Advice before vet visit please

Status
Not open for further replies.
Missy's Mum

Missy's Mum

Member Since 2013
Missy my 1 yr old cat takes 1 and a half units of prozinc twice a day and is fed half a can of friskier pate. Changed from purina dm based on info here about a cheaper option. Last week 185 for blood test and fructosamine. Liver value high. Probably because of mouse poison from pre cat days which I woke to find all over the floor. She found it above kitchen cabinets which she recently reached. Was told to come in for denamerin clavamox and fluids. Will cost me 120. Then pedis lite at home for 1mnth.
Not yet testing at home. Want to try. Nervous. Blood test showed glucose at 87 and fructosamine was 292. Does that mean she can be weened off insulin? Her pee is smaller than before. Only bigger according to water I add to feed. About 3hrs before feed she gets tiny tsp or half tsp snack with water. Anything specific I should bring up to vet when I go tomorow?
I think target easier for me than walmart for home testing stuff. But lancet and tools different sizes are confusing. So many options. Feel like I need some hand holding. Budget very tight and feeling strangled right now.
Please give feedback to help me feel prepared with specific questions for vet.
Also very low on insulin. Where cheapest and quickest way to get a new prescription?
 
I just looked up 1800petmeds. 130 insulin and 20 overnight delivery. 120 for vet visit 185 last visit with blood tests. I can't afford all these bills within 1 week. Then home testing will cost too. I am freeking out. This is too much.
 
I'm confused . The fructosamine levels seem low for a diabetic and 87 is a normal number. Was the 87 at the vet? When in the cycle in relation to the shot? (often cats are a hundred points higher when tested at the vet.). I am wondering if you test at home, if she would have numbers high enough to shoot insulin.

Regardless, I would get the testing supplies and get some numbers at home to see how she is doing, away from the stress of the vet's office. You should be able to get a ReliOn meter with strips and 25-27 gauge lancets with a lancing device at Walmart for around $40. Once you get some numbers, we can help you figure out what is going on. Her numbers seem very good so it might be possible to use much less insulin. (she has been on 1.5 units of ProZinc twice daily for how long?)
 
just pick up a Relion meter at Walmart and the test strips... you are in the US?
stick with the testing for a few days and see what kind of numbers you cat is getting.
The meter is http://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Ultima ... or/3555238
$15 and the strips are cheap.
Put off the vet visit if it's just for a checkup.
Go with the Friskies pate food and return the DM if you have some left and say your cat won't eat it.
Also, pick up copies of your blood test results for the cat.... people here can help you understand what the numbers mean.... saying liver values are high - well what are the numbers, exactly?

Testing is easy; you will catch on no problem. The number 87 is a great number,
You said you are giving your cat 1/5u of Prozinc twice a day, so you have insulin and syringes now, yes?

Yes, it can get expensive if you keep going to the vet for things to be done, but most can be done by you at home, and for next to no cost, plus your cat will be happier with you than the vet and the strange vet office with strange animal smells.
 
I am in nyc going to mobile low cost vet mobile. She is using insulin since July. The glucose level 87 and frctosamine 292 were from blood test 8hrs after last feed and done by the vet. Missy was screaming bloody murder while they drew blood. She is so difficult at the vet. The administrator of the vet mobile said her glucose levels seem normal and I should discuss with the vet how to wean her off insulin. She has to go to vet bc of her high liver. I can try reach him tomorrow and ask the number before I go. She may have ingested mouse poison. If her glucose seems normal then how come she is not reacting badly to the insulin? Have the same vial approx 3months.
 
Insulin can go bad.

Do you see any floaties? Clumps swirling around the vial?

Do you keep it refrigerated?
 
Always refrigerated. Cloudy at the bottom when held up to light. When mixed all has cloudy milky look
 
Is it safe to delay a vet visit if blood shows high liver count? She never showed reaction the day I found the mouse poison spread out. I assumed she had not ingested it based on her behavior. Went to vet as a follow up that recommended a blood test a month before. I was just way to busy that month. Missy is a handful, managed to open and eat turtle food, bread, cookies, poison. Since losing weight she is now 10.13 and climbs everywhere. No more hiding places left for food. Have to hide disposable gloves, she eats them too.
 
Why do u say Get purina dm? Friskies pate much cheaper. She is not fussy eater. Was told half a can dm per day so give same but friskies. She waffles down any food given. Her weight similar since changes from dm to friskies. Not sure exact. Hard to be accurate with all the binges she snuck at night
 
I think Blue meant you could return the Purina DM. They will accept the food and give you the money back. Friskies is fine and much less expensive.

The numbers seem quite low for a kitty stressed at the vet. Can you get the supplies from Walmart and test her blood at home? That would give us an idea of where she is on a diabetic range. Be sure you are messing with her ears and warming them up , getting her ready for her first poke.
 
Thanks for explaining that. Is it safe to miss vet visit for a week if liver high. Will try call for exact no later. Hope someone picking up today.
 
A glucose in the 80s at the vet is pretty low, and it doesn't sound like a place she would relax. You could reduce the insulin 0.25 units, which you'll need to eyeball/guess as the syringes don't measure that low.

If you check my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools, it describes some urine testing tips which you might do while you work on blood glucose testing. There are some inexpensive ways to assess her that also help give a fuller picture of how she is doing, such as measuring how much water she drank, looking at the size of the pee patches in the litterbox, and getting her weight.

Elevated liver values suggest something could be wrong with it or that the functions are being stressed. I would not postpone the vet - the liver must work or you die. It may help to replace 1/4 of a can of food with the same amount of lean cooked chicken or turkey as that may slightly lower the fat content. Too much fat can make it hard for the liver to work right.
 
If you can't reach the vet today, you could at least start testing and get some of your questions answered? What did the vet say about her liver levels? They gave fluids, right? Are you giving fluids at home?
 
I add water to her canned food. The vet will give her liquid subturaneously when I go andthen I will have to give pedialite. Last time she refused pedialite. Probably will need to add ittoo feed.
Frustrating to buy a vial insulin when she needs less. But quite low on supply.
When I wasn't adding water, I noticed her pee was smaller like before diabetes started.
 
The mobile vet left before I finished work. Can only go on Tuesday and wait on a realy long line to get seen.
Got copy of blood work.
Hope someone understands this

Young adult profile chem 11

ALK phosphatase - 39
ALT (SGPT) - 139 (high)
Albumin - 4.7 (high)
Total protein 7.9
Globulin 3.2
Total Bilirubin 0.1
BUN 14 (low)
Creatinine 1.6
Glucose 87
A/G ratio 1.5 (high)
B/C ratio 8.8
Hemolysis abn 1
Lipemia abn 2

Young adult profile CBC standard

WBC 13.2
RBC 11.52 (high)
HGB 16.6 (high)
HCT 50.4 (high)
MCV 44
MCH 14.4
MCHC 32.9
% reticulocyte .5
Reticulocyte 58 (high)
Lots more strange names and numbers normal and then
Absolute lymphocyte 7154 (high)

Fructosamine 292
Hemolysis index +1
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top