Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: Harry and Katies Mum on August 15, 2011, 14:00:54 PM
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Hi all I haven't posted on here for ages but I desperately need moral support. We had to take my Harry who is diabetic to the vets on Saturday as he wasn't eating and had become very lethargic. Well the vet decided he had to stay in as he was very dehydrated. They put him on a drip and gave him antibiotics as they suspected cystitis and possibly pancreatitis. Vet phoned Saturday evening as Harry had managed to eat something and she hoped if he continued we'd be able to take him home on Monday. She called again on Sunday morning and unfortunately Harry had gone down hill again. She still suspected the above but possibly keytosis (sorry not sure if I've spelt it right) but his urine test was negative. Anyway she called again Sunday night to say he was brighter again and he's tried to escape from his cage and if she could get him to eat she would allow him to come home today. Spoke to her again a little while ago and although Harry is trying to escape he still isn't making much effort to eat.
I'm not sure how much longer they will let him go on like this.
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Sorry to hear that Harry is not well :hug: :hug:
Please remember Harry is your cat and the vet can only act under your instruction, she cannot do anything without your permission.
Afraid I dont understand some of the medical stuff but if he is stabalized and wants to escape, my humble opinion would be to bring him home. If he hates being in the cage so much he wont eat but he may at home.
Unless he is on a drip cos he is not full hydrated, get him out of there asap.
If he goes downhill at home then he can always go back but if he continunes not to eat this will kill him.
PS I would mix water with his food to stop him getting dehydrated again, start with a little and if that is Ok try a bit more
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Hi there thank you for your reply I was tempted to ask if they would let him come home as i'm sure some of it is he hasn't been away from his sister in 11 years they've lived with me for 6 years and even when I went on holiday they used to stay at home and I got someone in to feed them. I know his sister cried most of yesterday and last night as she doesn't undertstand where he's gone. Alot is complicated by his diabetes as we don't know whether he should have his insulin injections if he isn't going to eat but we can do his blood glucose at home to see if its high. I just don't know.
I've got to phone the vets at 4 to see if he has decided to eat - they were going out to get him some whiskas as they've been trying to feed them the special diet type bland foods and he's only licking it so hopefully he'll eat his whiskas. I don't know if they'll let me go and see him and perhaps he'll eat for me.
Oh I don't know I just want him home but I also want him to get better.
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All I can say is that it is good to visit cats and should welcome it, if they dont I would be worried.
I can understand that his diabetes is a problem but he needs to eat.
The vet must justify why he needs to be kept there and not eating doesnt do it!
I had the same problem with Napoleon at two seperate very good vets and the first time they tried everything to get him to eat but he wouldnt, trashed his cage and was howling when I went through the door. He started eating at home bit only very slowly.
The second time he was very ill for a long time and had an op which he recovered from fine but he just would not eat and he came home odd days but had to keep going back cos his bladder blocked straight away again..........its a very long story so wont go there but after a month of hardly eating at vets while on a drip and off and eventually him being force fed which was awful, he just went downhill and had to have my beautiful boy PTS, he had just given up.
I elected to keep him at the vets after a very delicate op and I will never know if bringing him home may have caused him to eat again but as his bladder had been opened and stitched I thought it best for him to be under 24 hr care.
In your position I would definately bring Harry home before he gets too depressed and as said you can always take him back again if he goes downhill...............I assume your vets has 24/7 cover as she wants to keep him??
You can insist cos you know your cat best and all the vet can do is tell you the reasons why she wants him to stay but its your final decision. :hug: :hug: :hug:
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having had 2 diabetics I would err on the side of caution bringing him home if he's not eating he can't process the insulin and this can lead to major complications
Also ask the vet if you can visit sometimes they will eat for us, I always take human foods, chicken, prawns and catmilk along with some catnip and their own bed or balnkie can work wonders though at one point mine had their own heatpads to
The vet doesn't know our animal as well as we do but medically they know what they are doing so raise your concerns and ask questions
Whilst I agree it is your decison to bring him home things to weigh up, how far away are you from the vet should something drastic happen
I am fortunate as we have done a lot of paalative care and can do injections, and put in lines and maintain drips as we have so many ferals our vets feel they are safer in the home environment
I say stay at the vet with personal feeding visits may be the best thing to get the everything stabilised again
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Thank you again for your reply I have to phone them about 4 to see if he's eaten I may well see if they will let me go and see him if they won't let him home and once there perhaps I can convince them to let them bring him home. I have his carry box in the car ready so there is no reason why I can't get him home today. I think your right if he's trying to escape he must be feeling better and they've taken a blood test today for which they'll have the results tomorrow so I can always take him back tomorrow evening or sooner if he really goes down hill. They do have an emergency vet I'm not entirely sure how it works but she's definately been in to see him all over the weekend and it was 9.30 last night that she phoned to give us an update.
Thank you for your reply Liz - I sort of understand what you are saying and I have tried to avoid searching the internet for info on the various things she mentioned but couldn't quite help myself so I do understand that some of what they think he has is very bad and there is the potential that he won't make it. Perhaps I'd be best trying to see him tonight and then perhaps leave him there so they can get the blood test results tomorrow and see what that tells us also perhaps if I can get him to eat we might be able to break what now seems to be a bit of a vicious circle.
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I always leave my domestic crew at the vet but my ferals don't cope outside their home environment so we can isolate them in the guest bathrooms with their things and they are much easier for us to handle to
The human food and catmilk does work, I had Bailey our current Alpha male at the vet 18 months ago and vet said he wouldn't survive and was on a drip, I bottle fed him cat milk 5 times a day - we have wonderful vets and after 5 days said I was bringing him home as he needed his Mum so nursed him back to health with pureed everything and raw foods to and he is now back to normal and we never found out what was going on despite bllod tests sent daily to Glasgow vets school we knew more of what he didn't have :shocked:
I would follow vets advice on the whole as they are the experts on feline care we are just the slaves who devote our lives to them :hug:
He also need to be stable on the insulin front and eating is what does that, having had a feral and domestic diabetic we are quite up on what they entails to
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Well just phoned the vet but the receptionist doesn't know and the vet is in with a patient at the moment so I've asked if I can stop off on my way home and see him. So 3 minutes to go before I leave and I can go give my little man a cuddle hopefully.
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Lots of cuddles from me too, good luck :hug: :hug:
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Hope Harry and you get your cuddles. :hug:
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Well I got in to see Harry - to be honest he doesn't really seem any better than when we dropped him off on Saturday although he did purr when I was fussing him. He still isn't really eating although he is licking his food but he can't be bothered to move to the extent that he's just weeing where his laying which isn't like my Harry he's usually such a clean boy.
The vet took blood today and she's hoping to get the results tomorrow afternoon so we'll just have to wait and see but I'm really not sure where we go from here as he's been on a drip since Saturday as he's not eating and he wouldn't take food from me either. He's had antibiotics, pain killers and anti inflamatory drugs so unless the bloods show anything I'm really not sure what we do next.
Suppose we'll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.
Thanks all for your comments and I'll keep you posted.
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Very sad when a cat is like that................what did the vet say about what is wrong with him?
:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
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I have no practical advice I'm afraid, just a :hug: and best wishes for Harry :care:
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hope Harry is feeling better tomorrow :hug:
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Very sad when a cat is like that................what did the vet say about what is wrong with him?
:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
She seems to be a bit stumped to be honest. She knows he's had cystitis because she's tested his urine and there was blood, white blood cells and protein present. She also seems to think he may have pancreatitis and also one of the nurses today could smell keytones on him but his urine test for this was negative twice.
They have sent bloods off for testing which should be back tomorrow so hopefully that might give them a clue but I've just been goggling things and found something called heptatic lipidosis (probably spelt that wrong) but its also called fatty liver disease or something. I am beginning to wonder whether its perhaps a combination of things and although they've tackled most of them this other one can only be treated by force feeding which is something they've been trying to avoid doing as it stresses him out although apparently they did yesterday I think she said. I might just be clutching at straws but I'll see what she says tomorrow when the bloods come back and also ask her about whether this fatty liver thing is possible as it can start 1 to 2 days without food and Thursday morning will be the last time he ate something.
The good news is they did get his blood glucose down yesterday so perhaps thats one bit back under control.
Think we are just going to have to take one day at a time and hope the bloods show something.
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If you check this post may give you an idea of the things to look for
I know Elaine lost the darling Eva the Diva but she researched and went down every avenue
http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,30794.msg554089.html#msg554089
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Hope Harry has improved :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Thank you all for your replies hopefully the blood results will show something so at least we know what we are dealing with. I feel a bit of a wreck at the moment but probably nothing to how poor Harry feels.
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sending some of these :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Today was a tough day we got a call from the vet at 9.30 this morning to say Harry was hanging his head and she thought it was a potassium deficiency but she can't test this and give him proper treatment so could we take him to their other practice on the east coast of the Highlands - we live on the west coast. I managed to track the other half down and we went and collected Harry and started the 2 hour drive to the other side. Harry didn't seem to bad when we picked him up moving his head around and actually quite alert. Half was there he was barely moving and I wasn't convinced we'd make it. Trouble is its summer holidays and there are alot of people around and only 1 very windy road from here to there so we went as fast as we could.
Anyways we arrived and met the new vet (consultant surgeon I think she was) she checked Harry over and said he was very flat but took him off to do blood tests and set up a new drip and asked us to go back an hour later.
So we went off and tried to eat something and went back to get the results now I can't really remember everything she said to be honest but his potassium level was dangerously low 2.1, I think, his blood glucose too high at 18. There was also something to do with his bile duct, pancreas, kidneys and liver but I can't remember all the numbers and whether they were high or low. He didn't have any signs of infection and the phosphorous was normal which apparently if it hadn't have been would have been really bad.
She wanted to give him chance and had already put him on a drip with potassium and said that if this was going to work he should pick up this evening so I'm currently sat here waiting for a call from someone to see how he is this evening and then she's going to phone me again tomorrow.
I think this is probably the last chance if this doesn't work I think we will have to say goodbye to our little Harry Monster but we'll just have to wait and see.
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So sorry to hear Harry is poorly ... can't offer any advice really but am sending lots of get well vibes from me and the furry purries are all sending kitty kisses to "The Monster" :blow kiss: :grouphug:
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Sounds like you have all had quite a day, sending more :hug: :hug: :hug: and positive thoughts for Harry
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So sorry to hear Harry is poorly ... can't offer any advice really but am sending lots of get well vibes from me and the furry purries are all sending kitty kisses to "The Monster" :blow kiss: :grouphug:
thank you for the get well vibes.
I've just spoken to the vets and they've stabilised Harrys blood glucose he is still holding his head funny and they are going to redo his electrolytes in the morning to see if things have improved. He still has a temperature so he's having more antibiotics and still having his potassium supplement. They are currently trickle feeding him through a syringe and I believe they are doing short acting insulin i/m to control his blood glucose.
I must try and get some sleep tonight although I don't suppose I will even though I'm knackered. The vets are going to phone me again in the morning with an update and we'll have to take it from there.
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Sounds like you have all had quite a day, sending more :hug: :hug: :hug: and positive thoughts for Harry
Thank you I think we need all the positive thoughts we can get. We just have to take it a bit at a time at the moment but I think perhaps time is running out as I really don't want to put him through things if there really is no hope thats just not right and I have to do whats right for him not me.
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Sending loads of positive vibes for Harry and you. :hug: :hug:
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Sending lots of good vibes for Harry and you,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I know how exhausting this is especially when you are so worried :hug: :hug: :hug:
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So sorry to hear about Harry hope he is feeling better soon (http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj286/dvora072096/SMILEYS/hug_pet.gif)
Sending big hugs to you and Harry :hug: :hug: :hug:
Xxx
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Well I've spoken to the vet this morning and Harry has perked up a bit and I think he might be eating a little for himself now. I also think she said he was sat up today rather than slumped over. Anyway she is pleased to see him a bit brighter although we aren't out the woods yet.
They have taken more bloods and they are waiting on the results. They are going to run a kidney function test today and also a blood glucose curve today. They want to keep him today and tonight as well I think.
Sorry I really don't seem to take in what they say sometimes but she is going to phone me again later today to let me know how he's doing and the results of some of the tests I think.
Here's hoping he's turned a corner and he will continue to improve but I've been hoping that for days so best not get my hopes up I suppose.
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Glad to hear that Harry has perked up a bit, fingers crossed that he is over the worst of whatever it is that is making him feel like this and that now he is on the road to recovery :)
I know how hard it is but stay positive hopefully he will be feeling much better tomorrow and allowed to come home ;D
Sending more get well soon vibes to Harry and big kisses :blow kiss: :care: :care:
and Sending you lots of suportive hugs :hug: :hug: :hug:
Xxx
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Glad to hear that Harry has perked up a bit, fingers crossed that he is over the worst of whatever it is that is making him feel like this and that now he is on the road to recovery :)
I know how hard it is but stay positive hopefully he will be feeling much better tomorrow and allowed to come home ;D
Sending more get well soon vibes to Harry and big kisses :blow kiss: :care: :care:
and Sending you lots of suportive hugs :hug: :hug: :hug:
Xxx
Thank you very much I am feeling much more positive now although I felt like this on Sunday and then came down to earth with a bump so don't want to get my hopes up too much. At least I've managed to eat today as I couldn't face anything the last couple of days just felt sick and not helped by the fact I am just so tired. I'll just keep everything crossed for now and hope that when she phones later its good news again. I suppose I'm lucky apart from when he was diagnosed diabetic this is the first time any of my pets have been sick so I perhaps didn't really know what I'd be feeling or just how hard it would hit me.
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Pleased to hear Harry was a bit better this morning, I hope he will continue to improve through the day and the blood test will throw some light on the problem.
It's heartbreaking when our furries are so poorly and away from us so sending you some more :hug: :hug: :hug: and of course more positive thoughts for Harry.
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Pleased to hear Harry was a bit better this morning, I hope he will continue to improve through the day and the blood test will throw some light on the problem.
It's heartbreaking when our furries are so poorly and away from us so sending you some more :hug: :hug: :hug: and of course more positive thoughts for Harry.
