Talented toddler! ... Photographic career predicted?
Well, it's been a while.
Screech has been up and down on Humulin N, an insulin made for humans, for years now. He was last getting 8 or 9 1/2 cc units twice per day - that's a lot for a 9 pound cat.
So, we finally switched him to a new kitty insulin, made from cat hormones. He got less than 1/2 his dosage and it was too much. He may be switched to as little as 2 1/2 cc units once a day.
Sadly, Bootsie, the dog, is in decline from a degenerative nerve disorder that effects her hind legs. She's still able and perky, but she has 'crazy legs'.
Oh, noooo. This is so sad. Maybe it will sneak up on her, and she will think she is still her normal self. Sometimes animals are more accepting of these things than we are.
Anyway, best wishes to Bootsie from Roger, Spooky, Nermal, and Barney.
Thanks, Roger. She isn't bothered by the whole thing at all. I wish she noticed a little more than she does. As it is, she still tears out the door and runs for the yard only to slip sideways and nearly fall down the stairs. She still wiggle-waggles all over the place with her legs flying out sideways. She's falling down more often when she gets excited like that.
I keep wondering how exactly do I expect to deal with this thing. And this thing isn't waiting around for me to figure it out.
Oh! Poor Bootsie!
And poor littlek!
It is terribly sad when something like this happens to a beloved animal you love. THEY don't know, but it makes YOU so melancholy. I'm really sad for you, littlek.
How's Screech coping now? I hope this gets sorted out, pronto! Let us know about developments, OK?
I'm confused (what else is new?) as to the insulin switch.
The vet said she was going to start screech on a lower dosage with the new insulin (it's much easier to treat high blood glucose than it is to treat low BG). So, she gave him 4 units instead of 9. But, it turns out that the new units (it would seem that the new insulin needs it's own, different syringes) are 2.5 times bigger than the old ones. So, screech actually received more insulin yesterday than usual, albeit a new type.
After administering the new insulin, his BG fell dangerously low and fell in a steady decline instead of doing the usual bell-curve (lowest in the middle of the day, higher at the start and end of the day).
I had to watch him until late at night and got very little sleep. So, it was this morning that I realized that the dosage yesterday was more insulin than before (10 of the old sized units, instead of 8 or 9) and called the vet to leave a message for her to call me back.
Now I wonder if the new syringes that go with the new insulin are made with bigger units because those bigger units correlate better with the smaller units of the old insulin (PZI, the new insulin, is a new product on the market).
And, on top of it all, I've tested his urine for glucose twice since he came home from the vet - one last night and once just now. It takes a while for urine to reflect what's going on in the blood, but both urine tests showed high glucose. If I test his G later today and find it to still be high, I'll be at a loss to explain it.
Anyway, I wanted to get all this down somewhere and try to help get wording to put to my fretting.
Thanks for stopping in MsOlga. The whole Bootsie thing is frustrating because I can't do anything about it. But, it's also less emotionaly trying because of the same reason. I don't have any tough decisions to make until I have to make that final one. That'll be one of the hardest things I'll ever have to do.
How awful for you, littlek.
Hope it gets figured out with screech. And Bootsie sounds happy as ever.
How old are they?
Screech is 10, Bootsie is 9. Thanks, Soz.
So, units don't all have the same value, and nobody thought you might be interested?
littlek
Is the problem with Screech persisting? If so, get onto the phone right away to your vet & ask her what to do next. She should have told you of possible effects of the changed medication when she prescribed it. Not fair for you to have to figure this out for yourself!
Good luck, littlek, you don't need too many more nights like the last one!
_
"Thanks for stopping in MsOlga. The whole Bootsie thing is frustrating because I can't do anything about it. But, it's also less emotionaly trying because of the same reason. I don't have any tough decisions to make until I have to make that final one. That'll be one of the hardest things I'll ever have to do."
Yes, as you know littlek, I've had to do this a few times now. It is very hard. And very sad. But you reach the point that when it MUST be done, you do it ... Out of love for the suffering critter. In the meantime, your gorgeous Bootsie is having the very best possible life with you. A very lucky cat indeed!
I did speak with the vet, but I figured it all out before she got back to me. Screech is back to normal today and I was able to spend most of the day with him (of course, the kids had him running for cover). I still don't really know that I got my point across, but whatever.
That's very good news, littlek!
I suggest, in your next line of work, you become a vet! :wink:
mmmm, too much education and I don't think I could disect an animal.
I didn't think of the dissecting bit!
I have vets in my family, an uncle and 2 cousins (well, one cousin is a vet and one is still in school).
That's very handy, littlek!
Maybe you could work on the DIAGNISTIC side & leave the dissections to them?
It would be handy, the vets in the family, but they live at a distance that makes regular visits inconvenient. They are awsome for second opinions and major problems.
I'm sure there is some area of vetrinary care I could do without having to disect something, but I don't know what it is.
I suspect there is, too, littlek ... But I don't know what it is, either. Hmmmmmm ...
Or, maybe I could just volunteer at the MSPCA walking dogs and petting kitties.
That sounds good, littlek. We don't have those sorts of volunteer opportunities in Oz, with the RSPCA. Lots of folk would love to do it, I'm certain.
