I don't think my cat really has diabetes.

[Smudge's Human Dave]

I don't think my cat, Smudge, really has diabetes. Warning--this is a rant. Sorry.

I brought him to the vet because he had something wrong with his mouth--an infection.
The vet didn't really inspect his mouth carefully, just did the blood work.
The urine BG was high--like 400. Could have been anxiety (he was crazy nervous).
The fructosamine level was a little high-- 393 vs 349 (normal).
Again, this could have been high due to the infection. This was a few weeks ago.

The vet put Smudge on Senvelgo, and said we couldn't deal with his mouth problems for several weeks until his diabetes was managed. I was gone last two weeks, and my kid decided to stop giving the cat his Senvelgo about 10 days ago. "Too hard". (He's 26, don't get me started.). So, I tested Smudge tonight, not having had any Senvelgo for 10 days, and his BT was 62. So, not diabetic. Also, not eating.

After taking him to my normal vet, who refused to inspect his mouth without putting him under, so delayed it for several weeks. He wasn't eating, and was rapidly losing weight, so we took him to the ER vet. The ER vet said Smudge had a bad lesion under his tongue--infected or cancer. She gave him an antibiotic shot, which seems to have improved things somewhat. Hopefully, it's a treatable infection.

It seems to me that the vet missed the real problem--the infection under the tongue--and got completely side-tracked by the diabetes, which he may not even have. I've now spent about $5k by now, and the vet still hasn't addressed the real problem--the infection under his tongue. I'm dropping off poor Smudge tomorrow to have the same vet sedate him and look at his mouth. I hope she doesn't kill the poor cat.

How does one find a decent vet? This one seems completely incompetent and very expensive.
The office was bought by a corporation a few years ago, and things have gone downhill.

-Dave

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Unfortunately many vet do not know a lot about diabetes.

Is Smudge eating again now?

It is really important that cats eat and especially diabetic cats. And until you are certain he doesn’t have diabetes I would make sure he is eating well if you can….i know you have the mouth issue.

If he is diabetic and is not eating and has a mouth issue and is not getting the diabetic medication he needs, he is at high risk of getting ketones in the urine or if it gets worse he could get DKA which is deadly and expensive to treat. So the first thing you should do is get a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy and test the urine for ketones..

If he is not a diabetic and is not eating he is at risk of hepatic lipidosis. So either way it is important he eats.
To find a better vet you could post where you live (general area) and see if anyone has any suggestions.

Can you take some BGs for us…..twice a day take it before he eats and then take it again 3 hours after he has eaten.
That will give us an idea of what is happening with his pancreas.

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

Where are you located? We have members all over the world so there may be someone near you who can recommend a vet. Also see if there are any feline only vet offices near you.

 

[Deborah & Muffy(GA) & Wendall]

I believe this happens more than we think and I've personally seen it more than once. Infection, stress, etc. can have an impact on glucose levels and I learned long ago to not trust a diagnosis based on one test and without looking at the whole picture

Several years ago the rescue I worked with asked me to help with a newly diagnosed cat. He was 5 yrs. old and had been brought to the vet for inappropriate urination, very stressed and labeled fractious. Blood sugar was in the upper 300s so the cat was proclaimed diabetic. Before starting insulin, I went to the guardian's home to show her how to test and noticed the cat trying to pee everywhere, tiny blood-tinged drops. Advised her to get the cat in first thing in the morning and it turned out he was just hours from blocking. After the cat was treated, guardian checked blood sugar and it was normal. Repeated tests confirmed same. The idiot vet had completely missed the obvious.

Zeke, a big boy fed only dry food, was given up because his guardian said she couldn't afford to treat. He hated me and anyone who wasn't her and was completely uncooperative. After two days of refusing to eat I told her she'd have to take him back. When she came to retrieve him I showed her how to test (sugar was normal but he hadn't eaten so probably not reliable) and sent her home with testing supplies and advice to feed only wet food. She continued to test and his sugar stayed in the normal range.

A few other discarded cats came to me overweight, fed primarily dry food or both. For a couple of them, changing their diet made a huge difference - Asha went off insulin in a week, Purrcy in 21 days. I don't know if they were ever really diabetic.

Last summer we adopted Bonnie, morbidly obese at 19 lbs. and always fed dry food. She was only tested once a year and had been getting 7 units of vetsulin. On wet food, her sugar dropped dramatically and she never needed insulin here. However being chronically overdosed for years had trashed her liver. The additional stress of being dumped at a shelter by the people she trusted was just too much and she had no incentive to live. Sadly, we were unable to save her. Her former vet received a rather pissy email but maybe it will help her other diabetic patients.

Friday is our most recent adoptee, surrendered to the shelter because having a new baby was more important than he was and they didn't want to bother treating him. The shelter's testing protocol was a curve once a week and by the time we got him he was up to 6 units Lantus. With a diet change and regular testing, he's doing well on 0.5 unit.

My advice, get that mouth infection/ issue resolved ASAP because he really must eat and if he's in pain he won't want to, and test his sugar every few days. A lot of vets have little experience with diabetes so learn and trust yourself.

 

[Ana & Frosty (GA)]

Here to say that finding a good vet is trial and error unfortunately super frustrating and definitely expensive. Hopefully you find one you can trust. No advice, just solidarity.

 

[A Fae]

When I was treating 20 year old Groovy cat for chronic renal failure he would stop eating on his own. I would hold him and put a spoon of Beech Nut Meat only baby food right in front of his mouth. Gerber has corn starch and maybe other stuff, I wouldn't use Gerber. He couldn't resist taking a few licks. That would get him through.
HTH

 

[Ana & Frosty (GA)]

When I was treating 20 year old Groovy cat for chronic renal failure he would stop eating on his own. I would hold him and put a spoon of Beech Nut Meat only baby food right in front of his mouth. Gerber has corn starch and maybe other stuff, I wouldn't use Gerber. He couldn't resist taking a few licks. That would get him through.
HTH

Thanks! Funny you say that, the vet said last night that the nurses offered him baby food and he took a few licks. He would take 2 licks of cat food for me also if I held it up to him while he is laying down and I’m petting him (vets have been calling that a “social eater” lol), but he won’t eat on his own and he is normally a great eater. I wonder if maybe he’s nauseous from the meds…. I’m gonna bring that up to the vet today

 

[A Fae]

I consider it not so forceful force feeding, since they are not doing it on their own. I learned it's better than force feeding and cats really can't go long without eating before getting more health problems. Ben didn't want to eat yesterday. I made New York steak and then he couldn't resist. He's been dealing with urinary issues for 4 months now. He's 16 now.