Thank you so much for your thoughts and hugs
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Sending positive thoughts from all of us here at the Clan for Harry and :hug: for his Mum
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Sending positive thoughts from all of us here at the Clan for Harry and :hug: for his Mum
Thank you
I've started clock watching hoping the vet will phone soon with an update and the results of his blood test, kidney function test and blood glucose curve. This waiting is awful.
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Nothing to add except a few more :hug: :hug: :hug: and to let you know I'm thinking of you
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I hope you have had a call and he is doing well and maybe you are visiting him :hug: :hug:
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hi all sorry I did get a call from the vets when I got in from work. He still appears to be eating for himself rather than being syringe fed. He's brighter and his potassium level is coming up and his temperature is going down. His blood glucose is stable in the teens so although higher than it should be it is stable now. He still isn't out of the woods but he seems to be getting a bit better all the time. The blood test the first vet did have come back and he did have or still have pancreatitis so they are treating that as well now. They didn't have the results of his kidney function test so hopefully get that one tomorrow.
They are obviously keeping him tonight and they will see how he is tomorrow and give me a ring tomorrow morning so all in all a positive day so my hopes are rising that we have turned a corner but I know it could all change. Its a shame he is now so far away that its really difficult to go and see him but hopefully if he continues to improve it won't be long before he can come home or perhaps they'll transfer him back to the vets here.
I did mean to post here earlier but after the call I actually felt really hungry so thought I'd better have dinner and then I sat down and actually fell asleep for a couple of hours so thats made me feel a whole lot better.
Thank you all for your thoughts and hugs.
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glad he is a bit brighter :hug: x
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So pleased he is moving in the right direction and getting good care :hug: :hug:
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Ahhh thats good news so pleased to hear that he's on the mend animals are a lot tougher then we think it's us that find it hard to cope in these stressful situations but that's all part of being a parent to our fur babies :)
hopefully you can rest a little easier tonight and get a goodnights sleep coz if he is coming home tomorrow/soon I'm sure that he will want his Mummy to be at her best so that he can get all of your undivided attention and lots of kisses n cuddles ;D
More hugs :hug: :hug: :hug:
Denise
Xxx
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I am so pleased Harry is doing better :) Hope he continues to improve and is soon back to within cuddling distance ;D Sending a few more positive thoughts and :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Thanks guys you've been great
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So Pleased Harry is doing better hope he has turned the corner and continues to improve every day
:hug: :hug: :hug:
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Hadn't heard from the vets this morning so gave them a ring. Apparently they are in surgery but Harry is brighter and they are doing another blood glucose curve and someone will phone me later.
I'm not very good at this being patient lark but suppose I'll just have to be.
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Just wanted to add my thoughts for Harrys' recovery, and hoping he can come home to you soon and be restored to his normal good health. :hug: :hug:
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Have spoken to the vets tonight Harry is eating well and his blood glucose is doing well. His potassium was abit low again today so they put a supplement on his food. He is moving about lots now and apparently is very grumpy because he doesn't like being shut in the cage.
They are keeping him tonight and tomorrow and are going to retest his potassium tomorrow and test his kidney function.
I'm hoping all the results tomorrow are good and that perhaps our little Harry monster can come home very soon.
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Glad there is more encouraging news for Harry :)
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c'mon Harry get better!!!
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Pleased Harry is still improving and sendiing lots of gert well vibes :hug: :hug:
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Hope Harry can come home son. More vibes for you both. :hug: :hug:
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Sorry for not giving an update earlier but didn't hear from the vets til late. Harry is doing ok he's blood wasn't as good as they'd hoped today and he hasn't eaten as much as yesterday but they think that is possibly normal as he was probably really hungry yesterday as it was the first day he ate properly. They have stopped his fluid therapy but are adding an oral supplement to his food I'm not sure what but I think its probably something to do with his potassium levels.
As they've only stopped his fluid therapy today they want to keep him in over the weekend to make sure he's ok and then run more bloods on Monday so they hope if these are ok we can bring him home Monday evening.
They say now he's feeling better he's abit of a nightmare as everytime they open his cage he's trying to escape and get fusses and cuddles off of everyone.
Someone will phone with an update over the weekend but fingers crossed he's ok without the fluid therapy and we can get the little man home on Monday we've really missed him and can't wait to get him home for lots of cuddles.
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Its sounds like he really misses you and hope everything goes well over the weekend :hug: :hug:
Its so hard when they are so far away and I understand the worry too :hug: :hug:
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Poor Harry obviously misses you as much as you miss him, fingers crossed he is back home with you Monday evening :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Adding my hopes he can come home tomorrow night too. :hug: :hug:
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Hi everyone sorry I've been trying to keep busy over the weekend so helping other half fit new radiators at my sisters house. Redecorated the living room last weekend so that I had something to keep me busy.
I haven't heard from the vets today which is very disappointing but as Andy says if there was bad news they'd have got hold of us so I suppose no news is good news.
I'm hoping he's done ok today so that we can go get him tomorrow and I've even put the dog crate in the boot of the car so Harry can travel home in that rather than in his little cat box as I thought 2 to 3 hours stuck in his little box wouldn't be very nice. Just got to put a litter tray in for him if we get the go ahead and I'm already to go and get my little Harry monster back.
I've missed him so much and really hope its good news tomorrow otherwise I think I'm going to be very disappointed. Thank you all very much for your thoughts and vibes and I'll let you know tomorrow as soon as I get news.
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(http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u55/BJ_BOBBI_JO9/Smiley%20signs%20words%20and%20greetings/th23_29_107v.gif)for you Sweetie I do hope it's good news for you tomorrow and that he is well enough to go home :)
(http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u55/BJ_BOBBI_JO9/Smiley%20signs%20words%20and%20greetings/th23_29_107v.gif)
Denise
Xxxxx
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(http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u55/BJ_BOBBI_JO9/Smiley%20signs%20words%20and%20greetings/th23_29_107v.gif)for you Sweetie I do hope it's good news for you tomorrow and that he is well enough to go home :)
(http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u55/BJ_BOBBI_JO9/Smiley%20signs%20words%20and%20greetings/th23_29_107v.gif)
Denise
Xxxxx
I second that with all my heart :hug: :hug:
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Just popping in to say got my fingers crossed too that you and little Harry Monster will be reuunited today and that all will be well. :hug: :hug: :crossed:
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Another one popping in to offer support and keeping fingers crossed Harry will be well enough to come home today :hug: :hug:
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Yipppeeeee my little monster in coming home today. Someone from Inverness has to come over to Fort William this morning so they are bringing Harry with them and I've got half day today so hopefully I can pick him up on my way home at lunchtime. Apparently he has to have tablets everyday not sure what for yet but that shouldn't be a problem he usually thinks he's getting special treats and takes any tablet I give him.
Thanks again everyone for your support through this. I hope I don't have to go through it again but I'm sure I probably will with 2 cats and a dog I won't get away with it I don't think.
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great news!
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:wow: That's super news!! I hope you don't have to go through it again - at least not for a very long time (as you say, how can we ever avoid it when we have so much love invested?) Bet Harry will be so pleased to see you all again. :hug: :hug: Hope the morning flies over for you now.
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Been reading and seeing if your lad was allowed home - great to read he's getting to come home today!
