Advice needed, cat traumatized by vet visits

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fenderrae

fenderrae

Member Since 2021
So over the past few years whenever my cat goes to the vet she is terrified (even with giving gabapentin beforehand) and for a few days after has an upset stomach/diarrhea/nausea. My cat was diagnosed with diabetes last week and after two visits in a row she started showing these symptoms again. The vet prescribed a medication to take 2x as needed and after a day she seemed a lot better so i didn't give her another one and the folowing night she vomited again. She's had a little food and water today but I can tell she's not feeling great and I can't get her to take the medication. I am so torn because it breaks my heart to see her so upset but if I bring her back to the vet what if she gets much worse? Is the stress from a vet visit enough to cause ketoacidosis in cats if she didn't have ketones last week? My regular vet isn't in until Friday so I'm not sure what to do in the meantime. If anyone else has a really nervous cat I would really appreciate any advice you can give.
 
fenderrae said:
Thanks for your help! Yes the Lantus has been ordered but hasn't arrived yet. I'm expecting to start it Friday or Saturday depending on when it gets here.
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You're welcome :cat: Ducky is adorable
I see in your introduction post which I linked above your vet prescribed 1 unit twice a day
What are you feeling her right now
Did you get the U-100 syringes with the half unit markings?
Most vets don't have them
When the Lantus arrives you can start a new post and ask about the dose and link the previous post to your new one like I did above
It will depend somewhat on what you are feeding and if you can tell us some of the BG numbers you have

Mean time I will give you the link so you can read about Lantus and the 2 dosing methods and to choose one
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-basaglar-glargine-and-levemir-detemir.9/

Read all the yellow stickys

When you are all ready you can fill this out
Here is a link helping us to help you link. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help.

The signature is at the end of everyone's post in gray writing , do you see mine about Tyler
Then we have a spreadsheet where we enter our cats BG on to see how the insulin is working and how low it's dropping ,depending on which dosing method you choose it will tell you when to increase or decrease the insulin
When the time comes I can ask someone to set up your spreadsheet for you just ask
I'll give you the link for it anyway so you can read about it and how it works, you can go to any members spreadsheet just to get an idea what it looks like , mine says Tyler's spreadsheet, others might just have a link for it at the end of their signature
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/
 
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One other thing I see you bought the Alpha Trak which is ok but most of us here use human meters , that's what our numbers are based on, plus I know the strips for the Alpha Trak are expensive , I used to use them, then went out and bought a human meter, you will go through a lot when testing . You can always keep the pet meter as a back up .
If you are interested go to Walmart if you live in the US and buy the
Relion Premier Classic it's 9 dollars
17.88 for 100 test strips
Do you have cotton rounds and 26 or 28 gauge lancets
You can order the meter and test strips off the internet , they were very fast with delivery , just a suggestion
 
I will look into getting a human meter. Because of the mild vomiting/diarhea her appetite has wasn't good yesterday and I'm so nervous about DKA. I bought some ketone test strips yesterday and keep following her to the litter box but she doesn't seem to have urinated yet. She didn't have any when she was tested last Thursday but I don't know how quickly that could come on. I called the vet and they said they would have my regular vet call me tomorrow since she's out Thursday but I'm worried that's too long to wait. Just been a nervous wreck. :(
 
fenderrae said:
So over the past few years whenever my cat goes to the vet she is terrified (even with giving gabapentin beforehand) and for a few days after has an upset stomach/diarrhea/nausea. My cat was diagnosed with diabetes last week and after two visits in a row she started showing these symptoms again. The vet prescribed a medication to take 2x as needed and after a day she seemed a lot better so i didn't give her another one and the folowing night she vomited again. She's had a little food and water today but I can tell she's not feeling great and I can't get her to take the medication. I am so torn because it breaks my heart to see her so upset but if I bring her back to the vet what if she gets much worse? Is the stress from a vet visit enough to cause ketoacidosis in cats if she didn't have ketones last week? My regular vet isn't in until Friday so I'm not sure what to do in the meantime. If anyone else has a really nervous cat I would really appreciate any advice you can give.
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Intro post
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...home-blood-sugar-reading.255462/#post-2877022

Sorry I can't help but I can tag a few members for you
In your first post above you said you haven't started Lantus correct?

