Hi. My name is Jenny and my kitty’s name is Timmy. He is 10 years old and we live in San Francisco, CA. I have just signed up on the message board, but have been lurking about reading posts for a couple of weeks since my baby was diagnosed with high blood sugar.
It has been a terrible roller coaster ride so far. I have gotten a lot of good information here, and have a vet whom I trust, but my little boy is still not doing well. I want to post his story so far, and see if anyone here has suggestions, advice, or observations that may help me get him stable. (Warning: this is long. But, I don’t want to leave anything potentially useful out. So, thanks in advance to whoever takes the time to read this.)
Timmy’s troubles became apparent about 6 months ago with visits to the vet for tummy troubles and an ear problem. He has a possible food allergy, and has had stinky loose poo off and on since I adopted him 9 years ago. This time though it was pretty bad. He visited the vet twice for the ear problem. There were no visible signs of injury, ear wax or infection. We tried a topical antibiotic, but the ear problems kept recurring. He also has feline herpes which flares up periodically. The vet suggested the recurring ear problem could have something to do with the herpes.
He switched to eating Hills Prescription Diet DD (caned mostly with some kibble) about February after the initial vet visit for ear. The food seemed to be great. His poo was normal for the first time in years. The ear troubles came back though, and Timmy began to just not seem “well”. This started in about April or May. He was listless and not his perky self. He was thumping his tail a lot and his posture seemed to be uncomfortable. I also noticed he became obsessed with drinking from the bathtub faucet and was emptying his water bowl two or three times a day.
On a Friday about three weeks ago, I made an appointment at the vet for Monday. His ear was still bothering him and something just wasn’t right. I came home that night from work to find him hunkered down with his right eye glued shut and gunk oozing out of it. My boyfriend and I rushed him to the emergency vet.
The doctor there observed he had ulceration on his eye. He’d probably inadvertently scratched it while trying to scratch his ear, which did have an infection. We received cream for his eye, another cream for his ears, and a cone (What a nightmare that was!) to stop him from scratching. And, oh btw, ... all that extra drinking and fur dander, he probably has diabetes. We should test for that. They did and he had a blood glucose level of 497. They ordered a fructosamine (sp?) test and had the results sent to my regular vet.
That Tuesday we met with my regular vet to go over the results of his blood tests. His sugar levels indeed were elevated for the three weeks previous, as they were that day. (They were again n the high 400’s.) He had also lost two pounds since April. (He is now 12 lbs. A little overweight, but not alarming.) She suggested we start him on a low dose of insulin, observe him and bring him back in two weeks for a glucose curve. She was wonderful, explained everything thoroughly, and demonstrated how to give an insulin shot. She had a cat with diabetes several years ago, and was very patient with questions and advice.
We started the insulin dose, 1 unit of Lantus twice a day, immediately. Within a few days Timmy seemed much better! The doctor suggested that it takes time to get cats regulated and that we might not see any changes for a few weeks, but the change in Timmy was noticeable within a day. This was Tuesday/Wednesday. He was playing like his old self, purring, and drinking much less water, and waking me up at 4 am like always. Until Saturday night.
He was very very very listless. He wasn’t eating much. He seemed waaaaaaay too sleepy. Then in the morning on Sunday he was ok-ish again. Until the evening. He was glassy eyed, non responsive, seemed off balance and seemed to be shivering like he was cold. I wasn’t sure if this was a full blown hypoglycemic episode. It wasn’t exactly what the doctor had described, but it was not right. I ran and got the Karo syrup and some food. Timmy licked the syrup right off my fingers and ate some wet food. He seemed a bit better and got up to eat and drink. I was awake all night watching over him. We took him to the vet the next morning.
They checked his glucose right away. It was around 400. The doctor advised us to skip his insulin dose that night and switch to one dose a day, and schedule a glucose curve for the next week. He was OK for the next week, but still didn’t seem great. He was periodically very sleepy and glassy eyed. He was eating ok, and drinking, and peeing, but not purring, playing, or getting on the couch with me like usual. He also began sleeping in weird places. (I suspect he is tired of being poked, and prodded, and observed constantly, and is trying to find a place to get away.) He isn’t jumping up to his usual hiding spots though. These are low places like under the couch or chairs, or in corners.
