newbie . . . worried about my kitty

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Mandy1178

New Member
Hello! I'm new here and have been reading posts for over an hour now . . . have learned a lot already! I have two calicos from the same litter, they're almost 11. Cammie was diagnosed with diabetes last year. She is on Lantus, I give her 2 units 2x a day. She is my baby so I watch her carefully. This morning she was fine, ran around playing with my husband as usual. This evening she seemed very restless and she would not lay down or sit still. She just seemed uncomfortable. I put a blanket on my lap for her to lay on . . . usually when she sees me do this she's on my lap for a while . . . and she only stayed for a couple minutes after trying unsuccessfully to get comfortable. She wandered around the house for a couple hours and we decided to give her a treat, she loves them and I wanted to see if she would act normally. A couple minutes after eating it, she threw up. She didn't throw up the treat though, just clear liquid. At dinner time an hour later, she ate all her food . . and kept it down, I was relieved a bit. She is finally laying still, she's laying next to me, but I don't think she has slept at all. Also, I haven't seen her use the litter box at all, since I started following her around this evening.

I hope this is nothing, I hope I'm just freaking out but I notice right away when she acts "different". I'm going to call the vet in the a.m. to make an appt. but I'm wondering if any of you think this is an emergency. I do not test her at home, I didn't even know you could do that, I'm so glad I came here. Should I tell the vet I want to do that? She hasn't been tested in a year because she does not do well at the vet, she actually attacked them last time. (She is a good girl really, she's sweet to me at home!) Reading about how often all of you test has me feeling terrible and guilty . . . what if she's really sick and it's because I don't know what her numbers are? :( What if 2 units 2x a day is too much for her now??? Has anyone ever dealt with the symptoms I posted?

Thankyou all so much for everything I have read already. I want to take the best care of Cammie I can so I'll be here often. I love her, I call her my buddy! She's always at my side!
 
Hi -

Welcome to FDMB!

The board is kind of quiet right now, but I'm going to put out a few calls and see if I can find someone to help you.

I'll keep it brief right now, but if you can answer these it will help people help you:

  • How long after her shot did she start acting funny?

    Have you given her another shot since she start acting funny? If so, how long ago?

Eating is good. Keep encouraging her to eat.

Hang in there, and take a deep breath, OK. cat_pet_icon
 
Hi Mandy,

First off, glad that you found this site! It has been a lifesaver for so many!
Next, can you give an idea where you are located? Just an area is fine. Wondered what time frame you are in? It is 3:20 am here on the east coast in the USA.

If your baby is alert, and still eating some, I would keep an eye on her and if you are in my time zone, it appears it will soon be getting to be morning when you can call your vet and get her in to be seen.

Do you think she is constipated? Could she have eaten something strange? She is not a PICA cat, is she? (the ones who eat unusual items or plastic, string, etc)

She may not need insulin, and if she is acting unusual the way you explained, she may be reacting to too much insulin, but without being able to test, you don't have the numbers to go on. That would be the first thing you will want to learn from everyone here on this site. It is very easy once you get the hang of it, and yes, I would mention it to your vet, but if the vet bulks at you doing that, please don't let that stop you from learning from the people on here. It CAN be a lifesaver!

Please post again if you read this, and let us know how she is doing or if you have taken her to the ER. She might be going too low, and they can act very lethargic, but also when they go too high, so it is a hard call to make without knowing what her numbers are.

There is also a Lantus group here, and you can check in there with the 'experts' also.

Sending lots of prayers that she will be okay and that maybe it is just something minor and not that she is hypo'ing, etc.

Hugs,
Jean and Charcoal (GA) in Maryland
 
dunno. without testing theres no way to be sure whether this is diabetes related or not.
cat ate dinner ok which we'd expect to mean it's not a blockage or litter problem or major nausea (so i wouldnt classify it as an emergency). earlier episode could be hairball or anything. if your sixth sense tells you something's still wrong, tho, i'd take her in.

it's an excellent idea to start home testing your cat. here's a link to some links and tips on doing so: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287
 
Mandy,

Glad you found us! My first thoughts when you mentioned the throwing up and being uncomfortable were: constipation or hairball. Are either of those a possibility? Let us know how you and the baby are doing okay?
 
Pancreatitis possibly?

I'd be thinking pancreatitis which can cause abdominal pain and being uncomfortable. There is a test the vet can perform called an fPLI. And here's info from a listmember about chronic pancreatitis (comes from our old board). A trip to the vet may be in order. (And don't "ask" the vet if you can hometest...just do it. There's a saying "It's easier to ask for forgiveness, then to ask for permission." LOL

http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... 722,876722
 
Re: Pancreatitis possibly?

Dale said:
I'd be thinking pancreatitis which can cause abdominal pain and being uncomfortable. There is a test the vet can perform called an fPLI. And here's info from a listmember about chronic pancreatitis (comes from our old board). A trip to the vet may be in order. (And don't "ask" the vet if you can hometest...just do it. There's a saying "It's easier to ask for forgiveness, then to ask for permission." LOL

http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... 722,876722
Click to expand...

Just want to add that the fPLI test, to be of any benefit, should be given during a flare so if you want to do it now would be the time. It's not cheap (I think it was around $80 but was done with some other tests so not sure) and the vet has to send it out (at least mine did).
 
THANKYOU so much for all the replies! I had posted in the middle of the night and by morning she seemed to be feeling more herself. I made her an appt. still though for when I'm off on Tuesday. I agree with those of you that said I should test at home, even if not recommended by my vet . . I would like to! Did you need a rx for the testing supplies or did you get them on your own?

She DOES eat random stuff off the carpet too . . . particularly paper and plastic, we're really careful about trying to make sure she can't get to anything. I have still been keeping a close eye on her behavior when I'm home, and I still haven't actually seen her go to the bathroom. It's a bit difficult to tell by looking at the box since I have two cats. I'm going to go look up pancreatitis since a couple of you mentioned it.

She is doing her usual laying next to me and staying by my side. In the past when she didn't feel good, she would tend to hide or be antisocial. If she starts doing that, I will take her to emergency clinic!

I have a very odd question. I live in Northern Illinois, just 45 minutes from the epicenter of the earthquake we had overnight on Tuesday. When I watched the news Wednesday morning people were calling in like crazy reporting their pets strange behavior in the hours before the quake. They were saying things about them being restless, not laying still, seeming upset. Cammie literally starting acting like this about 10 hours before the quake and I posted on here just about 3 hours before. Do you think she possibly could've sensed it and was just upset? Frisky didn't act any different, but she's such a laid back cat, she wouldn't care anyway LOL. Not sure I would normally consider this a possibility . . but since she seems better now, I thought I'd throw it out there . . . .
 
not sure if they would sense it 10 hours beforehand but if there was some shaking going on before the bigger quake actually hit, like foreshocks they're called, she might have been feeling those.

i have had cats who moments before a quake came running screaming at me, only to jump in my lap, calm down as if they were safe again, and then BAMMO, the quake hits. and then there are others who don't give a dang before, during or after a quake. :-D
 
Okay, I figured it was worth asking. My Frisky is one of the ones nothing bothers! It's hilarious, the only thing I've ever seen scare her is the vacuum! Poor Cammie is afraid of her own shadow!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top