artrageous
Member
Hello!
My name is Sharon (I'm from Virginia) and my recently diagnosed kitty is Riley. Up until six months ago, Riley was my healthiest and most low-maintenance cat, in a household of 7 indoor cats. In early May he developed a very hoarse meow, stopped eating and when he did try to eat (kibble), he would often run, as if it hurt his throat. He'd never eaten canned food, even though the other 6 have eaten equal amounts of dry and canned.
I took him to the vet, saying there was a problem in his throat. I feel his care was seriously mismanaged at that point because after doing a bazillion tests (which showed nothing--and some were absolutely unnecessary) and not trying to assist-feed him during the 3 days he was in the hospital (combined with the lack of food at home for about a week prior to his hospitalization), he developed FHL (fatty liver disease). When they finally sedated him to put in a feeding tube (and I'd reluctantly given permission for them to do exploratory surgery on his belly!!) they got a good look at his throat. The vet called me after he was sedated and said it looked like he'd somehow punctured the back of this throat on a stick or something (indoor cat...how??) and I said I that I did NOT want them to proceed with the exploratory surgery--I'd been saying all along that the problem was in his throat. Anyhow, much frustration about his early care....
The tube feeding went well after the first few days and his liver values improved. As he got stronger, he started eating some dry food on his own, making me feel that his throat was healing. All went well until he managed to pull out the tube on June 4th. He still wasn't eating enough food (dry or canned) and so tube #2 was put in on June 8th.
A different vet did the 2nd tube placement and she said that instead of a "puncture" wound in his throat, that he had stomatitis--a condition I'm all too familiar with. How/why the first vet "missed" that in May, I'll never know, but it would have saved putting him through countless (useless) tests initially and well over $1000....
This time he came home with a new feeding tube, antibiotics and Prednisolone to try to get the stomatitis under control. Again he improved.
He pulled out tube #2 on July 22nd, after I'd invested in a special collar to hold the tube in place--for most cats. At this time Riley was dubbed "Houdini Cat"...
On July 23rd tube #3 was placed and 3 teeth were removed; in retrospect, I wish I'd insisted that ALL teeth behind the canines be removed, because that's often the only thing that "cures" stomatitis (been there, done that; I have 3 toothless cats...)
Again, things went well (after he got past the worst of the effects of the anesthesia...) but tube #3 only lasted a week--we got into an emergency situation and *I* had to pull it out. He ate fair after that (me assist-feeding canned) but he was still losing ground and I could tell that his throat was still bothering him (he wouldn't even yawn widely because it hurt to open his mouth). On August 15th the vet prescribed Dexamethasone and after starting on that steroid, he had a very good late August-early September.
He started crashing around September 23rd to the point that I thought I was losing him. No eating, hiding, hissing at me. Thinking of all I'd put him through and knowing that I'd almost maxed out my credit card in trying to care for him, I'd decided he was telling me he'd had enough. But then there was a little rally late in the weekend and I decided to take him back to the vet to let them test to see what was going on. Aside from his liver values seriously going south again from not eating, his blood glucose level was 394. Most worrisome were the ketones (we agreed to stop the Dexamethasone right then) and the vet (a different one in the clinic--he's seen them all since May) said she needed to admit him to try to get him stabilized. The estimate I got was just under $1000. I said I couldn't do it, she gave him a pat on the head and we left. I told her I'd be back to have him PTS if he got too bad.
When this vet called 2 days later (using very somber tones, fully expecting me to say that he'd died) I said he was doing great--eating well (dry and canned), very active, running up and down the stairs, etc. and she paused a beat then said that "shouldn't" be happening. He had a great week and a half +, which was absolutely amazing since he'd literally been at death's door.
But then he started eating less again, even though (ironically) his mouth/throat did NOT seem to be causing him any problem. I was suspicious about blood sugar levels so I took him to the vet this past Wednesday (20th) and his BG was 384. The vet I saw this time (the one who diagnosed stomatitis--and my favorite one there) suggested insulin and I agreed. While I'm out of money for huge heroics (especially since we're still suspicious of some underlying cause of ALL of this) I hoped that a low, cautious dose of insulin might help him eat better and make him more comfortable.
I gave him his first injection Wednesday night (1U Lantus, 2x day) and by Friday evening he seemed to be feeling much better. He's had a good weekend, too, and while I haven't tested him (yet), I've noticed far fewer trips to the water bowls, less peeing and *much* more interest in food.
So here we are.... I've read through a lot of messages here, researched on the internet, etc. and understand the reasons why cats with diabetes should be on a canned food only diet. Riley still maintains that he doesn't LIKE canned food, (though I'm still assist-feeding him canned at least 3 times a day). But right now it's critically important for him to EAT!!!! to avoid developing FHL again and when he's actually ASKING for food (dry) I feel I need to give it to him. I've read about ways to try to switch everyone over to canned and how it takes time and I'll work on it.... Again I'm seeing NO throat issues or pain associated with eating the dry food, so I'm not sure if he actually has stomatitis. All we've done through ALL of this is treat symptoms (and there have been more I haven't mentioned, which *may* indicate some weird autoimmune thing).
A friend who recently lost her very old diabetic cat is going to give me her meter tomorrow. I don't think I'll be testing as much as some of you do (I'm cool giving injections, not too cool at the thought of poking him in the ear) but I think it would be very helpful to do home testing. My primary vet is very supportive of however I want to go about this.
I apologize for writing a novelette as an introduction, but I figured it might help to throw all the information/history out there!
