Newbie from England

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Abbie&Scratface

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Hi

I'm new to the forum and been having a few problems this week so thought I'd come on and introduce us.

I'll start with why my little angel is called Scratface, which is meant in fondness. My partner and I took him on in November from a neighbour who'd been looking after him for a friend. The friend had taken him on from a stray and hadn't had him long so when he moved into our street so he was still a mess, really skinny with his fur falling out and a scratty looking face, hence the name Scratface. When the friend decided she didn't want him back the neighbours wanted rid of him and knowing he came over to ours asked us if we wanted him (I think the alternative was very unpleasant). We knew he was diabetic but thought it was under better control.

We've had him 2 months with 4 vet visits. He went in on Monday for a glucose curve which did have a dip in BG to 2.6 (european) 45 (US) but picked back up when given something to eat. The rest of the time his BG was really good. He went back in today as his pupils had become dilated and fixed, not reacting to light. His blood pressure was fine and the checks on his eyes were fine apart from the above mentioned problem. The vet was at a bit of a loss to explain what has happened but has put it down to him maybe having a hypoglycemic episode. I haven't noticed signs and he always has food down. has anyone else experienced anything similar?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Abbie and Scratface :?
 

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Welcome Abbie and Scratface to the FDMB! cat_pet_icon

I can't address the eye issue as I have no expereince with it but wanted to take a moment to welcome you both to the best place to be for you and your kitty. :smile:

You mentioned having curves done at the vet's. Are you home testing?

What type of food does Scratface eat?

Oh! And he's adorable!
 
Welcome Abbie and Scratface! :) I'm fairly new myself so I'm sure more experienced members will be along shortly to give you some advice. However I believe that cats can go hypo and not have symptoms (or many) until it's too late. So it's possible he had one, but again, I'll let the more knowledgable folks answer. :)

BTW he's a cutie pie. :) I had a tuxedo cat when I was little, his name was Tux. LOL
 
Abbie&Scratface said:
Hi

I'm new to the forum and been having a few problems this week so thought I'd come on and introduce us.

I'll start with why my little angel is called Scratface, which is meant in fondness. My partner and I took him on in November from a neighbour who'd been looking after him for a friend. The friend had taken him on from a stray and hadn't had him long so when he moved into our street so he was still a mess, really skinny with his fur falling out and a scratty looking face, hence the name Scratface. When the friend decided she didn't want him back the neighbours wanted rid of him and knowing he came over to ours asked us if we wanted him (I think the alternative was very unpleasant). We knew he was diabetic but thought it was under better control.

We've had him 2 months with 4 vet visits. He went in on Monday for a glucose curve which did have a dip in BG to 2.6 (european) 45 (US) but picked back up when given something to eat. The rest of the time his BG was really good. He went back in today as his pupils had become dilated and fixed, not reacting to light. His blood pressure was fine and the checks on his eyes were fine apart from the above mentioned problem. The vet was at a bit of a loss to explain what has happened but has put it down to him maybe having a hypoglycemic episode. I haven't noticed signs and he always has food down. has anyone else experienced anything similar?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Abbie and Scratface :?
Click to expand...
just wondering what insulin you are giving and what dose, plus it would be safe if you were home testing. You can get a regular blood glucose monitor at the pharmacy and can test you kitty before giving shots to see where his numbers are. Hypo incidents can be deadly, so I think you would feel better if knew what his numbers were before any problems.
What are some of his other numbers?
 
Thanks and hello there.

We aren't home testing, I'm not sure how to do it and haven't discussed it with the vet so not sure what to do about it.

We feed him a pouch of Whiskas meat and some biscuits and the morning and the same at night. We make sure he always has some biccies down to nibble at. We had switched it from meat in gravy to meat in jelly which he didn't like as much so his BG may have dropped as he didn't seem to be eating quite all of it.

His eyes still aren't quite right but are getting back to normal.
 
He's on 2 units of caninsulin twice a day. He had a fructosamine test at the end of December which was about 465. They weighed him then and he was 2.6kg but got weighed on Monday and had gone up to 3.7kg. When we first got him at the end of November he had a blood glucose test which was 22 about 400 US units.
 
oh poor thing, only 2.6 kg

Now 3.7 kg

He is a male and should weigh at least 5 kg, so I am just wondering a tad if the 2 U of insulin twice a day isn't a little to much for his underweight.

