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Kittykat511

Member Since 2021
Hi my Luna we don’t know her age but definitely more than 10 she all white and have a blue eye and a green eye. She loves loves being petted until your arm goes numb. I have 3 other cats as well. About 2 weeks ago I got her blood work because she started to feel skinnier. She was 8 lbs she was always around 9 lbs. her blood work came back ‘borderline’ diabetic. So the vet gave us food and went on our way. She wouldn’t eat the food and sadly we don’t know how long she hasn’t ate because we have 3 other cats. On Monday she weighed 7 lbs. I’ve been back to the vet 2 more times now. They gave her fluids each time. They don’t know why she won’t eat so they won’t give her insulin. Yesterday they gave sent us home with an appetite pill. They gave her an insulin shot at the office but I don’t believe they took her blood sugar. I can’t remember right now because I’m a mess. Is there a way to check my cats blood sugar? Any idea why she might not eat all of a sudden? Any advice is greatly appreciated!
 
hi, take a deep breath, I know how scary this is at first. I think firstly you need to get in touch with your vet to see if they took her bg before they gave her insulin. They should have done as it's dangerous not to. Once you've had a chat with your vets there is loads of info here about home testing, I know everything seems overwhelming at first but everyone here is so kind. Wherabouts are you? I believe that cats with poor appetites can sometimes be tempted with gourmet gold pate (fancy feast in US). There are links to foods for diabetic cats on here, it's possible that if she's borderline it could be stress related and will be resolved by itself, but if not cats can go into remission, Angel did so after 5 months.
Please post an update when you've spoken to your vet and remember you're not alone
 
Thank you for replying! Her blood work shows Diabetes but when the vet forces her to pee she doesn’t have enough ketones in her urine. My husband confirmed Yesterday they didn’t check anything on her because her bladder was empty but they did give her 2 units of insulin. I’m worried she’s just going to hide and die because of no food.
 
Your vet should definitely have done a blood test to check bg before giving insulin. I don't know what everyone else thinks but if not I would be looking for a new vet. Will Luna not eat at all? if mine are off their food I try the gourmet gold chicken pate or maybe some sardines, stinky food may work! If not maybe she needs more fluids and/or meds to stimulate her appetite.

Apparently unless it is stress once a cat is diabetic they are always diabetic but they can go into permanent remission where they no longer need insulin. Angel needed insulin for 5 months, then he went into remission and apart from a couple of blips has not needed insulin since. He has been on an ultra low carb diet but since he was diagnosed with ckd it is difficult to find food to manage both conditions so I'm keeping an eye on him as if he has too many carbs it could kick him out of remission.

Hope your vet gets to the bottom of this asap and that it is nothing serious
 
Your cat has to eat. More than 3 days with no food can cause additional problems (i.e., hepatic lipidosis or "fatty liver"). Try anything. Rotisserie chicken, a different cat food, tuna -- whatever your kitty will eat. If she's not eating and typically isn't a fussy eater, it's a sign she's not feeling well.

You do NOT want ketones in your cat's urine. It's not a matter of not enough ketones -- you don't want any. Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) can be a life threatening condition. DKA occurs when there's some sort of infection or inflammation + not enough insulin + not enough calories.

Your vet is not giving you enough information. Your vet can do a blood glucose and blood ketone test. There can be done using the same meters that humans use. In fact, you can go to Walmart or any pharmacy to buy a glucometer. And, I'd encourage you to do so. I have no clue why your vet is trying to express Luna's bladder unless he's trying to determine if she has a urinary track infection. A good deal of what you're being told does not make sense.

If your vet is going to keep charging you for not doing much to help your cat, please consider seeing another vet. The "wait and see" approach could have dire consequences. If you can't get in to see another local vet, is there an emergency vet hospital you can bring Luna to?
 
You can check the blood sugar at home. GO to a pharmacy or walmart and pick up

1. a meter that only needs a 0.3-0.5 size blood sample. any brand is fine
2. 100 extra test strips
3. a box of 100 26-28 gauge lancets
4. cosmetic cotton rounds to hold behind the ear.

I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat at home.

Feed him anything he will eat... even if it's chicken or tuna... just to get him eating again. Most on here feed fancy feast or friskies pate foods. If he still won't eat, water down some pate food, suck it up into a feeding syringe and assist feed. He's got to eat to prevent liver damage. You've got this.
 
Thank you all for replying! It means so much ❤️ I mashed up her diabetic food and she licked mostly the gravy. I added water and she ate some more. Also she ate a few kibbles! She doesn’t have a problem drinking water which is good. I feel like a horrible mother to not think of mashing it. Before she would just lick some gravy. I think the appetite pill is helping . My husband would always take her and I apologize in advance but men aren’t the same as women, I know he’d never ask what I would. So I’m calling the vet tomorrow and letting them know she’s eating.

question- how do they test her by her urine to see if she needs insulin?
 
