Update on Doug & Boots

Well I checked in with Claudia, and Doug is doing well in his new home.  He was in isolation for a few days, but she noticed - much like I did - that Doug really wanted company, so she slowly introduced him into her home sooner then she was planning.  He integrated very well, and is enjoying life with other cats again.  He's still on insulin - and about the level I was giving him, so I don't feel like I completely failed him.  Learning a new insulin on a cat I had no history with was very challenging mentally and emotionally.

Boots is ... well he's Boots.  He loves to yell at me as most Siamese cats tend to do.  He's eating a lot.. DH feeds him a can of fancy feast in the AM and if it is all gone when I go down to see him I give him another one.  He gets a third can in the PM.  DH doesn't mix the food with water which is good to know he will eat straight food.  He's still drinking a lot (to me) and peeing a LOT (again to me) but he's putting on weight (although it is a bit slow for my taste) so I'm not going to push that he see a vet.  His mom will be back soon enough, and if he doesn't take a turn for the worse, I'll let his health be.

It's funny how I keep thinking of Boots the cat, but I keep calling him Doug.. I am constantly having to correct myself.

Two down, one to go

Pudding and Pip (shelter didn't like Pudding Pop) were neutered on Wednesday and came through it like troopers.  Mom showed some signs of discomfort, but only if you handled her.  The went in Thursday night to get ready to be adopted for Friday.  They needed some vaccines and deworming, but they selttled in ok and were fine when I left.

I feel a little bad that I wasn't more attached to them, but on the other hand it was a good thing.  They didn't need "ME", just someone to pat them, and feed them.  They will adjust nicely into new homes, and that is a good thing.  I don't think for a second they are going to miss me.

I came home and did a quick clean up of the kitten room.  swept up the debris, and picked up all the dry food (hid it so Doug couldn't break into it) and made it ready for his majesty's arrival.  I put his dinner down there, and tested him before bringing him down.  He was quite excited to be brought out of the office, and was perky and alert and happy to be carried until I hit the stairs.  Since he's never been allowed downstairs I'm sure it was a new experience for him.  He got quite concerned and tried to jump down.  I made it into the kitten room with him, and then let him down to explore.

He didn't care one iota for the food, but spent the next 20 minutes exploring the room.  Looking in the litter boxes, jumping up on the window boxes, sniffing EVERYTHING..   He wasn't upset just really curious.  I tried to pat him about 10 minutes in and I got a nice growl in return for my kindness.  I sat there for another 10 minutes and watched him.  He was fine.  Did not appear stressed at all.  He finally hunkered down and took a few bites of the food.

Then something caught his attention.  Apparently when I was cleaning, I missed a few rouge pieces of dry food that were shoved under the ottoman.  Now Doug had an activity to keep him busy.  He kept shoving his paw further and further under the ottoman, flipping himself almost upside down to try to reach even further.  He pulled out two pieces but that didn't stop him from trying to get more.  I doubt there was more under there but he was happy to have a goal to work towards. So I left him playing at that.

This morning he was happily sitting on the couch.  Testing was a lot easier then I expected it to be, and he pulled a 232 - pretty impressive.

Doug

Well Doug is definately a handful.  Although I'll admit it is more on my end then his fault.  I worry too much.

I don't quite understand the insulin he is on, and why he's not getting a good response from it.  But he's content (as long as he gets a midnight snack) and doing well despite the lack of good bg levels.

He also put up with my holiday cheer

Doug

Here's a picture of my 3am opera singer.  He is annoying the living daylights out of me.  Setting up a timed feeder worked the first night, but not last night.  Not quite sure what to do with him.  I started him on Lantus yesterday.  Hopefully that will help bring his blood sugars down a bit.

Introducing....

Doug.

and of course I don't have a photo. He is a large boy, solid black, quick eyes, long nose. Very regal and handsome. I very much want to call him Lord John.

Doug came to me through a plea on line from someone I know on the Feline Diabetes message board. He was surrendered to an open admission shelter and was rescued from being put down by a no kill shelter up there. The woman who contacted me isn't able to take him right now, and asked if I could. I am a little reluctant to do this, because of the slim to almost no chance diabetic cats have. Maybe this is mean of me, but there are so many cats and so few resources... that and I lived through Benny. If I just had the experiences of Bear and Reese, maybe I'd feel a little differently about it.

I am glad that diabetics have a chance that their owners aren't willing or able to give them... and since I was able to sign up for a limited time, I agreed.

I went up and got him on Friday. My own personal day went pretty miserable, since I had several errands that all blew up in my face (and didn't get done) but Doug was pretty laid back about the whole transition. I got to the shelter and got all his information. I forgot how laid back most people are about diabetic care. One test per day and their curve was three tests, one in the AM one at noon and one in the PM about the time for the next shot. His general BG was about high 200 low 300s.

He took the 40 minute drive home in stride. Not a peep or cry which is so novel for me who generally listens to my own cats swear at me any time they are even near the car.

He got home and walked right out of his cage, explored the room for a while (he's in the office) and made himself at home on the recliner. He jumped down when I put food down, and I patted him several times. He ended up letting out a very large hiss while he was looking at the food (and I was patting him). I wasn't quite sure what it meant, so I left him with the food for about an hour to see what happened. When I went back in he hadn't eaten and was once again on the recliner. I tried patting him again and he wasn't much thrilled. Not unhappy, but not happy either. I talked to him the whole way about the lancets, the meter I had, and the tissue I use. He wasn't having anything to do with it. He started hissing at me the whole way through, so I gave up and figured it would be better to not stress him out and since I didn't test him I had no idea what was going on with his BGs and since he wasn't eating, I skipped his injection. Not ideal, but it is way better to leave them high for a long time then to have them dip too low for even a moment. I left him with a small scoop of raw food, and I mashed up his canned (Wellness) and went to bed.

In the morning he had decided to consent to eat a little of the food. He at all of the raw though - smart boy. I offered him some Fancy Feast beef and chicken, which he promptly refused. I didn't go slow this time. I was all business and poked his ear and got the test. I tested on both the walmart brand glucometer and the freestyle meter I have. I thought all of my meters had dead batteries, but this one had a little juice, and since I had never used the walmart one, I thought it best to get two readings. The walmart one was 389 while the FS reading was 359. Pretty standard to have different readings, and as long as the reading is with in the standard deviation, I'm happy - and they were. So I injected him with the 3 units of PZI that was prescribed to him and went off to do my morning errands.

I came back and he still hadn't eaten the FF. at 2pm I tested him again and he was 271.

I couldn't help but wonder if he wasn't getting too much insulin. 271 is not much of a dip for three whole units of insulin on a cat. 1 unit is generally more standard of a dose. There are some cats that do need more, some that need less. But since he was in shelter hands and really wasn't getting care from someone with extensive FD experience, I wouldn't be surprised if 3 is too many for him. If it was the right dose, the half way point should be closer to 100 not 300.

So I decided to dig out the Special Kitty Turkey and Giblets dinner that I feed my own crew when we run out of raw (or forget to thaw it). it is also the food that got Miss Benny off insulin. That he decided to eat.

So I tested him again at 8pm, and his BG was 148.

Very interesting result. Was it the food? was it the insulin working slowly? we'll see what happens in the AM. I'm leaning towards it was the food, and I am expecting his AM reading to be reasonable. I wouldn't be floored if it was high again though.. FD is such an odd little disease to get a handle on. Especially since he's got pancreatitis on top of it.

So I have medication to give Eli for a few more days, testing of Doug, and the fosters downstairs, oh yea, and the rabbit who never fails to yell at me if I don't feed her fast enough :)