The Double Whammy

I'm so sorry that I haven't had time to visit your blogs since the other day, so please bear with me. I'll get caught up, hopefully, over the weekend. I have been working with a diabetic cat all week, plus this is my deadline week on both jobs! It's been like the double whammy hitting me! There's nothing more I'd like to do than read blogs and leave comments, but Daphy and my work have to take precedence over everything else for the moment.

I really haven't had time to post anything since the other day, as I am still working with Daphy, one of my diabetic cats. She's been a difficult one to get regulated again! I had her to the vet on Tuesday and left her there all day while they did glucose checks on her. Her initial glucose reading that morning was 494, even after her insulin injection. At 4:30pm, it had only dropped to 304, a far cry from normal, which for cats is in the 120-160 range.

Well, then Wednesday my friend Diane came to help me with her. Daphy can be a cantankerous old gal to get blood from unless there is someone to hold her, as she has bitten me before. At 9am, her glucose was 172. After feeding her, I gave her the insulin shot. I rechecked her again at 3pm, at which time she had dropped way down to 45...not far from going into seizures! My vet's instructions were to feed her again and give her some honey or Karo syrup to bring it back up.

That evening I had to go out and buy a new glucose meter, as my pharmacy did not have a solution I needed in order to check the accuracy of the present unit I was using. I was late getting home and then had to get the new meter set up with time and date, get it calibrated and all that technical jumbo they put you through! This new meter is much different from the other one. So it was 11pm before I could even get to drawing blood for another check. I was on my own this time (no Diane here) and had to do another blood draw, which revealed her glucose to be 376! Insulin shot given! I was surprised that the cat just laid there and let me draw blood from her front leg. Maybe she knows I am trying to help her. She really is a dear old cat, but she can be kind of crabby at times. I guess we may be crabby, too, when someone pokes us with a needle so often when we're her age. My chart states 14 years in a cat's life is equal to 75 human years.

Thursday morning, Diane had A/C problems, so I was on my own again. Daphy behaved herself and gave me no trouble getting blood. It was 106 at 10am. Vet said to feed her, but no shot, and to recheck her at 12 noon. It was 288 at noon. Still, no insulin shot to be given! I was told to do another blood draw at 10pm, and if it was under 200, give no insulin. If over 200, give the insulin. Well, it was 297 at 10pm, so I gave her the 6 units of insulin as instructed, which obviously was too much. She'd been getting 6 units for quite a long time, though.

This morning, her glucose was 137, so no insulin to be given as it was under 200! I was told to let her eat whatever she wanted during the day today and to recheck her at 4:30pm and to call the vet with the results. Her glucose reading was 396! So the vet said to feed her at her regular 9pm time and give her 4 units of insulin instead of her usual 6 units. No bloodwork this time as she was already at 396 at 4:30. Diabetic cats can only be fed twice a day, 12 hours apart, and right after they eat, you give the insulin. So she has been fed and given her shot. And I have instructions for the morning and then have to call my vet with her glucose reading before giving her any insulin. I do have a wonderful vet, and he's been so good to put so much time into this dear old cat, when she's only been in his office once this week. But she's been a real nightmare trying to get her regulated this time. I go through this every now and then with both diabetic cats.

It seems as if there is no end to it all! I will have to go through this same thing with the other diabetic cat, Cleo (Daphy's littermate), once we get Daphy regulated! I really have compassion for anyone with diabetes, as I just couldn't imagine going through this myself. Diabetes is a terrible disease for both humans and animals.

I'll try to visit you all over the weekend. I tried to access some of the blogs earlier, and I don't know why they wouldn't open, something about Internet Explorer not being able to access them. So if you don't receive a comment from me, that's the reason why. Hope you all have a great weekend!