He had his glucose curve on Tuesday. We fed him and gave his insulin just before we brought him in. His blood glucose was initially quite high, in the 400’s. It stayed there until almost 5:00 pm when it dropped to around 200. The doctor suggested keeping him on the one dose a day, as we didn’t want him to dip too low and he seemed to be responding to the insulin slowly and late in the day. The next night Wednesday however, he had another hypo like episode. It was much less severe than before. I didn’t rush for the syrup this time, but fed him some junk food Friskies that he likes, which seemed to help. I was awake again all night watching over him.
Thursday morning I called the doctor. She said she is concerned that he may not “truly be diabetic”, and is experiencing a rebound effect from the insulin. Or, is going in and out of remission. She is more concerned with him dropping down too low at night. We are now trying no insulin, close observation, and a glucose check and urine test next week. He is also taking an oral antibiotic, just in case there is some inner ear or stomach infection that could be interfering.
Thursday and Friday Timmy was just fine, but yesterday and today he is acting like he feels crummy again. He is listless and just seems weak. He is tail thumping, and can’t seem to get comfortable. I am at my wits end. I feel so bad for him. I am guessing this is the result of an unstable blood glucose level. But, it could also be the ear infection or tummy troubles from the antibiotic.
I am looking at his diet, and slowly phasing out the kibble entirely, as well as those crappy treats he likes so well. (I was using them to let me give him his shot. That is a whole other story. He HATES having anything done to him, and has been a pain about the whole routine.) I am letting him have a few pill pockets duck version daily for his medicine. I am hesitant to change his wet food right away do to the food allergy issue. I am trying to slowly introduce a different venison canned variety that is higher in protein.
I suppose I should talk to the doctor about a different type of insulin? Could that make any difference? He is on about as low a dose of Lantus as possible. Why would that be making his blood sugar dip so low at night, then jump back up in the morning? Strangely enough, in the morning is when he acts most “normal”. If he is indeed feeling crummy because his blood sugar is high, wouldn’t he be feeling yuck then and not at night? I suspect the right course of action just now is to keep him off the insulin until Friday and proceed as the vet suggested. However, the change in his behavior is noticeable. I am worried about the possible dangers of too high blood sugar as well.
I also know that at some point I need to learn to monitor his blood glucose at home. I am dreading that because of the expense, I am already hustling to figure out how to pay the bills I currently owe. And, as I said he HATES having anything done to him. Medicine, nail trimming, even brushing are a struggle.
Thanks so much for reading this and for being here. I am still scared and struggling with understanding this. It helps to know there are others out there who have survived a similar situation, and me chart a course.
It has been a terrible roller coaster ride so far. I have gotten a lot of good information here, and have a vet whom I trust, but my little boy is still not doing well. I want to post his story so far, and see if anyone here has suggestions, advice, or observations that may help me get him stable. (Warning: this is long. But, I don’t want to leave anything potentially useful out. So, thanks in advance to whoever takes the time to read this.)
Timmy’s troubles became apparent about 6 months ago with visits to the vet for tummy troubles and an ear problem. He has a possible food allergy, and has had stinky loose poo off and on since I adopted him 9 years ago. This time though it was pretty bad. He visited the vet twice for the ear problem. There were no visible signs of injury, ear wax or infection. We tried a topical antibiotic, but the ear problems kept recurring. He also has feline herpes which flares up periodically. The vet suggested the recurring ear problem could have something to do with the herpes.
He switched to eating Hills Prescription Diet DD (caned mostly with some kibble) about February after the initial vet visit for ear. The food seemed to be great. His poo was normal for the first time in years. The ear troubles came back though, and Timmy began to just not seem “well”. This started in about April or May. He was listless and not his perky self. He was thumping his tail a lot and his posture seemed to be uncomfortable. I also noticed he became obsessed with drinking from the bathtub faucet and was emptying his water bowl two or three times a day.
On a Friday about three weeks ago, I made an appointment at the vet for Monday. His ear was still bothering him and something just wasn’t right. I came home that night from work to find him hunkered down with his right eye glued shut and gunk oozing out of it. My boyfriend and I rushed him to the emergency vet.
The doctor there observed he had ulceration on his eye. He’d probably inadvertently scratched it while trying to scratch his ear, which did have an infection. We received cream for his eye, another cream for his ears, and a cone (What a nightmare that was!) to stop him from scratching. And, oh btw, ... all that extra drinking and fur dander, he probably has diabetes. We should test for that. They did and he had a blood glucose level of 497. They ordered a fructosamine (sp?) test and had the results sent to my regular vet.
