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scarymary

Member Since 2012
Hello all,
My story may be a bit different from the rest. I have a solid white blue-eyed short hair named Cuddles. Recently my husband and I had noticed he had begun to just lay around on the floor, sleeping frequently. We chalked this up mainly to the fact that he was deaf and getting older. Last night, my precious little boy walked over to the water bowl, meowed, and then just laid down. His poor little body was just limp. I couldn't get him in to see a vet until this morning. I fear we may have waited too late. He is now at the vet hospital, and has been diagnosed with diabetes, and his liver is out of whack. I pray it's not too late. I know he was eating, but I really can't remember seeing him drink much water. I know he had a bowel movement Monday evening. We are supposed to call the vet in the morning to see if there has been any improvement. I know he was dehydrated. I don't know how I could have put this off to his being deaf. I could kick myself a thousand times over. Just the other day, he was up in a chair begging to be petted. I just couldn't believe it when I held him in my arms last night. I told my husband when he got home from work that I thought he was dying. I never knew that feeding cats dry cat food could do so much harm to my baby. I wish I had known this sooner. Please pray for my boy.
 
{{hugs}}

Please don't beat yourself up for not knowing more; most of us were in the same boat when our cats were diagnosed. Many vets have limited nutritional education, usually provided by the vendor of a particular food.

When the body lacks insulin, carbohydrate calories cannot be used. Fat is broken down instead, overloading the liver (hepatic lipidosis) and also creating ketones. Too many ketones leads to diabetic ketoacidosis and dehydration, which is how your kitty wound up at the vet hospital. It may take several days of treatment to get him over the hump towards recovery.

When he comes home (I'm an optimist), they'll want him on insulin. We recommend Lantus, Levemir, ProZinc, of BCP PZI. The 1st 2 are human insulins which have been used very successfully in cats. It is most economical to get them in the 3 mL injection pens without the special pen needles. You'll use a U-100 syringe to get insulin out of the pen. The other 2 are designed more specifically for animals, including cats, and come in vials. You'd use a U-40 syringe to draw the insulin out of the vial. If they try to put him on Humulin N or Novolin N, insist on one of the other 4 listed above and explain that they are used in up to date treatment of feline diabetes. Be prepared for sticker shock

Pick up a human glucometer and test strips, not a pet specific one. Its less expensive, provides you important feedback about your cat's glucose level, and won't cost you an arm and a leg for supplies. And no, the glucose values will not match the vet lab equipment values and they don't have to. We have reference values for using human glucometers on cats. Many of us use the WalMart Relion Confirm (aka the Arkray Glucocard 01 available from ADW in our shopping link at the top of the page).

You'll want to get 27 gauge lancets for pricking the ear to test the blood glucose levels; any higher number may be too fine to get a sample when you first start testing. You will get better with experience.

While you're waiting for him to come home, check out the Lantus forums and the ProZinc/PZI forums to read about the insulin types and how they are used. It takes a while to become completely familiar with all the information.
 
Healing vines to Cuddles - I hope he comes home soon. And when he does...you have a wonderful support group here to help! Please keep us posted!
 
I can definitely identify with you Mary, My old guy Lee really did not show any outward signs except eliminating on the floor, which got him in trouble and punished :oops: and exiled from the house. When the weather became bad he was allowed to come inside but had to be crated like a badly housetrained dog, but that is when I noticed the excessive water intake and urination and was able to calmly put two and two together. I beat myself up for a long time for mistreating my poor sick baby so badly and have been making it up to him since. And he has been enjoying every minute of it.
We will pray for you both and hope you get another chance. Biggest thing I learned is NO DRY FOOD AGAIN EVER EVEN IF THE VET RECOMMENDS IT. When I brought Lee in they immediatly confirmed my fears and sent me home with a big expensive bag of Dry food, his numbers did not go down only up and the stress on him to haul him to the clinic every few days to be tested as well as the expense of meds, vet visits and trips to town when I was out of work was more than he or I could handle. We were prepared to have to put him down then we changed his food, got our meter and supplies from the good people here on the message board and things started looking up. Finding this site and the so good helpful folks here has literally saved my guy's life. I hope it will help yours as well.
Hang in there, we are all pulling for you! cat_pet_icon
 
Thank you all for the well wishes. We spoke with the vet this morning, and Cuddles is now responsive. He said his BG is around 200. I pray there is no irreparable damage to any of his organs. He said he is not eating just yet. The vet wants us to leave him in his care for another day. He is on fluids at the moment. I have so many questions. The vet is supposed to call me back later this evening. I will most likely be requesting some supplies from this website. I would like to ask a question to those of you who have experienced this. What kind of canned food are you feeding your cat? I saw someone said Friskies, but when I looked at that, it has rice in it, which my understanding is not to feed food with grains to a diabetic cat. I have taken all my other cats off the dry food, and they seem to be adjusting well.
 
Welcome Mary and extra sweet Cuddles!

You want the Friskies pate's - there are a couple with rice in them which you do NOT need to buy. You'll also want to stay away from the 'gravy' foods as they are high in carbs. In the Fancy Feast small cans, you want the 'classics', not the grilled or gravied.

Lots of thoughts and prayers for sweet Cuddles and Mama/Papa beans too,
 
What about Nine Lives? I didn't see any kind of grain in those. Is there something in that food that I should not be feeding him? And does it necessarily need to be the pates? I know the shreds have gravy and that is a no no. If it has to be pates, I will have to take the case I bought last night to return it for something else.
 
You want to look for any canned cat food that is less than 8% carbs/calorie. Many cats do 4-5% but it depends on what they will eat and what you can afford. Some forum favorites are FF Classics, Friskies Pate flavors and Wellness chicken and turkey.

Here is a food chart that lists out each brand and the corresponding statistics. You will be most interested in the carbs per calorie column, which is the 3rd box from the left.

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/Food Chart Public 9-22-12.pdf

Hope that helps some - feel free to ask more questions. There's a lot to learn!
 
This board is chocked full of information. My goodness, I may never get done reading all of it. I have printed out some papers that I believe will be of value in regards to keeping records of his diet and injection times, amounts, and BG. I thought my husband said the vet would call back this afternoon, but he said after I posted that we need to call the vet in the morning again. I may have to leave him there another night because I have a doctor appt. tomorrow afternoon and I don't know if I'll be able to get back in time to pick him up if he can come home. Everyone here is so helpful. Thank you all so much for responding to my questions. I'm sure I am far from done.
 
Living with a diabetic kitty is an ongoing process as living is a continually evolving flow. There will be some patterns which may emerge for various periods that then become replaced by new ones. You learn to be very present-centered.
 
Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our precious boy this morning. The doctor didn't seem to believe he could turn the corner. He was far too weak before we could get him to the vet. Thanks to all who responded with well wishes and advice.
 
I have shed more than a few tears today, but I know he is in a better place now. I just hope he knew how loved he was.
 
I am so very sorry you have lost your Cuddles. I am certain he knows your love and feels your pain that he had to journey on. Fly free, Cuddles. wings_cat
 
scarymary said:
I have shed more than a few tears today, but I know he is in a better place now. I just hope he knew how loved he was.
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I know just how you are feeling. It's terrible, but I want you to know that the pain will eventually pass and you will just remember the joy you shared. Shed oceans of tears - it helps tremendously.

You gave him your best and he knew it.

Valerie (RuthV)
 
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