Newly Diagnosed Cat — Seeking advice.

liddobird

liddobird

Member Since 2026
My 9 year old male cat was diagnosed this past Friday with Diabetes. He stayed at the vet all day with an iv and insulin along with antibiotics for his uti infection.

I was told he was eating well there and to give his antibiotics and insulin 2x a day every 12 hours. He's supposed to get. 1 until of ProZinc.

Since he's returned home I cannot get him interested in food. I've tried everything from Tuna to baby food. I've managed to get him to eat some chicken toppers. But anything else he throws back up.

I've called the animal hospital where I've taken him multiple times. And was told to pick up the food they had there or a food stimulant. However, I've spent all my money and more to pay for his bill on Friday, which resulted in a negative balance. So going back to the vet isn't an option at the moment.

I got him to eat some Tiki Cat Puree before giving him his insulin. When I finally was able to get a tester her was at 241 (according to the Reli On) meter. He's had fancy feast and various other wet foods before. Im just trying to get some more food in him.

Any suggestions or what to do in order to lower his sugars would be greatly appreciated.

His other test results were fine. They have a water fountain that he drinks out of and is using the litter box. But his energy levels are not there.
 
It is extremely important that he eat, as you know. The vet should give you not only an appetite stimulant but also nausea control. You should get Cerenia at minimum and also a script for Ondansetron which is a very effective anti-nausea medication. You also should be given fluids to give at home and be shown how to do it.

He really needs to be hospitalized it sounds like, but I understand the financial aspect of it. I have had to use my Care Credit card many times for such emergencies.
 
Are you testing his blood glucose at home? That’s very important. You can go to Walmart and get a ReliOn BG meter and test strips and lancets. Has anyone at the vet shown you how to do it? Is he still on antibiotics? I am surprised they let you take him home if he wasn’t eating reliably. He needs a lot of calories and hydration and antibiotics if he has an infection.
 
They never told me I needed to until I started researching cat diabetes. I've had to watch videos on how to do it. So I was able to check his glucose this morning. It was at 241.

I've been trying to give him as much liquid cat food that his stomach will handle. And syringing water into his mouth as well every so often to try and keep up hydration. I just gave him some pedilyte to hopefully help with dehydration.

He's still on antibiotics, he has to take them for 10 days.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
It is extremely important that he eat, as you know. The vet should give you not only an appetite stimulant but also nausea control. You should get Cerenia at minimum and also a script for Ondansetron which is a very effective anti-nausea medication. You also should be given fluids to give at home and be shown how to do it.

He really needs to be hospitalized it sounds like, but I understand the financial aspect of it. I have had to use my Care Credit card many times for such emergencies.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately I can never get accepted for care credit. They had something called Cherry Pay. But I used it for his initial visit. They dont keep animals overnight. But when the vet called me she said someone would be there to show me what to do, and when I got there no one was able to. So I'm having to figure this out flying blind and with no extra funds.

I would love to take him back for iv fluids and get him healthy. But it's financially impossible at this point.
 
That’s great you were able to get a BG reading. Try to fet one about 5-6 hours after his insulin dose.

Pedialyte has sugar in it (dextrose as I recall) so that will at least temporarily increase his blood glucose.
 
I just got a reading and his levels were a 212. So it's gone down. Im trying to keep him hydrated by doing 20 min intervals of water or the pedialyte with 30 mins of the Tiki Cat Puree.

Its the only thing I've been able to get him to keep down so far aside from Liquid toppers.

His next insulin is around midnight since I work the graveyard shift. My vet said to wait 30 mins after feeding to give his insulin.
 
liddobird said:
I just got a reading and his levels were a 212. So it's gone down. Im trying to keep him hydrated by doing 20 min intervals of water or the pedialyte with 30 mins of the Tiki Cat Puree.

Its the only thing I've been able to get him to keep down so far aside from Liquid toppers.

His next insulin is around midnight since I work the graveyard shift. My vet said to wait 30 mins after feeding to give his insulin.
Click to expand...
With ProZinc, you do not need to wait 30 minutes after eating to give the insulin. ProZinc will typically onset (start to lower BG) at about +2 (two hours after the shot) so there’s plenty of time. That advice to wait 30 minutes applies to Caninsulin/Vetsulin, not ProZinc. Now I understand if you want to wait to make sure that he won’t vomit up his breakfast, but under normal circumstances, you would not need to wait.
 
If he is vomiting, you definitely need to get Cerenia from your vet ASAP. It is very effective at controlling vomiting in cats. In fact, if he can’t keep anything down, a Cerenia injection given at the vet is sometimes necessary and then you can begin giving the Cerenia tablets 24 hours later. It’s a once daily medication.
 
You should be testing for ketones. There are ketone test strips that you put into the urine stream when the cat uses the litter box. They can be purchased at Walmart or Amazon or a local pharmacy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top