said he was glad I came back and what I was describing did sound like Pippin was in immense pain. He also said... "it's lucky this cat is still alive. If it weren't for us keeping up with his health he would surely not be around." That made me feel better... to know I really do what I can to keep Pippin and Merry alive. <br />
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Pippin came home and seemed to be feeling a little better on the narcotic. Most likely after all that happened with his glucose his pancreas acted up again. Which is supposed to be very painful. He did take a few days to get back to eating. So I had to force feed him a few days. Eventually he was back to normal. It was surely an adventure. I am so glad though I was able to see the signs of low glucose. We moved Pippin's insulin from 7 units of Prozinc, 1 steroid, 1 glipizide, 1/2 cerenia to 4 units of Prozinc, and 1 steroid. The vet did recommend taking Pippin off the steroid but that seems to help the most with his pancreas I was really reluctant to take him off that. So he's still on it 5 months later.<br />
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Hope this might help those of you with diabetic cats who might have a drop in glucose. It's really important to have some insta-glucose at home!Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-52224422403342371782015-06-15T20:56:00.002-06:002015-06-15T20:56:18.241-06:00Losing vet tech and cat sitterOK... so I lost my favorite vet in the world (though I did find her on Facebook so I was still able to personally tell her thank you for all she has ever done for my two kitties). I had to call up to the new vet and leave a message so he would review my cat's records and see when he wanted glucose readings. He said like every 3-4 months!! That seems like a long long time but I guess he thinks they are regulated.<br />
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Now that I have lost my favorite veterinarian, I am now losing my favorite vet tech! I went in one time looking to get some boarding set up at the clinic and my old vet told me some of the girls at the clinic will come to my house and watch my cats. This was extremely nice of her ... especially since it causes the vet clinic to lose money. I was a little nervous at first... I didn't really know the girl and I was allowing her into my house while I was out of town. She could've easily robbed me, so be warned.. I am not recommending that this is something you do. She came over and watched them. Eventually... she and I became friends outside the vet office/pet sitting. She is now moving at the end of this month. Such a bummer. I had been using my friends as sitters for years but that just became more and more difficult. I like just being able to pay someone to sit the cats and let it be more a business transaction.<br />
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I am supposed to switch to another vet tech. One I have met quite a few times and she is friends with the girl who is moving away. So I trust her... though it's always nerve wracking at first. It isn't much cheaper then boarding them at the vet office (which is cats only) but cats are always more comfortable at home. <br />
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For me finding a petsitter is like finding a babysitter ! Hard to find someone trustworthy. I'll miss my old cat sitter who sat the cats for the last time this past weekend. Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-15160228789396110792015-03-24T22:17:00.000-06:002015-03-24T22:17:08.750-06:00Finding and losing a good vetAll these years ever since my cats have been diagnosed with diabetes and everything else that is wrong with them... I found an amazing vet clinic. It's cats only which is even better. Yes there are some things that annoy me, like the fact that the techs and the veterinarian won't touch my cat Merry when I bring him in because he gets all vocal and loud and kind of aggressive so so they always think he is going to attack them. I have to handle him when I go in. They don't even touch him usually. But otherwise my vet has gone above an beyond for my cats. Giving me donated meds, even doing some appointments for free to just check the cats out. When I first started going to the clinic the veterinarian was fresh out of school. She was joining the family business to take over for her uncle so that he could retire. I would say she's been there now for like 3 years maybe a little longer. Today I found out she was fired. So sad. I only know this because I became friends with one of the vet techs there who actually comes to my house and takes care of the cats when I go out of town. Apparently the uncle had been unhappy with her for a while and was unable to retire. The vet wasn't handling the business side very well or something. It is a sad day for me. I am sure the vet will go back to the state she is from... though I wish she would go to another clinic so I could follow her there. I don't even know how I would find out though what clinic she ends up at. I wish I could let her know somehow how much I appreciate what she has done for my cats. Gone out of her way to research what's wrong with Merry. Looked for alternative meds to help him out. It's just sad that behind the scenes can make a vet just go away. The uncle veterinarian I have only seen once when I first started going there and didn't really like him that one time. I remember him berating me about the insulin I was giving and I was new to cats with diabetes. So we'll see how the care goes from here. It is sad though.. I mean my old vet even was going to come personally to my home to put my cats to sleep when it was time. I am pretty sure the new vet would never do anything like that. Just a sad day all around. <br />
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Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-17966326601993993992014-11-15T20:58:00.000-07:002014-11-15T22:40:47.776-07:00November is Pet Diabetic Month<span class="userContent">November is Pet Diabetes Month. Diabetes in