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Oh wow just read the news I am so pleased to hear that your little man is well enought to go home with you today ;D ;D ;D
someones in for lots of cuddles and kisses when they get home :blow kiss: (http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u102/dlefavour/HOValentine004HL.gif)(http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u102/dlefavour/HOValentine004HL.gif)
Such a happy ending :Luv2: :Luv2: :Luv2:
Give him a big :blow kiss: from me
Denise
Xxxx
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Finally Harry is home unfortunately his sister isn't quite so keen to see him and shes hissing and growling at him. I hope that settles down soon as at the moment he has hidden himself under the bed.
We've got a special gastro intestinal food to feed him and he has to have a potassium supplement added to this problem is its the dry food they want him to have and Harry prefers wet food but hopefully he's get used to it. He also has to have 1/4 of a pepcid tablet with 2 meals and 1/4 of another tablet and I can't remember whats its called.
We've got to go back to the vets tomorrow so they can check him and then its back next week for blood tests to be done.
I'm so pleased his home but I think its going to take a while for things to settle down as Harry certainly seems unsure of it here at the moment but I suppose thats no great surprise as he'd been at the vets for over a week.
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I am so pleased he is home ;D ;D ;D
Just a thought, Lupin is on gastro intestinal food still and its a wet veterinery food made by RC ,,,,,,,,,,maybe worth asking if he could have this instead. I suspect the dry you have is the dry version of this ?
If he can and will eat it, then drop me a pm and I will give you a link for cheapest place to buy it, My last lot of 48 pouches is going to have to be rebought I think but I can also send you a couple of pouches to try if the vet gives the go ahaed.
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I am so pleased he is home ;D ;D ;D
Just a thought, Lupin is on gastro intestinal food still and its a wet veterinery food made by RC ,,,,,,,,,,maybe worth asking if he could have this instead. I suspect the dry you have is the dry version of this ?
If he can and will eat it, then drop me a pm and I will give you a link for cheapest place to buy it, My last lot of 48 pouches is going to have to be rebought I think but I can also send you a couple of pouches to try if the vet gives the go ahaed.
Hi there. It is RC gastro intestinal moderate calorie food and the dry stuff is what we have at the moment. He's sort of eating it at the moment but its really not helped by the fact that his sister Katie is really giving him a hard time at the moment and Harry just tends to back down and walk off. We have to take him back to the vet tomorrow so I will ask about the wet food tomorrow - they may even have some there that we can take and try. I may even have to shut them in separate rooms at mealtimes but again thats difficult as they both graze rather than eating their meal in one go.
I hope to find out more when we go to the vet tomorrow and I'm just glad he's home but I'm also really paranoid about whether he's eating or not.
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It doesnt mention anything about calories on the packets or the box and understand the problem cos Ducha grazes and have spent the last 4 weeks trying to stop Lupin eating his food but because Lupin head locks Ducha who is 18yrs old I have to shut Ducha in so he is safe.........sigh
Hope things gradually get back to normal and the problem with his siter probaly is that Harry will smell of the vets not how he normally does.
Some times running a very slighty damp cloth over Harry and then rubbing it over the other cat will help, exchanges the scent.
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It doesnt mention anything about calories on the packets or the box and understand the problem cos Ducha grazes and have spent the last 4 weeks trying to stop Lupin eating his food but because Lupin head locks Ducha who is 18yrs old I have to shut Ducha in so he is safe.........sigh
Hope things gradually get back to normal and the problem with his siter probaly is that Harry will smell of the vets not how he normally does.
Some times running a very slighty damp cloth over Harry and then rubbing it over the other cat will help, exchanges the scent.
Phew I'm sort of glad I'm not the only one that has this problem I've managed to get him to eat most of his food and he was eating his sisters which is the same as his without the supplement on, I know she doesn't need the special stuff but I asked the vet when I collected Harry as I knew he'd want to eat out of both bowls he always does. I'll have to speak to the vet as I'm sure him getting food is more important and it was only a few mouth fulls he had.
Harry does smell different I suppose sweet is the word I think they've probably washed him at the vets as when he was really ill he didn't bother to move to go to the toilet so he was covered in all sorts.
I'll certainly give the damp cloth a go if she's still having a hissy fit at him tomorrow its all quiet at the moment but I think they are just keeping out of each others way.
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They should settle down together over the next few days. Yes, he will smell odd to her, and animals have an uncanny knack of knowing what they associate with the V E T (and therefore often sickness).
Gill, it's good to know when things like this happen, there are others on the forum who can offer constructive help and you've been there so often with your lovely Gang of Four (past and present) :hug: Poor Ducha. Loopy clearly cares a lot about him. It's just his "Geordie Way" ;)
Anyway, just wanted to say I hope Harry's spent a comfortable night back in his old familiar surroundings. :hug: Good luck with today's visit, and witht he food - hopefully you'll be able to ghet him the wet variety and keep everyone satisfied in the kitchen department. :hug:
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So pleased Harry is home and hope the vet visit today goes well. When Algie had an op Noodle wouldn't go near him for few days and he hadn't even stayed at the vets overnight, hopefully Harry's sister will soon come round :hug:
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Thanks all I must have been mad thinking that when we got him home it would all go back to normal. The night wasn't too bad although we went to bed and Katie usually goes to sleep on Andy's head but Harry who doesn't usually sleep on the bed decided he wanted to last night so Katie was having a pop at him. Not sure where they both slept in the end but Katie wasn't in the bed when we got up this morning which is where we usually find her. They didn't seem quite so bad this morning.
They usually share the same little tray and water bowl but I went round last night and set them up 2 different feeding areas and I've also put a second litter tray out as I didn't want Harry to stop going if he felt he couldn't use the existing one. Harry is usually such a clean boy he will hold it rather than mess on the floor but I suppose if he got desperate enough he would.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed it goes well at the vets today but I must admit I'm a bit confused as to why they want him back so soon but we'll just have to wait and see I suppose. The main thing is he's home and although not quite the normal Harry I'm fairly certain thats because he's been away so long and he's probably feeling a little drained having been so poorly like we do. He's certainly purring and coming up for a fuss.
The vet did let slip yesterday that this all started because we had to change his insulin as they have stopped making the one he was on and they hope that once he's fully over this and now his blood sugar is stable we should be able to get back to normal but he may need his special food forever due to the pancreatitis he suffered.
Thank you all again for your continued support and I'll keep you posted.
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Sorry I've missed this. I'm glad Harry is doing better and is back home. Fingers crossed he goes from strength to strength.
Have you got any feliway? That might help with Katie's reaction to him. It's completely normal when they've been at the vets for a while - he will smell totally different and probably has that eau de vet surgery smell about him!
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Sorry I've missed this. I'm glad Harry is doing better and is back home. Fingers crossed he goes from strength to strength.
Have you got any feliway? That might help with Katie's reaction to him. It's completely normal when they've been at the vets for a while - he will smell totally different and probably has that eau de vet surgery smell about him!
No I haven't got any feliway although I have to confess I was just looking it up on the internet. I must admit Harry does smell funny and the other half says so too. I don't think its helped by the change in food and also his potassium supplement that has to go over his food as that smells odd too.
I'll see how the 2 of them are tonight and then try the damp cloth trick and think about getting a feliway thing as well.