My name is Sharon (I'm from Virginia) and my recently diagnosed kitty is Riley. Up until six months ago, Riley was my healthiest and most low-maintenance cat, in a household of 7 indoor cats. In early May he developed a very hoarse meow, stopped eating and when he did try to eat (kibble), he would often run, as if it hurt his throat. He'd never eaten canned food, even though the other 6 have eaten equal amounts of dry and canned.
I took him to the vet, saying there was a problem in his throat. I feel his care was seriously mismanaged at that point because after doing a bazillion tests (which showed nothing--and some were absolutely unnecessary) and not trying to assist-feed him during the 3 days he was in the hospital (combined with the lack of food at home for about a week prior to his hospitalization), he developed FHL (fatty liver disease). When they finally sedated him to put in a feeding tube (and I'd reluctantly given permission for them to do exploratory surgery on his belly!!) they got a good look at his throat. The vet called me after he was sedated and said it looked like he'd somehow punctured the back of this throat on a stick or something (indoor cat...how??) and I said I that I did NOT want them to proceed with the exploratory surgery--I'd been saying all along that the problem was in his throat. Anyhow, much frustration about his early care....
The tube feeding went well after the first few days and his liver values improved. As he got stronger, he started eating some dry food on his own, making me feel that his throat was healing. All went well until he managed to pull out the tube on June 4th. He still wasn't eating enough food (dry or canned) and so tube #2 was put in on June 8th.
A different vet did the 2nd tube placement and she said that instead of a "puncture" wound in his throat, that he had stomatitis--a condition I'm all too familiar with. How/why the first vet "missed" that in May, I'll never know, but it would have saved putting him through countless (useless) tests initially and well over $1000....
This time he came home with a new feeding tube, antibiotics and Prednisolone to try to get the stomatitis under control. Again he improved.
He pulled out tube #2 on July 22nd, after I'd invested in a special collar to hold the tube in place--for most cats. At this time Riley was dubbed "Houdini Cat"...
On July 23rd tube #3 was placed and 3 teeth were removed; in retrospect, I wish I'd insisted that ALL teeth behind the canines be removed, because that's often the only thing that "cures" stomatitis (been there, done that; I have 3 toothless cats...)
Again, things went well (after he got past the worst of the effects of the anesthesia...) but tube #3 only lasted a week--we got into an emergency situation and *I* had to pull it out. He ate fair after that (me assist-feeding canned) but he was still losing ground and I could tell that his throat was still bothering him (he wouldn't even yawn widely because it hurt to open his mouth). On August 15th the vet prescribed Dexamethasone and after starting on that steroid, he had a very good late August-early September.
He started crashing around September 23rd to the point that I thought I was losing him. No eating, hiding, hissing at me. Thinking of all I'd put him through and knowing that I'd almost maxed out my credit card in trying to care for him, I'd decided he was telling me he'd had enough. But then there was a little rally late in the weekend and I decided to take him back to the vet to let them test to see what was going on. Aside from his liver values seriously going south again from not eating, his blood glucose level was 394. Most worrisome were the ketones (we agreed to stop the Dexamethasone right then) and the vet (a different one in the clinic--he's seen them all since May) said she needed to admit him to try to get him stabilized. The estimate I got was just under $1000. I said I couldn't do it, she gave him a pat on the head and we left. I told her I'd be back to have him PTS if he got too bad.
When this vet called 2 days later (using very somber tones, fully expecting me to say that he'd died) I said he was doing great--eating well (dry and canned), very active, running up and down the stairs, etc. and she paused a beat then said that "shouldn't" be happening. He had a great week and a half +, which was absolutely amazing since he'd literally been at death's door.
But then he started eating less again, even though (ironically) his mouth/throat did NOT seem to be causing him any problem. I was suspicious about blood sugar levels so I took him to the vet this past Wednesday (20th) and his BG was 384. The vet I saw this time (the one who diagnosed stomatitis--and my favorite one there) suggested insulin and I agreed. While I'm out of money for huge heroics (especially since we're still suspicious of some underlying cause of ALL of this) I hoped that a low, cautious dose of insulin might help him eat better and make him more comfortable.
I gave him his first injection Wednesday night (1U Lantus, 2x day) and by Friday evening he seemed to be feeling much better. He's had a good weekend, too, and while I haven't tested him (yet), I've noticed far fewer trips to the water bowls, less peeing and *much* more interest in food.
So here we are.... I've read through a lot of messages here, researched on the internet, etc. and understand the reasons why cats with diabetes should be on a canned food only diet. Riley still maintains that he doesn't LIKE canned food, (though I'm still assist-feeding him canned at least 3 times a day). But right now it's critically important for him to EAT!!!! to avoid developing FHL again and when he's actually ASKING for food (dry) I feel I need to give it to him. I've read about ways to try to switch everyone over to canned and how it takes time and I'll work on it.... Again I'm seeing NO throat issues or pain associated with eating the dry food, so I'm not sure if he actually has stomatitis. All we've done through ALL of this is treat symptoms (and there have been more I haven't mentioned, which *may* indicate some weird autoimmune thing).
A friend who recently lost her very old diabetic cat is going to give me her meter tomorrow. I don't think I'll be testing as much as some of you do (I'm cool giving injections, not too cool at the thought of poking him in the ear) but I think it would be very helpful to do home testing. My primary vet is very supportive of however I want to go about this.
I apologize for writing a novelette as an introduction, but I figured it might help to throw all the information/history out there!
