New Member 7/27/28 newly diagnosed Diabetic kitty Katelyn

[Shadowind]

Hi my kitty went in to the vet on Thursday to have her teeth worked on, we were told she had a number of bad teeth and her gums were inflamed and she would need some extracted. She is a big girl 7 yr old 17.75 lbs large long haired calico cat. I followed instructions and picked up left over food at 8pm (there wasn't much) she was to go into the clinic at about opening time around 8:00am the next day She was very unhappy about not having breakfast the next morning. we took her in and dropped her off.

They tried to get blood from her i guess before the surgery to run the routine tests...but couldn't for some reason(not sure why) and didn't do the surgery till almost around 12:00 so she was sitting... probably really hungry and stressed out in a cage half the day. they she already had missing teeth at 5 yrs old when we brought her and her brother home from the horse barn they lived at ( the barn had to close so I adopted them) but they removed some then also but this time they took out 7 total (leaving her with only 8 teeth)

After they did the surgery they finally got blood and got results back and she is diabetic- I think they mentioned testing her urine as well. I don't really understand the charts much but GLU was 379mg/dL +high SDMA was 16 hg/dL high and ALT 185 High

Vet said she had a UTI as well. They said if she had realized that she was diabetic before the surgery for her teeth they would not have probably done it... But also said they had had good results with a drug called Senvelgo- liquid medicine given by mouth for diabetic cats, so she said to have her start it on Sat. and we scheduled a bunch of follow up appointments.

Vet also prescribed Buprenex for the pain, I'm suppose to give every 8-12 hrs I did every 8hr like they said- but I started her at 7:30ish instead of 9am on Friday as recommended... as I realized if i started her at 9am I would have to get up at 1 in the morning to giver her her last dose of the day. I was told to back off on it if it made her too loopy. I didn't realize it was an opioid till I looked it up online later. It has been keeping her eyes dilated ( I thought it was just left over anesthetic from the surgery, but at this point that should have worn off by now) She is eating, and drinking..but she occasionally is sitting by her water fountain just staring at the water...which i find concerning.

I ended up only giving her two doses of that pain med today, as she didn't seem like she was in that much pain and I started the Senvelgo today...which was suppose to have no flavor...but she really didn't seem to think so..from her expression it tasted quite yucky! Since she seemed so upset about that I skipped trying to get the second dose of Buprenex down her and just gave her next one at the next regular dose time.

I have a lot of anxiety and I'm very worried if I'm doing the right thing for her, or making all the wrong choices. I've been adding water to her hard food and a tiny bit of chicken broth from packet to soften it up. She's never super liked soft foods, but she has been gobbling down this concoction...so that's good i think? she has only had one very small poop since she had been home...worrying though i know the pain meds can constipate.

her first two pees since she was home seemed normal but her last few seemed really small and she just went in and sat in the box for a bit after that last dose of Bupren and didn't do anything (when I peeked in at her she jumped out of the box right away and then i regretted looking in at her. I'm a little concerened even though the gave her antibiotics for the UTI when she was in the office that she may still have a lingering UTI

I'm concerned how high she seems on the Buprenex and I'm a bit worried if its really safe to be giving her that and the Senvelgo at the same time together... The vets office is unfortunately closed all weekend...and they said I can call any time with questions..but they don't pick up on the weekend...and the day before I think i was still just processing all this info still, so i really won't be able to talk to them till Mon. now.... its a lot to take in for my sad little brain.

I think I'm going to try to follow the same routine I did yesterday tomorrow, it seems the Senvelgo should be giving around the same time every day. I keep leaving youtube cat TV on for her it seems to be keeping her entertained...she normally likes it for a few minutes and then doesn't care but with the pain meds she LOVES staring at the birds and squirrels...i think she is high as a kite X___X

anyway looking forward to trying to collect pee for vet appointment on Mon. Her brother Gus is very upset as he is a jerk when she smells different so only been giving them short very supervised visits together, he keeps hissing at her which scares the ebbie jeebies out of her but when I shout at he stops and hasn't done anything worse. only have them together for about an hr at a time... worried he is not eating enough and very confused about not being let upstairs with me and his sister were he normally spends all his time.

This forum looked nice, and I could use all the support I can get. will try to post again here as things progress.

