Possible diabetic cat

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fun2doimpossible

fun2doimpossible

Member Since 2013
Hi Everyone!
I'm trying to help my parents out with their office cat named Putter. They have a cat that lives at my father's workplace. People are only there Monday-Friday 8am-5pm. She is free fed on a 100% dry food diet.

Putter was taken to the vet today where she was diagnosed with some type of bug that is causing a gastrointestinal issue. While she was there, the vet checked her BG. According to my mom, the BG was high. (She didn't know the number.) The vet wants to check her again in 4-6 weeks to see if it is still high since according to the vet whatever she has can cause elevated BG.

My father has already said that in the event that she needs insulin she will need to be rehomed since people are not there on weekends they cannot properly administer it.

Facing that I'm trying to figure out where I go from here.

My immediate plan is to try and get them to switch her to a low-carb wet food diet to see if once the bug is out of her system and a diet brings her BG back down to normal levels.

Any suggestions on how to do make this switch in this environment? My parents are telling me she won't touch any wet food. (I didn't have that issue with Max and Clyde when I made the switch. They just gobbled it right up.) I already know, we're going to need an auto-feeder.

It's my intention on getting her onto eating EVO wet since that is what I feed Max & Clyde.

In the event their vet diagnoses her with diabetes. I plan on having them transfer her to my vet since I've gone through this with her before with Clyde and plan to do TR with Lantus again. (As a side note, how long does a vial of Lantus last? I still have most of a vial before Clyde went OTJ. His prescription was filled on 9/9/2013. It's been sitting in my refrigerator and there is nothing floating it that I can see.)

I will then try and figure out how to introduce her to Max & Clyde since I don't know how I'd do TR with her living 5 miles away.

I'm not sure how well that will work. The last time I tried to introduce a new cat to them...lets just say it didn't go over to well. If it comes to this, what can I do to try and make a more successful introduction?

If I can successfully introduce her to Max & Clyde, she will become my cat, otherwise I will need find her a new home.

Do you see any issues with my plans? Anything else I can try and do or have them do to stack the odds in Putter's favor?
 
For right now, the Evo Cat and Kitten dry (8% cal from carbs) might be a good 1st step, gradually blending in 20-25% new food per day to reduce GI upsets.

Second, wet food can be put down for a good 12 hours at a time. I do this for all my cats.

Treating the infection should help bring the glucose down, too.
 
The Lantus is probably still good. It can last up to 6 months or longer if it's properly refrigerated and not shaken or rolled.

I would see about getting a couple of BG tests on her over the next couple of days so you know what you're dealing with and how "high" the BGs actually are.

Because she's an office cat, it makes food transitioning a little more difficult. I agree with BJ to start with a lower carb, dry food at first and then work on transitioning to wet since it sounds like it might take a while.
 
Thank you for the information. I hadn't thought that any dry cat food could be low carb.

I will have them order and start switching her to the dry EVO Cat & Kitten food. I think she is eating Meow Mix right now, which according to one site I found is something like 41.5% carbs :shock: 8% carbs on EVO dry food is much better then the Meow Mix. :-D

If that goes well, I can then try eventually and get them to switch her to the wet EVO 95% Chicken & Turkey which is 2% carbs. (Something tells me this will be a harder switch for them and may not actually occur until if she actually ends up at my house.)

I'm hoping between clearing up the infection and the switch to a lower carb food it brings her BG back into a normal range. I'm going to try to stop over there tomorrow after work to test her BG so I have a better idea what high actually is.

Will
 
If and when you bring her to your place, you'll want to do gradual introductions.
 
I drove over to my father's office to check Putter's BG. (It helps that I manger their computer systems so I can get in after hours. :-D) Unfortunately since she free feeds I have no idea when she last ate, but it was 43.

Needless to say, I have no idea what "high" was at the vet's office or why they told my parents said diabetes was a possibility, but right now that's low enough WITHOUT insulin that is she was on insulin I would be trying to steer the BG with food and bring it up.

I will check it again over the next couple of days to get a better idea of what I'm dealing with but right now it seems like it's much ado about nothing.
 
Its still a good idea to switch to lower carb food and maybe get them to give some canned when the office is open.
 
That's great news! Well, at the very least, she's now getting a better diet for it! :lol:
 
I'm still planning on trying to get them to switch cat food and try and introduce some canned food. After all an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. :-D I rather help prevent it then have to treat it. :-D
 
I just wanted to follow up and let everyone know what I found...I tested Putter about the same time every night for the past three nights. Her high reading was 56, so I have no idea how high she was at the vet's office for him to suggest that she may be diabetic to my parents.

The upside of all of this is they are going to attempt to switch her to a better cat food. :smile:

Thank you everyone!
 
Vet stress may raise glucose 100 to 180 mg/dL. (46 +180 = 226) And the vet didn't consider that.
 
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