Sick...think my boy might be diabetic

[Frank & the Tuxedo gang]

Hello everybody,

I've posted here a couple of times over the years in regards to certain issues my cats have had, those issues were not diabetic related but I think this one might be so I thought I come here and ask advice. I have two 16 year old cats, a brother and sister named Max and Helen. Initially, I thought Helen was sick because I noticed a large increase of clumping in the litter box but given time I discovered that it was Max that was having problems. One day, all of a sudden, I noticed Max was drinking a ton of water and visiting the litter box way too often. I realized that the increased litter box clumps were due to Max not Helen as I originally thought. I began to think back and upon reflection, I did start to remember some things. Max started gaining weight a few month's ago, he got quite chunky and his appetite increase noticeably. I thought it was cute at first because Max has always been really skinny, but he was going through a lot of cat food. I feed my cats a prescription urinary food because of previous urinary issues and it's expensive so when it started to disappear fast, I noticed. At first I thought it was a one time thing (which has happened before) but it kept happening. Recently, he's started losing weight and has gotten really skinny. He is now very lethargic and doesn't talk much which is unusual. I purchased a urine testing kit off amazon and it seemed to show high glucose levels. I didn't do the test exactly as the instructions said because it became too difficult to collect the urine, so I just dipped the test strip in the urine that had pooled in the box. Yes, I know that this can lead to contamination but it was hard to collect otherwise, the litter box I used hadn't been used in a while. I don't have much money for the vet, I might have about $100 in about 8 or 9 days but I'm not sure that will cover all that's needed. I've switched Max to cooked chicken for now and away from his kibble because I know high protein and low carbs are what's needed now, he seems to be doing a little better. I did have a glucose monitor at one point but have no idea where it is now. Any advice would be very helpful, I do plan on calling the vet when I get closer to having a bit of money.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

You really need to get Max to a vet. Untreated diabetes can result in diabetic ketoacidosis which can be lethal. Also, feeding cooked chicken doesn't contain all of the supplements needed in a balanced diet. It's better than kibble but it is not nutritionally complete. Getting a meter and strips at Walmart will help to answer where his blood glucose levels are.

Can you consider Care Credit? This a a link to financial resources that you may want to consider.

 

[Frank & the Tuxedo gang]

Thanks for the link and the advice. I applied for care credit and didn't qualify, the vet had on his website something called Scratchpay for which I also didn't qualify. I'm looking through the financial assistance list now and based what I've seen so far, most need a diagnosis first in order to potentially qualify, the blood test needed for a potential diagnosis is likely to cost more than I will have. I called a local low cost clinic and they quoted me $165 for a blood test. The front desk at the vet told me that it may not be diabetes because Max is not overweight but she was not a doctor just the front desk girl. I'll continue to look through the list, maybe something will pop up. Also, the chicken isn't permanent, it's just for right now until I can get some canned food for him.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

A cat does not have to be fat to be a diabetic. Newly diagnosed diabetic cats are often skinny because they can’t utilise the food properly because they are not producing insulin which is necessary for the metabolism of the food. They are often starving hungry.
Getting rid of the dry is good.
I agree you need to get your kitty to the vet. Being lethargic is not a good sign. I would not leave it before going to the vet.

 

[Frank & the Tuxedo gang]

He seems to be gaining a bit of his weight back and does seem a tad more animated since I switched him to chicken.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Getting a meter, strips and lancets (the 3 things you must have to test at home) at Walmart will cost you about $25

$9 for the Relion Prime meter, $9 for 50 strips and you can get a box of lancets for a few bucks. That way you could test him at home and have a better idea of what his glucose is running.

You can also apply to DCIN. We help low income caregivers with the costs of treatment. In hardship cases, we can sometimes pay for a trip to the vet too.

Here's the info on Applying to Diabetic Cats In Need.

 

[Frank & the Tuxedo gang]

Getting a meter, strips and lancets (the 3 things you must have to test at home) at Walmart will cost you about $25

$9 for the Relion Prime meter, $9 for 50 strips and you can get a box of lancets for a few bucks. That way you could test him at home and have a better idea of what his glucose is running.

You can also apply to DCIN. We help low income caregivers with the costs of treatment. In hardship cases, we can sometimes pay for a trip to the vet too.

Here's the info on Applying to Diabetic Cats In Need.

Thank You, I'll check it out.