 

[Shadowind]

srry ya'll i just saw the message in my inbox saying I should post the date and "new member' as my first post...I don't know how to go back and edit to correct it now... and I'm tired and need to go get some rest. I'll try to get back here tomorrow.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Her brother Gus is very upset as he is a jerk when she smells different so only been giving them short very supervised visits together, he keeps hissing at her which scares the ebbie jeebies out of her

Take a towel, wash cloth or rag and rub all over her (especially around the cheeks and paws where the most scent glands are) and then rub it on Gus. It will help to remind him that she's friend, not foe.

I've been adding water to her hard food and a tiny bit of chicken broth from packet to soften it up. She's never super liked soft foods, but she has been gobbling down this concoction...so that's good i think?

She will do better on canned, low carb food like Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies pates. (there are lots of other foods but those are the most affordable and easy to find). There are only a few kibbles that are low enough in carbs but there's lots of good reasons to feed canned food instead, not just the carb levels. Kibble requires water to break down and pulls it out of the bloodstream which leaves the cat in a long-term state of dehydration. Switching both your cats to canned will not only be much better for your sugarcat, but will also make Gus a lot healthier too. A mouse is the perfect food for a cat and they are about 80% water....just like canned foods!

I don't know how to go back and edit to correct it now.

Go to your original post and there should be "thread tools" which is how you can edit your subject line.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Here is information about the new oral medications for diabetic cats… there are pros and cons. Make sure it is safe for your kitty to use them. They are not suitable for all diabetic cats.
One of the risks is ketones forming which can be dangerous, so make sure you are testing for ketones in the urine (use Ketostix which you can buy from a pharmacy or Walmart) or blood ketones (use a blood ketones meter). Either way to test is suitable but please do not neglect to do the testing at least two or three times a week. Any loss of appetite, lethargy, vomiting or diarrhoea are all red flags.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Not to take issue with your vet, but Senvelgo shouldn't be used if your cat has a UTI. The SGLT-2s increase the chances of a UTI. If the vet did not get a comprehensive blood panel (I think Bron meant to link the information and didn't. Read the list of tests in the new treatments post), Senvelgo should not have been prescribed. These are relatively new medications with limited research. We've had a handful of cats prescribed either Senvelgo or Bexacat and they have done reasonably well. On the other hand, we've had thousands of cats prescribed insulin and have considerable experience and good outcomes.

Bupe can cause some behavior issues -- mostly a loopy cat. A quiet environment with low light may help.

Also, please ask your vet to run a fructosamine test. This is a way to confirm a diabetes diagnosis versus a blood glucose test. It's the difference between a finger stick and a hemoglobin A1c in humans. The fructosamine tests gives you an average of blood glucose over a period of several weeks. The reason I'm suggesting this is that any infection or inflammation, either from the need for dental work or a UTI, can raise blood glucose levels. Also, the stress of being at the vet clinic can raise blood glucose numbers. Without labs prior to the dental, you have no idea whether your cat is truly diabetic.

 

[Shadowind]

Not to take issue with your vet, but Senvelgo shouldn't be used if your cat has a UTI. The SGLT-2s increase the chances of a UTI. If the vet did not get a comprehensive blood panel (I think Bron meant to link the information and didn't. Read the list of tests in the new treatments post), Senvelgo should not have been prescribed. These are relatively new medications with limited research. We've had a handful of cats prescribed either Senvelgo or Bexacat and they have done reasonably well. On the other hand, we've had thousands of cats prescribed insulin and have considerable experience and good outcomes.

Bupe can cause some behavior issues -- mostly a loopy cat. A quiet environment with low light may help.

Also, please ask your vet to run a fructosamine test. This is a way to confirm a diabetes diagnosis versus a blood glucose test. It's the difference between a finger stick and a hemoglobin A1c in humans. The fructosamine tests gives you an average of blood glucose over a period of several weeks. The reason I'm suggesting this is that any infection or inflammation, either from the need for dental work or a UTI, can raise blood glucose levels. Also, the stress of being at the vet clinic can raise blood glucose numbers. Without labs prior to the dental, you have no idea whether your cat is truly diabetic.

Thank you, I will ask about fructose when I go in and if that's something they tested for. She will be having a urine test (weather I collect some or not) on Mon. too so hopefully the UTI was cleared up with the antibiotics...but that has been a worry for me!

I did read that about stress causing the appearance of high blood glucose, and my mom said when she talked to them on the phone after surgery them mentioned something about stress causing things like that...so I Do think our vet is aware of that...i just kind of assumed they knew what they were talking about but I will ask an try to make sure they are for certain that stress is not the case causing this.... I do think that day was very stressful for her.

But again looking at the papers with all the chart readings is a bit confusing and overwhelming for me, as I don't really know what all the abbreviations and numbers mean. I'm just not great with that sort of thing.