cats can be managed with proper diet, blood glucose checks and regular
insulin injections at home. If your cat has diabetes, or you suspect has diabetes,
you can check out the <a href="http://www.catvets.com/cat-owners/disease-and-conditions/diabetes" target="_blank">AAFP's website </a>for additional information. </span><br />
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<span class="userContent">It is quite easy to manage diabetes but not cheap. We recently started a new drug on my cat Merry called Pioglitazone. This drug replaces glipizide for him. It has been amazing. Brought down his insulin from 7 Prozinc units and 5 Vetsulin units to 3 Prozinc and 2 Vetsulin. So glad my vet continues to do research for my cats and discovers new drugs. After Thanksgiving we will probably try this medication on Pippin too. The only thing that is no fun about it is right after starting it you have to do constant Glucose checks to make sure they don't bottom out or that the Glucose is too high. I would recommend giving this drug a try. </span><br />
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<span class="userContent">Last month Merry's eyes did dilate differently one morning. For no reason. I called the vet and took him in right away. By that time his eyes has dilated normally. We suspect that the Acromegaly tumor moved around. The vet told me that if it happened again he would probably have to be put down because the tumor may have moved up against nerves. His eyes have been normal ever since! So maybe the tumor moved a little but is now back to where it is fine. Phew! That was scary. </span><br />
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<span class="userContent">So far things with the cats have been going well. With winter here they mostly sleep. Be sure to get your cats checked if you suspect diabetes. </span>Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-69580238611822164622014-08-02T23:47:00.001-06:002014-08-02T23:47:25.348-06:00UpdatesHello! I haven't updated in a while since things have been going well. We went on a vacation recently which is always hard when you have a diabetic cat (or cats in my case). Really it has come to the point where asking friends is a hassle. After my cats having diabetes for two years asking for a favor to have people come over has really just run it's course. No one wants to do it anymore. Maybe if my parents or sibling lived here it would be different since they are family, but we only have friends who live around us. So then we had to go on the hunt to actually hire someone (though we did offer friends the same amount of money it would cost to board them). Luckily we were able to find someone at our vet who also goes to people's homes to take are of their cats.<br />
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What is really great about this is that the vet allows this. It's not actually through the vet at all, they have their own boarding in the building. But they do allow the workers to tell people they would come to their house. So nice. I really prefer keeping the cats at the house. AND since she works for the vet if anything bad happened or the cats looked sick she could either ask my vet or take them up to the vet. It wasn't cheap but I had piece of mind.<br />
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Then.. the night we got back, I completely forgot to give them shots. I couldn't believe it. The only reason why I even realized it was because the next morning my husband woke me up to ask what time they got their shots and I couldn't remember. It dawned on me because I couldn't remember giving it to them. Being on vacation 8 days I guess will do that. I forgot to also set my alarm on my phone for the shots. I felt terrible. I know they probably didn't feel good at all. Luckily, there were no seizures or deaths. Which is what I was afraid of. <br />
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Soooo.. needless to say everything is back to normal. Curves have been coming out good. We will do another one next weekend. Pippin is on 7 units Prozinc, 5mg Glipizide twice a day, 1 steroid in the evening. Merry is on 6 units of Prozinc, 4 units of Vetsulin, 5 mg Glipizide twice a day. Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-91693189023969836042014-06-01T19:15:00.002-06:002014-06-01T19:15:32.047-06:00Arthritis in CatsEverything has been going really good with the cats... which is why there has been a lack in posting. I will say we have a hard time going on trips. We recently went on vacation and had someone lined up to watch the cats and give them shots and they bailed two days before we left so we had to scramble to find someone else to come over two times a day and give shots. We always pay people to watch them since they are hard to take care of. Pippin is now on 7 units of Prozinc, 1 Glipizide, 1 steroid in the morning and 1/4 Cerinia at night. Merry is on 6 units of Prozinc, 4 units of Vetsulin 1 glipizide pill. <br />
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I have noticed Merry has been limping a lot lately on his back left leg. I am pretty sure he has full blown arthritis now. I googled it, and it seems that there are a few ways to help this starting with medicine. Sigh... even more meds. It said either a NSAID or steroid depending on how bad it is. I am sure my vet will want to see him first before prescribing anything so there is $50 for that. I am going to give him this week and see if stays the same/gets better or wise. Hoping it goes away. So we'll see. I really don't want this to be the reason he dies. I had a golden retriever growing up and eventually we had to put him down because his hips gave out from arthritis. So sad. So here's hoping. Since Merry is overweight from all his other issues this makes his chances of having arthritis worse. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Merry</td></tr>
