Cheeba is holding steady, for the most part

Warning! There will be graphic discussions of poop later on in this post, so if you have a weak stomach, read at your own risk!!

Cheeba still has high BG, but I think the ketoacidosis crisis may be over. I have been testing his urine 3 times a day with Keto-Diastix, and the results have been negative for the last 4 times. It be such a blessing if that were the case. He would have a real chance without his body feeding on its own tissue. He seems to have more energy, though not enough to play. He seems to have just enough energy to fight me when I try to test his blood glucose (BG). Ferretone is only distracting him slightly, so usually I have Steve help me.

NOTE: Getting a blood sample for BG testing can be very frustrating and sometimes downright impossible. This site goes over a really good technique for getting it. I highly recommend her technique!

Cheeba's food intake continues to be good. He's eating the A/D & baby food mix out of the bowl by himself, which is good. The syringe feeding was unpleasant for both of us. His water intake has gone down, but that's to be expected with the daily sub-q fluids and how much water is already in the baby food and A/D.

He is done with his ulcer medication, something I'm sure he is very grateful for. He took it like a little trooper, but I'm sure he was thinking what I was - enough is enough! I'm keeping him on the carafate for now, since high blood sugar can cause him to feel nauseated, and I have seen and heard him grind his teeth a lot in the past few days. I don't believe it's ulcer related though, as his feces are not at all black and no other ulcer signs (other than the teeth grinding, which just indicates stomach pain) are present.

Speaking of feces... (remember my warning! Oh ye of weak stomachs, turn away now!)

Up until Wednesday evening, his stool was remarkably well formed. I was beginning to think that he might actually be slightly constipated, given his noise when he pooped and the texture of the stool. It didn't even squish apart when squeezed, it just kind of flattened. (Yes, I picked it up and poked at it. I used a kleenex!) But for the past couple days it has been alternately formed and then a very loose, mucuosy, yellow-green liquid. I will be speaking to the vet about it when I see her on Sunday. I just hope it's stress from the health situation and not some new disease I have to worry about treating at the same time as diabetes. It was hard enough treating diabetes and ulcers at the same time!

And now on to less graphic discussions (hey, you're lucky I didn't include pictures!)

His BG has been all over the place:

11/1 am 534
11/1 pm 359

11/2 am 277
11/2 pm 378

11/3 am 411

There was even a result on 10/31 around 11pm (I tested him again because I had a really hard time waking him up) that was 130! Every time it starts to go down I get all excited, and then it just goes right back up again. It may be because he's on Humulin, which is a human insulin. Some other ferret owners with extensive diabetes experience have recommended that I put him on PZI, which is a cat insulin. I'm going to pick some up from my vet on Sunday.

So there you have it - Cheeba's "progress" in a nutshell. With poop.

Please continue to pray for him and think of him! If the ketones are in fact gone from his urine and he is no longer ketoacidotic, it is a major step in the right direction, but he's not out of the woods yet.

Tags

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ferret, ferrets, Diabetes, Ferret Diabetes, Keto-Diastix, Testing A Ferret's Blood Glucose