SaraMV
Member Since 2022
Hi, I'm not sure if I need advice, or just hope, but I feel lost right now and am looking for whatever help you can provide to me.
In early December, I noticed that the water bowl was emptying more than it should have been and there was a lot more pee in the potty box. We have two cats, so I wasn't sure which one was drinking more, but we have a lot of experience with cats and knew it wasn't a good sign if it continued. One of our cats, Taz, started noticeably licking his lips, but his nose was wet and he gets a kitty cold every year when the weather starts to change, so we didn't really think anything of it. He's almost 14 years old and we believe he has teeth issues because he's been eating sideways off and on for the past year (he had a couple of teeth pulled maybe 3 years ago). He hadn't been acting any different than normal, but I had noticed that he might have lost a tiny bit of weight over the last month or so (not enough to really be able to tell and my husband didn't notice it, even after mentioning it to him).
I've been off of work for the past 2 weeks and I was able to watch as Taz spent quite a bit of time at the water bowl every morning. Last Thursday he stopped wanting to finish his food. He would eat some, then walk away and come back later to finish it. It got progressively worse each day but of course vets were closed for the holiday. Taz gets fed 3 times a day, and only Friskies pate with the occasional little scoop of dry food. (Years ago my brother had a diabetic cat who would only eat dry food, so I stopped Taz from eating dry around that time because he was also obese.)
On Sunday, you could tell he was hungry but he wouldn't eat more than a bite or two. I offered dry food, and he came into the back porch because he wanted to eat. He looked at the food, turned around and I could tell he wasn't walking right. His legs started giving out and he was sliding across the floor. Once he made it to the carpet, he began panting really heavily. It lasted for about 3 minutes, before we got him calmed down enough to stop. He got up, walked normally to the potty box, used it and then ate half of the food I put down. It was like whatever happened, never happened.
We rushed him 87 miles away, to a 24 hour emergency vet. He was in his carrier from 2pm that afternoon, until midnight when they finally called us to the back. He was alert, so they didn't think it was life threatening. They did bloodwork, and a urinalysis (which we're still waiting for), and his blood sugar was between 500-600. She said he didn't appear to be in pain when she did his physical, so she gave him some fluids under the skin, and sent us home with a prescription for Lantus. I was worried about pancreatitis but she said he wasn't showing any signs of it and bloodwork didn't give her anything to be worried about, other than his sugar.
When we got home around 3:30am, he attacked the water bowl. We gave him food and he ate it sometime between 3:30 and 8:00, but he also vomited it up with tons of water three different times. He refused to touch any other food, or drink, and all he wanted to do was rest. I figured he was relaxing from all the stress from the prior day. But as the day went on, he threw up again around 11am, and he wasn't as alert. He also acted weak. He'd take a few steps, then lay down. We took him back to the ER yesterday and requested that he be hospitalized. They started him on an IV insulin and he responded really well to it with his numbers going down to around 200. He ate a little for them around midnight, and he's been alert. We requested that he have an ultrasound done today, and it shows that he has a moderate case of pancreatitis. He also has two small cysts and a 1.8cm one on his pancreas. One of his kidneys is also smaller than the other one, and he has a slight heart murmurwhich the first vet didn't catch.
They fed him around 10am this morning, and switched him from the IV insulin to the Lantus. They said he ate like a champ, but his blood sugar went back up to 500. The vet was trying to find a dose that would help bring it down and she ended up giving him 3 units. I'm scared this is too much, too fast, and that they'll make him go into hypoglycemia.
They are keeping him tonight and we're hoping he'll be well enough to come home tomorrow night, but I'm also really scared that he'll start declining again once he comes home if the pancreatitis isn't treated long enough. As of 4:30, he's still alert and interacting with them.
We have already purchased an AlphaTrak glucose meter, which will be here on Friday, and we had planned on changing him from eating Friskies pate to Fancy Feast Classic. But now that his kidneys are apparently affected, I don't know what to do. I know he needs high protein/low carb for diabetes, but low protein for kidney disease. Please if anyone has any advice, I would greatly appreciate it!
