Constipated kitty/when to start on home testing

[Erin720]

Hi, I posted the other day about being new to the forum and food. Thanks to all who responded. Boogie was just diagnosed with diabetes a 10 days ago. Yesterday Boogie would not eat. He also kept trying to go the bathroom (#2) but nothing would be in the litter box. I took him in today to the vet because I figured he was constipated. The vet took an Xray and there was a huge mass in his colon. At first, the vet didn't know what it was - a tumor or mineralized feces - but thank gosh, it was the second. Vet cleaned him out and it's all good. Anyway, he said it's common with diabetic kitties to have this problem and encouraged getting him on insulin sooner vs later, even though his usual vet wants to see what difference the wet food makes (saw a different vet in the practice since usual vet was off). Boogie's also lost one pound in 10 days, which the vet said is fast. (He's still 13.5 pounds though so I'm not too worried yet. I switched him from entirely dry food to wet the day after the diagnosis). The last BG reading he had last Saturday was 330, I'm wondering if I should start home testing? What level do kitties start needing insulin? Anyone else had this constipation issue with their diabetic kitty? Thanks.

 

[JanetNJ]

You definitely should start home testing. It's the most effective way to keep him safe and know when a dose is too high or too little!

Most of the folks on here feed fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods. Stay with wet. To help with constipation add a bit of extra water to the wet food and a teaspoon of plain pumpkin.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

It's absolutely necessary to start home testing.....when they're tested at the vet, they're under stress and that alone can raise the blood glucose up to 200 points!! Just like our blood pressure is higher when we go to the doctor, it works the same with our cats and the vets!

If he's been on wet food longer than a couple of days and is still in the 300's, I'd start insulin as soon as possible. It doesn't take that long to see what kind of impact the diet change will have.

Normal blood glucose for cats is 50-120 on a human meter .....although most vets will recommend 150-200 because they want the extra safety net since most people don't (or won't) home test.

If you live in the US, WalMart's Relion Confirm or Micro are good meters and affordable. They take the tiniest sample size too.

I'd start testing as soon as you can so you can see what kind of numbers he gets when he's relaxed at home and go from there.

If adding a little plain pumpkin doesn't help with the constipation, a lot of people here use Miralax.....it's a taste free powder (also available at WalMart) that works well for most cats.