Katie did have both a nice looking poo and a nice normal sized pee spot this morning when I checked her litter thank goodness. I also think backing her off from the pain meds from 3 doses a day to just 2 is helping a lot as i feel like behavior wise she is starting to acting a bit more like her normal self today.

 

[Shadowind]

Here is information about the new oral medications for diabetic cats… there are pros and cons. Make sure it is safe for your kitty to use them. They are not suitable for all diabetic cats.
One of the risks is ketones forming which can be dangerous, so make sure you are testing for ketones in the urine (use Ketostix which you can buy from a pharmacy or Walmart) or blood ketones (use a blood ketones meter). Either way to test is suitable but please do not neglect to do the testing at least two or three times a week. Any loss of appetite, lethargy, vomiting or diarrhea are all red flags.

ty ty, my vet said she wants to talk about me taking ketone tests at home but that we would discuss it later (we haven't got any testers yet and I'm trying to stay around her as much as possible to observe she is not having any weird side effects, having her go into kedio-acidosis(sp?) as that terrifies me!

She has been eating well with no diarrhea or vomiting as of yet (she burped once but is keeping everything down). She may be a bit lethargic but i think that due to pain meds and recovering from teeth...though its a bit hard to tell...she's never been a super active cat- we are going to start to try to play more once she is recovered from the teeth extraction and try to remedy that.

But she does seem to be acting a bit more normal today, shes been jumping on my desk again which makes me think she is feeling a bit more like herself.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

The name of the test is "fructosamine" -- not fructose. The vet may look at you cross-eyed if you ask about fructose levels!!

If your cat is on antibiotics, UTI testing will not give you valid results. It is likely to show that your cat is fine but it's a false negative. You'd need to wait about 2 weeks for make sure the infection doesn't come back. In addition, doing a urine collection at home is not the best way to get a valid sample. The urine you collect at home is likely to be contaminated from bacteria in litter, on your cat's fur, the container, your hands, etc. The most reliable way to test for a UTI is with a cystocentesis (i.e., the vet inserts a needle into your cat's bladder to get a sample) and then a culture and sensitivity is done. C & S tests to see if any bacteria grows and if so, what the bacteria is so the vet can prescribe an appropriate antibiotic.

 

[Shadowind]

Take a towel, wash cloth or rag and rub all over her (especially around the cheeks and paws where the most scent glands are) and then rub it on Gus. It will help to remind him that she's friend, not foe.



She will do better on canned, low carb food like Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies pates. (there are lots of other foods but those are the most affordable and easy to find). There are only a few kibbles that are low enough in carbs but there's lots of good reasons to feed canned food instead, not just the carb levels. Kibble requires water to break down and pulls it out of the bloodstream which leaves the cat in a long-term state of dehydration. Switching both your cats to canned will not only be much better for your sugar cat, but will also make Gus a lot healthier too. A mouse is the perfect food for a cat and they are about 80% water....just like canned foods!



Go to your original post and there should be "thread tools" which is how you can edit your subject line.
View attachment 70654

<3 Thankies, I am trying to SLOWLY switch both of them over to a no grain kibble diet with hopefully eventually some wet food included and increased amounts over time... but I want to do this gradually as I know how picky cats can be! No cat I have ever had wants its food changed completely all at once, and they both are pretty addicted to hard kibble at the moment. I'm in the process of trying to find what they both like and will be willing to eat, but I'm going to do my best to switch them to more soft foods.

I personally don't like that a lot of big name brands use corn as a filler...I've never liked that. When they were living at the barn they just got dollar store (friskies i think) kibble food...but Gus was catching little mice and birds for him and his sister...there were always little remains around from their hunted snacks around the barn, and Gus would try to bring me things too...he once brought me a live baby bunny into the barn when i was cleaning...(he is a mommas boy! and very attached to me) but now Gus only goes outside occasionally on his leash and harness- unfortunately i cant have a Catio in my current living situation. I tried taking Katie out on the harness too but she started to growl and get upset when i took her outside and she was sensative to noises of kids, and dogs, and construction in our neighborhood, so since it made her so nervous she is completely indoor cat now.

Since I brought them home in 2020-2021-ish I started trying to feed them a combo of Purina weight control kibble and wet friskeys food (they are both BIG cats, but Katie slightly more so than her brother her brother had never looked as chubby as her) but after a while of eating the wet food on occasion they both just sort of stopped being interested in it. I'm not sure why... I suppose I shouldn't have stopped trying to feed it to them, but at the time I had another senior cat I was caring for her(she passed in February this year) and with them not seeming to want to eat it I just stopped giving it to them cause it was easier and cheaper just to do kibble for them both (i regret that now).

