Possibly Fostering Another Diabetic Kitty

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LuanneP

LuanneP

Member Since 2017
Hi guys,

I know I'm not on here often but that's because Merry is doing well :) Who would have thought my Diabetic kitty would be the least of my worries in my cat family.

Anyway, the rescue group that Merry came from just called me because they have an 11 yr old boy who was just diagnosed with diabetes & a UTI and they wanted to know if could care for him for a few weeks since I have experience with Diabetes & have gotten Merry pretty much regulated.

The vet wants to start him on Insulin right away, but I would think it's safer to switch to low carb canned food, treat the UTI & see if that's enough to lower his BG. Is it normal to start on Insulin right off the bat in cases like this? I know if I care for him I will monitor him very closely but I if he goes to another foster home they won't know enough to check his BG often (or at all) so in my opinion it's safer to try the low carb food & treat the UTI before adding Insulin into the mix. Thoughts?
 
LuanneP said:
Hi guys,

I know I'm not on here often but that's because Merry is doing well :) Who would have thought my Diabetic kitty would be the least of my worries in my cat family.

Anyway, the rescue group that Merry came from just called me because they have an 11 yr old boy who was just diagnosed with diabetes & a UTI and they wanted to know if could care for him for a few weeks since I have experience with Diabetes & have gotten Merry pretty much regulated.

The vet wants to start him on Insulin right away, but I would think it's safer to switch to low carb canned food, treat the UTI & see if that's enough to lower his BG. Is it normal to start on Insulin right off the bat in cases like this? I know if I care for him I will monitor him very closely but I if he goes to another foster home they won't know enough to check his BG often (or at all) so in my opinion it's safer to try the low carb food & treat the UTI before adding Insulin into the mix. Thoughts?
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I like your plan for at least the first week or two.
 
Personally that's what I would do. See if diet change and UTI gone will bring numbers down but it would also depend on how high the numbers currently are.

And yes. Take him. H couldn't be in better hands!
 
Glad you can help the rescue kitty...........do you know what the BG' are at? If they are high I'm not sure you'd want to wait too long. The new owners hopefully will be eager to learn how to test and shoot just as we all here have done. Good luck.
 
The vet said his BG was 28.5 (513) but it was probably actually higher than that because the blood sample sat in the tube for a while before it was spun. She's a mobile vet so she would have went to the kitty so the high BG was not stress related.
 
That's pretty high, and when Davidson was DX's in 2013 he had readings of 30.4 down to 25 (547-450) and I put him on FF wet right away and no insulin for a week and his BG went down to an average of 18 (324) which is still very high and so I started him on Lantus (after finding this Forum) and he obtained remission within 3 months. At that time he had dental work done, but insulin was started a month later.............this time around after he came out of remission he had 4 teeth pulled and 3 infections. I started him on insulin 4 days later........

I'm not sure you want to wait long with those high BG levels, but others will post shortly
 
Shawna & Davidson said:
That's pretty high, and when Davidson was DX's in 2013 he had readings of 30.4 down to 25 (547-450) and I put him on FF wet right away and no insulin for a week and his BG went down to an average of 18 (324) which is still very high and so I started him on Lantus (after finding this Forum) and he obtained remission within 3 months. At that time he had dental work done, but insulin was started a month later.............this time around after he came out of remission he had 4 teeth pulled and 3 infections. I started him on insulin 4 days later........

I'm not sure you want to wait long with those high BG levels, but others will post shortly
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I'd agree
 
No medical advice, how about a moral boost? You're an Angel. Everyone needs a little kindness and decency.
Don't worry about his age, with a bit of luck you may have another 10 years. It's happened to me.
 
Your a gem for taken this on.

That high of a reading can be a one off - he could of still been stressed from being touched by a new person. Was he a stray kitty or did someone belong to him at some point?

Maybe get him to your home and set up. Let the AB's start doing their job and start the new food a go for the first 2-3 days. Play with his ears etc. Get him used to the new surroundings and your touch. Get a couple of tests in, establish a routine and go from there? I am just thinking that he maybe stressed from all the new things at first which may give you high readings to start.

What are you thinking for a starting dose? 0.5U?
 
While the wait until you see the effects of diet change, etc. make sense, let me throw out a thought for consideration -- ketones! The basic recipe for ketones is the presence of an infection/inflammation and not enough insulin and not eating. Your potential foster kitty is a good target for ketones developing given the UTI and no insulin. If this were my kitty, I would err on the side of caution given how dangerous DKA can be.
 
Thanks guys. I was worried about Ketones as well. The rescue said his BG today was 32 (576) so a bit higher than yesterday. After they contacted me to foster him this morning they decided to admit him to their vet clinic so he's now hospitalized on IV fluids, Insulin & antibiotics. He may have an adopter lined up already so he might be going there straight from the hospital, I don't know. I told them to let me know if they still need me to foster him temporarily until he's at least feeling better.
 
I think the BG readings are truly high. He was an owner surrender so he's used to people & they said he's a real sweetheart. He's been at the adoption center for a few weeks now so he's settled in & that's where they noticed he was drinking & peeing a lot, which led to the vet check & discovering the UTI & Diabetes.
 
I think the decision has been made if the rescue put in him insulin. Maybe they were seeing other clinical symptoms or saw some keytones.


He should be easy to get used to home testing then.
 
@Tracey&Jones That is if they recommend home testing to the adopter :( That worries me but I can't do anything about it. I remember when Merry first came to my house they didn't understand why I was testing him so much & didn't think it was necessary. If I don't hear back from the rescue in a day or so I'll follow up to see how kitty is doing and I'll offer to teach the new adopter how to care for him, check BG, give shots, have his hypo kit ready & I'll try to get them on this board. But the rescue may decline my help but I'll at least offer.
 
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