Is he not supposed to feel better?

MotherofSmaug

MotherofSmaug

Member Since 2020
Hi everyone, I'm a new frustrated mom here, my dear moggie boy Smaug has been diagnosed two days ago, we are devastated with my husband, just few weeks ago it was our cuddly little darling, a lap cat and all of a sudden hes all wobbly, womiting and lethargic, so not fair for him.. sorry my laments.. to the point - theres a few questions i have i would love if some kind angel answer:
1. we had a 1 unit of prozinc yesterday, vet gave us syringes and a bottle and said to give him 1 unit daily. Is it not too little? I am calling her today to ask if we can move to 1 unit twice a day. I read his bg last night about 11h after the shot on human meter it was 273mg/dl, he was droopsy and hot and lethargic more than usual and womited last night.
2. He didn't got to empty his bowel (but probably its empty and he had food at 6 pm yesterday and left most of it on a carpet?) This morning he is quite disorientated, very weak and refuses to eat, I want to help him so much poor my kitty.. tried to read his bg but his ears are cold couldn't squeeze anything out, will try another time before the shot today (in 2 h). Please help, how to make him eat before the shot and should I give another shot tonight (twice daily)?
3. What UK wet cat food brands would be ok for him? He was on Sheba pultry with jelly but i can't find carb contain on the package, he has gone off chicken and turkey raw or cooked..
4. How to measure ketones(I can see urine strips on amazon, but hes on clumping Catsan should i just put strips on top of it?) And what to do if its high, everyone is saying to measure it but I can't see what to do if its getting high:nailbiting:
5. Love to you all guys its great you exist and made such a community :cat:
 
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Hello Smaug's mum! I am just getting up and about to go feed my animals and make myself breakfast but I will be back after that to get on my computer and type you out a message. :)

For the moment - yes, kitties need insulin every 12 hours. Perhaps that's what your vet meant to say?
 
Thank you so much! An update - kitty didn't eat by 11 (shot time) and refused to even look at food, being very weak and disorientated, I wanted to check his bg but couldn't squeeze a tiniest amount of blood from paws and ears, torchered him and myself and by the time husband came to help holding him we were both exhausted and much annoyed, no test no shot, so we called the vet, luckily enough it was the shift of a much experienced lady and she said to bring him in, so the long story short, we left him there for testing, resulted in low potassium, very anemic and dehydrated, hes on meds there, no insulin before potassium level is ok, possibly tonight when we move him to a night nurse to shot and watch him overnight. I have cried off my eyes waiting for the vets call oh dear... yesterday's vet was wrong with 1 unit a day, not good for kitties..
Have you or anyone here experienced this cats anemia and low potassium levels here? I know it can be 10000 reasons for it (yes I googled!) But is there a specific relation to diabetese maybe?
PS she said liver and kidneys look OK though there were ketones in urine
 
Aw I hope Smaug gets to feeling better! He's in a good place right now. :bighug:

Could you please post all of this in the Main Health Forum? I don't have experience with anemia or low potassium but a lot of the members there do. Diabetes in and of itself does not cause any of that, but diabetic kitties are susceptible to illnesses such as pancreatitis, DKA, etc.

I am going to tag @Elizabeth and Bertie who is our UK expert on things! I am not sure about the jelly part of Sheba but I know Sheba is a good brand for diabetics, just not a lot of calories in it. Here is a compilation post she made for UK members as well!

Here is the UK Food List.

Testing for ketones - you can buy ketostix from a pharmacy and try to "catch" some pee to put on the strip. I suggest buying some since Smaug now has a history of ketones, you'll want to monitor him. If he is a shy pee-er, you could purchase a blood ketone meter. The strips are a little expensive to use on a daily basis but you can hold onto it for situations where you need to be checking frequently.

If Smaug ever goes ABOVE trace, that is cause for an emergency vet visit. That's all you can do.

As for making him eat - I understand in this moment he is not feeling well, but in a normal day-to-day situation, you can tempt him with parmesan cheese, chicken, any sort of treat to see if he is at least interested. On Prozinc he doesn't have to eat much before insulin, you just need to make sure he's showing an interest in food (like he would for a treat).
 
That is sooooooo useful i don't know how to thank you enough! I personally suspect pancreatitis - he's a serial mice murderer and some mice were probably poisoned or unwell, I cant always take them away from him though he brings it to me first thing, and certainly hope its not kidneys (they had him blood tested 3 times for various reasons in 2 weeks, all three had some sort of kidney indicators and not one was pointing at chronic kidney disease. Thank you for all your advices I have got a hope today as he seemed to be in the right hands now, wish your kitties all the health in the world!
 
At least mice are low-carb haha!
Yes please post in the health forum and I'll watch to see what others have to say about Smaug! Hang in there you two!
 