Gus and Katie both seem to have their food preferences, Katie doesn't seem to like anything pureed but is enjoying a tiny bit of shredded chicken with broth on her food now..so i'm going to try to keep that up and increase the amount of broth and chicken and increase slowly and decrease the amount of kibble. I'm started adding a tiny tiny bit of Instinct raw boost formula to her kibble shortly before all this happened...and I am continuing to do so...I hope to eventually switch them both off the Purina indoor weight control to this for there kibble option instead.... as the Purina has corn and fillers and the Raw Boost Instinct doesn't.

Our vet seemed to like the Purina weight control when I showed her that was the majority of what they were eating now, but also said that Katie should be on a wet food diet. I don't really trust the vet to know as much about nutrition tho when it comes to kibbles...I still think the Instinct raw +boost would be better for them (she didn't think much of it when I said I wanted to switch them to that).

Gus is not as food motivated as his sister he love to sniff human food, but not to eat it so much. He loves me to sit down and feed him a squeeze stick treat (purred mushy chicken in a tube) I think he likes the interaction with me while he eats more than the actually eating part. He is more of grazer throughout the day than Katie is normally, and He only really likes to eat much anymore if I'm in his presence meaning my spending a lot of time with Katie is separately is probably a big factor of him not eating as much right now. I did have a packet of raw boost rabbit meat with gravy in it that I tried on him and, got him to eat some of that, but he mostly licks the gravy off. I'm going to try him on some different wet foods though...hopefully I can find something he is enthusiastic about.

As a side note i have tried the towel rubbing thing and neither of them seem to think much of it or seem to have much effect....we had Katie lion cut once (she had some really bad matts in her fur that year) and he didn't want anything to do with her for 3-4 weeks...but they finally got back together...I think once the pain meds are done they will eventually be friends again.... they've never really been apart for too long.... It's just hard keeping them separate right now. When i bring him up for visits I've been spraying Nature's Miracle calming spray I have around (can't really afford feliway diffuser after all the vet bills) but I don't want to mix up their pee and I'm suppose to get a urine sample today/tonight for vet check tommaroww...so probably no visitation rights for Gus today.

 

[Shadowind]

The name of the test is "fructosamine" -- not fructose. The vet may look at you cross-eyed if you ask about fructose levels!!

If your cat is on antibiotics, UTI testing will not give you valid results. It is likely to show that your cat is fine but it's a false negative. You'd need to wait about 2 weeks for make sure the infection doesn't come back. In addition, doing a urine collection at home is not the best way to get a valid sample. The urine you collect at home is likely to be contaminated from bacteria in litter, on your cat's fur, the container, your hands, etc. The most reliable way to test for a UTI is with a cystocentesis (i.e., the vet inserts a needle into your cat's bladder to get a sample) and then a culture and sensitivity is done. C & S tests to see if any bacteria grows and if so, what the bacteria is so the vet can prescribe an appropriate antibiotic.

sorry i'm not great at spelling, i did write down fructosamine on paper so i know the right thing to ask when I go in. The antibiotics were given when she had her teeth out so not something she is consitantly getting- i think just a single injection....I got the impression the UTI was probably fairly mild...but not sure. The urine test they took in the vet office that day was through needle. She told me to empty all litter out of litter box and gave me some non-absorbant rubbery "litter" to put in and a syringe to try to suck up pee, however she said if I was unsuccessful they would get it out of her when we came in through a needle again like before. I do not know why she did not want to wait two weeks to make sure the infection was cleared up before having her start the Senvelgo but it is something I will bring up for sure when we go in on Mon.

thank you all for your replies, please bear with me....although I've never been diagnosed I'm pretty sure I'm either ADHD or some form of nerodivergent...and this all makes me very anxious.

It helps to get some other opinions...I'm glad I'm not crazy for thinking that maybe we are jumping into new diabetes meds too quickly. I really hope things go well on our Monday vet visit.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

I think Bron meant to link the information and didn't

Oh I thought I had linked it. Sorry. That’s the second time something has not linked lately.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

ty, my vet said she wants to talk about me taking ketone tests at home but that we would discuss it later (we haven't got any testers yet and I'm trying to stay around her as much as possible to observe she is not having any weird side effects, having her go into kedio-acidosis(sp?) as that terrifies me!

