I wont give up on him

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manuel jaimes

manuel jaimes

Member Since 2016
Hello every one. My kittys name is Houdini he was one of the many strays at my work I was taking care of. I will give you folks the shortened version. The management wanted all kittys gone I found temporary foster homes for all but him took a chance brought him home had him spayed after a week he started acting not well (I have 9 other fur babys) took him to the vet they did blood work and during his exam the vet found a mass growing inside his mouth. She warned me it might be cancer or maybe stomatitus either would be expensive. had the mass and 2 teeth removed and biopsied (neg on cancer). We go back 2 weeks later say the inflammation has gone down but still some present she gives him an antibiotic and steroid injection. 2 weeks later go back for another exam she says with the inflammation still there we should plan on eventually removing all the teeth. Take him and about one week later we end up in the emergency room because he was definitely not well, more blood test and x rays the doc says his blood glucose was 585 he spend the next 24 hours while they determine the cause with more test, they say he most likely has diabetes we need to get him to non emergency vet get him a regiment to regulate him they prescribe prozinc and start me at 1 unit twice a day. His vet has me at 2 units twice a day now, have an alpha track2, having hard time with his diet he loves crunchy food and so do the rest of my pack feel a little overwhelmed at times my other cats are like hey wheres the food trying to feed everyone twice a day is hard and i cant leave the crunchy out he gorges on it. This gets easier I hope I love all my fur babys and I wont give up on him
 
Welcome! Thats really nice you to take him into your home. Im sorry he's having so many issues .
I am fairly new and can't offer advice. Someone with more experience should come along soon. This is the right place to be. There are a lot of caring people here who can help you. I hope things get better soon for you and your kitty.
 
As you get the glucose under control, he will be less hungry. Insulin allows the body to use the food for energy.

To help keep your cat safe, we strongly advocate home blood glucose testing, before each shot to make sure the glucose is high enough to give insulin, and when possible, sometime between the shots to see how low he goes.

While you work on that, see my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for some other assessments to help you evaluate how he's doing.
 
Yes I bought an alpha track II I have been taking his post meal pre insulin readings am planning to drop him off for a vet done glucose curve he is still high i think he might need 3 units ill let the vet decide, I am hoping to get him stable. My biggest problem now is giving the crunchy food to the others with out letting him gorge himself I am trying to keep him on 2 canned meals a day with his insulin a bit nerve racking at times, I appreciate any advice I am glad I found this place
 
Welcome Manuel and Houdini...love the name!
Sorry you have had so many things to contend with...hopefully things will settle down now.
Just a couple of things....
The alphatrak monitor test strips are expensive to buy...a lot more expensive than the human monitors strips. Most of us use the human monitors as it is not necessary to use the alphatrak and is a lot cheaper. But it is up to you:)


If you are testing the blood sugar, it is not necessary to take Houdini to the vet to have the curve done, and it will be a lot cheaper. Most cats are stressed visiting the vets and the BSLs are usually higher when they are taken at the vets which can be unsafe if the insulin dose is raised when in fact the BSLs at home are often lower than at the vet.

We raise the dose of insulin by 0.25 units at a time. That way we will not go past the correct dose and it is much safer to do it that way. I would not raise the insulin from 2 to 3 units in one go.
Also we always test before we give the insulin to make sure it is safe to do so. We test, feed then give the insulin in that order. It is also important to test 4 to 6 hours after the insulin each day if possible to see how low the insulin is taking Houdini

As you know the crunchy food is much higher in carbs than the wet food. If you are still transitioning to the wet food, you need to be aware that the blood sugars can drop quite a bit when the dry food is removed. Testing Houdini while you at doing this will keep him safe.
I know it is hard to keep the other cats' food away from Houdini. Are you thinking of changing them all over to wet food? It is much better for them if you are able to.
What type of wet food are you using? Wet food is lower in carbs than dry but there are wet foods that are still quite high in carbs. Wet foods 10% or less is the best food for diabetic cats.

Can you tell us which country you live in please? as it will be easier to help you with food.
It is great you are doing so much to help Houdini. It is overwhelming for the first few weeks but it will get a lot easier as you learn more about feline diabetes and how to treat it.
There are many knowledgeable people here on the forum who will be only too happy to help you. Keep asking questions!
 
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Thank you bron and sheba, we live in America specifically California. I am trying to transition all of them to wet food but they love there crunchy and all got use to lightly snacking during the day. Before I would give them wet food twice a day with there bowls of crunchy. We only give Houdini a table spoon in the morning and evening with his wet food now but he still begins to beg midday and they all activate there sad pouty face to get there crunchy. As for wet food its friskies salmon, chicken and liver, and chiken shreds, the first 2 are classic pate. the dry food was nutro max cat i had been trying to switch them to blue wilderness, but Jerry-Bear loves his max cat. I have switched to testing him first then food then insulin. Sadly the money we had saved to buy our first home ive spent on his medical cost :( Hes worth it to me though just have to pinch those pennys tighter. Any healthy readily available treats i could give him/them?? I really do appreciate any advise folks
 
Thank you BJM any one have personal experience with those food i can get the Evo cat locally,my cats look like they are having withdrawals, I feel like im not giving them enough wet food. Good news his 2 lowest reading ever 282 @ 12:44am and 269 at 5:26pm woo hoo almost there I think. His morning injection took place at 5:30am
 
When you do food changes, make them gradual. Change about 20-25% per day to reduce GI upsets (diarrhea, vomiting) and food refusals.

Also, it is very important to check the glucose while changing food. It can drop 100-200 mg/dL, and in one cat, it dropped 300 mg/dL. The insulin dose may need to drop by 1-2 units, too.
 
I have been checking his blood pre food and insulin but he has always been in the 400's. houdini can not even here the dry food bag now he will do a death charge to the sound ive been giving him a table spoon after his wet food, I try give the others a little dry food but hes starts beating the door down if he hears the other others eating crunchy on the other side
 
manuel jaimes said:
the dry food was nutro max cat i had been trying to switch them to blue wilderness
Click to expand...

Nutro max cat is what I fed my crew as well, once I got Cooter off this dry food his numbers improved drastically. He managed to get into it twice after I switched him over to all wet and his numbers went through the roof, it was amazing to me what a difference getting him off the nutro made.

I know how hard it is with a large crew of kitties, I had the same issue. I have most of them eating wet now, but the few dry addicts that refuse to switch have learned they need to come eat the 3 times a day when I put the bowls down. It's been tough, all mine are seniors set in thier ways, but apparently you can teach old cats new tricks :cat:
 
You asked about healthy diabetic safe treats. Many of use buy Pure Bites freeze dried chichen buy the large dog bags a crunch them into smaller pieces its cheaper than the little bags they sell for our kitties. Also Cat man do Bonita Flakes you can buy in the Asia stores make sure the ingredients say only Bonita Flakes. I also buy organic hormone antibiotic free chicken breasts bake and cut into treat size and freeze in small containers. You can buy chicken from meat section in grocery store its a bit cheaper.
Others use even different treats. Good luck with kitty! I order from pets.com and chewy.com
 
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