Newbie. Backstory, poop questions and more :)

[amyjane]

Hi!

This is my first post.. Sorry..this might be a bit of an essay. My name's Amy from Sydney, Australia.

Popo (10yr old male) was diagnosed with diabetes back in July. Vet put him on Hills m/d canned and dry food with 1U twice a day. That was increased to 1.5U in Sept as his blood glucose was still a bit high.
1st Oct Popo started acting strange..not eating,lethargic.
Took him straight to the animal hospital after hours where he was admitted overnight. He had IV fluids,anti-nausea meds,anti-biotics. Full blood work: white blood cell count high, red blood cell count low. Fever, no ketones in urine. Discharged the next day ($1400 later..)
Po was looking better but we weren't sure if it was an infection or pancreatitis. Day after discharge checkup at his normal vet. Normal temp and anti-nausea injection given. At this stage he hadn't pooped in 5 days (he hadn't eaten much though) but he decided to poop on the vets table! Then a few days later urine culture came back negative.
Still don't know if it was pancreatitis or not. They wanted to see if he improved after a few days before having him sedated for an ultrasound.
Also,found out Hills m/d is crap.. switched him to Weruva cats in the kitchen. No dry food.

Then things got interesting... his blood glucose started looking alot better..really fast. He's now on 1U once a day and after next weeks checkup..fingers crossed but he may be in remission! (Vet was very skeptical about any food that isn't hills m/d but after showing her the nutritional value of weruva tinned she came around).

OK. so after this long story (thank you if you've gotten this far!) Few questions...

1) Po has not been pooping everyday like he used to. Is this because he is no longer on dry food? Does wet food only diet produce less stools?
Vet felt around and didn't feel any impacted or hard fecal matter in the abdomen. Told to give him cat-lax which i did once a day. Still no poop everyday. He was going maybe every 2 or 3 days. The stool looks very normal,doesn't appear to be straining or distressed when he does poop. He pooped on Sunday and he had an enema at the vets today (Tuesday).

2)Not drinking water anymore. He used to like drinking from a running tap but the only way for me to give him water is so sneak some into his wet food. He is peeing about 3 times per day..decent amount of urine.
Is he not drinking water due to a wet only diet?

3) Frequency of eating. Po used to have 2 meals a day on the hills m/d diet. He doesn't like to eat his normal amount in one go anymore. Instead of 2 meals..he now has 4 smaller meals. I wonder why such a big change in his eating habit.

Popo is doing much better than he was at the start of October! I was so scared and stressed out.. it was Labour Day long weekend here and I was on-call for the hospital I work at. Rushing between work hospital and animal hospital was not fun at all! But glad he seems to be on the mend..a bit concerned about his poop issues though..

Thanks for reading and any words of wisdom that may come my way! (Popo currently sitting next to me watching me type away wondering what the heck I'm doing )

 

[Kris & Teasel]

There's been a lot of discussion of poop recently on the forum! Here's a link to a good website: www.felineconstipation.org. I'm sure others will be here shortly to give advice. Yes, in general, a wet food diet produces a smaller amount of stool and adding warm water to each wet meal (if he'll tolerate it) is a good way to up Popo's water intake.

Popo seems to be doing well on the diabetes front. You mentioned that he's on 1 u of insulin once a day. Which insulin are you using? Generally insulin is dosed twice a day and 1 unit would be split into two 0.5 u doses. Do you test Popo's blood glucose at home? Sorry for all the questions but I know that other responders will likely ask the same ones.

 

[Callie & Patches]

It looks like Popo is really doing well. If you are concerned about Popo not pooping enough, you can add some pumpkin to his food. It might take some extra time, but it usually helps.

I agree that it is better to give his insulin twice a day. Otherwise he is spending half the day without insulin. Keep us posted on how he is doing. He now has a bunch of aunts and uncles caring about him.

 

[Squalliesmom]

I have the same questions as Kris regarding insulin and home testing.

As Donna said, pumpkin can be very helpful, just make sure it is pure pumpkin puree, with no added seasonings. When my cat needed it, I added one teaspoon to his food at breakfast and again at dinner.

Diabetic kitties, and especially those with pancreatitis/suspected p'titis tend to do better on several smaller meals spread out through the day than they do on one or two big meals. So Popo's wanting four smaller meals instead of two big ones is probably a lot more comfortable for him, easier on his tummy.

I used to see my diabetic kitty constantly at the water bowl. Since I have switched everybody over to all wet food, I never see him at the water bowl. I do add a couple of teaspoons of water to his food, just to make sure he is staying hydrated.

 

[Callie & Patches]

I add enough water to make it look like gravy with little chunks of food. Callie just laps it up. I haven't seen her at the water bowl since.

 

[whiskeysmom]

Whiskey used to drink water like a fiend when his diabetes was untreated..now he doesn't drink as much. Which means he also doesn't pee as much. He poops once a day..I think he was pooping more on dry food. But man does his poop stink. Not to be gross but..I stopped giving him seafood based food because a vet tech friend of mine said it makes their poo smell worse. Doesn't matter..he eats mostly chicken, turkey, etc..poop still smells nasty lol

 

[Squalliesmom]

Whiskey used to drink water like a fiend when his diabetes was untreated..now he doesn't drink as much. Which means he also doesn't pee as much. He poops once a day..I think he was pooping more on dry food. But man does his poop stink. Not to be gross but..I stopped giving him seafood based food because a vet tech friend of mine said it makes their poo smell worse. Doesn't matter..he eats mostly chicken, turkey, etc..poop still smells nasty lol

Do you use probioitcs? That might help a bit with the odor.

 

[amyjane]

Popo is on Lantus. Now that you guys have mentioned it..does make alot more sense to split his dose to 0.5u twice a day. I wonder why my vet didn't think of this!
The vet never suggested home testing and I didn't know it could be done until this forum! I bought a blood glucose monitor and tried several times but hasn't tolerated home testing at all. He usually gets a blood glucose curve done at the vets every 2 weeks but was in alot getting spot checks..
Will try pumpkin puree! Would it be ok to blend up freshly cooked pumpkin and freeze them into cubes? They don't sell tinned pumpkin here...

 

[Squalliesmom]

Would it be ok to blend up freshly cooked pumpkin and freeze them into cubes?

Yes, as long as you don't add any spices or seasonings, that's fine!

We have lots of folks on here who can help you learn the best (easiest!) ways to test BG at home. Just put up a post for help and you'll get lots of responses!