Please don’t wait until your vet decided to show you how to test for ketones. They should have to.d you at diagnosis if they are going to prescribe oral diabetic drugs. Ketostix can be bought at any pharmacy and are easy to use. If she is a bit lethargic as you say…then please test for ketones today. Lethargy is one of the earliest symptoms.

 

[Shadowind]

sorry i'm not great at spelling. the antibiotics were giving when she had her teeth out. The urine test they took in the vet office that day was through needle. She told me to empty all litter out of litter box and gave me some non-absorbant rubbery "litter" to put in and a syringe to try to suck up pee, however she said if I was unsuccessful they would get it out of her when we came in through a needle again like before. I do not know why she did not want to wait two weeks to make sure the infection was cleared up before having her start the Senvelgo but it is something I will bring up for sure when we go in on Mon.

Please don’t wait until your vet decided to show you how to test for ketones. They should have to.d you at diagnosis if they are going to prescribe oral diabetic drugs. Ketostix can be bought at any pharmacy and are easy to use. If she is a bit lethargic as you say…then please test for ketones today. Lethargy is one of the earliest symptoms.

Thank you, she is on a opioid type of pain killer right now for her extracted teeths, she had almost all of them taken out, she only has 8 left, which is probably making her feel a bit funny...and as I have said she has never been a super active cat. Thankfully she was playful with one of her toys when I awoke this morning, and she has been acting more and more normal as time goes on- so I think any sleepiness was recover from the teeth surgery. I'm sorry I didn't see this post till just now. However she did just get back from her vet visit and her urine showed no sign of keytones, so I think we are ok for now...but I probably will do as you say and get some test strips on standby for myself anyways just in case I feel I need to do a test myself on her. Her next vet visit to check for keytones is on Thursday the 1st of August.

I do think my vet is trying to do the very best thing for her, but I am also going to do my best and I am keeping a super close eye on her, I'm with her almost all day except for a couple hours when I am gone in the morning and evening to take care of some horses I am pet sitting, and a couple hours during the day when I go downstairs to spend some time with her brother. When I am gone taking care of horses I am having my dad check in on her. so there is not much happing with her that we are not observing and taking note of.

 

[Shadowind]

I just wanted to give a general update. Katie had her vet visit today, Her urine showed no ketones. The vet did say (repeating what I was told here) that i was still too soon since her antibiotic injection to test to see if she still has any sign of UTI. However she has not been showing any more symptoms of UTI as far as I am able to tell.

I did inquire about the fructosamine test and they said the did not have the equipment in their office to perform that specific test, and that when testing that it is super important to test it right away...so they can't really test that as they would have to send it elsewhere and by the time it reached that place it would have been too long and the test wouldn't work properly. What they did say was that the glucose in her urine was so high that they felt there was no denying the diabetes diagnosis, they said the urine was a clearer long term way to tell then the blood sample was ( and both were showing as high). They also said that the fact that she had not eaten all day on the day they tested it and it was still high, was also a pretty clear it wasn't stress and it is definitely diabetes. I hope that makes sense? I thought it did to me...but I don't know much of anything.

Unfortunately the vet we had the first time for the diagnosis was in surgery today, so her vet tech/ helper was going back and forth and getting the answers for me for all my questions, and I didn't directly see her.

I was told that certain levels were high enough in Katie tho, that they believed it was more important and safer for her to start the medicine (senvelgo) right away rather than wait to be super sure the UTI was clear- the first visit I do remember her mentioning that the high glucose in her urine/ diabetes could be what is causing the UTI in the first place.

I asked about testing blood glucose at home which I've noticed a lot of people talking about and saying is important...and because my dad is also diabetic, I asked if I could use his glucose meter to test her (as I saw somewhere on line that cats with type 2 diabetes and people with type to are very similar and you can use the same tester for them.) However I was told that I probably could not use that tester and that cats were too different from humans for his tester to be accurate. I was also told that with this specific medicine testing for ketones was really much more important the blood glucose anyways.... if anyone has any second opinions or thoughts on this I would be happy to hear any...

I feel like it would make me feel more secure if I could test all her levels of everything that needs to be tested at home...but I also have limited funds.

I did give her another dose today, she licks a lot when i give it to her and runs up on my computer desk by the window to lay down there immediately after, there is a lot of me petting and brushing and saying "I'm sorry I know its yucky" and a lot of purring and head rubbing on things from her- she has not gone un-responsive at any point although she does rest her head on the desk sometimes and look out the window. Also every single time I've given it to her she burps, just once, about 20 min after taking it, but no vomiting as of yet. I have been feeding her one of her meals right before I give it to her- but i have been giving it to her in her mouth, as its so yucky tasting to her I don't have any hopes of her eating it on her own.