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Interesting you mention the change of the insulin cos there is a thread abut this somewhere and an alternative to the one that was stopped but it has to be sourced by the vet.
If I remember correctly.......ummmmmmmmmmm lol............one is bovine and the other from a different animal, cant remember which one was stopped but cats dont always do well on the one that they are changed to and believe its a insulin made for humans that is the one closest to the stopped one.
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Interesting you mention the change of the insulin cos there is a thread abut this somewhere and an alternative to the one that was stopped but it has to be sourced by the vet.
If I remember correctly.......ummmmmmmmmmm lol............one is bovine and the other from a different animal, cant remember which one was stopped but cats dont always do well on the one that they are changed to and believe its a insulin made for humans that is the one closest to the stopped one.
ohhhh I might have to go in search of that thread then and see if it happens to be the same ones as we've been using.
The vet was happy with Harry although he does still have abit of a temperature and so she's put him back on antibiotics. She also said we could switch him to the wet food and she had some there so thats what he's had for tea and it was head in the bowl and he was stuffing his face I haven't been back to see if he's finished it all yet but I don't suppose theres much left. I'm off now to search the internet to see the cheapest place I can get it from.
Katie is still having a pop at him but not as much as yesterday so hopefully in a day or two we'll be back to normal.
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oh my goodness I've just found the thread and Harry was on the Insuvet Lente and he's just been changed to the Cannisulin - I wish we'd known all this before and I even mentioned to the vet on the phone on the Friday when I was first worried about Harry that I thought it was his insulin. I wish I'd been warned I nearly lost my little boy because of this.
Hopefully he is stable now though and everything should be ok although from what I'm reading each bottle is different and I've got the one that the vets in Inverness where using and the one we were using that may have caused the problem so I wonder if we shouldn't use that bottle if it varies from bottle to bottle. I might have to ask the vet about that.
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Just to say we have had 2 disbetic cats and both were on Canin insulin and stabilised very quickly and were fine to their ends which was from an unrelated diabetic ilnness one at 14 and one at 19
Hoping things get better between the two of them and that you can get the insulin issue sorted, we always got a new bottle monthly wether the other one was finished as thats what they advise with Canin insulin
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some more healing vibes for Harry :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Thank you all. Harry is currently curled up in front of the radiator on his new bed he's even started playing again.
I'm hopeful that the insulin is now at the right dose as they vet sorted it all out while he was with them. What makes me wonder about the insulin is we only changed him from Insuvet to Caninsulin on the Friday and by the following Friday he was ill and Saturday he was staying at the vets. Its probably a coincidence but its certainly got me wondering and when we picked him up yesterday we saw a different vet and she implied it was all down to the insulin change.
Don't suppose it really matters at least he made it through and now we seem to have sorted the food as we can give him the wet version the only issue left is Katie to stop hissing and growling at him but it seems to be getting less so we'll see what the next days bring.
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I think you should check the insulin issue with the vet cos one or other insulin doesnt agree with some cats.
This is I think the cheapest site for the food with free P&P
http://www.medicanimal.com/product/~royal-canin-veterinary-diet-feline-gastrointestinal-so-wet/~product_id=795/~category_id=MA-CATS-FOOD-ROYAL_CANIN-VETERINARY_DIET/~root_category_id=MA-CATS
Sending lots of good wishes for Harry and hope he is stabalized now :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Am very pleased to hear Harry appears to be getting back to his usual self.
I agree with Gill - is worth mentioning the insulin issue to the vet, just to cover all of your bases. :hug: :hug: Mac says "Hi" to Harry. :cat rub: (And to Katie 'cos he's not rude :catlove2:
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Thank you. I will mention it to the vet as I need to phone her to sort out Harry's blood test for next week.
Thank you for the link Gill I'll have a look later tonight and do the order as he seems to quite like that food so I don't mind feeding it to him if he's going to eat it. Seemed silly to try and force feed him the dry stuff when there was an alternative.
Katie didn't growl or hiss at him at breakfast time so hopefully that little issue is getting there although I did have to remove her from his food bowl as she thinks its quite nice too I can see us having to shut them in 2 separate rooms at feed time otherwise he won't get his potassium supplement as Katie will have eaten it all.
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I think you should check the insulin issue with the vet cos one or other insulin doesnt agree with some cats.
This is I think the cheapest site for the food with free P&P
http://www.medicanimal.com/product/~royal-canin-veterinary-diet-feline-gastrointestinal-so-wet/~product_id=795/~category_id=MA-CATS-FOOD-ROYAL_CANIN-VETERINARY_DIET/~root_category_id=MA-CATS
Sending lots of good wishes for Harry and hope he is stabalized now :hug: :hug: :hug:
Gill
I found these people and they look to be slightly cheaper than the place you use. Unfortunately the guys you use will charge us delivery as we are in the Highlands and these guys don't appear to. I thought I'd post the link for you as you may get yours a bit cheaper here as well.
http://www.animeddirect.co.uk/cats/cat-food/royal-canin-veterinary-diets/Royal-Canin-Veterinary-Diets-Feline-Moderat-Calorie-Gastro-Intestinal-Wet-48x100g-Pouches.html
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Thanks for the link but they are a £1 more expensive LOL and were going to be my original option until I found the other.
Wow you are in the highlands, I know thats Scotland but not sure where.
Must make an order!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Thanks for the link but they are a £1 more expensive LOL and were going to be my original option until I found the other.
Wow you are in the highlands, I know thats Scotland but not sure where.
Must make an order!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
oh how weird as on the food for Harry its about 80p cheaper I've ordered some food for Harry so hopefully it won't take long to arrive although we've got the box from the vet so enough to keep him going.
We are about 2 hours north of Glasgow and about 1/2 hr south of Fort William where Ben Nevis is. We are surrounded by mountains and lochs the scenery is fantastic and everything is much more relaxed but then I'm originally from Surrey and tackled the M25 everyday. We only moved here about 3 years ago but definately the best thing we ever did.
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Thats really strange cos my site is £31.80 and yours is £32.99.............I wonder if it picks up something from our comps.
Arhhhhhhh the M25 lol but have to say I stilll love London but cant afford to live in the better parts or even the bad ones now.
Sounds lovely scenery where you are but just tooooooooooo cold for me, just like here where it spends more time raining than anything else........sigh
Hoping to move back east sometime but prices here are ridiculously low and nothing is selling.
If I can get to about 2hrs driving from London that will do me great and thinking about rural Cambridgeshire.
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Thats really strange cos my site is £31.80 and yours is £32.99.............I wonder if it picks up something from our comps.
Arhhhhhhh the M25 lol but have to say I stilll love London but cant afford to live in the better parts or even the bad ones now.
Sounds lovely scenery where you are but just tooooooooooo cold for me, just like here where it spends more time raining than anything else........sigh
Hoping to move back east sometime but prices here are ridiculously low and nothing is selling.
If I can get to about 2hrs driving from London that will do me great and thinking about rural Cambridgeshire.
hmmm possibly its not so bad as I paid £32.99 on the other site and no postage which is good.
hehehe it does get cold here especially the winters but we aren't great fans of the heat and it was too hot in the summers for us down there so its all good here. Rural Cambridgeshire is nice but my other half loves mountains so he loves it here and now we have a dog its any excuse to get up the mountain
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I would love to relocate to Scotland. Nethy Bridge would be my area of choice, although for many years we used to holiday in Strathpeffer up past Inverness, and Cromarty on the Black Isle.