Oh yes they are)
I will, with all the latest updates after seeing the vet tonight and moving him to the night nurses, glad its only 30min drive he hates car journeys with a passion
 
Hi @MotherofSmaug , waving to you from Surrey!

You've had some brilliant advice from Elizabeth (Panic) above, and I see she's also posted links to UK info. (Thank you, Elizabeth!)

MotherofSmaug said:
Have you or anyone here experienced this cats anemia and low potassium levels here? I know it can be 10000 reasons for it (yes I googled!) But is there a specific relation to diabetese maybe?
Click to expand...
Diabetics can be more prone to low potassium, and I 'think' that's because diabetic kitties in high blood glucose levels can lose potassium via the urine when they pee a lot.
...I can't help with anaemia info. But I know that some human diabetics can be more prone to anaemia. ...Sorry, not much help at all...

It sounds like your kitty has already been eating a low carb wet diet...? If that's the case then it's not diet that has tipped him over into diabetes...
Has your kitty had any steroid treatment in the recent past?
Any history of pancreatitis?

Eliz
 
Hi Eliz, I'm Liza (waving back)!:) thank you for your help!
This kitty has a long story, we adopted him from cats protection at '2' years old, which our vet has doubts with now as 5 yo is too young for diabetes. It is possible she said that diabetes was hiding and being mild for some time, what has triggered it im not sure, he also had IAMS dry food as a part of his diet for some time but it was mostly IAMS jelly pouches and half raw chicken. We hadn't had him on any kidney damaging medication as far as I'm concerned, but It might have been triggered by stress as he had 5 teeth removed 3 weeks ago under fullblown anesthezy, oh I know I should have cleaned his teeth :( but it was an unimaginable task for both sides involved... So there we are, diabetes, poor oral health and anemic..
I am looking at giving him Kaminox daily if vet would agree but we will be looking at xray organ examination or at least ultrasound (pray they have it here in Suffolk) to find out the source of inflammation.
 
MotherofSmaug said:
Hi everyone, I'm a new frustrated mom here, my dear moggie boy Smaug has been diagnosed two days ago, we are devastated with my husband, just few weeks ago it was our cuddly little darling, a lap cat and all of a sudden hes all wobbly, womiting and lethargic, so not fair for him.. sorry my laments.. to the point - theres a few questions i have i would love if some kind angel answer:
1. we had a 1 unit of prozinc yesterday, vet gave us syringes and a bottle and said to give him 1 unit daily. Is it not too little? I am calling her today to ask if we can move to 1 unit twice a day. I read his bg last night about 11h after the shot on human meter it was 273mg/dl, he was droopsy and hot and lethargic more than usual and womited last night.
2. He didn't got to empty his bowel (but probably its empty and he had food at 6 pm yesterday and left most of it on a carpet?) This morning he is quite disorientated, very weak and refuses to eat, I want to help him so much poor my kitty.. tried to read his bg but his ears are cold couldn't squeeze anything out, will try another time before the shot today (in 2 h). Please help, how to make him eat before the shot and should I give another shot tonight (twice daily)?
3. What UK wet cat food brands would be ok for him? He was on Sheba pultry with jelly but i can't find carb contain on the package, he has gone off chicken and turkey raw or cooked..
4. How to measure ketones(I can see urine strips on amazon, but hes on clumping Catsan should i just put strips on top of it?) And what to do if its high, everyone is saying to measure it but I can't see what to do if its getting high:nailbiting:
5. Love to you all guys its great you exist and made such a community :cat:
Click to expand...
Ah it's an awful to see your little kitty so unwell. When you buy ketostix in the UK just make sure they are for ketones and glucose as you can buy ketositix that just do glucose. I have a small sterilised bowl ready when I want a pee sample. When I spot him squatting I slide the small bowl under his tail and I catch the urine. Alternatively your vet can supply some sterile litter that your cat can pee in and then collect the sample. The latter is good if you are doing a full analysis on the wee. If you just want ketone dip test I find my way quite effective. Good luck. Things will improve and this forum is fab with so much great support and advice.
 
MotherofSmaug said:
That is sooooooo useful i don't know how to thank you enough! I personally suspect pancreatitis - he's a serial mice murderer and some mice were probably poisoned or unwell, I cant always take them away from him though he brings it to me first thing, and certainly hope its not kidneys (they had him blood tested 3 times for various reasons in 2 weeks, all three had some sort of kidney indicators and not one was pointing at chronic kidney disease. Thank you for all your advices I have got a hope today as he seemed to be in the right hands now, wish your kitties all the health in the world!
Click to expand...
Urinary tract (kidney) infections are common with diabetes because of all of the sugar in the urine.
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Liza, can you say more about this?
Was this what your vet said just recently? And why did she think that was the case?
Click to expand...
Oh I think she said that because there's no underlying issues they were able to find, I didn't ask really , sorry! I guess she meant that he was on a brink of it with bordering bg numbers that can be overlooked and something pushed him over?
 
