Newbie Needs Help

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karenfarson

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I am posting for the first time. Seeking help to keep a sick kitty comfortable. She is so sweet and just keeps looking at me to fix things. I noted blood in her urine that seemed to get better and then she started frantically entering and leaving the litter box. I gave her vinegar and she did a little better but then threw up when I mixed it with honey. I had to take her to the vet. I found out she is diabetic..blood sugar 280 with lots in the urine. visible blood in urine as well. Vet pushed on her bladder and a lot came out. Would it help if I did this? He wanted to prescribe lantus after keeping her etc. not an option. He did sell us barely a 7 day supply of antibiotic for possible infection. I was so shocked I forgot to ask for pain medicine. He indicated kidneys ok. What do I treat first. Cystitis or diabetis. I need cheapest options. I paid huge amount for Purina DM dry food. Gave some canned. To add to the problem Black Beauty has two littermates who think its unfair for her to get special treatment and 2 dogs observing for any chance to tablesurf and a curious ferrot as well. (ALL RESCUES)Too many pets. Too much love. I have a chronically sick adolescent who may have lupus. Animals are her only joy now. I am unemployed since November but so far not elgible for unemployment. Please help me find help for our Black Beauty. She is only 9 years old. She never ate table scraps. She was fed dry her whole life. She has not seen a vet since she was spayed. I gave her immunizations up until she was 3 y.o. She is completely indoors. She has some stress from other animals and craves more attention then we can give sometimes. She is very vocal. We do have two water fountains going now...the dogs unfortunately gravitate towards them as well. Picture a cat, dog, and ferrot waiting patiently their turn at the water fountain. One good piece of news, vingegar is absolutely wonderful for their fur when I put it in a cup and dip a comb in and pull it through their hair. The dogs love the taste, the cats like the feel but cannot stand the smell. I think its helping with general itchiness problems. They probably have some kind of mites but Black Beauty's ears were fine when the vet did see her. She is DLH and her hair is falling out in clumps. PLease help.
 
It sounds like there are two issues here. First she needs some advice on possible feline diabetes and she may need financial help if her cat is diabetic. First thing I would say is not to try anymore home remedies. If you gave your cat a large amount of honey that plus the UTI and stress at beiing at the vet would raise the BG. Your cat might be even be diabetic. You probably want to go back to your vet after using the antibiotics for the prescribed period for a recheck. PLEASE DO NOT TRY TO EXPRESS URINE OUT OF YOUR CAT'S BLADDER YOURSELF!
 
Hi Karen, I would treat the urinary tract infection first, and see how you can change her diet (and the other cats as well) to a better food. Dry food is very bad for cats. It creates diabetics, in my opinion. Take back the vet food and tell them she won't eat it. Get canned food so they have the right amount of moisture and protein. That will help with the cystitis issues as well.

I am also unemployed with five cats. So I feed Friskies canned varieties that are lower carb. That's mostly their pate flavors. See here for a list: http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodNew.html scroll down for Friskies. The ones I get are about 7-8% carbs. I get better quality food and mix it in when I can. PetSmart's Sofisticat canned food has comparable flavors and carbs. They are at the bottom of that list.

BTW, wet food with low carbs will help their coats tremendously too.

If you have trouble making a food switch, post here and get ideas for transitioning them to the wet food. I prinkled dry food over the wet food to transition Beau, who was a real dry food junkie. He ate dry food for 8 years and became diabetic. I switched him to wet food and he was on insulin for a few years, but he is off insulin now. My other diabetic cat is on a low dose of insulin and my other cats have shiny coats (well they all do) and are healthy on the canned food.

I hope that helps. Please let us know how things go.
 
Dear Karen,

Life happens... And, I'm truly sorry your life is happening big time now. Please understand, I truly understand.

Your Black Beauty may or may not be diabetic. Her BG (blood glucose) of 280 could be from either the UTI (urinary tract infection) or the honey or the stress of going to the vet's. Or all of these things combined... Or, she may indeed be diabetic...

It's okay to give that pricey DM Dried food to her and the table scrap furry group. (I'll take the slams for saying so, just PM me and keep it off this thread, okay?). She can also eat canned food, doesn't have to be pricey. Just no gravy, okay? Hell, they can all eat that! My apologies for cursing, it's just that I so feel your pain, Karen... Look for Janet and Binky's food link here as it has low carb, high protein options...

If Black Beauty is indeed diabetic, I'm holding some Lantus for a wondrous group who sponsors Nikki... I could send you some if that's okay with the wondrous group who sponsors Nikki... I'm telling you this because Lantus could indeed be an option for you and Black Beauty if it turns out she is indeed extra-sweet.

And, then there would be the whole home testing thought; but we won't go there now, okay.




Please hug your child for me.


And, please know, a heart as loving as yours can do this dance, Karen...

Love and encouraging hugs,
Deb and Nikki -- and, Giz, forever whispering in my heart...

PS: I'm sorry, but have no knowledge about hair falling out in clumps...

PPS: Please do not push on her bladder, okay?
 
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