I like Fort William and Fort Augustus but it rains a bit much there for me... :evillaugh:
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I would love to relocate to Scotland. Nethy Bridge would be my area of choice, although for many years we used to holiday in Strathpeffer up past Inverness, and Cromarty on the Black Isle.
I like Fort William and Fort Augustus but it rains a bit much there for me... :evillaugh:
Yep I know all those places - when we first moved up we rented a place in Tain and went to watch the seals and dolphins at Cromarty.
Its very wet here at the moment but I think the little midges are possibly the worst thing about being here :evillaugh: horrible little things.
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Got price wrong was £31.40 and no P&p!
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Have to say that here on the east coast we are basking in sunshine, we seem to be getting more this year
My BIL climmed Ben Nevis having walked the West Highland way earlier this year and it rained
Hope Harry is being a good boy and that him and Katie are getting on better
I just kept moving North having started life in Kent and now wouldn't move from where we are as we have our dream home and the cats and dogs love it
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Thankfully it didn't rain for too long today it was just very hard when it did.
Harry seems to be doing really well and is getting back to normal he's mooching about and eating well now we've got him on the wet food and the best bit of news Katie has stopping hissing and growling at him they aren't quite back to normal but its certainly a dramatic improvement from Monday. Heres hoping when he goes for his blood test next week the results are all back to normal. We'll probably do our own blood glucose curve this weekend to make sure everything is ok.
Thank you all for help and support through what I've found to be a very difficult time and Harry and Katie want to say thank you for get well vibes and the hugs.
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This just makes me so happy ;D ;D
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So good to hear that Harry's home and doing well! :)
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This just makes me so happy ;D ;D
What she said. :evillaugh: :hug:
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This just makes me so happy ;D ;D
What she said. :evillaugh: :hug:
What they said :rofl:
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This just makes me so happy ;D ;D
What she said. :evillaugh: :hug:
What they said :rofl:
The same :evillaugh:
Brilliant news :)
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Ditto :hug:
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good to hear things are settled again
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Just delighted that Harry has pulled through his awful ordeal and that Katie is slowly accepting him back :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Hi everyone thank you all. Harry is definately back to his old self can't wait to get his nose in his food bowl. Comes to greet everyone at the front door. Having a pop at the dog every chance he gets (which is a big black german shepherd! you'd think he'd pick on something his own size)
Katie doesn't worry about him now and we've had no hissing or growling so all in all I think we are finally back to normal. I just need to check with the vets today when to stop his tablets and potassium supplement. Also going to try and do a blood glucose curve at the weekend to make sure thats still stable especially as he's eating all his food now which I don't think he was doing in the vets. Also need to check with the vets when they want to do the blood test and then keep our fingers crossed for a good result.
Hopefully this time next week things really will be back to normal.
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Wonderful ;D
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Evening everyone well Harry still appears to be doing really well eating well, playing and everything he was doing. However we've done his blood glucose curve today and its not very good his lowest point was 15 and his highest is 24 not between the 5 and 10 he's supposed to be. I'll fax the curve off to the vets on Monday and he's going Tuesday morning to have his blood taken to test his potassium level, fructosamine and whatever the pancreas test is - she did say but I can't remember what its called.
Hmmmm just when I thought everything was getting back to normal we don't seem to be able to stablise his blood sugar hopefully its just a blip but I'm wondering if there is still something wrong with his pancreas.
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So sorry........could it be the insulin doseage is not right?
I dont know how the pancreas condition affects this but hope your vet can sort out what ever the problem is.
What effect physically on Harry does the elevated glucose level have?
Sending lots of good wishes :hug: :hug:
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Is Harry on Caninsulin? I'm just wondering if it could be wrong for him, as I think you said his previous insulin was discontinued? My boy Blackie's insulin was discontinued and he's on HPZ Bovine now. The vet said that was very close to his previous one which was HPZ.
Good that Harry is eating and playing well anyway. Good vibes for you both.
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So sorry........could it be the insulin doseage is not right?
I dont know how the pancreas condition affects this but hope your vet can sort out what ever the problem is.
What effect physically on Harry does the elevated glucose level have?
Sending lots of good wishes :hug: :hug:
It is possible the doseage isn't right but its the fact that the blood glucose started to climb again after 4 hours it is only supposed to be given every 12 hours so if it only lasts for 4 hours it means that it isn't lasting long enough.
Overall it probably doesn't have any effect on him it just means its putting all his other organs under undo strain which means in the long rung it won't do him any good - well I think thats what it means but I'll fax the results to the vet tomorrow and see what she says. I really am beginning to think its not the right insulin for him.
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Is Harry on Caninsulin? I'm just wondering if it could be wrong for him, as I think you said his previous insulin was discontinued? My boy Blackie's insulin was discontinued and he's on HPZ Bovine now. The vet said that was very close to his previous one which was HPZ.
Good that Harry is eating and playing well anyway. Good vibes for you both.
Yes Harry is now on Caninsulin having previously been on Insuvet Lente I think it was. I am beginning to think its not right for him. I might make a note of the one your boy is on as Harry has to go for blood tests on Tuesday so we can ask them if we can try that one instead if this isn't going to work.
I really am disappointed as in himself he seems to be fine but I know in the long run this is going to shorten his life if I can't get his blood glucose under control.
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Good luck with the vets tomorrow, and hope all goes well. :hug:
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Good luck with the vets tomorrow, and hope all goes well. :hug:
Seconded :hug: :hug:
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Thank you everyone I've been doing alot of homework today and have printed off bits and pieces from the internet for the other half to take with him, unfortunately I have to go to work but he's probably calmer than me and is certainly more scientific than me, but all the evidence points to the fact that this insulin is not for Harry and works to fast and for too short a period of time. I hoping he'll be able to get the vets to agree to change Harry's insulin but I do wonder if they will use the fact that he may still have an infection and or there is something wrong with his pancreas. We'll just have to wait and see but if we get no joy with the local vet we'll contact the people that looked after Harry the other week although they are 2 hours away I'd rather that than leave things as they are.
I'll let you know how we get on tomorrow but here's hoping its not going to be the battle I think it might be
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Good luck tomorrow and hope you can get his insulin changed to a better one for him :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Am sorry to hear this, but its good that you've been able to gather sources together so you can ask informed questions of the vet. Am keeping everything crossed for today's visit and hope that your Vet has some solutions. :hug: :hug:
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Well that didn't go well. Ok it wasn't our normal vet but she said the following (extracted from other halfs email to me)
His temp is normal and his pancreas doesn't seem to be painfull in any way so she's happy with that.
She admitted that it's very difficult to do much as she's not been treating him and Deborah is the best person to speak to.
She said to keep using the antacid pills if we have them and not to worry about the other ones. They don't have any in stock but she's going to order them just incase. If Deborah wants us to use them they'll let us know.
She agrees the glucose levels are too high but was VERY reluctant to say why and it's complicated by the fact that he's been so ill. She said the insulin company are very good at giving advice so she's going to fax off the curve and see what they suggest. She's said to keep his insulin dose the same for now.
