Newly diagnosed diabetes

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Torri

Member Since 2020
Hello

I am a cat mom of two which are both 3 and a half years old. My all white siamese mix cat (Esme is her name) was an energetic ball of sunshine begged for food lovey, then began not eating drinking as much, laying down more absolutely not herself. Took her to emergency vet friday (today is sunday) and she was diagnosed with diabetes and they found traces of keto acidosis in her urine which gave us options of in hospitalization for 24 to 72 hours which would range $3,000 to $6,800 which is impossible financially for me and my fiance, at home options from $680 to $1,100 or the worst option euthinizationwhich I absolutely refuse with her age. We picked the at home care option and to follow up asap which costed $1,100 which included free style libre insulin pump and reader, insulin dosage lasting 8 to 12 hours in hospital, cerenia for 24 hour nausea, convenia which is a long acting antibiotic that lasts two weeks and a hump on the back to give her fluids for 6 to 12 hours, along with her bloodwork ect.. All of this while not allowing humans in hospital die to carona virus restrictions sp everything was done over the phone. After coming home we changed up her diet with diabetic friendly canned food which she started eating on her own and drinking water for about 12 hours. Present time shes weak, I'm checking her glucose, hand feeding her her food water and baby food with droppers and my fingers. Shes occasionally getting up to go pee in her litter or to move closer to me after putting her in her bed next to litter box. She occasionally wages her tail at me. Her primary vet and many surrounding are booked all this weekend or closed with this pandemic. The soonest follow up I was able to get was tomorrow morning (monday) at 930 am at a veterinarian. I thankfully got that stimulus check and still working or things could have turned left quick. I called emergency vet earlier and they said as long as she is taking food water n going in her litter box with high glucose reading (below 80 is bad) she should make it til tomorrow morning. Any support advise would be appreciated. This is the saddest and scariest experience I've ever went through in my life. Im almost 30 in a dark time no kids and my cats are all I have and I believe she will pull through it's just very scary and frustrating with the situations and circumstances.

Any help advise or mental relief would help til I get her in.

Thank you
 
Hello

I am a cat mom of two which are both 3 and a half years old. My all white siamese mix cat (Esme is her name) was an energetic ball of sunshine begged for food lovey, then began not eating drinking as much, laying down more absolutely not herself. Took her to emergency vet friday (today is sunday) and she was diagnosed with diabetes and they found traces of keto acidosis in her urine which gave us options of in hospitalization for 24 to 72 hours which would range $3,000 to $6,800 which is impossible financially for me and my fiance, at home options from $680 to $1,100 or the worst option euthinizationwhich I absolutely refuse with her age. We picked the at home care option and to follow up asap which costed $1,100 which included free style libre insulin pump and reader, insulin dosage lasting 8 to 12 hours in hospital, cerenia for 24 hour nausea, convenia which is a long acting antibiotic that lasts two weeks and a hump on the back to give her fluids for 6 to 12 hours, along with her bloodwork ect.. All of this while not allowing humans in hospital die to carona virus restrictions sp everything was done over the phone. After coming home we changed up her diet with diabetic friendly canned food which she started eating on her own and drinking water for about 12 hours. Present time shes weak, I'm checking her glucose, hand feeding her her food water and baby food with droppers and my fingers. Shes occasionally getting up to go pee in her litter or to move closer to me after putting her in her bed next to litter box. She occasionally wages her tail at me. Her primary vet and many surrounding are booked all this weekend or closed with this pandemic. The soonest follow up I was able to get was tomorrow morning (monday) at 930 am at a veterinarian. I thankfully got that stimulus check and still working or things could have turned left quick. I called emergency vet earlier and they said as long as she is taking food water n going in her litter box with high glucose reading (below 80 is bad) she should make it til tomorrow morning. Any support advise would be appreciated. This is the saddest and scariest experience I've ever went through in my life. Im almost 30 in a dark time no kids and my cats are all I have and I believe she will pull through it's just very scary and frustrating with the situations and circumstances.

Any help advise or mental relief would help til I get her in.

Thank you
Hi. You have come to the right place. DKA (diabetic keto acidosis) is scary. But once you get her through it and just on insulin, diabetes is very treatable, not a death sentence, and they can live a long, healthy life. My cat was diagnosed 4 years ago next month.

