My cat may have diabetes but I can't get to the vet until Monday

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Ronry

Member Since 2016
Like the title says, I recently my cat, Jennyphurr, mughr be diabetic. The vet is closed until Monday, but her urine smells very, very sweet. Is there anything I can do today and tomorrow to help minimize any harm? I can buy wet food for her if that might help (currently eating Special Kitty gourmet dry food). Is there anything else I can do right now?
 
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You can definitely change her diet. We feed wet low carb food - under 8-10% carbs. Here is a food chart:

http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

Lots of us feed Fancy Feast or Friskies pates.

And if you'd get a meter, we can teach you to test her levels at home. Here is info on home testing:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

Once you know her levels, you'll know if she is low enough to wait till Monday. And the diet change can really bring her levels down, so you'll have two days to see if food makes that difference.
 
To be safe you need to monitor for ketones. Buy some urine test strips which can test for ketones (e.g. Keto-diastix) from a pharmacy or anywhere else that sells diabetic testing supplies. Collect a urine sample ASAP and test it. If trace ketones contact an emergency vet for advice. If higher than trace get your cat to a vet immediately because failure to treat the ketones promptly can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis (potentially life-threatening - posting here to inform you what to do, not to scare you; better safe! :) )


Mogs
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Hello Ronry, can you tell us a little more about your kitty's symptoms? Has she lost weight? Is she eating and drinking normally or have things changed recently? What about peeing and pooping? Does she seem lethargic, thirsty, hungry? Does her breath smell at all? Keep posting and the wonderful people on here will help you on how to do the best for your kitty.
 
She's still slightly chubby and I haven't weighed her, but she does feel somewhat lighter than usual. She's had sweet smelling urine for a long time and I never knew it was abnormal until I googled it. It's sweeter than usual. She's about 6 years old. She's a short-haired tortie but I don't know what breeds she might be. I don't think she's any hungrier than usual, but she does wake me up at 6 to feed her/let her out. She doesn't have a littler box, so I don't know how often she pees or poops.

There aren't any emergency vet services nearby that I know of (I live in Galax, Virgina and the closest vet is in Woodlawn, which is closed until 8am monday.) I left a voicemail at the vet letting them know I'd like to come in Monday, but they won't hear it until they get back.


Where can I find a meter? And how do I collect urine samples?
 
ok - do you have a litter box or something you can use as a litter box? You will need something for her to go in and to keep her inside in one room until she performs. Either, use a very small amount of non absorbent litter or some aquarium gravel if you have it, or put some food wrap in it to collect the urine, or wait until she crouches then use something like a saucer or small container or even a large spoon to get under her back end to collect the urine. You don't need very much to use a strip on it and you get a reading in 15 seconds. If she does have diabetes you may not have long to wait for her to perform! Do you have a Walmart near you? I am not in the U.S. but anywhere that sells diabetic supplies should be ok. Have a read of some of the stickies which are full of information on the best kind of meters, I use keto-diastix for testing my cat's urine and it is really easy to interpret the readings.
 
Hey there, I'm the person who saw your reddit thread and pointed you here. Hoping for the best for Jenn!

I'd give the vet another call the second they open Monday and tell them she needs to come in that day. As far as a meter goes, I use the ReliOn Micro from Walmart. Many of us use the Micro or Confirm because it's pretty reliable, uses a very small amount of blood, and strips are not terribly expensive like the pet meters. You can call the pharmacy in advance and ask if they have the meter and strips in stock if it's a long drive to your nearest Walmart.

Edited to add: the ReliOn meters don't come with free strips, so be sure to buy some.
 
Any pharmacy should have some type(s) of meter available. A lot of us here use the Relion Confirm or Prime meters from Walmart, they are easy to use, accurate, and affordable!

You'll probably have to restrict your kitty's outdoor privileges for a day to get a urine sample. You can put clean gravel in a litter box and test the urine after she goes, you can try to catch her in the box as she is going (that's what I do) or you can try putting some plastic wrap over a corner(s) of the box but, in your case, since she usually goes outside, this might be difficult as you wouldn't have a feel for which corner(s) she may prefer to use.
 
I got aquarium gravel, a plastic little bin, onetouch ultra min (the others were too expensive) and ReliOn ketone test trips and a bunch of different flavor friskey pates to see which one(s) she's willing to eat. I'll set tje litter bin up when I get home and update when I test her BG.

Thsnk you all for your help!
 
Good job getting started Ronry! :) Please ask if you need any help trying to test her, someone will help you out :cat:
 
Check my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for some additional assessments that will help you evaluate your cat, plus provide some good info when you talk with the vet.
 
@Ronry

Well done for testing for ketones. :)
And it's brilliant that you got a 'negative' result.

But just be aware that not all type of ketones can be picked up by the test strips. So it's also important to have an awareness of how your kitty's breath smells. It should smell like normal cat breath (!). If it has a sort of fruity smell like peardrops or acetone that can indicate ketones. If your cat is in good health though and is eating well then ketones are, hopefully, unlikely (fingers crossed/anti-jinx...).

I think you're doing amazingly well to be 'on the case' so quickly with regard to your kitty's care. You are clearly going to do just fine with all of this, and your kitty is very lucky to have you in her life. :bighug::bighug::bighug:

Eliz
 
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I'm taking her to the vet first thing tomorrow morning for sure. I've also noticed that her meows are starting to sound weird. First they were croaky, now it's like she tries to meow but no sound comes out, or a squeaky sound. I chirrup and click at her (that's our dialect that we use to talked to each other) and she tries to reply, but no sound. Might this be related?
 
Check her for dehydration (see how in my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools).
Smell her breath.
If she seems ill or won't eat, get her to the vet asap
 
Vet says no diabetes, but there was blood and protein in her urine so she's on some antibiotics and pain med for a while alongside a medical diet. I have no idea why her urine smelled sweet, but it doesn't smell sweet now. Thank you all for your help!
 
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