I mentioned that we know that Caninsulin has caused problems and her response was: "It's the only licensed insulin now available". That's clearly towing the party line and when I asked if there were any other possible alternatives she repeated the same line!!!
She said the notes asked for a fructosamine test as well as the other tests (potassium etc). I did suggest that given that he's been so ill/not eating properly for 2 weeks out of 3 that the test won't actually show us anything meaningfull (other than he's not right!). She agreed with that and said that the results should be interpreted with caution and with due regard to his recent condition. She's going to contact Alison(?) in Inverness and see if the frutosamine test should be done or not. She's taken the blood for all the tests anyway.
I don't know what to do now other than wait for blood results and test his glucose curve again next weekend. I feel abit like we've fought to save his life and we've now handed him a death sentence because the insulin isn't right and we can't get it changed.
I'll have to speak to the other half later and perhaps we'll need to contact the practise in Inverness and see if they are more open minded.
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Not particularly helpful, I agree. I would contact Inverness and ask for their thoughts. Is it correct that it's the only Insulin now licensed for use? Seems a bit strictured if it is. Is always worth questioning on the basis that you "just want to get all of your facts straight before considering a second opinion." :hug: :hug:
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Apparently it is now the only one licensed in the uk as the other one which is what Harry was on the manufacturer has stopped making so you can't get hold of it anymore. However there is something called the cascade which uk vets are supposed to follow which means if caninsulin isn't suitable for harry they should offer to use a human insulin product.
I think we are going to have to prepare to go into battle but I'm going to wait for his blood test results which should be back Thursday just to make sure its not something on there causing the problem.
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That's irritating news. :(
I recall when Paddy was first diagnosed with Hyperthyroid, we had the devils' own job to try and get him to take his tablets, and because of his other health issues, operating wasn't an option available to us. Our vet said that had he been able to use the old style injection there would have been a very simple way of controlling it without undue stress to Pad. However, the medication in question had been withdrawn from use so we were stuck. In the end we abandoned his medication, and continued with regular checks to monitor him. We had a furtehr 5 years with him after that, so he didn't do so bad.
You should be made aware of all of your options though, so still worth asking.
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Daft question but we had a higher insulin dose at night than the morning shot, both of ours had no issues with Caninin insulin, Tiger was on 5 at night and 4 in the morning and he stabilsed very quickly and he loved his food more at night than through the day so maybe ask if one of the injections can be upped, we sort of had a trial and error with HRH Princess Sweetie she got her times moved to 08.30am and 20.30pm as she wasn't good first thing in the morning whereas Tiger need his asap in the morning so he could go off for a days hunting him being feral
Hope things can get stabilised, me thinks he does need a curve done at the vets just to see if anything else could be affecting him
Sending :hug: from all of us they so like to worry us
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Apparently it is now the only one licensed in the uk as the other one which is what Harry was on the manufacturer has stopped making so you can't get hold of it anymore. However there is something called the cascade which uk vets are supposed to follow which means if caninsulin isn't suitable for harry they should offer to use a human insulin product.
I think we are going to have to prepare to go into battle but I'm going to wait for his blood test results which should be back Thursday just to make sure its not something on there causing the problem.
Sorry to hear this. Does this mean Blackie's insulin is for humans? I didn't know this. His vet said straight away that Caninsulin wasn't suitable for Blackie anyway so I just accepted the vet was doing the best for him.
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When this insulin question first arose last year I think, the alternative was an insullin used by humans.
It does seem that quite a few cats do not do well on the one that Harry is on and I think that Ruths Lexy was one, and she is now in the States.
I do remember Lexy became very ill because the insullin was not working properly and once Lexy had been stabalized the insullin was changed.
I think you need to go to war on this cos this vet is dodging the issue by all accounts and Harry needs to be stabalized asap.
Sending you some boxing gloves and loads of luck in sorting the vet out.
Oh another thing, as long as the medication whatever it is works well on cats, with the owners permission unlicensed products that are used on humans or other animals can be used on cats.
This goes back a very long time because some human eye drops were used on my cat Kocka 10-15 yrs ago, they were very expensive and had to be got by the vets from Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. Metacam is another example because the cat version is relatively new but the dog version I think was being used on cats.
Because we are getting private medical treatment for our cats, so many options are there if the vet knows what they are doing.
:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
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Evening all I've spoken to the vet again tonight and they've sort of said its the fact that Harry had or still has pancreatitis that his insulin isn't working even though he had no sign of having pancreatitis until a week after the insulin was changed. They are testing his potassium, pancreas and fructosamine with the bloods taken today and should have the results on Thursday for the long term he has to stay on his special food, potassium supplement, pepcid and metroclopromide (sorry probably spelt that one wrong). If his fructosamine comes back if it is high they will increase his insulin by 0.5 i/u's.
It seems for now we are in stale mate but we have discussed it and will keep doing blood glucose curves to prove it isn't lasting long enough.
Oh also the vet decided to mention that there is now a blood glucose monitor specifically for cats and the human one isn't accurate when used on cats - so how come so many other people use the human ones!
I feel like they sort of know the truth but don't want to admit it.
I might have to see if I can find anything about Lexy as I'd be really interested to see if they had the same as Harry now has. Is there a thread on here somewhere does anyone know.
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Yes there is a thread and Lexy had a hypo I think, I wsill see if I can find it.
Here is the link
http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,36389.msg650227.html#msg650227
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It does sound like they're being very cagey - doubtless worrying about any possible come-backs against them, which is annoying as first and foremost, most of us just want to do the best for our cats, and at the end of the day potential negligence claims are one of the reasons why vets have insurance. You'd far rather they were just honest, as now you find yourself wondering.... :hug: :hug: Have you asked them to clarify the pancreatitis point? If not, then I would explore it further with them. :hug: :hug:
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We are going to wait for the blood results which should be through tomorrow and then I think we will be challenging the vets. We did some more blood tests on him last night and he started at 23.4 and only made it down to 20.6 which is double what he should be he's supposed to run between 5 and 10 so either its not working, not working for long enough or the dose is way to low we'll just have to wait and see I suppose.
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Any more news on Harry? :hug:
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Any more news on Harry? :hug:
Harry seems ok in himself. We've only got some of the blood results back for now his fructosamine was fair but having got them to give me the numbers they actually seem high to me about double what they should be which stands by the numbers I'm getting at home so they obviously don't go for the numbers the cat is supposed to produce which worries me a little. His potassium level is at the high end of normal so they are happy with that but they want him to continue having his potassium supplement for now along with all his other tablets.
I'm hoping to get the results of the pancreas test today but it may not be until Monday. I'm hitting a brick wall with regard to changing his insulin and also his food which appears to be too high in carbs even though its low in fat. I've found another food I want to feed which is low in fat and carbs but they say they don't want his food changed until they've sorted everything out. I find it all very hard to understand as if I can get his blood glucose under control his pancreas won't have to work so hard and if that settles down his blood glucose will come down.
Its now all not helped by the fact that the other half is siding with the vets and saying I'm being a trouble maker and if I continue the vets won't treat him anymore and then what will I do. So all in all I appear to be on my own with this and I have no choice but to follow the vets recommendations as I can't fight this on my own especially if the other half isn't with me.
