Fritz's Mom
Member
Hi everyone! My fur baby Fritz is almost 16 years old and is 8 years a diabetic. He was first diagnosed after he had lost about 4kg. He was a hefty boy, weighing in around 9kg!! He was living with my parents at the time, so I only saw him a few times a month. I went over to visit and had noticed along with the weight loss, he was walking on his honches (plantigrade stance). He had lost the ability to jump onto furniture. I was upset that my family hadn't done anything about it, so I took him to the vets and that is when I received the news that he was suffering with feline diabetes. We were able to control it right away with Canninsulin once daily. I had such great results!! He started walking and jumping again! No permanent nerve damage to the legs, great fructosamine test results! I never was educated on home testing or twice a day injections from my vet. I was aslo spoiled by having a pet that resoponded so well, that is until this past Saturday :-|
I woke up, all three of my cats raced to the kitchen for breakfast and went about my business. I was sitting in my upstairs office when I heard a noise. Fritz had gotten himself stuck in a corner!! I was shocked!! He then began perimeter walking around the house NON STOP. He was walking close to the walls and getting himself stuck in the strangest of places. He hasn't had the greatest eyesight for some time now, so I chalked it up to blindness. I had to run into the office for a few hours. When I came back, he was still pacing and pacing. I decided it was time to call my vet. Because it was the weekend, I got their voicemail. The message provided a phone number for emergency after hours clinic. As I was on the phone with the receptionist, he snapped out of it. He jumped up onto the table and stopped with the drunken, blind like movements. I decided he still should be checked out. (I had never had to take him to the ER ever in his 15 years!!) Ok so we get to the ER, they check his BP, heart and BG. BG was 18, but he was due for dinner and his insulin (he was once a day @ 10 units) Dr. tells me that given what I had described, he more than likely experienced hypoglycemia. She discharged him, told me to feed him dinner and give him his insulin. She warned me to watch him closely for seizures and to take him to his vet on Monday for blood, urine, and a glucose curve. So we get home, he eats dinner, I give him his shot, he seems normal. Around 2am I woke to a terrible noise. I ran downstairs to find he was having a seizure. Grabbed the corn syrup, rubbed it on his gums and we took off back to the ER. He had MULITPLE seizures on the way there. It was terrible!! I was so scared. Get to the ER, they rush him in, check his BG and it was too low to read, gave him IV dextrose and he perked up almost immediately. The gave him a can of food, we waited a bit longer and then left. (I could not afford to admit him for the night). We barley get 10km from the ER and he starts to have seizures again. I told my husband, let's just go home. I figured this was the end for my little man. We get home, I layed him on my chest and held on tight as he continued to have seizure after seizure. (my guess it at least 10) I lay awake with my little guy on my chest, he eventually stops having seizures and falls into a DEEP sleep. When I woke up (i fell asleep with him on me) a few hours later he was very unresponsive. He couldn't stand, eat, or even keep his eyes open. He had no response to any stimualtion. We packed him up in the car and headed back to the ER. When we got there, his BP was great and BG was around 14. He was presenting as having a hypo episode (minus the seizure) but had an elevated BG. We decided to have complete blood work and a urinalysis done. Everything cme back normal (just elevated glucose in the urine and blood which was to be expected) We stayed there for a few hours. He ate some food, tryed to walk, but he was moving backwards, it was the strangest thing I have ever seen. Dr. wants to admit him to the ICU for $1,200 for one night!! We decided to take him home with us. When we got home, I made him a comfy bed on the floor and tried to get him to eat. He was soooo sleeeepy. My husband started googling like a mad man!! He came acoss your forum!! We found out so much information! If it wasn't for this site, I would have killed my cat! We were discharged with instructions to give him his insulin, It was on this site where we learned that it was not a good idea to give them insulin after a hypo episode!! I spent another night on the couch with him. Monday morning things were starting to look up!! He had more of an appetite and used the litter box. His walking was so staggered, slow and clumsy. He would step into his water bowl, food dish and get caught in strange places. He was making progess almost hourly! It was also on this sight where we discovered the idea to buy a home glucometer. We headed out to the pharmacy and bought it. I made an appointment at my vets for a glucose curve for Tuesday morning. So back to Monday, as I said he was making remarkable progress! He was responding to his name, and even walked, albeit with some difficulty, up the stairs and back down!! We were so happy! He still seemed abit like the lights were on but not everyone was home. So Tuesday morning off the vets we go for the curve. I took him there at 8:00 am they checked his BG, gave him some food and 6 units of canninsulin. The injection was given at 10:30am. I hung around like a nervous mamma until about 1pm. I came home, grabbed a much needed nap only to be woken by a phone call from the vet. She said that he crashed around 3:30 with bg of 1.1. They gave him corn syrup and food and brought him back up. She then proceeded to tell me she thought I should seriously consider putting him down and asked if I wanted to have it done that night!!!! I went down to the vets, they let me in the back to be with him. I was a mess to say the least! but here is my wee man all lovey and alert, I couldn't put him down. So I told her that we had purchased the glucometer and have decided to micro manage him at home. She was indifferent, I was not too impressed with her. So, with some more reading on this forum, we decided to try from scratch with 1 unit twice daily. Today is day 3 of the micro managing and we are getting somewhere!!! We are at 1.5 units 2x daily. He is ranging from 19mml before food to 11 at peak. We are going to stay at this dose for several days and monitor closely. He is back to his bad self!! He can jump onto the bed, couch stool, you name it and he is also playing with his brothers again. I cannot believe this is the same cat, that just days ago, was almost comatose.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this site. Without your knowledge, Fritz would not be here today. I will post again later with an update. I am so glad to have found this forum, and again, from the bottom of my heart, Thank you to all who have contributed