Can you ask your vet to maybe switch insulin to Lantus (glargine) and start over slow with 1 U twice a day and start hometesting?

My vets at my animal hospital here in Sweden are all for hometesting the blood glucose. Most test in the ear, but my Simba has ear injuries so we test in one of his back paws instead. Once you get the hang of it it is really easy.

Talk to the vet about what I wrote about switching insulin and hometesting.
 
Hello from Essex!

Hi Abbie! Welcome to the FDMB community ... You have found the best place to be!

I just love Scratface ... He is just like our Mr. Jess ... an elegant Tux! It was so good of you to offer this beautiful but unwanted kitty a home. He's a lucky guy to have you and your partner caring form him.

I have to go out for a couple of hours but will send you my contact details via Personal Message. if you send me your phone number via PM I can call you this evening. We need to get you started on hometesting as it will enable you to give Scratface the correct dosage, thus minimising the risk of a hypo. If you post your whereabouts (Please don't post a specific address. Just the county, city, town ... Whatever you wish) then our UK members who live nearby might offer to help. We tend to know where all of us are in the UK!

I'll log in as soon as I get home

Don't worry ... Everything will work out fine for you and Scratface. You really have found the best place to be
 
Re: Newbie from England Hullo from Hastings

The symptoms your cat is showing looks like HYPO to me. When Jazz(GA) first had a hypo, he wandered around as if he didnt know us, or where he was. He found his way upstairs by smell (perhaps he couldnt see?) And managed to squeeze behind a wardrobe as if his whiskas weren't working.

It would be well worth it to home test. You can get a glucometer and strips very cheaply on Ebay. If you have a microwave, put a little dry rice in an old sock and warm it (about 10 seconds) in the microwave. Rub the ear with this before pricking!

Where are you? There may be a member living close to you who could help.

The other thing is please get a box of GLUCOSE (about £1) if you suspect a hypo rub a littl,e on the gums and inside the cheeks.... you will get a response within minutes!

I will PM you my phone number, in case you want to talk

Go on asking questions, the only daft question is the one you didnt ask.

You can usually find me oin the Community page or on WWW. Sugarcats .com (where we old hands meet to have fun!)

Mary
Hastings 1066 Country, UK
 
Hi Abbie, just chiming in from Surrey to say hi and welcome to the board - it is the most amazing place. The others have given you plenty of practical suggestions and all I would add right now is keep posting here - no question is too small!

Whereabouts are you, by the way?

Best wishes
Diana
 
Thanks for all the replies, I fell better knowing there are other people out there willing to share their knowledge.

We're in Leeds Scratface and I.

Thanks for the suggestion's I'm going to look for a glucose testing kit and discuss his dose with the vet. It looks like we'll need another visit this week as his eyes still aren't reacting normally although we've not seen any change in his behaviour.

I did buy a box of glucose powder this week after meaning to since we took him on the prospect of him maybe having had a hypo gave me a kick up the backside. I have changed his feeding routine slightly to. He still gets fed when he has his shot but I'm putting a little bit more meat down for him mid-way between his shots to. He doesn't seem too bothered by his biccies anymore so it's to encourage him to eat a little bit.

Thanks again.
 
I also forgot to say the vet put him on Canaural ear drops as he was bothered by his ears and they were very dirty. This is really the only thing that had changed.

Has anybody else used these on their cat and seen any reactions. I have stopped them now even though the vet said to continue as I am worried that these have caused the eye problem.
 
One thing you might find that is that when a HYPO hits, they dont want food!!

With both Jazz(GA) and Katy(GA)(Bushey was a goiod boy and never had a Hypo!) went Hypo they werent interested in food. However, after having glucose, they recovered and were ravenous.

I didnt like Caninsulin, it came with Bushey(GA) but I might as well have injected water!
I made an executive decision and put him onto Katy's old bottle of INSUVET PZI(beef) and his numbers came down to a reasonable number. Im not sure if you can still get Insuvet, but its worth asking for an insulin that is PZI and from beef. Beef insulin is the closest to cats insulin, wereas Caninsulin was designed for dogs!

Hope this helps
Mary
 
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