So its onwards and upwards with the current regime and hope that the pancreas results when they come in are good.
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To question a treatment isn't making trouble, it's an information gathering exercise. You don't have to take everything on trust. Provided the manner in which questions are asked is polite and with due respect, you're merely ensuring you have all of the information you want to couple with your gut instinct as to what is and isn't normal for Harry. You know him far better than they do - they know his physiology, but you know him in a whole sense. :hug: :hug:
You can express your concerns without it resulting in your vet refusing to treat. I'm always asking our vet about stuff - I once had a disagreement with him when he wanted to sedate Paddy to take bloods, when I felt it was something that could be done without sedation (particularly as sedation at the time for Paddy was risky). Eventually after a lively debate he agreed to try it my way, and was surprised at the result. He later acknowledged with Paddy it was always going to be easier than he expected.
Good luck whatever happens. Sending snoozles to Harry. :hug:
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To question a treatment isn't making trouble, it's an information gathering exercise. You don't have to take everything on trust. Provided the manner in which questions are asked is polite and with due respect, you're merely ensuring you have all of the information you want to couple with your gut instinct as to what is and isn't normal for Harry. You know him far better than they do - they know his physiology, but you know him in a whole sense. :hug: :hug:
You can express your concerns without it resulting in your vet refusing to treat. I'm always asking our vet about stuff - I once had a disagreement with him when he wanted to sedate Paddy to take bloods, when I felt it was something that could be done without sedation (particularly as sedation at the time for Paddy was risky). Eventually after a lively debate he agreed to try it my way, and was surprised at the result. He later acknowledged with Paddy it was always going to be easier than he expected.
Good luck whatever happens. Sending snoozles to Harry. :hug:
Thank you - that was what I thought I only asked the vet last night if I could change is food as I understood that he needed to have low fat due to his pancreas but felt that the carbs were to high for a diabetic but I'd found one that was low fat and low carbs so could I switch him. Her response was she only knew Hills and Royal Canin and felt it was better for him to stay on that until they stabilsed him. So I asked if it was true if the blood glucose was high it would aggravate his pancreas which it turn would push up his blood glucose to which she agreed but she still felt it was best to leave as is so I agreed.
I personally don't think its the right answer and it is just a case that they prefer Hills and Royal Canin and this food I want to switch to is a Swedish food that I can get on the internet but I will abide by her decision and my other half's wishes for now.
I must confess I had trouble with this vet when we had my dad's puppy with us as I was feeding it raw as I do our other dog and have done for years. She didn't agree with/know anything about raw and wanted him changed to dry food unfortunately my other half sided with her again as I say we already knew the routine as we were feeding our other dog raw. After a month of dodgy tummy the other half agreed to go back to the raw food and the tummy settled down.
I'm not saying I'm right in what I think for Harry but from things I've read, and I know also the internet isn't always right, it seems the best option for Harry to help make him better. However I will abide by their wishes.
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We know you're not saying "I'm right" or that "internet is best" - you're just asking the basis for their treatment and decisions, and asking about things which could be ambiguous :hug: It's easy sometimes to be intimidated by professionals in whatever line of work they operate.
Oh, and give your OH a "biff" from me. :evillaugh:
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We know you're not saying "I'm right" or that "internet is best" - you're just asking the basis for their treatment and decisions, and asking about things which could be ambiguous :hug: It's easy sometimes to be intimidated by professionals in whatever line of work they operate.
Oh, and give your OH a "biff" from me. :evillaugh:
Thank you for putting my mind at rest the other half had me thinking I was being really unreasonable last night. I'm going to do another blood glucose curve on Harry at the weekend and hopefully his pancreas results will come back better and then perhaps I'll have a leg to stand on with regard to possible insulin/food changes.
hehehehe ok I'll give him a "biff" from you but he might like it :rofl:
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:evillaugh:
You're not being totally unreasonable at all. :hug: You're monitoring Harry's progress in a very sensible manner.
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Still no news on Harry's pancreas test results hopefully they will be back today surely they can't take any longer it was last Tuesday he went to have blood taken!
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Hoping you get some constructive news today. :hug:
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Unfortunately not no phone call from the vet so I'll call them in the morning to see if they've had the results - I'm getting more and more frustrated as time goes on.
Harry in himself seems fine although he's eating like a pig :rofl: and is getting very tempremental about taking his tablets but other than that he still throws his toys down the stairs to the dog and then the dog gets told off for trying to eat them and I'm sure Harry is sat at the top of the stairs laughing and when the dog tries to give the toy back Harry smacks her on the nose. So all in all normal behaviour has returned just not really sure whats going on inside and whether everything is getting back to normal.
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:evillaugh: Way to go, Harry. :hug:
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Whooppiii finally got word from the vet regarding Harry's pancreas test and it was 1.2 the normal is 0.1 to 4. something she said 4.7 was when they class as pancreatitis so Harry is well within normal range. His potassium level was on the high side of normal but he is getting 6ml of potassium supplement a day so thats hardly a surprise and she said it doesn't harm them being too high its only when its too low its a problem. That just leaves me his blood glucose to try and sort out but at least I now know there is nothing else going on and I can concentrate on getting his level down. Unfortunately the vets in Fort William aren't aiming as low as the vet in Inverness said it should be so he's going for another fructosamine test next week and I've already said to our vet that I want to have a discussion about getting it down. The vet in Inverness said 5 - 10 but our vet is keeping him at between 18 - 25 which in my opinion is way to high.
Does anyone else know what their vet keeps their cats blood glucose at? just so I have a reference point to work to I was thinking perhaps to aim for the 10 - 15 mark or as close as I can get to it no risk of hypo then but much better for Harry as I don't want to risk another bout of pancreatitis.
I am intending doing another blood glucose curve at the weekend before we go to the vets next week and I'm hoping the vet will agree to a change in food although the other half has said we could do it without their knowledge especially if we can't persuade them to change his insulin for now.
I just want to say thank you all for your support through this I was a bit of a mess really and certainly not thinking straight :thanks:
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So pleased :hug:
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Brill news ;D :hug:
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That's good news. :hug: Am hoping someone in the same position can give you an answer about the glucose levels applied for their case.
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Great news! :)
My boy is in the higher levels you mentioned, but you could try for the mid levels. They're not too bad. Our vet said it's better if they don't go too low. And some cats are difficult to get their levels down. Blackie took quite some time.
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Hi everyone just thought I'd give you an update on Harry - we seem to be back to normal thankfully they did another round of blood tests last week having stopped the potassium supplement, pepcid and metrochlopromide and everything is good no sign of infection, potassium levels back to normal and no sign of pancreastitis anymore so he's offically been given a clean bill of health apart from his diabetes which still needs working on but I've finally got my old cuddly fluffy purry Harry back
Thank you all again for your support.
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good news!
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That is just wonderful, I am so happy for you and Harry ;D ;D ;D
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Brilliant news! Am so pleased Harry is back to "normal" and very happy at the result. :hug: :hug:
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Great news, the famous Purrs vibes did the trick :)
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Fantastic news , i am so pleased for you and Harry of course :hug: :hug: :hug:
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That's really great! :)