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Any advice for someone with a cat with arthritis? Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-64576249466143171992014-02-16T21:39:00.000-07:002014-02-16T21:47:38.878-07:00Teeth Cleaning SuccessIf you read the previous post on the blog you know we weren't able to clean Merry's teeth last week. He wasn't able to go under because he couldn't breath on his own. So this week my vet tried again using a different anesthesia. It was successful this time. Though it turned out quite expensive. When Merry went in the previous week my vet could tell he has a lose tooth, but that was all she could really see at the time. When I picked him up he had like 8 teeth pulled! I did have his teeth cleaned in May 2012 so I didn't think it had been that long and then 2 years before that. He has never had teeth pulled before now. I don't know how they got so bad. She did say that when a cat is diabetic their teeth will go bad... but that bad~!! He was under anesthesia for 50 minutes and so she didn't take xrays because he was under so long. Merry gets sooooo moody at the vet. I had to go in the back and move him into his carrier.<br />
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The vet did say she wants to see him in two weeks but she can't even get near him. I asked her how she would look at his mouth and she said from a distance. Well I am not going to pay $50 for her to stand away from him and say he looks good. I have been feeding him wet food for the week, and of course he is on all kinds of medication. I am going to start softening his diabetic dry food so he can eat that from now on. I think with all those teeth gone it's going to be too hard for him to eat normal hard food. His eyes also wigged out the night after his dental. One eye was fully dilated and the other was not. I googled this and of course this is a major sign of stroke. Luckily my vet will email after hours if you email her so I emailed her right away! She did say this was a symptom of coming down off morphine. But it was still very scary.<br />
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Be sure to get your cat's teeth cleaned. I had NO idea this is how bad his teeth were. I would've never know he was in pain. His breath did stink real bad so that's how I knew it was time. Plus my vet had 10% off this month for dentals so I saved a lot of money there too. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow teeth are the ones removed</td></tr>
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<br />Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-69104414479172796062014-02-03T16:22:00.000-07:002014-02-04T11:48:36.322-07:00Teeth CleaningMerry's breath has not smelled good lately and it's been about 1 1/2 years since the last time he had his teeth cleaned. I think it's important to take care of your cat's teeth. Imagine a painful mouth! Cats can't tell you when their mouth hurts so I try to do it every now and then (I don't do it as often as recommended though). If your cat has bad breath though then it's time. Most likely there is plaque stuck somewhere in their teeth.<br />
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He fasted during the night but since he is diabetic he had to have a little food this morning. No shot though, no food or water during the night. After dropping him off I called and check on him a few hours later. Turns out he couldn't breath on his own while he was gassed so my vet decided to not do it today. She was able to get some plaque off some of his teeth, but went ahead and woke him back up. He does have one lose tooth so she wants to try again. Next week we will bring him in and she will use a different anesthetic. She said they would be able to tell before he is under whether or not he can breath. I am hoping it works because a lost tooth can be very painful and I am not sure what the next option will be for this tooth. This month is<a href="https://www.avma.org/Events/pethealth/Pages/February-is-National-Pet-Dental-Health-Month.aspx" target="_blank"> dental health month for pets so my vet also offers 10% off cleanings</a>. I wasn't charged for today either which was really nice of them. I don't brush my cat's teeth though I should.. I do have a tooth brush and tooth paste for them for the vet but it is tough work. Be sure to get your cats teeth checked out especially if they are diabetic. I'll update next week about how that appointment goes.<br />
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<br />Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-88810373015597441542014-01-10T11:33:00.001-07:002014-02-18T14:22:01.017-07:00Missed Shots<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The worst feeling is when you and your significant other don't communicate right on who is giving the meds and shots and the cats miss it. This morning we both thought the other one was going to do it and then no one did it. Then becomes the debate... when to give the shots/pills. Right away or wait a couple hours and get them back on schedule right away. I feel terrible thinking that they don't feel good right now because of our mistake. This has only happened twice in the 2 1/2 years since they have been diabetic but it's AWFUL! <br />
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<br />Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-22594910589323405352013-12-29T20:29:00.002-07:002013-12-29T20:29:28.771-07:00UpdatesWell.... surprisingly things are going well here. Thought I would let you know... we tried a few different meds on Pippin and they seem to be working. Merry even dropped down a unit on his insulin!! So he is doing really well. I am quite pleased with the cats. Merry has puked a couple times this week and he never does... but I am hoping that it's nothing. Usually it's Pippin's puke I am cleaning. Merry also decided to pee for me today.. I put him in a box since he loves them and he got so excited he just peed. The joys of diabetic cats.. they just can't hold it in! <br />