@Wendy&Neko

@Sienne and Gabby (GA)

@tiffmaxee

@Bron and Sheba (GA)

@Chris & China (GA)
 
fenderrae said:
The vet prescribed a medication to take 2x as needed and after a day she seemed a lot better so i didn't give her another one and the folowing night she vomited again. She's had a little food and water today but I can tell she's not feeling great and I can't get her to take the medication.
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Can you tell us what medication? And what exactly are you feeding when you say combo?
@fenderrae
 
fenderrae said:
I will look into getting a human meter. Because of the mild vomiting/diarhea her appetite has wasn't good yesterday and I'm so nervous about DKA. I bought some ketone test strips yesterday and keep following her to the litter box but she doesn't seem to have urinated yet. She didn't have any when she was tested last Thursday but I don't know how quickly that could come on. I called the vet and they said they would have my regular vet call me tomorrow since she's out Thursday but I'm worried that's too long to wait. Just been a nervous wreck. :(
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Ketones can develop quickly. DKA occurs due to lack of enough insulin + decrease in food/water + infection. Sometimes we don’t know there is even an infection.

If she is not eating, I’d take her to the ER and have her ketones checked if you can’t get a test. Better safe than sorry. If she is eating and drinking, you can probably wait a bit but keep trying to get a urine ketone test.
 
Marje and Gracie said:
Ketones can develop quickly. DKA occurs due to lack of enough insulin + decrease in food/water + infection. Sometimes we don’t know there is even an infection.

If she is not eating, I’d take her to the ER and have her ketones checked if you can’t get a test. Better safe than sorry. If she is eating and drinking, you can probably wait a bit but keep trying to get a urine ketone test.
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Thanks so much Marje :cat:
Hopefully she will come back on and read all of the messages
Thanks again :cat:
@Marje and Gracie
Hope you, hubby and the kitties are doing well :bighug::bighug:
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Can you tell us what medication? And what exactly are you feeding when you say combo?
@fenderrae
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Thanks for all your help and responses :cat: The vet prescribed Metronidazole and Ondansetron however I haven't been able to get her to take any aside from the first time. She used to take pills in the pill cover treats but I think she's figured it out and won't touch them. She hates wet food and the only kind she kind of likes is Royal Canin so I generally do half wet Royal Canin and then half dry Blue Buffalo (I know these aren't the greatest but she's so picky). However the past day or so she hasn't eaten full meals and will only eat a few treats here and there or a few bites of dry food. I called the emergency vet but they said they are only taking cases where pets are actively dying due to more cases than usual. Will try to call and ask (beg) for an appointment at the usual vet tomorrow. If they don't have a spot available there is another emergency vet I can try taking her. I tried to take her blood sugar but she's extra irritable and wouldn't let me and i didn't want to accidentally hurt her with the lancet. Just have to wait 4 hours til the vet opens, the hardest part :(

And regarding the Lantus, they said to wait until her stomach issues had resolved before starting.. Really hope they are able to see me tomorrow.
 
There are ketone blood meters that work the same as a blood glucose meter. That's what I used because it was too hard to catch my cat in her box. In the meantime feed her whatever she will eat. Try boiled chicken, tuna, ect. Maybe try a bit of FortiFlora on top. It's a flavor enhancer with probiotics.

Once I started testing at home my cat didnt go back to the vet for a year. I have a video in my signature showing how I tested my cat CC at home.
 
Thanks JanetNJ. She's going to the vet today at 2 since she's still throwing up here and there and has loose stool and her appetite isn't good. She'll eat a few treats here and there and a few bites of dry food which is all I can get her to eat. When she was taking her meds at first she seemed so much better but after a few times she wouldn't touch the pill cover treat anymore and I tried so many times to figure out how to hide it but wasn't successful. Tried so many different things I ran out of the anti-nausea meds, they didn't give that many... Maybe the fortiflora will be succesful in getting her appetite better. I feel like a terrible cat parent bringing her back to the vets but I figure they can at least inject some fluid and anti-nausea meds so she can feel better. The problem is that going to the vets upsets her and makes her stomach upset so it's like a catch-22, everything I do seems like the wrong decision :( Maybe they have other ways of giving the meds besides pill form.
 
