About seven months ago my diabetic cat went missing. I was not very well versed in treating diabetic felines and I simply followed my vets instructions of administrating insulin twice a day after his diagnosis. His lost weight came back gradually (to a max of 19 lbs, he wasn't obese just a big cat) and life for him was back to normal. He was sitting out on the sunny porch as he always did since I moved off the nearby military base and into the town next door about 10 years ago. My cat never wandered off the porch and much to my horror an elderly neighbor informed me she saw a little girl carrying a big white cat towards the nearby apartment complex. After weeks of knocking on doors and putting up fliers all around my block, town, and craigslist I could only hope my sick cat would be returned to me. It had a collar, and had a microchip to identify him as my cat. Unfortunately months went by and I was resigned to the idea that my cat was lost to me forever.
Then, about three weeks ago, I receive an email from the vet clinic on the military base I used to live on a decade ago informing me that they have my cat and I have until that upcoming friday to retrieve him or he'll be put down. He was dropped off by someone who said they saw him wandering around their neighborhood. Needless to say I fetched him that same evening and went straight to my local vet. My gorgeous cat I adopted as a young boy when the next door neighbors kicked him out because the father was allergic was now 6 pounds, delirious, and looked more skeletal than any cat I have ever laid eyes on. The vet was astonished he was still alive. I have been fortunate enough not to have had many reasons to weep in my life but weep I did when I carried him back to my home.
I have educated myself as diligently as possible so far on the topics but I am still a novice with many things to learn if I want to make my cat comfortable for his final years. He was always on a diet of canned food but now I supplement his meals with chicken liver which he enjoys. I learned the hard way that vets, while professionals, are not always well versed in little nuances that make enormous differences in sick animals. My cat reacted very negatively to a increase of the insulin Novalin N of 1 unit to 2 units. Luckily I saw these strange symptoms (very wobbly legs, muscle twitching) and discovered his hypoglycemia attack before it degraded. I purchased a home testing kit and we have both been getting much better at checking his BG levels.
As of late his appetite has become almost non-existent for most of the day. I made the mistake of assuming he ate the food left for him this morning but his extremely low BG levels (31 on a lunch time check) leads me to believe he skipped it and let my other cat pig out. I have been monitoring him all day and have rubbed his gums with honey on three separate occasions. His levels increased to 59 and then in the evening he was at 135. He ate only a little today and continues to walk with that troubling gait with the occasional howl as he moves to drink water and relieve himself in his cat box.
I'm fairly poor as a college student and while I can make the purchases of testing supplies and food stuffs, I am unable to afford the finer tuned feline insulins.
I am here mostly to read and re-read posts by other users with similar situations to my own but I do have a few questions of my own and I would readily accept the support of this community.
I skipped his evening insulin dosage as I was uncomfortable providing one with him having eaten so little today. As of now I checked his blood glucose with the meter and it came out with an error message that indicates either the strip is faulty or his levels are beyond 600. I did the test again while the spot was still providing a fresh sample and again I got an error message that indicates a faulty strip or levels beyond 600. Is this possible?
I am considering following the instructions of a user who created a shake of liver and eggs (with a few other ingredients) while adding a b12 supplement (Methylcolomin I believe? I'm unsure how its spelled) for the damaged nerves in his legs. Has anyone else tried this or a similar meal combination? Does anyone have any experience force feeding a cat? Please share your advice because I believe that to be my next course of action if he still refuses to eat properly tomorrow.
Then, about three weeks ago, I receive an email from the vet clinic on the military base I used to live on a decade ago informing me that they have my cat and I have until that upcoming friday to retrieve him or he'll be put down. He was dropped off by someone who said they saw him wandering around their neighborhood. Needless to say I fetched him that same evening and went straight to my local vet. My gorgeous cat I adopted as a young boy when the next door neighbors kicked him out because the father was allergic was now 6 pounds, delirious, and looked more skeletal than any cat I have ever laid eyes on. The vet was astonished he was still alive. I have been fortunate enough not to have had many reasons to weep in my life but weep I did when I carried him back to my home.
I have educated myself as diligently as possible so far on the topics but I am still a novice with many things to learn if I want to make my cat comfortable for his final years. He was always on a diet of canned food but now I supplement his meals with chicken liver which he enjoys. I learned the hard way that vets, while professionals, are not always well versed in little nuances that make enormous differences in sick animals. My cat reacted very negatively to a increase of the insulin Novalin N of 1 unit to 2 units. Luckily I saw these strange symptoms (very wobbly legs, muscle twitching) and discovered his hypoglycemia attack before it degraded. I purchased a home testing kit and we have both been getting much better at checking his BG levels.
As of late his appetite has become almost non-existent for most of the day. I made the mistake of assuming he ate the food left for him this morning but his extremely low BG levels (31 on a lunch time check) leads me to believe he skipped it and let my other cat pig out. I have been monitoring him all day and have rubbed his gums with honey on three separate occasions. His levels increased to 59 and then in the evening he was at 135. He ate only a little today and continues to walk with that troubling gait with the occasional howl as he moves to drink water and relieve himself in his cat box.
I'm fairly poor as a college student and while I can make the purchases of testing supplies and food stuffs, I am unable to afford the finer tuned feline insulins.
I am here mostly to read and re-read posts by other users with similar situations to my own but I do have a few questions of my own and I would readily accept the support of this community.
I skipped his evening insulin dosage as I was uncomfortable providing one with him having eaten so little today. As of now I checked his blood glucose with the meter and it came out with an error message that indicates either the strip is faulty or his levels are beyond 600. I did the test again while the spot was still providing a fresh sample and again I got an error message that indicates a faulty strip or levels beyond 600. Is this possible?
I am considering following the instructions of a user who created a shake of liver and eggs (with a few other ingredients) while adding a b12 supplement (Methylcolomin I believe? I'm unsure how its spelled) for the damaged nerves in his legs. Has anyone else tried this or a similar meal combination? Does anyone have any experience force feeding a cat? Please share your advice because I believe that to be my next course of action if he still refuses to eat properly tomorrow.
