Scraps new to FDMB

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Scraps' Mom

Member Since 2013
Hi there, my name is Molly, my cat's name is Scraps. He is approx 18mos. Diagnosed w FD in September 2012. He has been on Lantus since then, but not extremely well controlled. This week he stopped responding to the Lantus, and had a BG of 700 yesterday morning. The vet diagnosed him with a UTI, which he is on Clavamox for. He threw up many times yesterday, but not today. I have been force-feeding since yesterday. Last night BG 472 dose 2u Lantus. This morning BG 130 and steady dropping. I had been force feeding him all day. Finally stopped dropping at BG 70. We decided BG 60 I would take to emergency vet. I think I will wait until BG 250, and then only dose 0.5u. I'm just scared for him. The Bovine PZI is being shipped should arrive to us Tuesday. We are hoping for better regulation.

Anyways, I am not too savvy with these message boards or where I am supposed to post number etc.... we'll see.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum,

Sorry to hear you are having problems. Those BG levels are concerning for sure but I am more worried about ketones right now. Do you test for those in his pee? If not, can you smell acetone /nail varnish remover from his breath? If so, get him to vet immediately!!

An infection can cause blood glucose to be wonky so that could be the regulation problem. When did you start treating the UTI?

Also it could be what you are feeding him, can you tell us what that is?


Wendy
 
Molly, welcome to FDMB and I'm so sorry Mr. Scraps is not feeling well and has a UTI. Hopefully the med will kick in. I've been watching him since he first showed up on DCIN and was so happy to know that you did adopt him. He is just precious and also a fighter for the rough start he had in his young life. Sending many get well wishes for Mr. Scraps.
 
When he's back from the vet, you may find some of the ideas in my signature link Secondary monitoring tools useful to help you check for ketones and some other things.
 
Thank you all for your concern and support. To answer all in one message:

Friday the vet said he had "low ketones" in his pee. I do not smell anything on his breath.
I started treating UTI w Clavamox Friday morning.
He has been on EVO chx/turkey only for months and does well with it. Yesterday I bought some other FD acceptable foods (BFF brands) to see if he would like them better bc he is not eating on his own.

Lantus pen is approx 3wks old.

Today is the first day that he got out of his bed and came to sit in my lap since Thursday night. His spirits seem improved. He urinated twice for the first time since Friday, and I saw blood in his pee. I am calling back the vet tomorrow to make sure the Clavamox is appropriate for his urine culture. BG was approx 550-570 all day today. I dosed 2u in the a.m. and 1.75u pm. He does not fight the force-feeding, but it is a tedious task. I think he likes the attention. My dad is coming to stay with him while I am at work tomorrow. xoxo
 
Did the vet send his urine out for a culture to find what antibiotic would work best for his UTI? Are you testing for ketones? Glad he felt a little better and got out of his bed and sat on your lap. Wonder if a pain med would help him because he might be in a little pain with that infection.....something to ask the vet about. Also, KFC works wonders for kitties that don't want to eat. Hope Mr. Scraps gets better each day.
 
Scraps' Mom said:
He has been on EVO chx/turkey only for months and does well with it. Yesterday I bought some other FD acceptable foods (BFF brands) to see if he would like them better bc he is not eating on his own.
Click to expand...


The BFF canned foods are mostly seafood based which shouldn't be fed all the time. Some cats get addicted to eating seafood and will refuse to eat anything else. The new pouched BFF foods (not on Dr. Lisa's chart) are in gravy and not suitable to feed to a diabetic. Since your cat is't interested in eating much these days, feed whatever he will eat. The most important thing right now is to keep your cat eating and getting enough calories daily to aoid fatty liver disease.

Ask the vet for FrotFlora to help entice your cat to eat. FortiFlora is basically animal digest which cats find irresistable, even inappetent ones. A little sprinkle on top of food will get a cat eating.

You can test for ketones at home. Buy KetoStix from the pharmacy and get a fresh urine sample to dip a test strip into. Some people use a long handled soup ladle to catch a sample of pee. Others use a clean litter box, fill it with some fish tank gravel, and tip the box to get the urine into a puddle, and dip a test strip into that.
 
Hi there,

You've already received some great advice about enticing your kitty to eat. I wanted to add that some people suggest baby food such as beechnut (make sure it has no onions!).

It also doesn't sound like the Lantus so much stopped working as the infection might have increased his BG numbers. That might be why you saw such a steep drop in his numbers after you started treating the infection with the Clavamox.

