Possible diagnosis, but frustrations with vet

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HoudinisMom

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Hi everyone,
I am mom to an adorable cuddly orange tabby, Houdini. He is eleven years old. Recently, I had been noticing that he had constant diarrhea and was pooping outside his litter box. I took him into the vet who did blood work, and ran a bunch of tests. The vet said there was nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact that his blood sugar was slightly elevated. She said it could have been because he was stressed about coming to the vet, but nothing more was said about that. She then suggested this atrociously expensive food that they sell at the vet so I bought a couple of tins. Additionally, she tried to sell me dry food...which when I looked at ingredients seemed to be made primarily of starches....which from my studies in biology seems very counter intuitive to feed an animal with a suspicion of diabetes. So I kind of feel lost here, as I want to know what is wrong with Houdini, but the vet gave me an extremely roundabout, non definitive answer. He has been losing weight, but he is not peeing an alarming amount either I just feel at a loss as to what to do because I do not have money to keep taking him to the vet each time I notice changes in his behavior. I want to try and see what I an do myself. Houdini used to be very fat, and I regulated his weight to where he is now 14lbs. I just don't want him to lose anymore weight because it is starting to freak me out. He usually gets fed 9lives Super Supper and Chicken dinner.

Anyone with advice, please throw my way...is there anything else I need to look out for? Behavior changes, etc? Is it common for diabetic cats to suffer from diarrhea???

thanks so much,

Houdini's mom.
 
Diabetic cats "usually" are incredibly thirsty and hungry and fill the litter box with cement like clumps. Doesn't sound like the symptoms for your guy. It is true that blood glucose levels usually rise at the vet. Stress raises them and most cats are usually stressed at the vet. if he was in the 400-500 range at the vet, that would worry me.

One thing that people here use is FortiFlora. It is a probiotic. Might help and can't hurt. Available through the vet or online.

If you are switching foods from his normal routine, that could do it. Beef is sometimes a problem for cats. You are certainly right to question the dry food. Wet is best for diabetics and for every cat. You might share this vet's website with your vet: www.catinfo.org I would stick with the one food he has always been okay with and feed it solely for awhile and see if that helps.
 
Welcome!! Hello from one Houdini’s Mom to another ! My Houdini is all black but also 11 years old and 7 years as a diabetic.

Do you happen to have the blood test results that you could post? The vet said sugar was “slightly elevated” and yes it’s possible for stress to do that. Do you have the actual number? What other tests were done?

IMO I don’t think diabetes itself would cause diarrhea. If you suspect diabetes the best way is to test him at home without the stress of going to the vet and see what the sugar level is. You can do this by testing blood with a human glucometer or urine strips.

The diarrhea could be from the food……cat food manufacturers can arbitrarily change their ingredients and cats can develop allergies out of the blue. Did the vet mention inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) ? Could he be eating a new treat or a plant around the house? How long has the diarrhea been going on? Any new stresses? Cats can stress out about the strangest things….

Sorry for all the questions and I probably forgot a few but the more information you have to give the better.
 
Here is a link on diarrhea in cats: http://www.cat-world.com.au/diarrhea-in-cats

Is your cat eating normally? A lot? A little? Is he an indoor cat? If he is losing weight and very hungry, he may need to be tested for hyerthyroidism.

I would ask the vet what his number was for his blood glucose? Is your kitty super thirsty, lapping lots of water? I think you need to find out for sure if your cat really is diabetic, then, if so, come here and we can help you with home testing and giving him insulin, etc.

Most of us here have had vets that recommend the wrong kind of food for cats. But whether the cat is diabetic or not, definitely do not give your boy dry food, only canned. We also usually want the food to be low carb-- no grains, no rice, no potato in there, etc. We usually recommend Fancy Feast (classics) that you should be able to get at any grocery store, or most Merricks cat food (found at pet stores).
 
Hi everyone, thanks so much for the replies. I have been MIA as I am in the middle of a very stressful time. First of all, I can't figure out what is wrong with my baby, secondly, I've been studying for a huge exam for July, and thirdly, I am supposed to be moving at the end of the month.

Jennifer and Spot: The vet did not give me a number, all she said was that his glucose was high.
Hi Gail and Houdini!! I finally was able to get enough blood today for his first reading of 272. He is still having some mucus in his poop with occasional diarrhea. I switched him to Fresh Pet select which has diminished his diarrhea.

And Sue and Oliver: that's what I thought....Houdini does not seem to be urinating THAT much....

Any thoughts? When should I test again?

He is eating as normally as he ever has (he is a greedy orange tabby) so no change at all. Yes, he is indoors.
 
If he has diarrhea, the water is going out through the bowel, not the bladder. Watch for dehydration.
 
Hi. Seeing your cat losing weight is very upsetting. Can you tell us how much weight he has lost and in what period of time? What was his normal weight when he was young and healthy?

You could ask your vet for a printout of all the values for the tests done. My vet gives these to me with no problem. (I would do this anyway, and keep it in a file so I could look back and see changes that might mean something later on.)

If your cat's thyroid test is normal, please try to do a fasting glucose -- have him wait a period of time without eating and test it again. Anyone on the board know what period of time is recommended???? Humans wait 12 hours, but is that too long for a cat?

Sometimes cats' stomachs get upset when their food is changed suddenly. It occurs to me that if he is having tummy trouble and you suddenly switch his food, the tummy trouble could be exacerbated. You can try to switch him gradually from the food he used to eat to one the foods suggested above by giving 75% old food and 25% new, then 50-50 the next day or two, and so on.

I agree that the probiotic can't hurt either. It is really terrible, but we are finding out that the pet food manufacturers are cutting corners, and they do not have to tell us what they are changing or when.

If all else fails, you may be able to see that a couple of the values on his tests are high or low in the normal range. If you see that, ask your vet if there could be an intersection of the two issues that would mean something.
 
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