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Tobersmomma

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Tober showed up to our doorstep last October as a stray. He is all black and being October I was worried about him. So, we brought him in and took him to the vet. We didn't see our normal vet but he was given a clean bill of health. He was feline Leukemia negative, and only had a few fleas that we treated with frontline. His coat was in bad condition and his belly was distended but they didn't find any worms. He was a normal weight except for the distended belly. A few months later he developed these sores and scabs that come and go. He seems to drink and urinate a lot. He has a vet appt next week. Oh he has begun just laying in this one spot in my daughters room. We aren't sure if something is wrong or he misses my youngest daughter who is away for a few weeks for the summer with family. He also lost his balance and almost fell off a ledge the other day. He is an older boy but we are very attached to him and love him a lot. He reminds us of our tuxedo cat (Kibby) who we lost in the pet food recall. I can't lose Tober.

Two days ago we adopted another stray that showed up at our doorstep in worse condition. Poor thing who we named Willow was so infested with fleas and ear mites that she scratched herself where she was bleeding. (Don't worry she has been treated and is separated from my other cats (I also have a 4 month old kitten Delilah) for a week per my vet). While we were at the vet we asked about Tober's symptoms and he suspects diabetes. I had done research and suspected it too. Are there any questions that I should ask my vet at the appt? Is there any advice that anyone can give if he is diabetic? I plan on reading the previous posts to learn more.
 
I don't have a lot of experience myself, but if you can't get him to the vet sooner, at least take his dry food away and feed him all wet till the vet can check him.

I know the others will have some good advice for you.


And welcome to the board!
 
Changing his diet to all wet can definitely help if it is diabetes, and just in general. A vet explains why here: www.catinfo.org Here is our food chart: Janet and Binky’s chart Most of us feed Fancy Feast, Merrick, Friskies or Wellness.

Your vet should do a fructosamine test to see if he is diabetic. It is a blood test that may take a couple days to get back. He can also test his blood glucose level in the office that day, but it could be elevated. Cats are usually stressed at the vet and stress raises bg levels. Some kitties here are 100 points higher at the vet. The problem with using a number gotten at the vet is that when your cat gets home, the level can be much lower and the dose may be too high. We suggest starting at a low dose like .5 units or 1 unit twice daily. We like long lasting insulins like Lantus, Levemir or PZI.

We hometest our cats to be sure they are safe to get the amount of insulin we are planning on, and to see how the insulin is working. Vets are not always on board with this, maybe because they worry it is more stress on the owner. We figure we would be more stressed out not knowing what is going on and shooting insulin blind. Here is how we do it: Video for hometesting

I do not know about the distended belly. Others may have had experience with that.

Keep reading and asking questions. We would love to help you help Tober.
 
Welcome. Sounds like you are very kind and concerned.

Before even taking Tober to the vet, there are a couple of things that you can do - 2 of the 3 keys to successfully treating diabetes.

1. Change all cats in your household to wet, lo carb canned food. You may need to do this slowly because you don't want anyone to stop eating, especially Tober. If you read the feline nutrition section of www.catinfo.org you will get hints on changing them over to wet. Commercial brands are just as good (or better) than the vet food that they sell, so you don't need to feel that you have to buy the rx food. Friskies, Fancy Feast, Special Kitty are all brands that various members on the message board use. Just be sure to get the pates and not the grilled with gravy. The gravy foods are high carb, and bad for a diabetic.

2. Home testing is the second important thing. You don't need your vets permission - you just need to go to a pharmacy and get a glucometer, test strips, and some lancets. We draw a tiny drop of blood from the edge of the ear to test. There are lots of youtube videos on how to test, and each one of us has little tricks that will help if you run into snags. You can begin monitoring his blood glucose now while you change food (making an assumption here that Tober is getting some dry food) and wait for your vet appointment.

If you want to post your general location (city, state) there may be a member who can help you with suggestions for best places to buy various supplies.
 
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