Her appetite has been enthusiastic to almost ravenous, so still eating well. She was down from 17.75lbs a little to 17.5 lbs today...that was one thing they said at vet was to keep and eye on her weight, weight and keytones most important on this meds.

I asked about if the broth packets were ok as I was mixing them with her food to get her more used to the idea of a wet food, and they said it was fine as long as I kept her away from fish. all the packets I have say "no seafood" on them so I think we are good. But I was wondering if anyone else had heard that before? they said no fish because it increases chances of UTI and I had never heard that?

 

[Kara & Ember]

I can't speak about human meters personally (I am quite sure most people here use human meters just fine, but I'll let someone else confirm/comment on that). but the most important parts are this:

Testing blood sugar is important for both highs AND lows - hypoglycemia is a medical emergency. Ketones are (usually) only present when kitty has high blood sugar for an extended period of time, so absolutely disagree that ketone testing is "more important" than blood sugar. It might be more relevant for this specific medication (I'm not familiar with it, and maybe it doesn't drop blood sugar levels low like insulin can) but blood sugar info has its own important part to play.

The UTI and diabetes could be linked, but maybe not in a causal way. Most likely, they were both caused by a third factor: eating a dry food diet high in carbs. Since dry food is water depleted, it can cause a lot of urinary tract issues in kitties because they simply aren't getting proper hydration.

I wanted to send those two things really quick, since its been a little while since your last message and I'm sure others will pop in with some more info for you soon!

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Yes you can use a human meter to check the blood glucose. And your dads meter would be fine. Also it’s very important that you check for ketones frequently as they are a risk with using the oral tablets.
Did you read the risks with using the oral medications?
@Sienne and Gabby (GA) mentioned above it is not advised to use oral medication with a UTI. Did you show the information about oral diabetic medication to your vet?

 

[Shadowind]

Yes you can use a human meter to check the blood glucose. And your dads meter would be fine. Also it’s very important that you check for ketones frequently as they are a risk with using the oral tablets.
Did you read the risks with using the oral medications?
@Sienne and Gabby (GA) mentioned above it is not advised to use oral medication with a UTI. Did you show the information about oral diabetic medication to your vet?

Thank you, that makes me feel a little better knowing I can test her glucose with my dads meter if I have to or feel like I need to <3

I did read the risks for oral meds, the vet gave me a whole pamphet and I read through it all and I read the little peice of paper that came in the box with the medicine. And I read the post the link posted in this thread

(btw its a liquid I put in her mouth tho not a pill, I have to measure it out by her weight with a needle-less syringe and then squirt it in her mouth once a day)

It does make me very nervous the risks that come with it (Im an anxious person anyways and terribly anxious when anything goes wrong with my fur babies), and I saw it said that they shouldn't be taking it with a UTI, It does not make me too happy either...but I don't know a better option.

We didn't actually see our same dr. that we saw on Thursday we were told she was in middle of emergency surgery so couldn't come see us. I asked the vet technician guy who was there to talk to us, and he kept running off to consult with one of the other doctors...hopefully not the one in surgery.. but it was very busy in the office when we came in... so I really don't know

All I know is the answers I got were that her glucose levels were so high that they believed it worth the risk to start her on the meds right away rather than wait for to be sure that the UTI was cleared up with the antibiotics they gave her, and apparently it would be more risky to not start her on the meds. She has been peeing and using the litter box in a normal way all of today...so I do think she is probably ok...but I worry all the same. I have her paper work, they gave me a copy, I will see if i can figure out how to post images below....I don't know if it will work as I'm still so new i've never tried posting images here b4.

ok so my image links didn't seem to work I'm going to try to edit and figure it out -the high number that is circled in pencil on paperwork3 is the one I think they were most concerned about if I remember right. (this is her paperwork for when she got all the tests done on Thursday not from today- they only tested for keytones today)

paperwork1

paperwork2

paperwork3

paperwork4

paperwork4prt2

teeth


I have been afraid to leave her side for long. I just lost a senior cat who was 17 yrs old in Febuary, i still feel a bit raw from that if I think about it too much.

the vet tech we talked to today said that Keto-acidosis doesn't happen that often, so I don't have to be quite so scared...but I'm not sure if i should really believe that. He did say DKA was more likely then the other re-action with this medicine tho (hypoglycemia?) i'm really not great with all the medical terms

