Sue and Joe-learning this and trying to get regulated

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here is one video I found of him standing, not really waving though. When he raises both arms he would usually start flailing his arms in the air. Very cute. He used to do it for Temptations and was quite the ham and do it for anyone that came over so he could get snacks. Those are the smacks that I am assuming lead to his illness.
 
Susan Pomo said:
The thing that happened is, I was on a walking routine, I would walk the dog morning and evening trying to get to my 8k steps on my Fitbit. Joe would walk with us, all the way around the block. He always followed (or lead) and so I assumed he was losing weight from the strenuous activity. He was not interested in eating as much but never really stopped eating. He had a few other issues and I was having his blood work done and nothing was showing up. By the time it got bad, when the weight just kept coming off, and he was always hungry, the next blood test revealed his bad numbers. He was close to 600 then. Right around this time he grabbed a turkey wrap out of my hand, another time I found he was stealing stuff, croutons, etc off the counter and eating them because I guess he was starving. It all happened so fast after months of nothing showing up in blood work. When it did show, it really showed. I was just grateful to have a diagnosis.
So Templeton was refusing to eat?
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That's completely reasonable to think he was losing weight from all that walking. And I guess it happened so fast, blood sugar must have be so high all the time, his body just wouldn't assimilate the nutrients. Grabbing the turkey wrap was probably when it got near 600! Poor Joe.
 
Templeton lost weight while I was out of town packing up our old house to move. Dad and his sister were there with him, but dad was sick and Auntie was in charge of food. She didn't realize how much less he was eating (her cat is teeny weeny). When I got home I picked him up and he felt like a different cat! He managed to go from 13.8 to 9.4 at his lowest before I was able to get the insulin going enough to work.
 
Susan Pomo said:
here is one video I found of him standing, not really waving though. When he raises both arms he would usually start flailing his arms in the air. Very cute. He used to do it for Temptations and was quite the ham and do it for anyone that came over so he could get snacks. Those are the smacks that I am assuming lead to his illness.
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Aww. They never do it perfectly on camera haha.
 
smorgasbord said:
Templeton lost weight while I was out of town packing up our old house to move. Dad and his sister were there with him, but dad was sick and Auntie was in charge of food. She didn't realize how much less he was eating (her cat is teeny weeny). When I got home I picked him up and he felt like a different cat! He managed to go from 13.8 to 9.4 at his lowest before I was able to get the insulin going enough to work.
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I read through Templetons SS and I see you skipped shots on the days he was testing low. Am I supposed to do that?
 
Susan Pomo said:
I read through Templetons SS and I see you skipped shots on the days he was testing low. Am I supposed to do that?
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Oh! No! We were just scared of low numbers. All except for the last skip was before joining the forum. Now I think for all of those low readings, I would give him insulin if it happened again. Now that I know what is safe, can be advised here on stalling or giving a "token" dose, and how important food is to prevent a crash.
 
And the most recent skip was my first day here, had just switched him to lower carb diet, so he could have gone even lower. Now I'm more comfortable.
BUT don't give the injection if he's low and you aren't comfortable. Start a new thread asking for help. Everyone here will immediately offer help and you'll have a safety support team if you decide to shoot low.
 
smorgasbord said:
And the most recent skip was my first day here, had just switched him to lower carb diet, so he could have gone even lower. Now I'm more comfortable.
BUT don't give the injection if he's low and you aren't comfortable. Start a new thread asking for help. Everyone here will immediately offer help and you'll have a safety support team if you decide to shoot low.
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thanks, I would not want to skip and was hoping I was not supposed to
 
You don't have to test his urine, but it's a good habit to get into, because the strips detect ketones. Ketones if they get too high, can cause the dreaded DKA. By testing daily, you can detect them early. As well as myriad other things like kidney and liver function.
I'm a little sleep deprived right now to be able to explain DKA and ketones, got 4 hours of sleep after up late with him. I'll try to find a good link on info.
 
There are meters which can test for ketones, but the strips are fairly pricey if memory serves, so most of us use the Ketostix - you just need to catch the kitty either midstream, and put the strip under, or some people find a big spoon or a ladle to catch the pee, then dip the Ketostix test strip in works too. Just be sure you keep that big spoon or ladle just for catching pee, I don't think you want that getting back into your usual rotation of spoons :p. The Ketostix bottle tells you when to check the reading and what the colours mean, the one I use is at exactly 15 seconds once the stick comes into contact with the urine. The strip will darken over time, which is why you want to catch it at exactly 15 seconds, then compare against the chart. Anything above trace on the urine test strip may warrant a trip to the vet, particularly if there are symptoms.

Ketones are important to test for, since the basic recipe for developing DKA is an insufficient supply of insulin + inappetance + infection OR other systemic stresses.

Here is some general information on Ketones including some symptoms to watch for: Info: Ketones, Diabetic Ketoacidosis
Here is the Primers on Ketones, Ketoacidosis and Diabetic Cats

A favour to ask, it might be time to start another post, this one is getting a wee bit long ;)
 
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