Fiend's information

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michelle and fiend

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I took him to the vet because he has been lethargic, his fur has lost some of its lushness, he lost weight very quickly and he was peeing outside of the litter box- something he has never done. I at first thought maybe it was a urinary tract infection which male cats are prone to, but it turns out that he is diabetic. The way the vet diagnosed him was through a urinalysis. I was unable to afford the 180 dollars for the full spectrum of blood work that he wanted to do and when I asked if he could do just the glucose work up he was not very responsive to that- he said that unless we could find out that he had hypothyroidism it wouldn't be effective. I asked him about home testing and he said that in the first few weeks of stabilization that only a vet can do the interpolations to make him stable. I think I am going to find another vet. I just moved to a new part of town and I went with a vet closer to me instead of my regular guy. I am a little frustrated with the guy I took him too because he was unwilling to help me find alternatives to treating my cat...he kept coming around to that my financial situation is unable to support a cat with his needs and I should consider putting him down....which is unacceptable to me.

I have ordered the newbie kit and I am going to get the low carb food asap. My only question is that Fiend is a very strange cat and he HATES cat(2)_steam wet food...I know it sounds weird, but that is the case is there any low carb dry food that anyone knows of? Also, you can use the syringes that human diabetics use, is that correct? I feel so incredibly powerless right now and frustrated, but the information and support I have gotten thus far from you guys has eased my stress levels some...thank you so very very much!!

Fiend means a lot to me. I got him when he was a kitten. When he came to me I had just gotten clean from a decade long heroin addiction and was just getting off the streets. My counselor suggested to get a companion animal, a being that needed me as much as I needed them. I try to let animals choose their names so when I got him I observed his behavior. He was so demanding about everything, love, food, catnip etc. When I didn't get out of bed on time to feed him he would jump on my chest, claws splayed to wake me up...basically he was a fiendish little guy, so the name fit. My clean date and the date I got him are pretty close together....since we have been together I have been clean and when I have those rough days when school and work are too much I know I have my little Fiendishness to come home too. I know everyone here has a close relationship with their companion animal, so I know y'all understand how much he means to me....again thanks for the support and info, I look forward to getting to know y'all over the next few months.
 
michelle am reading your post and i see your online..don't go away just yet ok.
 
ok, dearest Michelle,
first, your vet is not too, ummm, let's say....right. it is true you can spot the diabetes (kitteh's get dire beasties :lol: ) with a blood check jus for that if he saw sugar in the urine.
but that is the past...this is now.
you will always know fiends blood glucose now. YOU, not the vet.
are you perchance in OR. I ask becuase i want to send you some special stuff.
also, at this time there is no insulin prescription right?
ok, your kit will go out monday morning and you shall have it on wed.
now if your still here i'm going to find the video on how to test ok.
still here?
 
Michelle, kudos to you for getting off H and for staying clean :thumbup You should be so very proud of yourself. You will get all the help you need from the members of FDMB. Just post and ask....no question is ever consider dumb, ever. We all started out not knowing a single thing but reading, learning and educating ourselves is what has saved our cats. I agree that you need a vet that cares. You will also discover that you and Fiend will develop a much closer bond.....sounds crazy but it is true. Talk to Fiend and explain why you are giving him canned food, show him the meter when you receive it and explain to him what it is and why it is so important that he get tested and that he always has to be tested before shooting insulin. They do understand.....talk with him cat_pet_icon So glad you found FDMB. When in doubt about anything, just post.
 
oh yes, the catnip toy in the kit helps the kittehs want to learn more about the meter :lol:
i am awaiting some 0 carb freeze dried salmon treats in the mail...they would be perfect for a reward for testing.
i suiggest you start now paying some attention to fiends ears...rub them, talk to them, love on them. let him know the ears are safe and that you will be needing them. and after every ear rub perhaps you can offer a treat of some sort.
once you start testing...even if you don't get the blood or you anything else goes wrong...Friend always gets the luvins and the reward...cuz after all, it's not his fault right? ;-)
 
oh, about fiend not caring for the wet food. there are .... methods. maybe a mix of kibble and wet to start? maybe more kibble than wet and gradually...ya know. or..there is always raw. yes raw. many cats love the raw but you have to get it at certain pet food stores. it is called nature's variety and comes in like, hamburger patties. my tomtom loves the raw rabbit. he is crazy about it. but then tomtom is just a hoover around anything resembling food including but not limited to birds, lizards, mice and food i eat to close to his face.
soooooo...i guess what i'm saying is don't give up hope. there are ways my freind, there are ways.
maybe your kitty would like a little sprinkled parmesan on top of his fancy feast chicken? just sayin.
 
When my Mala was diagnosed, I had 5 cats, none of whom would willingly eat wet food. They didn't recognize it as food. Cats raised to eat kibble are enticed to eat it by the application of a spray-on scent that makes cats salivate. They get hooked on the stuff - like potato chips or other bad things for us that we eat.

You'll have to be patient. Eventually, Fiend will move to the wet food. My most stubborn kitty, Gary, took a lot of convincing, but after a week, he started eating as well. Try mixing wet food with kibble - start with kibble on top of wet food so they associate the smells together. You might also want to wet down the kibble to change the texture. Slowly, mix the two together. Don't do this too fast, or you'll make a stubborn kitty go on hunger strike. The worst thing you can do is make a diabetic cat stop eating altogether. Don't feel that you've failed if you have to take a step backwards as you move toward an all-wet diet.

If there are meat treats he likes, put those in the bowl with the wet food. Leave it down for no more than a half hour at a time, then pick it up. Food left out too long becomes unappetizing and doubles his resistance to it.

Above all, be patient and loving. You're weaning him off poison, and he may not want to follow you, but he will eventually. Remember that he trusts and loves you, but he doesn't understand what you're doing. Eventually, he will feel better, and so will you.
 
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