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

All I know is the answers I got were that her glucose levels were so high that they believed it worth the risk to start her on the meds right away rather than wait for to be sure that the UTI was cleared up with the antibiotics they gave her, and apparently it would be more risky to not start her on the meds

Did they offer to start get on insulin?
I don’t know why they used the oral medication when it is contraindicated with a UTI.

the vet tech we talked to today said that Keto-acidosis doesn't happen that often, so I don't have to be quite so scared...but I'm not sure if i should really believe that. He did say DKA was more likely than the other re-action with this medicine tho (hypoglycemia?) i'm really not great with all the medical terms

This is not really true. DKA can happen with any diabetic cat if they are not getting the correct treatment they need, or if they are not eating or if they also have an infection. It starts off with ketones and then progresses to DKA if the ketones are not addressed. And we know that with the oral meds, ketones is one of the risk factors and using the oral meds when there is a UTI is another.
Personally I would go back and ask the vet ( not the vet tech) why they are not giving insulin instead.

 

[Shadowind]

Did they offer to start get on insulin?
I don’t know why they used the oral medication when it is contraindicated with a UTI.



This is not really true. DKA can happen with any diabetic cat if they are not getting the correct treatment they need, or if they are not eating or if they also have an infection. It starts off with ketones and then progresses to DKA if the ketones are not addressed. And we know that with the oral meds, ketones is one of the risk factors and using the oral meds when there is a UTI is another.
Personally I would go back and ask the vet ( not the vet tech) why they are not giving insulin instead.

The vet mentioned insulin at the first diagnoses as pretty much the only other option but didn't really stress it, but she said they had tried some other cats on the oral meds and been really really successful. Once we put her on the insulin there is no going back and trying these meds, as once a cat is on insulin they can't have oral meds at all anymore. HOwever if this doesn't work we can still stop her on it and switch to insulin It can't be done visa versa.

She also said it was really super easy to administer this way I think that is a BIG factor why she encouraged it, she said even cat parents who have tried it and weren't really that invested in their cat have been successful, so we (who are very invested) should do great. Insulin would be twice a day and with this its only once. Insulin you have to do stricktly at the same time every day. For this she says it administered a few hours off of schedule should not be too big a deal if its just happens for like one day and not consistently off schedule all time, so there is a little more flex in scheduling supposedly if you believe what she says...I really want to trust her.

I think also she truely believes weighing her for weight loss, and keytones are most important on this med from my impression, she did say she went to several LONG seminars on this medication. I think from what she said she figures I probably won't have to be pricking kitty on ear or foot often and stressing her out even more? Katie already has never liked to be held...I tried to hold her and stand on scale this morning to practice weighing her and she wiggled and struggle a lot!

She loves being petted, she loves brushes and cuddles on her terms, but HATES to be held against her will...and I am a small person and she is a huge cat...she can be pretty strong when she wiggles its not easy to hold on to her! So I'm sure doing a blood glucose prick will be difficult... if not impossible.... and It might be just as bad trying to shoot her with an insulin needle.... I don't know...after once she may not let me do it ever again...I know she loves me,but she isn't stupid... I know cats, and I I know her personally since kitten-hood...I think she would hate it.


That is what I have been reading everywere online that DKA is a risk for any cat. I will try to get a time to talk to her again soon. I am very low on spoons right now, and our vet office has been very ridiculously busy ever since the pet boom in 2020 during the pandemic. There are so many people who got pets then they have been flooded with clients ever since then. I really hate it that they are so often so busy, but I don't know that any other vet office in our area is better, and they are very close to were we live so it makes the dreaded car ride there very very short.

I did buy some keytone testers at the pharmacy today, and I ordered in another type of hydroponic litter from Chewy that I think she will like better hopefully. I am worried with the rubber litter the vet gave us she seemed to be holding in her poop a LONG time, after I put the normal kitty litter back she had two rather large poopies like 10 min after and a pee, meaning she had been holding all that in....that can't be good for her system.

Its also going to be super hard to get her brother and her back living together if they can't use the same litter box due to me having to test her urine every single day I would really like to see them able to spend at least part of the day with each other again, even if they have to have meals separately now (so that I can tell how much Katie is eating as before they would often eat out of one anthers bowl...they actually always shared a single bowl when they lived at the horse barn).