If you don't already have them, go to the pharmacy and get ketone reading strips. (Made for people) They are strips you put in the urine as she's going that can test the ketones. Anything more than a trace is cause for concern. Dka can get bad fast. They also make blood meters for this which is what I use because my cat is bathroom shy, but you don't have time to wait for one to be delivered and haven't perfected home testing. So for now the pee strips are your best option.

Here's our information on it

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...oacidosis-dka-and-blood-ketone-meters.135952/


So we have to get her over this hurdle. You've got the libre on her. What have the numbers been? What is the insulin you are giving and what dose?? Tell me the number right now before the shot and in a few hours. Do you have a log of the shot times and the numbers?
Get as much water into her as you can. If she isn't drinking on her own giving sub q fluids at home would really help. If you can't get a bag of sub q's then get the food watered down and syringe feed her. Water and food are key to flush the ketones.
 
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What food did they give you? Sometimes if they tell you to give perscription food they are actually higher in carbs then foods you can get at a store. Most of us feed fancy feast classic or Friskies pate. And stay away from dry food.
 
Welcome to you and Esme. (I'm assuming your name is Torri?)

Janet is making a good suggestion. Getting Ketostix (or a generic variety) is a great way to make sure ketones don't get worse and turn into diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Ketones, at trace levels can be managed at home. Just so you are aware, DKA is a legit emergency and cannot be managed at home. My cat spent 3 days in the ICU due to DKA. She survived but it was touch and go for the first 24 hours.

It would help us enormously if you could set up a spreadsheet for Esme. This is the link to the spreadsheet template. And this is what the abbreviations on the spreadsheet mean.

The Freestyle Libre isn't an insulin pump. It's a glucometer -- it tells you Esme's blood glucose (BG) level. An insulin pump supplies insulin automatically based on a schedule. What insulin did the vet prescribe?
 
Welcome to you and Esme. (I'm assuming your name is Torri?)

Janet is making a good suggestion. Getting Ketostix (or a generic variety) is a great way to make sure ketones don't get worse and turn into diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Ketones, at trace levels can be managed at home. Just so you are aware, DKA is a legit emergency and cannot be managed at home. My cat spent 3 days in the ICU due to DKA. She survived but it was touch and go for the first 24 hours.

It would help us enormously if you could set up a spreadsheet for Esme. This is the link to the spreadsheet template. And this is what the abbreviations on the spreadsheet mean.

The Freestyle Libre isn't an insulin pump. It's a glucometer -- it tells you Esme's blood glucose (BG) level. An insulin pump supplies insulin automatically based on a schedule. What insulin did the vet prescribe?

She was just diagnosed friday in vet emergency. I had to take her in her readings said 500. I had to admit her a few hours they gave her ivs the hump fluid nausea medicine and insulin. They didnt get keyton reading they made assumption in her state. Im.takimg her to a follow up and hopefully on treatments since I now spent over 2 grand on treatments. Since home her reading went from 380 to 127 to 122. She got up n pooped non diarrhea fir the first time and walked to.her liter box. Im feeding her baby food and water with a dropper. I'm preparing for the first but hoping for the best. They told me with all this treatments chance theres no guarantees. Here is a photo of her in her good prime I'll post a recent one later. Im in a pickle with this pandemic and only able to.soend two more grand for treatments. I'm looking at it at this point esme will make the decision... if this goes left it will break my heart. 3 and a half years old the most beautiful lean lil ball of sunshine. Why her?? This picture was the 14th next to her brother the day after she just started declining out of the blue... she seen vet emergency n got diagnosed with diabetes. As i.just finished this sentence she got up n pooped again and no diarrhea. Do i have hope or will I lose her?? Sorry for the long reply it's been a horrible weekend and im extremely heart broken!
 

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There IS hope! Listen to our Pros who have been doing this a long time. (Longer than any vet school teaches up and coming vets in a single day!) You have found the RIGHT place to help Esme. Thats what this site is all about people HELPING people.;)
Yes I am very hopeful. She went poop for the first time in 3 days when she first started declining. This all came out if the blue n im ticked at her old primary for jot catching this as she may have born with it... thankfully I took her in git her fluids n insulin she has follow up for treatment i just hope they dont try to rape me with a high bill after what I spent alone this weekend at vet emergency which was only thing open. I live in nys the hotspot state of this carona virus. They arent letting any humans in with there fur babies in vets or hospitals everything us done over the phone. They tried charging me $900 for CPR on her if she were need it thankfully she didnt while hospitalized. Just horrible time and place in her situation.. shes my world
 
Awwwww you and kitty need some of these :bighug::bighug::bighug:

