CatmanJohn
Member Since 2021
Hi all!
So I am just over two weeks in since my Cat was diagnosed as being diabetic. And despite my initial worry and concern about the prospect of twice a day injections and all the challenges that brings, I have to say that I have actually found that part relatively straightforward (hopefully I am doing it right!). It is however, everything else that I am worried and concerned about and so I have spent many hours looking for help and support online.
As I have so far been unable to find any mention of the particular issues I am having, I have registered here in the hope that someone, somewhere, might have some suggestions, or at least be able to give me some reassurance that everything is going to get better one day?
So quick history: My cat came to live with us a couple of years ago now. We have a catflap and he used to visit us pretty much daily, and this happened for many years. He never hung around for long though and we think he lived down the road from us. Anyway, one day we realized that he was here more than he wasn’t and so it was clear that he had chosen us as his owners!
Fast forward to this year and we noticed he was starting to lose weight. We think he is around 15 years old and having had a number of older cats before, I presumed it was just part of him getting old. Everything else about him appeared normal and so I wasn’t overly concerned, although being an outdoor cat, I can only say that my interactions with him appeared normal.
Then 3 weeks ago he comes in from outside and his rear-end is covered in 'loose' feces. Of course, I only realized this once the stench hit me and then discovered it was all over my carpet and kitchen floor, and then I found the issue on him.
Knowing how clean cats are this was a red flag for me. I cleaned him up as best I could and then over the rest of the day, I observed him closely and discovered that there was clearly something wrong.
I noticed that he was spending increasing amounts of time drinking from an old water feature tank at the bottom of the garden. I had never seen him doing this before but he seemed to be spending ages just sat drinking from it.
I also noticed that he did not leave the garden at all (very unusual) and the fact that he just didn’t seem to be himself overall. But then when I later observed him pooping, I realized the issue with him being covered in it. So it appears to me that he doesn’t have the strength in his back legs to hold himself up which doing his business, so he starts crouched as usual, but within a few seconds he is laid down. He then stays there for a while, doing what he needs to do, but then obviously he is sitting on it and his tail is sat on it too. And the issue is twofold as the consistency of the feces is similar to humus and so it is moist and sticky, just right for sticking to him easily.
Anyway after a vet visit and waiting for blood test results, he was diagnosed with diabetes. He was prescribed 2 units of Caninsulin, twice daily which I have been giving for approx. 2 weeks now.
I honestly thought, maybe stupidly, that once he started on the insulin we would start to see an improvement in his general health. I accepted that it would probably be a slow improvement, but an improvement nonetheless. But I have to say that there has been no improvement at all, and in fact, I feel that he is going backwards in real terms.
The biggest concern right now is the feces issue. I have been cleaning him as much as I can when I am around at the time he does it, and cutting off dried up feces stuck to his fur when I have been out. However, I had a few days where I was out of the house all day this week and the end result is that I was not around to sort him out, and now he has 3 large clumps of semi-dried feces, stuck pretty much to his anus. The skin around it looks red and angry and I can imagine it must be sore as hell. But as it is so close to his anus I am scared to try and get at it with scissors in case I catch him and make matters worse.
I have tried to loosen them or dislodge them but he is getting really distressed by this as he clearly finds in uncomfortable. So I am simply getting what I can off, but then each time he goes to poop again, it is just adding to what is there and building up again.
If all this wasn’t enough, there is also the issue of the fact that if I am working or sleeping and don’t get to him fast, everywhere he sits gets a poop stamp, which is really unhygienic and also stinks the house out constantly. Its also pitiful as he does occasionally attempt to clean himself up, but then ends up with his nose and whiskers being covered too as its simply an impossible task to do.
But aside from this, my other major concern is the fact that he seems to be becoming more and more lethargic and withdrawn with each passing day. 3 weeks ago he was still jumping up on the sofa to relax and get some fuss and attention, but I haven’t seen him even try that for at least a week, and he doesn’t seem to respond too much to any fussing. He also doesn’t seem to be able to move around that much, other than feeding time when he seems to find some energy from somewhere. He spends his day lying in one spot for ages, then moving a few steps, before he lays there for ages. He spends most of the time laid down with his head up and doesn’t appear to properly rest. He has started lying in unusual places too. Sometimes he positions himself so he appears to be staring at a wall. When he does rest it is generally while he is led straight with his head twisted to the floor. He hardly ever sits up for more than a few seconds, and always reverts back to lying down. His walking also appears a little unsteady too. Not really bad, just not quite right.
I am worried sick that he is suffering and is possibly in pain. I mean I know the situation with his rear end must be causing him distress for sure, but aside from that, I also just worry about whether he has any quality of life right now. I have two other cats and even though they are both lazy, watching them makes me realise just how withdrawn and inactive the other one has become these past few weeks.
He has always come upstairs to remind me when its time for his food and he was still doing this 3 weeks ago. Now he barely makes it to the bottom step, and he hasn’t set foot up the stairs for over a week now.
And all of this is before I get to the whole food situation and what food is best to give him when I have two other cats who all just want to eat any other food bar their own, but that’s for another time.
So I am sorry that this has been one long garbled message, but I think I am just looking for some kind of positivity or advice for what I am doing wrong, or how I can make things better? Has anyone ever had this situation? Does anyone know what I could do to try and get his strength back? Does this sound like there is more going on besides diabetes? Am I being unrealistic expecting to see an improvement of some kind in 2 weeks?
I have tried to speak to my vet but they want to see him and can’t do that until next week after the bank holiday weekend as its not an emergency.
Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated, and thanks for taking the time to read this far!
So I am just over two weeks in since my Cat was diagnosed as being diabetic. And despite my initial worry and concern about the prospect of twice a day injections and all the challenges that brings, I have to say that I have actually found that part relatively straightforward (hopefully I am doing it right!). It is however, everything else that I am worried and concerned about and so I have spent many hours looking for help and support online.
As I have so far been unable to find any mention of the particular issues I am having, I have registered here in the hope that someone, somewhere, might have some suggestions, or at least be able to give me some reassurance that everything is going to get better one day?
So quick history: My cat came to live with us a couple of years ago now. We have a catflap and he used to visit us pretty much daily, and this happened for many years. He never hung around for long though and we think he lived down the road from us. Anyway, one day we realized that he was here more than he wasn’t and so it was clear that he had chosen us as his owners!
Fast forward to this year and we noticed he was starting to lose weight. We think he is around 15 years old and having had a number of older cats before, I presumed it was just part of him getting old. Everything else about him appeared normal and so I wasn’t overly concerned, although being an outdoor cat, I can only say that my interactions with him appeared normal.
Then 3 weeks ago he comes in from outside and his rear-end is covered in 'loose' feces. Of course, I only realized this once the stench hit me and then discovered it was all over my carpet and kitchen floor, and then I found the issue on him.
Knowing how clean cats are this was a red flag for me. I cleaned him up as best I could and then over the rest of the day, I observed him closely and discovered that there was clearly something wrong.
I noticed that he was spending increasing amounts of time drinking from an old water feature tank at the bottom of the garden. I had never seen him doing this before but he seemed to be spending ages just sat drinking from it.
I also noticed that he did not leave the garden at all (very unusual) and the fact that he just didn’t seem to be himself overall. But then when I later observed him pooping, I realized the issue with him being covered in it. So it appears to me that he doesn’t have the strength in his back legs to hold himself up which doing his business, so he starts crouched as usual, but within a few seconds he is laid down. He then stays there for a while, doing what he needs to do, but then obviously he is sitting on it and his tail is sat on it too. And the issue is twofold as the consistency of the feces is similar to humus and so it is moist and sticky, just right for sticking to him easily.
Anyway after a vet visit and waiting for blood test results, he was diagnosed with diabetes. He was prescribed 2 units of Caninsulin, twice daily which I have been giving for approx. 2 weeks now.
I honestly thought, maybe stupidly, that once he started on the insulin we would start to see an improvement in his general health. I accepted that it would probably be a slow improvement, but an improvement nonetheless. But I have to say that there has been no improvement at all, and in fact, I feel that he is going backwards in real terms.
The biggest concern right now is the feces issue. I have been cleaning him as much as I can when I am around at the time he does it, and cutting off dried up feces stuck to his fur when I have been out. However, I had a few days where I was out of the house all day this week and the end result is that I was not around to sort him out, and now he has 3 large clumps of semi-dried feces, stuck pretty much to his anus. The skin around it looks red and angry and I can imagine it must be sore as hell. But as it is so close to his anus I am scared to try and get at it with scissors in case I catch him and make matters worse.
I have tried to loosen them or dislodge them but he is getting really distressed by this as he clearly finds in uncomfortable. So I am simply getting what I can off, but then each time he goes to poop again, it is just adding to what is there and building up again.
If all this wasn’t enough, there is also the issue of the fact that if I am working or sleeping and don’t get to him fast, everywhere he sits gets a poop stamp, which is really unhygienic and also stinks the house out constantly. Its also pitiful as he does occasionally attempt to clean himself up, but then ends up with his nose and whiskers being covered too as its simply an impossible task to do.
But aside from this, my other major concern is the fact that he seems to be becoming more and more lethargic and withdrawn with each passing day. 3 weeks ago he was still jumping up on the sofa to relax and get some fuss and attention, but I haven’t seen him even try that for at least a week, and he doesn’t seem to respond too much to any fussing. He also doesn’t seem to be able to move around that much, other than feeding time when he seems to find some energy from somewhere. He spends his day lying in one spot for ages, then moving a few steps, before he lays there for ages. He spends most of the time laid down with his head up and doesn’t appear to properly rest. He has started lying in unusual places too. Sometimes he positions himself so he appears to be staring at a wall. When he does rest it is generally while he is led straight with his head twisted to the floor. He hardly ever sits up for more than a few seconds, and always reverts back to lying down. His walking also appears a little unsteady too. Not really bad, just not quite right.
I am worried sick that he is suffering and is possibly in pain. I mean I know the situation with his rear end must be causing him distress for sure, but aside from that, I also just worry about whether he has any quality of life right now. I have two other cats and even though they are both lazy, watching them makes me realise just how withdrawn and inactive the other one has become these past few weeks.
He has always come upstairs to remind me when its time for his food and he was still doing this 3 weeks ago. Now he barely makes it to the bottom step, and he hasn’t set foot up the stairs for over a week now.
And all of this is before I get to the whole food situation and what food is best to give him when I have two other cats who all just want to eat any other food bar their own, but that’s for another time.
So I am sorry that this has been one long garbled message, but I think I am just looking for some kind of positivity or advice for what I am doing wrong, or how I can make things better? Has anyone ever had this situation? Does anyone know what I could do to try and get his strength back? Does this sound like there is more going on besides diabetes? Am I being unrealistic expecting to see an improvement of some kind in 2 weeks?
I have tried to speak to my vet but they want to see him and can’t do that until next week after the bank holiday weekend as its not an emergency.
Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated, and thanks for taking the time to read this far!
