New here and need help! My cat is starving!

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Jacspets

Jacspets

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Hi all,

My 13 1/2 year old Jetta -DSH- was just diagnosed today. Her glucose was 119 when I picked her up at the vet for the night. They did a curve today and have had her all day. I'm just supposed to monitor her trips to the litterbox and water dish tonight and drop her back off at 815 tomorrow morning. She first started "crashing" last Thursday and she's lost a ton of weight. Anyhow, she's been eating Hills RX food a/d since last week and I was told to continue that tonight giving her a tablespoon every few hours. But, she's been home 2 hours now and eaten 2 batches already and now she's licking the empty dish wanting more. Do I feed her? Oh lord this is so overwhelming. I asked 1,000 questions when we left the vet now I have at least 1,001 more and this starving thing is at the top of my list!

Thanks for your thoughts!
 
I think I should also mention that Jetta has Pancreatitis and the vet did not send me home with any meds to give her tonight. He thinks the diabetes might be transient and related to the pancreatitis, but he said we would know more about that in 48 hours or so. She was 7.25 pounds on July 7th, August 4th she was 7 pounds, and today she's 5.14 pounds. Just to give you an idea of how teeny tiny she is.
 
119 is not high. Let her eat as much as she wants. With pancreatitus, she'll probably need sub-q fluids at the vet tommorrow. If he decides that the diabetes is not transient, and needs to give her insulin, she needs food in her body.

Carl in SC
 
Please feed Jetta as much wet low carb food as wanted. All the old Friskie pates and Fancy feast classics are low carb.
The weight will come back on as soon as the insulin levels are normal. My Maisey is looking more gorgeous than ever.
Without sufficient insulin, the food doesn't get processed, that's why they loose weight and are starving.
HUGS, you will both get through this. Breathe deep. Read a lot - especially the stickies at the top. Be sure to read the letter from your cat.
 
hi there and welcome. first, some questions. :-)
what do you mean by crashing?
and how was she diagnosed with diabetes? i ask that because that glucose level you mention, while some would consider it perhaps high normal, it's certainly a good number if she's only had insulin 1 day.
they gave her insulin and monitored her today yes? and if so, what insulin and how much do you know?
andddd, why do they want her back tomorrow?

fwiw, i want to say if they are having a pancreatitis attack, they usually feel like crap and don't want to eat

as far as letting her eat, if in fact she is diabetic, an unregulated diabetic can't get all the nutrients and stuff out of their food before it leaves their body, so they need more of that food so since she's just diagnosed, she'd be considered an unregulated diabetic and yes, she would need more food than usual. be careful though with the food because pancreatitic cats need to watch their fat intake if i remember correctly so if indeed she has pancreatitis, you don't want to set off a flare of it by feeding too much fat.

fwiw, weight loss is a common symptom of diabetes, due to the body not using the food efficiently

trying to work here and keep my diabetic thoughts straight and as i age i'm finding that harder so i need to cut this short here as i'm being beckoned :-)
 
Jacspets said:
Hi all,
Oh lord this is so overwhelming. I asked 1,000 questions when we left the vet now I have at least 1,001 more and this starving thing is at the top of my list!
Click to expand...

...and we have at least 2002 answers, so ask away. People come here for two reasons. One is to ask for help, the other is to provide help. Welcome to the family.

Carl in SC
 
Thank you all! It's so comforting to hear so many kind supportive responses so fast. I fed her again and she's satisfied for the moment. On 7/7 her BG was 194 but the vet didn't test further believing it to be stress induced. Yesterday they took blood again and results came back this morning with a BG of 456. They retested this morning and she was 394 and had some ketones in her urine. They kept her all day today on fluids doing a glucose curve and administering insulin. All I know is it was "short acting" and its called "regular" insulin on the form I have. Tomorrow they want her back to put her back on an IV and monitor her glucose again throughout the day. My vet wasn't ready to talk about anything past tomorrow sice we have to combat the pancreatitis and severely inflamed intestines. So we've also got IBD or GI Lymphoma to deal with according to her ultrasound. My head is spinning but I know (think??) right now my immediate concern is her Diabetes since that is the life threatening issue right now.
 
Jacspets said:
All I know is it was "short acting" and its called "regular" insulin on the form I have.
Click to expand...

Call the vet tomorrow and ask for the exact name of the insulin and what dose they are giving. There are several different insulins that can be used for diabetic cats. A "short acting regular iinsulin" could possibly mean Humulin R.
 
Short-acting, "regular" insulin (Humulin "R), is not generally for home use.

Vets use it when the BG (glood Glucose) is very high and needs to be brought own quickly
in an emergency situation.

If Jetta needs insulin at home, you will want to ask for Lantus, Levimer, or ProZinc, all of
which are good insulins for cats.

Avoid Humulin "H".
 
Karen & Smokey(GA) said:
Short-acting, "regular" insulin (Humulin "R), is not generally for home use.

Vets use it when the BG (glood Glucose) is very high and needs to be brought own quickly
in an emergency situation.

If Jetta needs insulin at home, you will want to ask for Lantus, Levimer, or ProZinc, all of
which are good insulins for cats.

Avoid Humulin "H".
Click to expand...


Thank you, that's very very helpful. She did well overnight- ate a ton- but starting about 630 this morning seemed to be getting gradually more lethargic and "out of it". I'll know more tonight when she's discharged again.
 
A/D is a great food for weight gain (the only prescription food worth anything, in my opinion). You'll probably want to move her to a low carb food to help with her diabetes. Wellness Kitten formula, Wellness Chicken and EVO 95% Venison are all high in calories to promote weight gain. However, they are also a little higher in fat--I can't remember if high fat is a problem with pancreatitis or not, I hope someone else can chime in about that. If so try Wellness Turkey & Salmon--the protein, fat, and calories are nearly identical to A/D, but it's low enough in carbs for a diabetic.
 
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