While I was in the pharmacy I did see they had an Accu-check Guide me Reader at relatively cheap, like $14! so I picked one of those up too just in case. I do want to be prepared for anything, I even got some honey out for easy acess if I think she is going into DKA. I realized when I got home and opened the Accu-check it it only had lancets and no test strips included and it had no batteries, so I ordered both on Amazon. This way she will have her own on hand and I won't even have to go searching for my dads test kit or worry about contamination.

I ask everyone here to pls pls don't get on my case more about soft food, I am reading as much as I can about all this and learning as fast as I can, and I see that emphasized everywhere!, I Really do realize it is the best option!...BUT people must realize that not all cats are easy to switch over! I AM going to try, but it is definitely going to take time! AND I have read the switching their food too quickly can be VERY bad also!

I tried them with the Wellness chicken and broth pack this morning instead of the Delectables I was using....and Neither Gus or Katie would touch it. I was very disappointment because the wellness ones looked really good and healthy to me and guaranteed no seafood in them. I had to dump both bowls with the kibble wellness mix and start over and mix with the Delectables chicken and broth to get them both to eat. I have been having to feed Gus after Katie eats and sit with him and pet him and talk to him while he eats....or he won't finish eating! I know this seems ridiculous but this is what he wants ever since he has been eating separate from his sister last Thrus. I really really don't want either of them to become food avoidant because I tried something on them too quickly!

I'm sorry if I seem defensive but as I mentioned I am low on spoons.... I'm probably going to try to take at least a short break from the internet for a while...I do appreciate all of you and I do want to do what is best for Katie, but I also really need my own mental health so i can think strait as well.

Katie has seemed to have increased energy today, and been very playful- almost kitten like! I am very hopefully this is a good sign! She doesn't seem to be peeing a lot or showing any further sign of UTI I do know most UTI signs and she never showed any before this tooth extraction. My last cat the one who passed in Feb. got UTIs fairly often even on UTI prescription food, and she Would and DID eat soft food every single day...I think she had her own issues in her old age tho...so I know symptoms of UTI from her...but Katie doesn't seem to be in distress at all right now from that, if she does she is a symptomatic which i suppose is possible...but hopefully not. I think her mouth is feeling better too. I really think the meds are starting to work.

Anyways don't be surprised if I do dissapear from the forums and take a break for a bit. I will try my best to update you all later

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

If you think you will only be able to feed dry food, there is the option of the freeze dried food now available in pet stores and if you live in the US, you can get a couple of low carb dry foods. Look in post 4 of this thread https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-reduce-home-testing-stress.289344/

 

[Shadowind]

Update on Katie cat for anyone who may want to know. She is doing well, I got a human Acc-check blood meter for at home use if I need it. I got Ketone urine testing strips.

I successfully tested her blood Glucose and her urine at home myself before our vet visit today and both are still good.

Katie is acting more like herself although maybe still a little quirkey from pain meds. Talked to vet today, she walked me through a lot of stuff and tried to explain the medical terms for my poor sad anxiety ridden brain. She was very patient with me and heard out all my concerns (many of wich were ones that people here voiced and were concerned about) I don't know if my thoughts are clear enough to retain everything and try to tell you all what she said and explain it, but the way she explained it made me very re-assured. Yes the situation with the teeth is not ideal. There were very few markers for UTI if she EVEN Ever had one... it was very mild and is not likey suffering from it any longer.

They also tested blood and urine today it was all good levels. She is not lethargic, she is not loosing too much weight, she stilll has healthy poops, and she is not vomiting, she has a very good appetite. Vet explained the way these meds work they will NOT hurt her if she is not diabetic (again I don't know if i can explain what she said to all of you but it made sense to me!)

She was very patient with me even with my crazy over the top anxieties. When I get to see her and not just the vet tech its so much better! I like the vet tech I actually get really good vibes from him, I just don't like trying to send and get information through a telephone chain of people...i feel like things could get mis-interpreted on both ends, not good when my anxiety is already through the roof...anyways.

She felt Katie was doing really really well on these meds! so we are going to keep going full dose as long as she seems stable for at least the trial period.
It really should not hurt her permanently if she is not diabetic.

I'm going to take a break from researching and asking stuff online forums and social media support groups and just try really hard to trust my vet, I think I know enough now to know what to do if things go wrong.

I love the internet and social media that you can get so much support and info from different perspectives...its just not doing my mental health any good right now....maybe once she is more stable and things calm down I will visit fb and forums support groups and such again. but don't expect to see me on her in a while as long as everything is going smoothly.

I do want to share any info that might be helpful for other pet owners, but for now I want to take a step back for me. Hope you all understand <3