In early December, I noticed that the water bowl was emptying more than it should have been and there was a lot more pee in the potty box. We have two cats, so I wasn't sure which one was drinking more, but we have a lot of experience with cats and knew it wasn't a good sign if it continued. One of our cats, Taz, started noticeably licking his lips, but his nose was wet and he gets a kitty cold every year when the weather starts to change, so we didn't really think anything of it. He's almost 14 years old and we believe he has teeth issues because he's been eating sideways off and on for the past year (he had a couple of teeth pulled maybe 3 years ago). He hadn't been acting any different than normal, but I had noticed that he might have lost a tiny bit of weight over the last month or so (not enough to really be able to tell and my husband didn't notice it, even after mentioning it to him).
I've been off of work for the past 2 weeks and I was able to watch as Taz spent quite a bit of time at the water bowl every morning. Last Thursday he stopped wanting to finish his food. He would eat some, then walk away and come back later to finish it. It got progressively worse each day but of course vets were closed for the holiday. Taz gets fed 3 times a day, and only Friskies pate with the occasional little scoop of dry food. (Years ago my brother had a diabetic cat who would only eat dry food, so I stopped Taz from eating dry around that time because he was also obese.)
On Sunday, you could tell he was hungry but he wouldn't eat more than a bite or two. I offered dry food, and he came into the back porch because he wanted to eat. He looked at the food, turned around and I could tell he wasn't walking right. His legs started giving out and he was sliding across the floor. Once he made it to the carpet, he began panting really heavily. It lasted for about 3 minutes, before we got him calmed down enough to stop. He got up, walked normally to the potty box, used it and then ate half of the food I put down. It was like whatever happened, never happened.
We rushed him 87 miles away, to a 24 hour emergency vet. He was in his carrier from 2pm that afternoon, until midnight when they finally called us to the back. He was alert, so they didn't think it was life threatening. They did bloodwork, and a urinalysis (which we're still waiting for), and his blood sugar was between 500-600. She said he didn't appear to be in pain when she did his physical, so she gave him some fluids under the skin, and sent us home with a prescription for Lantus. I was worried about pancreatitis but she said he wasn't showing any signs of it and bloodwork didn't give her anything to be worried about, other than his sugar.
When we got home around 3:30am, he attacked the water bowl. We gave him food and he ate it sometime between 3:30 and 8:00, but he also vomited it up with tons of water three different times. He refused to touch any other food, or drink, and all he wanted to do was rest. I figured he was relaxing from all the stress from the prior day. But as the day went on, he threw up again around 11am, and he wasn't as alert. He also acted weak. He'd take a few steps, then lay down. We took him back to the ER yesterday and requested that he be hospitalized. They started him on an IV insulin and he responded really well to it with his numbers going down to around 200. He ate a little for them around midnight, and he's been alert. We requested that he have an ultrasound done today, and it shows that he has a moderate case of pancreatitis. He also has two small cysts and a 1.8cm one on his pancreas. One of his kidneys is also smaller than the other one, and he has a slight heart murmurwhich the first vet didn't catch.
They fed him around 10am this morning, and switched him from the IV insulin to the Lantus. They said he ate like a champ, but his blood sugar went back up to 500. The vet was trying to find a dose that would help bring it down and she ended up giving him 3 units. I'm scared this is too much, too fast, and that they'll make him go into hypoglycemia.
They are keeping him tonight and we're hoping he'll be well enough to come home tomorrow night, but I'm also really scared that he'll start declining again once he comes home if the pancreatitis isn't treated long enough. As of 4:30, he's still alert and interacting with them.
We have already purchased an AlphaTrak glucose meter, which will be here on Friday, and we had planned on changing him from eating Friskies pate to Fancy Feast Classic. But now that his kidneys are apparently affected, I don't know what to do. I know he needs high protein/low carb for diabetes, but low protein for kidney disease. Please if anyone has any advice, I would greatly appreciate it!