fenderrae said:
Thanks JanetNJ. She's going to the vet today at 2 since she's still throwing up here and there and has loose stool and her appetite isn't good. She'll eat a few treats here and there and a few bites of dry food which is all I can get her to eat. When she was taking her meds at first she seemed so much better but after a few times she wouldn't touch the pill cover treat anymore and I tried so many times to figure out how to hide it but wasn't successful. Tried so many different things I ran out of the anti-nausea meds, they didn't give that many... Maybe the fortiflora will be succesful in getting her appetite better. I feel like a terrible cat parent bringing her back to the vets but I figure they can at least inject some fluid and anti-nausea meds so she can feel better. The problem is that going to the vets upsets her and makes her stomach upset so it's like a catch-22, everything I do seems like the wrong decision :( Maybe they have other ways of giving the meds besides pill form.
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Odenestrone can be compounded into a transdermal gel that you just apply to the ear. Maybe that's a better option. There are also appetite inducing meds that can go on as a transdermal gel.
 
JanetNJ said:
Odenestrone can be compounded into a transdermal gel that you just apply to the ear. Maybe that's a better option.
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Although almost all drugs can be compounded into a transdermal gel, it is not true that all such drugs really work. The following https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28112563/ is:
which is from J Feline Med Surg
. 2017 Dec;19(12):1245-1248.
doi: 10.1177/1098612X16688807.Epub 2017 Jan 23.

titled: Assessment of absorption of transdermal ondansetron in normal research cats

Concludes:
Conclusions and relevance Transdermal application of 4 mg ondansetron does not result in clinically relevant serum concentrations of drug. Despite characteristics of the drug that imply suitability for transdermal application, this does not appear to be an acceptable method of drug delivery for this medication at this dose. This study highlights the importance of assessing the suitability of each medication for transdermal administration.


 
Brought her in to the vet today, they gave her some fluids and meds for her upset stomach and checked blood sugar & urine. No ketones :cat: I can tell she is feeling better already and eating a little more. She was definitely very grumpy about the trip but ultimately glad we went. Hopefully she'll continue to feel better so we can start the insulin. Thanks for everyone's help, it is appreciated :bighug: Not easy being an anxious person with an anxious cat, sigh!
 
re the terrified traveler. I've had cats that followed me out to the car and leapt in and others that had to be cocooned in three piddle pads. Sometimes it's the things you don't see, not being in the exam room because of the pandemic that set them off. Nigel and Marco both loved the car and showing off on the exam table but clipping Nigel's nails sent one tech for stitches. Lucky for us there are 2X4's in the basement reduced to toothpicks and not the furniture. Marco was a rescue and was tormented with a spray bottle for six years before he came here. If a tech cleans an exam table and Marco sees or hears it the day is over.
Sometimes it's not the obvious things and not always easy to explain, especially to someone who just graduated from at the bottom of the class. Good luck!
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
Nigel and Marco both loved the car and showing off on the exam table but clipping Nigel's nails sent one tech for stitches. Lucky for us there are 2X4's in the basement reduced to toothpicks and not the furniture. Marco was a rescue and was tormented with a spray bottle for six years before he came here. If a tech cleans an exam table and Marco sees or hears it the day is over.
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Oh goodness!! So glad to hear I'm not alone in having an uncooperative kitty at the vet. Not being able to be in the room with them is so hard.
 
fenderrae said:
Brought her in to the vet today, they gave her some fluids and meds for her upset stomach and checked blood sugar & urine. No ketones :cat: I can tell she is feeling better already and eating a little more. She was definitely very grumpy about the trip but ultimately glad we went. Hopefully she'll continue to feel better so we can start the insulin. Thanks for everyone's help, it is appreciated :bighug: Not easy being an anxious person with an anxious cat, sigh!
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If you can get some food Into her, there is absolutely no reason to wait on the insulin. Holding off is just putting her at risk for ketones and it can also cause insulin resistance. The longer she stays at higher numbers, the more insulin it eventually takes to get her into better BGs. You might want to read this post and discuss with your vet about getting her started ASAP on insulin.
 
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