I woke up, all three of my cats raced to the kitchen for breakfast and went about my business. I was sitting in my upstairs office when I heard a noise. Fritz had gotten himself stuck in a corner!! I was shocked!! He then began perimeter walking around the house NON STOP. He was walking close to the walls and getting himself stuck in the strangest of places. He hasn't had the greatest eyesight for some time now, so I chalked it up to blindness. I had to run into the office for a few hours. When I came back, he was still pacing and pacing. I decided it was time to call my vet. Because it was the weekend, I got their voicemail. The message provided a phone number for emergency after hours clinic. As I was on the phone with the receptionist, he snapped out of it. He jumped up onto the table and stopped with the drunken, blind like movements. I decided he still should be checked out. (I had never had to take him to the ER ever in his 15 years!!) Ok so we get to the ER, they check his BP, heart and BG. BG was 18, but he was due for dinner and his insulin (he was once a day @ 10 units) Dr. tells me that given what I had described, he more than likely experienced hypoglycemia. She discharged him, told me to feed him dinner and give him his insulin. She warned me to watch him closely for seizures and to take him to his vet on Monday for blood, urine, and a glucose curve. So we get home, he eats dinner, I give him his shot, he seems normal. Around 2am I woke to a terrible noise. I ran downstairs to find he was having a seizure. Grabbed the corn syrup, rubbed it on his gums and we took off back to the ER. He had MULITPLE seizures on the way there. It was terrible!! I was so scared. Get to the ER, they rush him in, check his BG and it was too low to read, gave him IV dextrose and he perked up almost immediately. The gave him a can of food, we waited a bit longer and then left. (I could not afford to admit him for the night). We barley get 10km from the ER and he starts to have seizures again. I told my husband, let's just go home. I figured this was the end for my little man. We get home, I layed him on my chest and held on tight as he continued to have seizure after seizure. (my guess it at least 10) I lay awake with my little guy on my chest, he eventually stops having seizures and falls into a DEEP sleep. When I woke up (i fell asleep with him on me) a few hours later he was very unresponsive. He couldn't stand, eat, or even keep his eyes open. He had no response to any stimualtion. We packed him up in the car and headed back to the ER. When we got there, his BP was great and BG was around 14. He was presenting as having a hypo episode (minus the seizure) but had an elevated BG. We decided to have complete blood work and a urinalysis done. Everything cme back normal (just elevated glucose in the urine and blood which was to be expected) We stayed there for a few hours. He ate some food, tryed to walk, but he was moving backwards, it was the strangest thing I have ever seen. Dr. wants to admit him to the ICU for $1,200 for one night!! We decided to take him home with us. When we got home, I made him a comfy bed on the floor and tried to get him to eat. He was soooo sleeeepy. My husband started googling like a mad man!! He came acoss your forum!! We found out so much information! If it wasn't for this site, I would have killed my cat! We were discharged with instructions to give him his insulin, It was on this site where we learned that it was not a good idea to give them insulin after a hypo episode!! I spent another night on the couch with him. Monday morning things were starting to look up!! He had more of an appetite and used the litter box. His walking was so staggered, slow and clumsy. He would step into his water bowl, food dish and get caught in strange places. He was making progess almost hourly! It was also on this sight where we discovered the idea to buy a home glucometer. We headed out to the pharmacy and bought it. I made an appointment at my vets for a glucose curve for Tuesday morning. So back to Monday, as I said he was making remarkable progress! He was responding to his name, and even walked, albeit with some difficulty, up the stairs and back down!! We were so happy! He still seemed abit like the lights were on but not everyone was home. So Tuesday morning off the vets we go for the curve. I took him there at 8:00 am they checked his BG, gave him some food and 6 units of canninsulin. The injection was given at 10:30am. I hung around like a nervous mamma until about 1pm. I came home, grabbed a much needed nap only to be woken by a phone call from the vet. She said that he crashed around 3:30 with bg of 1.1. They gave him corn syrup and food and brought him back up. She then proceeded to tell me she thought I should seriously consider putting him down and asked if I wanted to have it done that night!!!! I went down to the vets, they let me in the back to be with him. I was a mess to say the least! but here is my wee man all lovey and alert, I couldn't put him down. So I told her that we had purchased the glucometer and have decided to micro manage him at home. She was indifferent, I was not too impressed with her. So, with some more reading on this forum, we decided to try from scratch with 1 unit twice daily. Today is day 3 of the micro managing and we are getting somewhere!!! We are at 1.5 units 2x daily. He is ranging from 19mml before food to 11 at peak. We are going to stay at this dose for several days and monitor closely. He is back to his bad self!! He can jump onto the bed, couch stool, you name it and he is also playing with his brothers again. I cannot believe this is the same cat, that just days ago, was almost comatose.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this site. Without your knowledge, Fritz would not be here today. I will post again later with an update. I am so glad to have found this forum, and again, from the bottom of my heart, Thank you to all who have contributed