Pabs&Ro said:
Ah it's an awful to see your little kitty so unwell. When you buy ketostix in the UK just make sure they are for ketones and glucose as you can buy ketositix that just do glucose. I have a small sterilised bowl ready when I want a pee sample. When I spot him squatting I slide the small bowl under his tail and I catch the urine. Alternatively your vet can supply some sterile litter that your cat can pee in and then collect the sample. The latter is good if you are doing a full analysis on the wee. If you just want ketone dip test I find my way quite effective. Good luck. Things will improve and this forum is fab with so much great support and advice.
Click to expand...
Thank you i will certainly look for this sticks and ge them ASAP, he is a shy pee boy, bless, but I will give it a go who knows he might get used to me stalking
 
MotherofSmaug said:
Thank you so much! An update - kitty didn't eat by 11 (shot time) and refused to even look at food, being very weak and disorientated, I wanted to check his bg but couldn't squeeze a tiniest amount of blood from paws and ears, torchered him and myself and by the time husband came to help holding him we were both exhausted and much annoyed, no test no shot, so we called the vet, luckily enough it was the shift of a much experienced lady and she said to bring him in, so the long story short, we left him there for testing, resulted in low potassium, very anemic and dehydrated, hes on meds there, no insulin before potassium level is ok, possibly tonight when we move him to a night nurse to shot and watch him overnight. I have cried off my eyes waiting for the vets call oh dear... yesterday's vet was wrong with 1 unit a day, not good for kitties..
Have you or anyone here experienced this cats anemia and low potassium levels here? I know it can be 10000 reasons for it (yes I googled!) But is there a specific relation to diabetese maybe?
PS she said liver and kidneys look OK though there were ketones in urine
Click to expand...
It's the low potassium and anemia causing this unsteadiness and lack of appetite. sounds like he has more going on then just diabetes. I'm so glad you brought him in. :(. I hope he feels better soon!
 
We have just brought him back from night nurses to the vet, poor baby had enough of that crap or so he told me :( Good news is they managed to up his potassium from 2.1 to 3.2 and the vet will keep looking after his numbers today as well to see when his heart is ready for Prozinc, i have bought Kaminox (as the vet said it might be useful in future), it does contain B12 so i need to look at what figures he will need daily for his poorly legs and maybe get it as an additional vitamin supplement, i myself might need some too i soooo feel for all you kitty parents it's rough times for all!
 
JanetNJ said:
You can use a blood ketone meter too. His ears will bleed easier once the capillaries grow in.
Click to expand...
so they tend to get more blood flow in their ears after a while? i better get some rubbing alcohol as he has cold ears most time and i foresee a problem there
 
MotherofSmaug said:
so they tend to get more blood flow in their ears after a while? i better get some rubbing alcohol as he has cold ears most time and i foresee a problem there
Click to expand...
Yes they definitely bleed better after a week or two. No alcohol needed. Just rub vigorously. If he's anemic that will make it harder too because of less blood volume. Can you post a copy of the labs? Oh also, be sure to use a 26-28 gauge lancet to poke because they are thicker than 30+ gauge. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home.
 
thank you Janet this video is quite helpful (i wish my kitty was that not fussy about his ears!!) ) i am sure we will both get over this quite quickly!
 
MotherofSmaug said:
thank you Janet this video is quite helpful (i wish my kitty was that not fussy about his ears!!) ) i am sure we will both get over this quite quickly!
Click to expand...
Cc wasnt as cooperative in the beginning. What helped was giving her some cold cut turkey, ham or chicken every time I tried to test her. She quickly associated the test with a treat.
 
JanetNJ said:
Yes they definitely bleed better after a week or two. No alcohol needed. Just rub vigorously. If he's anemic that will make it harder too because of less blood volume. Can you post a copy of the labs? Oh also, be sure to use a 26-28 gauge lancet to poke because they are thicker than 30+ gauge. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home.
Click to expand...
Sorry missed the part with the copy of the labs - do you mean his lab tests? We haven't got any on hands, it went from night nurse to the vet directly, we may recieve something on paper tonight in case Smaug is well enough to come back home but i am not sure about it, never received any results from vets here really :oops:
 
MotherofSmaug said:
Sorry missed the part with the copy of the labs - do you mean his lab tests? We haven't got any on hands, it went from night nurse to the vet directly, we may recieve something on paper tonight in case Smaug is well enough to come back home but i am not sure about it, never received any results from vets here really :oops:
Click to expand...
When you check her out ask for a copy of the labs. I hope she's feeling better soon.
 
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