chicagopjp
New Member
I am grateful to have found this forum, because even a quick look reveals that you possess a wealth of information and compassion. I am sorry if this goes on and on, but I've got probably 48 hours until I can talk to the vet again, and I'm zeroing in on a couple of questions. First, I need help keeping her pee inside the box. Second, I need to understand the consequences of missing an insulin shot(s), once my cat is regulated. Details on both questions are below.
I took SamCat in to her vet today because she had been, usually, just missing the edge of the litter box. (That is going to be one of the things I need advice about.) By that I mean that she was getting in the box, and some of her urine was making it in the box, but the rest of it was hitting the ledge of the box and/or just going directly onto the mat underneath her box. This began happening maybe two weeks ago, around the same time it was dawning on me that she sure was peeing a lot. It is true, however, that she would occasionally just not get into the box and pee right on the mat. My guess on that part of things is that I had just missed her previous "overshoots" and it was kind of trapped in the mat, making her think that maybe that was an OK place to go now. But I have no idea.
Anyway, I feel bad for not previously having taken action as I finally did today. But other than this odd behavior, which was increasing in frequency, she seemed like her normal self. But with the benefit of hindsight as applied to what my vet asked today, and as to what I've read here since getting back, I now know that other warning signs (steady weight loss, very thirsty, very hungry, bad at grooming herself) were present.
When the vet checked SamCat's urine, she found glucose and did a BG test. I never got the figures, because once the vet started telling me that SamCat was diabetic, it was hard for me to really focus on what she was saying. Sam's had a tough road in some aspects to date. She is about four months shy of her 14th birthday (give or take, she came from a shelter) and along the way she's spent a long time at a nuclear medicine/vet place getting her thyroid removed. She also has some meaningful arthritis in her hind quarters.
Anyway, the vet today was not our normal vet. She seemed perfectly fine, but she was talking about insulin 2x per day, and while she was fine with us waiting the weekend to make a determination on what to do, she painted a dim picture of the future, perhaps just to toughen me up for the level of commitment that insulin treatment was going to require. (This is the other thing on which I need some guidance.) I expect to be able to speak to my normal vet about this Monday evening.
I gather from what I've read here and elsewhere that there is a strong school of thought that diet can, in some cases, be an effective way of treating FD. I don't dismiss that at all, and I hope that my normal vet thinks that's an option. But let's assume she says no way, the BG is way too high to rely solely on diet. In that event, and assuming we get to a point where SamCat is fairly well regulated and dialed in on her doses, I'm trying to get a clear answer to one thing:
1) How serious is it going to be if we miss a dose, or three doses, or a dozen? On the one hand, my instinct is that if she seems OK now and we've gotten her regulated going forward, how bad could it be for her to miss a few days' worth of insulin? Would she be any worse when we were able to resume than it is, say, today? On the other, the vet today led me to believe that any variation beyond a couple of hours would be problematic.
My wife is newly pregnant, and our condo goes on the market Monday. I travel frequently for business. There are a lot of ways I can see over the next many months in which we will simply not be able to get to her in time to do a shot every 12 hours. So how much of a problem will that be?
2) Assuming you're still with me, I need advice on getting her to keep her pee inside the box. It seems like she's just not squatting down quite far enough, to state it simply. My first instinct was to just start with a fresh, taller box. But she's not interested in making circus leaps to get inside, so maybe some big Rubbermaid thing with a makeshift ramp? I don't know, I'll try anything. What I've done so far is get her a Booda Clean Step box. That seems OK with Sam while the roof/dome is off, but with it on, she refused to use it at least once and just peed next to it.
Any thoughts on either of these concerns will be very welcome. Many thanks in advance.
I took SamCat in to her vet today because she had been, usually, just missing the edge of the litter box. (That is going to be one of the things I need advice about.) By that I mean that she was getting in the box, and some of her urine was making it in the box, but the rest of it was hitting the ledge of the box and/or just going directly onto the mat underneath her box. This began happening maybe two weeks ago, around the same time it was dawning on me that she sure was peeing a lot. It is true, however, that she would occasionally just not get into the box and pee right on the mat. My guess on that part of things is that I had just missed her previous "overshoots" and it was kind of trapped in the mat, making her think that maybe that was an OK place to go now. But I have no idea.
Anyway, I feel bad for not previously having taken action as I finally did today. But other than this odd behavior, which was increasing in frequency, she seemed like her normal self. But with the benefit of hindsight as applied to what my vet asked today, and as to what I've read here since getting back, I now know that other warning signs (steady weight loss, very thirsty, very hungry, bad at grooming herself) were present.
When the vet checked SamCat's urine, she found glucose and did a BG test. I never got the figures, because once the vet started telling me that SamCat was diabetic, it was hard for me to really focus on what she was saying. Sam's had a tough road in some aspects to date. She is about four months shy of her 14th birthday (give or take, she came from a shelter) and along the way she's spent a long time at a nuclear medicine/vet place getting her thyroid removed. She also has some meaningful arthritis in her hind quarters.
Anyway, the vet today was not our normal vet. She seemed perfectly fine, but she was talking about insulin 2x per day, and while she was fine with us waiting the weekend to make a determination on what to do, she painted a dim picture of the future, perhaps just to toughen me up for the level of commitment that insulin treatment was going to require. (This is the other thing on which I need some guidance.) I expect to be able to speak to my normal vet about this Monday evening.
I gather from what I've read here and elsewhere that there is a strong school of thought that diet can, in some cases, be an effective way of treating FD. I don't dismiss that at all, and I hope that my normal vet thinks that's an option. But let's assume she says no way, the BG is way too high to rely solely on diet. In that event, and assuming we get to a point where SamCat is fairly well regulated and dialed in on her doses, I'm trying to get a clear answer to one thing:
1) How serious is it going to be if we miss a dose, or three doses, or a dozen? On the one hand, my instinct is that if she seems OK now and we've gotten her regulated going forward, how bad could it be for her to miss a few days' worth of insulin? Would she be any worse when we were able to resume than it is, say, today? On the other, the vet today led me to believe that any variation beyond a couple of hours would be problematic.
My wife is newly pregnant, and our condo goes on the market Monday. I travel frequently for business. There are a lot of ways I can see over the next many months in which we will simply not be able to get to her in time to do a shot every 12 hours. So how much of a problem will that be?
2) Assuming you're still with me, I need advice on getting her to keep her pee inside the box. It seems like she's just not squatting down quite far enough, to state it simply. My first instinct was to just start with a fresh, taller box. But she's not interested in making circus leaps to get inside, so maybe some big Rubbermaid thing with a makeshift ramp? I don't know, I'll try anything. What I've done so far is get her a Booda Clean Step box. That seems OK with Sam while the roof/dome is off, but with it on, she refused to use it at least once and just peed next to it.
Any thoughts on either of these concerns will be very welcome. Many thanks in advance.