Its going to be ok. Theres a wealth of information here and people to help you decipher it all. ;)

Update: Esme did indeed go into Detrimental Keto Acidosis this weekend which she is getting daily hospitalization at her now new primary vet. After day two at the hospital she no longer has keytones in her pee. Shes now eating and drinking water on her own. Verbal and begging for food again lol which I fed her food after her shot. She is getting 1/2 unit insulin every 12 hours. The only issue is her potassium was very low even today which is the insulin causing the potassium to go in her cells vs bloodstream which could cause permanent damage to the kidneys. They put potassium in her water iv so this is the next trial. Im so thankful she pulled through! She unfortunately was 2 lbs overweight at her last vet visit before her diagnosis (12 lbs) a year and a half ago and her being only 3 and a half youd never expect that. I got her at what was told 8 weeks old which I found out at her first vet visit she was 6 weeks old when I got her. I got her spayed and took her to regular vet visits.
 
Hugs! First I am glad she is getting some routine care and monitoring. I know firsthand with my cat how exhausting and terrifying diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) can be! Last April Alice was hospitalized but she is still alive and going a year later. We have been through some trials here and there but she is making it. Just wanted to offer a little support. Cats do survive this!
Make sure you get rest when you can so that you will have the energy to care for her. Recovery from DKA can be “a marathon, not a sprint” (as I was once told).... it takes patience and a good schedule. It sounds like you are equipped well already to help your sweet Esme. —a lovely name by the way, I have a family member with that name.
 
Thank you. Yes my boyfriend and i have been taking turns. I work third shift and with the pandemic I'm working every other week and off weeks remotely working from home and thankfully this is my off week and my boyfriend took the week off. Shes becoming herself and thankfully no more keytones in the urine. This is the first time shes been herself again in a week. This all happened so fast and shes so young. Im not giving up on her shes a fighter. Shes following me to the fridge again haha shes only eating around insulin time now and so is her brother lol I dont need two diabetic kitties lol
 
@AliceMeowliss&Cassandra How old is Alice? Which type of diabetes does she have? Is she part siamese? She looks like esmes breed. All white green eyes. Esmes mom was orange white black (calico?) . Apparently father was siamese I'm assuming white? Only saw the mom when I got her. I always put down shes siamese mix... through the night to now esme is acting like nothings happened back to her old self n more on my side like always ❤
 
@AliceMeowliss&Cassandra How old is Alice? Which type of diabetes does she have? Is she part siamese? She looks like esmes breed. All white green eyes. Esmes mom was orange white black (calico?) . Apparently father was siamese I'm assuming white? Only saw the mom when I got her. I always put down shes siamese mix... through the night to now esme is acting like nothings happened back to her old self n more on my side like always ❤

So glad Esme is feeling better!!!


Alice is 13, she turns 14 in July. Her mother was a medium haired orange tabby feral and her father was a black and white cat in the neighborhood. I had her brother too. They both had/have these long lean builds. Alice is mostly white but she is calico because she has orange/brown/black ish patches too. But I honestly don’t know what breed mix she is because she was born feral. She was a bottle baby and sometimes I think that is part of why she has so many issues. Her diabetes was not related to being overweight, probably related to cancer or IBD causing her system problems.
 
@AliceMeowliss&Cassandra Aww so the white in esme is probably the calico Gene. Her brother Pheonix aka "fat boy" is actually not her blood brother hes a grey tabby i got him a year after I had her and he was already a big boy. He was updated on shots microchipped and extremely spoiled and still is.. her condition was a huge wake up call to change both diets. I got followed n told off by esme while eating my dinner a little bit ago haha shes got her sass back. Lol begging for food everytime I walk in the kitchen. Both kitties are now eating just before her insulin shots and shes moved up to 1 unit every 12 hours today. She obstructed her cathader at hospital and shes got the hump fluid injected into the back for the night. Her potassium levels are looming good so were just watching her kidneys.
 
@AliceMeowliss&Cassandra Aww so the white in esme is probably the calico Gene

I love the genetics of a calico. What allows for three colors is two X chromosomes and a different chromosome elsewhere in the DNA. The orangey color and the brown/black/gray color are both only passed on through the X chromosome so only females can be calico (unless they have a chromosomal abnormality). Males have XY. All cats have potential for white from different genetic points.

Here’s a nice read on how it all works: https://www.basepaws.com/blog/cat-coat-genetics/

It’s great to her Esme is having a smooth recovery. =^.^=
 
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