What are you feeding Scraps, as this could have contributed to the UTI? It's generally recommended to feed them a low carb (under 10% carbs), wet food diet. You can check this food chart for the nutritional composition of most commercial cat foods, including the prescription brands sold by vets (which are overly expensive and generally not diabetic friendly).

Here are some instructions for creating a spreadsheet to keep track of your numbers (and to share with us here).
 
I got the results from the urine culture and they are clear of bacteria, so the Clavamox is not helping.
The vet is testing for ketones.
We are going to get pain meds tonight.
What is KFC?

The BFF I am feeding is recommended by DCH. Still by syringe. He did drink a lot more water today, and took his first poop (2 turds) since Thursday.
I asked the vet about FortiFlora she did not think it was appropriate.

This evening his BG was 274. THANK GOD!!!!
I have ALWAYS fed low carb wet food. His EVO is almost 0%.

I am taking him to the vet for an overnight stay. I will look at creating a spreadsheet soon. I CANT WAIT until he is well enough for me to just worry about doses again. I mostly joined FDMB for dosing advice.

xoxooxoxoxox
 
KFC is Kentucky Fried Chicken... do you not have that where you live? (although i think they are pretty much everywhere!!)

Keep testing - you need to be on the lookout for lows as well as highs.. hope he feels better soon.
 
Wendy&Tiggy said:
KFC is Kentucky Fried Chicken... do you not have that where you live? (although i think they are pretty much everywhere!!)

Keep testing - you need to be on the lookout for lows as well as highs.. hope he feels better soon.
Click to expand...


Haha I did not believe you were suggesting KFC chicken!

Also.... I got my spreadsheet... but I really don't know how to fill it out. I don't understant the AMPS and PMPS and where I am putting everything....
 
Ok I will try and explain and will use this Lucians new sheet for reference https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AjhvMJzoVTQ3dGRhdEZwT05hd3hKa1h3LWx2c3YwSUE&output=html

- AMPS = a.m. (morning) Pre Shot - so that thats the test reading you get just before you shoot in the morning
- PMPS = p.m.(evening) Pre Shot - the test reading taken just before your night time shot. Which should be 12 hours from your morning shot.
- U = the dose in units
- The columns in between are for each hour after the shot. so +2 is 2 hours after the shot.

So in the above sheet you can see on the 13th January that Lucians blood AMPS was 229 - so he was 229 just before his am shot. He got 1.00 units of insulin.
At +8 (8 hours later) he measured at 249.
Then his PMPS (thats 12 hours from his morning shot. His nighttime shot time) he was 246. he got another 1.00 units.

Fill in comments under the remarks column. The colour coding should work automatically if you downloaded our spreadsheet.

Then upload it so we can see it (and fix it if you had any issues) http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207&start=0

let me know how you get on!
 
Regular KFC can sometimes jump start a kitty to eat or at least they will eat the chicken from there. I've never had a kitty refuse KFC :mrgreen:
 
Scraps has been diagnosed with kidney failure.

I spent a small fortune today to have an ultrasound done and hospitalize him again for another night with a specialist. They are giving IV fluids, new meds, and probably doing a kidney aspiration biopsy.

The vet thinks maybe he was born with deformed kidneys or maybe he has a cancer. Hopefully these are things they could operate on. Also, the biopsy may reveal a different kind of infection or toxin we could flush out of his system. These are small chances, but I couldn't put him down today.
 
Here is a great CRF website I've seen recommended often. Not something I've had to deal with yet personally, but it looks like a very comprehensive source of information.
Poor little guy!! Sending warm thoughts and prayers.
 
DCIN has been helping Scraps with diabetes care for some time, but his DCIN account was depleted quickly with a vet visit last week. If you care this help with this scrappy little fellow (that has stolen so many hearts) there is a PayPal donate button on his blog page. http://fdmb-cin.blogspot.com/2012/08/scraps.html

This is Scraps when Molly first brought him from the shelter in August. He was 18 months old but weighed only 3 pounds.

scraps%2B009.jpg
 
OMG what a cute boy!!!!. The link that MBMInx provided is a good one for cats with kidney problems. There are a lot of things you can do.. I wouldnt give up on him.. definately read through the site and maybe post on the lantus forum.. a lot of cats there also have kidney issues.

let us know how he gets on at the vet! I just made a small donation.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top