Did you go out and buy a human test meter form the pharmacy or Walmart as Janet suggested.?
By testing you will be able to see if she needs insulin or not.. this is really important

I am glad she is eating something. Anything she will eat at this point is OK. It doesn't have to be the diabetic food The most imoortant thing is that she does eat. Even dry is ok at this point. If she doesn't eat she will have more problems.
Keep offering food every two hours.
Has the vet tested her for pancreatitis. He will need to do a fPL snap test or a fPL Spec test.
Has the vet suggested she might need an antinausea medication such as cerenia or ondansetron?
If a cat is nauseated she will not eat, so it is important to get to the bottom of why your kitty won't eat.
Please ask these questions of your vet tomorrow and don't let him fob you off.

I would also go out and buy a bottle of Ketostix and pop a test strip under your kitty when she pees to see if there are any ketones in the urine. We don't want ketones at all as Sienna said. Diabetic cats that are not eating and maybe have an infection are very prone to getting ketones so we need to eliminate them. You can get Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy.

To see if a cat needs insulin it is easiest to test the blood sugar with a human meter. You can also see if the urine has any glucose in it but it is a much more primitive test than a blood glucose test.
 
See this link to help you determine whether your cat might be experiencing nausea:

Nausea and appetite problems - symptom checklist and treatments

If you recognise any of the behaviours I suggest you tell your vet ASAP and ask for an anti-nausea medicine (as suggested above by Bron). If nausea is the problem then addressing that is quite likely to help better than an appetite stimulant (with less chance of your cat developing food aversions). The vet would also need to identify the root cause of the nausea. The first, most urgent thing to check for - daily - is whether your cat might be generating ketones (as Sienne and Bron have already highlighted). Also, I'd suggest asking your vet about testing for pancreatitis as it is often a fellow traveller with diabetes.


Mogs
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Kittykat511 said:
Thank you all for replying! It means so much ❤️ I mashed up her diabetic food and she licked mostly the gravy. I added water and she ate some more. Also she ate a few kibbles! She doesn’t have a problem drinking water which is good. I feel like a horrible mother to not think of mashing it. Before she would just lick some gravy. I think the appetite pill is helping . My husband would always take her and I apologize in advance but men aren’t the same as women, I know he’d never ask what I would. So I’m calling the vet tomorrow and letting them know she’s eating.

question- how do they test her by her urine to see if she needs insulin?
Click to expand...
You don't test the urine to see if she needs insulin, you poke a tiny spot in the ear with a lancet and so a blood test. I test before each shot, any try to get at least one mid cycle test and a before bed test. Once you have the hang of it, and it takes time to get the hang of it, each test takes less than a minute to do.

Most cats don't like the prescription food. There's a guarantee on it, so I'd return it and find a low carb regular food. Here's a list. Pick foods under 10 percent carb.


https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf


Glucose in the urine will only tell you if the cat has recently been over the Renal threshold (usually around 250), but it won't tell you in the moment what the number is.
 
Hey everyone!! I have better news! Luna is now on 1 unit of insulin. We came home from the vet, she went over to the dry food then wet food and even to the dry wet food! Her sugar was 515 Wednesday it was 430. The vet said she’s a different cat! I didn’t have enough money for bloodwork yesterday so she said see how she is on the insulin. I’m getting the blood sugar meter today.
Blood work from January 18
GLU 418 mg/dL
CREA .08
BUN 22
BUN/CREA 26
PHOS 2.7
CA 9.3
TP 7.4 g/dl
ALB 3.1
GLOB 4.3
ALB/GLOB .7
ALT 80 U/L
ALKP 39 U/L
GGT 11 U/L
TBIL .8 mg/dl
CHOL 197
AMYL 769 U/L
LIPA 404
 