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<br />Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-85175025797724298912013-12-03T19:30:00.001-07:002014-02-18T14:23:41.430-07:00Not much longer....So Pippin had a little episode of puke last night. He couldn't hold his food down this morning either. I called the vet and told them there was just no way I could have another $1000 day and that we keep going in and doing tests to only find out that his pancreas isn't doing good.. and same old same old. She told me to bring him in and that she would do an ultra sound for free to see how he is doing inside. When I called today I also told her we would probably have to put him to sleep. I picked him up this evening and turns out that of course his pancreas is still bad and has a lot of scaring in it. The gallbladder still has sludge in it too. The only organ that doesn't have any issues right now is the liver.. which will probably eventually will be going soon. This is called <a href="http://www.justforcats.evetsites.net/site/view/169215_TriaditisintheCat.pml" target="_blank">Triaditis</a>. <br />
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So we talked about what is next. She said there is really nothing left to do, the pancreas will not get better but can be managed. We are going to try that route... so Pippin will get a steroid twice a day, and nausea meds twice a day along with his insulin. She did say if this doesn't work we'll have to put him down. I asked about them putting him down after hours.. but they said for some clients they will come to your house and do it. Since we have been long time clients they will come to my house, I am quite happy about this. <br />
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Having a good vet even if they are pricey can really been a good decision in your pet's life. Today all the procedures and medicine I was sent up with were all free. That isn't something you get if you don't have a relationship with your vet. Even if you have a healthy cat be sure to do their check-ups and teeth cleanings and get to know your vet.<br />
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EDIT: It is now February 18th, 2014 and Pippin is doing really well. The mix of pills has turned his pancreas around. He takes a steroid, 1/2 nausea pill, and his diabetes medicine everyday. Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2288212466975535079.post-49314422972031201342013-11-24T19:15:00.003-07:002013-11-24T19:15:50.446-07:00Glucose ReadingsGlucose readings are tough. We don't take them everyday. I know that some people out there do. My vet has doing the curve every two weeks. The numbers are looking fantastic lately. I thought though I would give you a glimpse of what we do.<br />
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On the weekends we will go and poke their little ears. The reading can be all over the place so be ready the first few times you do this. It might just make you worry and panic. Never fear though! Keep honey and Karo syrup on hand at all time. If your kitty goes under 65 then put this on their gums. Make sure they eat if they are this low and give them some treats.<br />
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OK... so one things that is probably important is to keep a log on the days when you do this. We mark it with the time the cats received their shots, which ear we poked (very important because you probably will forget through out the day and you want to rotate which ear), the time you took the reading, and the name of the cats (if you happen to have more then one cat with diabetes like me). <br />
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This is a great video on how to take a reading. We use <a href="http://catsdiabetes.blogspot.com/2013/07/glucose-reader-trouble-new-insulin.html" target="_blank">One Touch Ultra for our glucose reader</a>. I will say that my vet told me NOT to use the type of needle used in the video to poke my cat. This is because the needle in the video will go right through your cats ear. We use <a href="http://catalog.bd.com/bdCat/viewProduct.doCustomer?productNumber=305122" target="_blank">BD PrecisionGlide Needle REF 305122</a>. This allows you to just poke the vein on the outside... though.... lets be honest. We have pierced the cats ears a couple of times. One time we poked Merry and he moved and the needle was hanging through his ear! I was totally panicked. He acted like nothing though. So I was more scared then he was. <br />
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The cats do know when it's time. We get out our little bag of cat medicine goodies and then hold them down!<br />
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So here is today's readings:</div>
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Merry 7 units of Prozinc, 3 units of vetsulin, 5mg glipizide<br />Pippin 4 units of Prozinc, 5 MG glipizide, and 1 whole steroid at night (tomorrow we start half a steroid). <br /><br /><br />Time Merry Pippin<br /><br />7 am 215 277<br />9 am 159 243<br />11 am 74 125<br />1 pm 52 97 </div>
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630 PM 81 321</div>
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As you can see Merry is very low. The vet has us switching him to 6 units of Prozinc and 1/2 a pill of glipizide starting tomorrow. We will do the results again in two weeks. These numbers are very good for Pippin and Merry. We are finally getting them under control. Luckily... our vet will monitor these readings for free. We email in the readings and she usually responds in a couple of days.... sometimes she responds right away. Hopefully you can find a vet who will also do this. Make sure your vet uses a glucose reader that pokes the ear. The first vet we went to actually made us bring in the cats and actually drew blood from their legs. There is no reason for this and only causes more stress to the cat. </div>
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You really should invest in buying a glucose reader yourself and just do it at home. You can find readers for like $40! Don't buy your reader from your vet. Go to Amazon.com and get a great deal on one. You can use any reader. </div>
Angela's Anxious Lifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01935144213302758223noreply@blogger.com0