My big kitty cat Oliver was diagnosed with diabetes this past January. We caught it pretty quickly, just as his glucose numbers were climbing over 10. Oliver is a big, indoor, male cat. He is overweight, weighing 28 pounds. The vet claims he is meant to be a bigger cat, but his weight should be between 20-23 pounds. Other than his high sugars, and weight, he is otherwise healthy (or so the vet claims). We feed him twice a day---a half a cup of expensive-supposed-to-be-good-for-him dry food and a quarter of a can of store brand wet food. We give him insulin shots twice a day, every 12 hours. The current dose is 3.5 units.
Now that you have some background information, I need some help! Oliver was doing really well at first. His sugars were consistently under 10 the first two weeks he was on insulin at a dose of 1.5 units. His water intake decreased and he was using the litter box at a normal rate---small pees, one or two poops a day. When it came time to do the third curve, his numbers were really high---all consistently above 15 and sometimes even in the 20s. And of course the symptoms returned. Now, it's March and his numbers are still consistently above 15, and sometimes in the 20s even though we're now at a dose of 3.5 units.
Oliver also, annoyingly, no longer wants to poop in his box. He has become an extremely dirty cat, and it has become exasperating keeping my apartment clean. He doesn't even poop near his box. He poops wherever he wants. He also likes to scoot now after he poops, and about once a week he becomes extremely uncomfortable and ends up getting diarrhea. The diarrhea usually only lasts that day, and disappears again only to pop up in another week or so. I told my vet, and she suggested that I put another litter box in a different part of the house. That didn't work. He would just poop where he wanted. She suggested that I clean his bum since he may be having trouble reaching that area since he's so big, and to put vasaline on the area. Even though I religiously do this every day, it isn't working either. The scooting is still continuing.
My vet knows all this, and just keeps insisting on increasing the dosage of his insulin, and I'm starting to get frustrated because I'm not seeing the results I initially did. I'm trying to stay positive though... just wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences. I'm starting to think he might have a thyroid problem...
I'm also worried that I'm not feeding him enough, or feeding him too much. He seems happy and doesn't beg for food. I've asked the vet how much I should give, but they just throw calorie numbers at me, and of course, they don't list calories on cat food cans or bags... so I'd really like some advice on this too.
Now that you have some background information, I need some help! Oliver was doing really well at first. His sugars were consistently under 10 the first two weeks he was on insulin at a dose of 1.5 units. His water intake decreased and he was using the litter box at a normal rate---small pees, one or two poops a day. When it came time to do the third curve, his numbers were really high---all consistently above 15 and sometimes even in the 20s. And of course the symptoms returned. Now, it's March and his numbers are still consistently above 15, and sometimes in the 20s even though we're now at a dose of 3.5 units.
Oliver also, annoyingly, no longer wants to poop in his box. He has become an extremely dirty cat, and it has become exasperating keeping my apartment clean. He doesn't even poop near his box. He poops wherever he wants. He also likes to scoot now after he poops, and about once a week he becomes extremely uncomfortable and ends up getting diarrhea. The diarrhea usually only lasts that day, and disappears again only to pop up in another week or so. I told my vet, and she suggested that I put another litter box in a different part of the house. That didn't work. He would just poop where he wanted. She suggested that I clean his bum since he may be having trouble reaching that area since he's so big, and to put vasaline on the area. Even though I religiously do this every day, it isn't working either. The scooting is still continuing.
My vet knows all this, and just keeps insisting on increasing the dosage of his insulin, and I'm starting to get frustrated because I'm not seeing the results I initially did. I'm trying to stay positive though... just wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences. I'm starting to think he might have a thyroid problem...
I'm also worried that I'm not feeding him enough, or feeding him too much. He seems happy and doesn't beg for food. I've asked the vet how much I should give, but they just throw calorie numbers at me, and of course, they don't list calories on cat food cans or bags... so I'd really like some advice on this too.
