Marley and fam
New Member
Hi all!
My name is Hailee and our cat Marley was just diagnosed with diabetes on June 26th. The vet found ketones in her urine and so she was hospitalized until the 29th. They started her on half a unit of Prozinc and then started to give her a full unit, which they said we should be continuing at home.
Marley is an 11 year old tortie and has been a really healthy cat until last year when she started to develop some sort of allergy. We never figured out what it was but she had some skin problems until she received a steroid shot at the vet. They think the steroid is what developed her diabetes and they were unsure she even had diabetes until they tested her last Wednesday (lost a lot of weight, started drinking more) and said she was in an early stage of ketoacidosis. She is a really happy cat and so it can be a little difficult to figure out when she doesn’t feel well but when I had to pick her up for something, I really felt how much she lost (I saw her numbers at the vet and it was around 2 lbs since November).
My mom has been administering the insulin twice a day but it’s been a real challenge. First, she doesn’t feel like she’s doing it right if that makes any sense. We pet her afterwards to make sure we don’t feel the insulin on her but she still feels like she’s not doing it right. I don’t know if there’s anything valid with that. Marley, although very happy, hates to be held or constrained and she doesn’t like to be bothered while she’s eating. The vet suggested treats while we administer so my mom will try giving her some plain pieces of turkey (her favorite) so we’ll try that. I know it’s best to test her blood frequently but I don’t think she would be able to tolerate it since she struggles with the twice daily insulin injection. Flinches, won’t sit still, pulls away, etc. It is hard to describe but I feel like she already recognizes that it is coming and tries to avoid it. So it’s tough to even get her with the needle. We’re following the typical routine of grabbing the skin and getting the pocket but it’s really hard to get her. She would not tolerate being held down. Even at the vet, she was all over the exam room. She doesn’t bite or scratch but she’s really good about wiggling out, even with towels and etc. I wish she knew we’re trying to help her
We’ve been testing her urine instead at the suggestion of her vet team but of course we know that’s less trustworthy and consistent since we can’t make her pee on cue and her blood glucose is what is important. We caught her twice and she’s pulled the same numbers (different times of the day and different days). Right after her dose and around +4 hours after. Light ketones and somewhere in the 500 range for glucose. Her vet was told about those numbers today.
Another problem is her cat brother. Duke is an absolutely awful eater. He will eat wet food but only a few licks of the gravy at a time and mostly grazes on his vet-recommended dry food. Obviously it isn’t ideal to keep the dry food out and if he wasn’t horrible with food, we would eliminate it entirely but he has never consumed more than a spoonful of any type of wet food per day. Her vet is aware of this and said she can graze but same food consistently. But also said that might be leading to a higher glucose.
Of course we want what is best for her but we’re also trying to avoid as many vet visits as possible. She is getting increasingly stressed with each one with the last resulting in her peeing all over herself in the carrier. Which has never happened before in 11 years. Not at home and not in the carrier, which she’s had to be in for previous moves before. So if she can’t even tolerate a 15 minute walk in the carrier anymore…
I’m not sure what problems to look for and how to help her. I can’t tell if I am just being needlessly paranoid or if there’s validity in our concerns about how we’re handling all this. And she just started receiving insulin less than a week ago so I don’t know what to expect while we work on regulating her. I feel like her energy levels might’ve dropped a little bit so I’m just really overall worried about what we’re doing for her. If anyone has any words of wisdom, advice, or anything helpful to add then I’d greatly appreciate it.
EDIT: to add, she was given around 1/2 a can of her vet-recommended wet food before each insulin dose but she’s never had that little food before. This was to compensate for the dry food grazing at the recommendation of her vet. Marley just sits in the kitchen now so her vet said we can try 3/4ths
My name is Hailee and our cat Marley was just diagnosed with diabetes on June 26th. The vet found ketones in her urine and so she was hospitalized until the 29th. They started her on half a unit of Prozinc and then started to give her a full unit, which they said we should be continuing at home.
Marley is an 11 year old tortie and has been a really healthy cat until last year when she started to develop some sort of allergy. We never figured out what it was but she had some skin problems until she received a steroid shot at the vet. They think the steroid is what developed her diabetes and they were unsure she even had diabetes until they tested her last Wednesday (lost a lot of weight, started drinking more) and said she was in an early stage of ketoacidosis. She is a really happy cat and so it can be a little difficult to figure out when she doesn’t feel well but when I had to pick her up for something, I really felt how much she lost (I saw her numbers at the vet and it was around 2 lbs since November).
My mom has been administering the insulin twice a day but it’s been a real challenge. First, she doesn’t feel like she’s doing it right if that makes any sense. We pet her afterwards to make sure we don’t feel the insulin on her but she still feels like she’s not doing it right. I don’t know if there’s anything valid with that. Marley, although very happy, hates to be held or constrained and she doesn’t like to be bothered while she’s eating. The vet suggested treats while we administer so my mom will try giving her some plain pieces of turkey (her favorite) so we’ll try that. I know it’s best to test her blood frequently but I don’t think she would be able to tolerate it since she struggles with the twice daily insulin injection. Flinches, won’t sit still, pulls away, etc. It is hard to describe but I feel like she already recognizes that it is coming and tries to avoid it. So it’s tough to even get her with the needle. We’re following the typical routine of grabbing the skin and getting the pocket but it’s really hard to get her. She would not tolerate being held down. Even at the vet, she was all over the exam room. She doesn’t bite or scratch but she’s really good about wiggling out, even with towels and etc. I wish she knew we’re trying to help her
We’ve been testing her urine instead at the suggestion of her vet team but of course we know that’s less trustworthy and consistent since we can’t make her pee on cue and her blood glucose is what is important. We caught her twice and she’s pulled the same numbers (different times of the day and different days). Right after her dose and around +4 hours after. Light ketones and somewhere in the 500 range for glucose. Her vet was told about those numbers today.
Another problem is her cat brother. Duke is an absolutely awful eater. He will eat wet food but only a few licks of the gravy at a time and mostly grazes on his vet-recommended dry food. Obviously it isn’t ideal to keep the dry food out and if he wasn’t horrible with food, we would eliminate it entirely but he has never consumed more than a spoonful of any type of wet food per day. Her vet is aware of this and said she can graze but same food consistently. But also said that might be leading to a higher glucose.
Of course we want what is best for her but we’re also trying to avoid as many vet visits as possible. She is getting increasingly stressed with each one with the last resulting in her peeing all over herself in the carrier. Which has never happened before in 11 years. Not at home and not in the carrier, which she’s had to be in for previous moves before. So if she can’t even tolerate a 15 minute walk in the carrier anymore…
I’m not sure what problems to look for and how to help her. I can’t tell if I am just being needlessly paranoid or if there’s validity in our concerns about how we’re handling all this. And she just started receiving insulin less than a week ago so I don’t know what to expect while we work on regulating her. I feel like her energy levels might’ve dropped a little bit so I’m just really overall worried about what we’re doing for her. If anyone has any words of wisdom, advice, or anything helpful to add then I’d greatly appreciate it.
EDIT: to add, she was given around 1/2 a can of her vet-recommended wet food before each insulin dose but she’s never had that little food before. This was to compensate for the dry food grazing at the recommendation of her vet. Marley just sits in the kitchen now so her vet said we can try 3/4ths
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You are smart to have a particular spot to do the shots and feeding. You should give her a treat she may like - like a Pure Bites chicken treat or similar pure meat thing (some people use chunks of boiled chicken breast.). Keep it positive. We do that for testing too. Always a treat, whether you’re successful or not. I hope she’s going to feel so much better!