Kittykat511 said:
Hey everyone!! I have better news! Luna is now on 1 unit of insulin. We came home from the vet, she went over to the dry food then wet food and even to the dry wet food! Her sugar was 515 Wednesday it was 430. The vet said she’s a different cat! I didn’t have enough money for bloodwork yesterday so she said see how she is on the insulin. I’m getting the blood sugar meter today.
Blood work from January 18
GLU 418 mg/dL
CREA .08
BUN 22
BUN/CREA 26
PHOS 2.7
CA 9.3
TP 7.4 g/dl
ALB 3.1
GLOB 4.3
ALB/GLOB .7
ALT 80 U/L
ALKP 39 U/L
GGT 11 U/L
TBIL .8 mg/dl
CHOL 197
AMYL 769 U/L
LIPA 404
Click to expand...
The kidneys look great which is good news! We are here for you every step of the way. :) It's great she's willing to eat the wet. Try putting just a few dry on top to get her used to it and pick up the dry food bowl. :)
 
that's promising,

With the home testing, I am not the best home tester, I have been known to have over 10 goes sometimes and poor Angel's ears resembled dart boards!! Luckily he is the most loving and forgiving little boy, A few tips that I got from here, elsewhere, and trial and error. You've probably read about filling an old sock with rice and then warming gently in the microwave to hold against the ear. What I do is whilst the sock is warming, gently rub the ear to stimulate the blood. Then I hold the warm sock on the underside of the ear, sandwich the ear between the sock and a finger, then (hopefully) prick the ear and get a sample. Plus give treats before, during and after.
 
SweetAngel said:
that's promising,

With the home testing, I am not the best home tester, I have been known to have over 10 goes sometimes and poor Angel's ears resembled dart boards!! Luckily he is the most loving and forgiving little boy, A few tips that I got from here, elsewhere, and trial and error. You've probably read about filling an old sock with rice and then warming gently in the microwave to hold against the ear. What I do is whilst the sock is warming, gently rub the ear to stimulate the blood. Then I hold the warm sock on the underside of the ear, sandwich the ear between the sock and a finger, then (hopefully) prick the ear and get a sample. Plus give treats before, during and after.
Click to expand...
I didn’t read anything about a sock just a cotton round. I have not successfully got a reading yet. I’m afraid im going to put holes threw her ear. I’m also afraid to stress her out too much and give treats I don’t want her blood sugar to raise.
 
Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also
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fec17d29-5ab4-44a8-912b-3a91944c3954-jpeg.57073

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there
 
Hello everyone! Luna is doing so much better! She’s not as wobbly when she stands or I put her down. She eats like a little piggy. I’m feeding her tiki cat after dark it’s good for my cat with crystals and hyperthyroidism.
I have only been able to test her 3 times before I got her she used to have horrible ear infections and she scratched her right ear so much it’s kinda crippled and missing. So she’s not fond of her ears being touched. Is there a limit on how many times I should test her?
 
Glad Luna is doing better.
Maybe try to get her to associate her ears being touched with nice things, give her treats whilst you're stroking her ears, and after you've tested her. It could be worth asking the vet to show you how to home test. As to how many times you try to get blood, depends how distressed she (and you) both get! Sometimes I would get lucky with Angel and get blood first time, sometimes it felt like the 21st time! I would do my best to pretend to be calm as they pick up on your moods. I'm giving Angel the absolute tiniest bit of the carb rich renal food so he won't be knocked out of remission, plus the vet is testing him when he goes for his b12 injections. I am so not looking forward to testing him myself, so fingers crossed he will do well on the other renal food.
Good luck with the testing, honestly, I always say if I can do it anyone can, just remember it is for Luna and persevere and don't be hard on yourself.
xx
 
An update on Luna! I can hardly get close to the amount of blood I need from ear and paw and now she’s not eating the tiki wet food.
 
I'm so sorry, I can't advise on the food apart from to try various low carb brands until you find one she likes. Are you trying the warm sock filled with rice against the ear, and is the ear nice and warm which should make it bleed more easily? Have you tried both ears? I know its annoying for Luna but sometimes it needs several goes to get blood, just ask Angel.
Please don't get discouraged, you're not alone xx
 
@SweetAngel -

Hi Cassandra,

Bit of a heads-up for you. Since switching to the Integra Protect Renal foods, Lúnasa's blood pressure has shown a marked upward trend. Just thought I'd let you know in case you might want to keep a closer eye on Angel's blood pressure.


Mogs

(@Kittykat511 - Please excuse the off-topic post.)

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Critter Mom said:
@SweetAngel -

Hi Cassandra,

Bit of a heads-up for you. Since switching to the Integra Protect Renal foods, Lúnasa's blood pressure has shown a marked upward trend. Just thought I'd let you know in case you might want to keep a closer eye on Angel's blood pressure.


Mogs

(@Kittykat511 - Please excuse the off-topic post.)

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Click to expand...
@Critter Mom thanks Mogs, Angel's blood pressure was fine last time but he had general bloods done on Thurs, not sure if they checked his bp but will find out. I ordered some of the purina renal mousse as it's less phos than integra and less carbs than Royal Canin. Despite having between 1-1.5 pouches of Royal Canin a day Angel's bg has been normal so that's encouraging. Mogs, you are so kind and caring xx
 
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