That Tuesday we met with my regular vet to go over the results of his blood tests. His sugar levels indeed were elevated for the three weeks previous, as they were that day. (They were again n the high 400’s.) He had also lost two pounds since April. (He is now 12 lbs. A little overweight, but not alarming.) She suggested we start him on a low dose of insulin, observe him and bring him back in two weeks for a glucose curve. She was wonderful, explained everything thoroughly, and demonstrated how to give an insulin shot. She had a cat with diabetes several years ago, and was very patient with questions and advice.
We started the insulin dose, 1 unit of Lantus twice a day, immediately. Within a few days Timmy seemed much better! The doctor suggested that it takes time to get cats regulated and that we might not see any changes for a few weeks, but the change in Timmy was noticeable within a day. This was Tuesday/Wednesday. He was playing like his old self, purring, and drinking much less water, and waking me up at 4 am like always. Until Saturday night.
He was very very very listless. He wasn’t eating much. He seemed waaaaaaay too sleepy. Then in the morning on Sunday he was ok-ish again. Until the evening. He was glassy eyed, non responsive, seemed off balance and seemed to be shivering like he was cold. I wasn’t sure if this was a full blown hypoglycemic episode. It wasn’t exactly what the doctor had described, but it was not right. I ran and got the Karo syrup and some food. Timmy licked the syrup right off my fingers and ate some wet food. He seemed a bit better and got up to eat and drink. I was awake all night watching over him. We took him to the vet the next morning.
They checked his glucose right away. It was around 400. The doctor advised us to skip his insulin dose that night and switch to one dose a day, and schedule a glucose curve for the next week. He was OK for the next week, but still didn’t seem great. He was periodically very sleepy and glassy eyed. He was eating ok, and drinking, and peeing, but not purring, playing, or getting on the couch with me like usual. He also began sleeping in weird places. (I suspect he is tired of being poked, and prodded, and observed constantly, and is trying to find a place to get away.) He isn’t jumping up to his usual hiding spots though. These are low places like under the couch or chairs, or in corners.
He had his glucose curve on Tuesday. We fed him and gave his insulin just before we brought him in. His blood glucose was initially quite high, in the 400’s. It stayed there until almost 5:00 pm when it dropped to around 200. The doctor suggested keeping him on the one dose a day, as we didn’t want him to dip too low and he seemed to be responding to the insulin slowly and late in the day. The next night Wednesday however, he had another hypo like episode. It was much less severe than before. I didn’t rush for the syrup this time, but fed him some junk food Friskies that he likes, which seemed to help. I was awake again all night watching over him.
Thursday morning I called the doctor. She said she is concerned that he may not “truly be diabetic”, and is experiencing a rebound effect from the insulin. Or, is going in and out of remission. She is more concerned with him dropping down too low at night. We are now trying no insulin, close observation, and a glucose check and urine test next week. He is also taking an oral antibiotic, just in case there is some inner ear or stomach infection that could be interfering.
Thursday and Friday Timmy was just fine, but yesterday and today he is acting like he feels crummy again. He is listless and just seems weak. He is tail thumping, and can’t seem to get comfortable. I am at my wits end. I feel so bad for him. I am guessing this is the result of an unstable blood glucose level. But, it could also be the ear infection or tummy troubles from the antibiotic.
I am looking at his diet, and slowly phasing out the kibble entirely, as well as those crappy treats he likes so well. (I was using them to let me give him his shot. That is a whole other story. He HATES having anything done to him, and has been a pain about the whole routine.) I am letting him have a few pill pockets duck version daily for his medicine. I am hesitant to change his wet food right away do to the food allergy issue. I am trying to slowly introduce a different venison canned variety that is higher in protein.
I suppose I should talk to the doctor about a different type of insulin? Could that make any difference? He is on about as low a dose of Lantus as possible. Why would that be making his blood sugar dip so low at night, then jump back up in the morning? Strangely enough, in the morning is when he acts most “normal”. If he is indeed feeling crummy because his blood sugar is high, wouldn’t he be feeling yuck then and not at night? I suspect the right course of action just now is to keep him off the insulin until Friday and proceed as the vet suggested. However, the change in his behavior is noticeable. I am worried about the possible dangers of too high blood sugar as well.
I also know that at some point I need to learn to monitor his blood glucose at home. I am dreading that because of the expense, I am already hustling to figure out how to pay the bills I currently owe. And, as I said he HATES having anything done to him. Medicine, nail trimming, even brushing are a struggle.
Thanks so much for reading this and for being here. I am still scared and struggling with understanding this. It helps to know there are others out there who have survived a similar situation, and me chart a course.
