Tigger is always starving need advise desperatly

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Ash&Tigger

Ash&Tigger

Member Since 2013
Hi everyone, I'm new to the board and I'm
Desperatly looking for some advice. I work at
a no-kill shelter and ended up taking home
A 13 yr old diabetic who had been neglected
By his previous family. Tigger spent 7 long months
In shelter he ended up getting the calici virus.
I think I've done a better job then what the shelter
Could provide I was able to up recently only have
To give Tigger .5 insulin from 3 units but recently
Ive had difficulty controlling his bg and he is starving
Crying from 3:30 am up until after he eats.
He has been on dm and md and was switched
Over to senior consult. Does anyone have any ideas
In how to make him feel fuller for longer and not
Having to have to eat a large amount of food he currently eats
3/4 of a can twice daily and on a bad day have a very
Small amount of senior consult dry
Pls help me save tigger!!!
 
Bless you for rescuing Tigger. He is literally starving as his body is not processing the food efficiently. So it is good to feed him a little more than usual. You might add some warm water to his food (mix like gravy) so it seems like more. Also, you can feed him several times a day so he feels like he is getting more.

The best way to help is to get his levels regulated. Are you testing him at home? What kind of numbers are you seeing? What kind of insulin? It may be that we could help you regulate his dose.
 
What's his current weight, and does he look underweight?
The canned food you're feeding... is it the DM 5.5oz cans? Or is that senior consult too? Who makes senior consult?
 
while his blood sugar is raging out of control, he is literally starving even though he is eating a lot

the body needs insulin to transfer the blood sugar into the muscle cells -- with not enough insulin - the sugar gets flushed out into the urine and all his food is going into the litter box.

Once you get close to the correct insulin dose, his appetite will slow down and he should return to a more normal eating pattern / level
 
Thank you so much for everyone who has responded.
I was starting to feel very overwhelmed as nobody in
The shelter seems to really care about this. He is
Currently eating senior consult Royal canine and receives 3/4
Of a can morning and night the can is 5.8 oz (165 g) and is on
novolin he NPH. I test his blood out at home on a glucose meter for
Humans ( now I've been told to add 2 to 3 units to the glucose meter)
He is currently testing out at 22.5 I will be increasing his insulin tonight
To 2 units as he has been around this level or higher lately. Our vet tech at work
Who is useless and doesn't care for tigger said she could smell nail polish
Remover on his breath and said he had ketoacidosis about 2 weeks ago I was able
To stabilize him for a week but now he is so hungry and I've had to give
Him some kibble (senior consult as the dm and md that he has previously
On is to hard on his kidneys to process) our vet tech noticed on examination
That one kidney is smaller then the other could be 3 things the start
To kidney failure( which she doesn't think is happening,the diabetes is
Not very well controlled which is true he has not received proper care
At the shelter. (Now I'm left to try and fix the damage) or that he was born with
A smaller kidney. He currently weighs about 11 to 12 pounds and does
Not look underweight. I am also considering switching to fancy feast as I dont see much
Improvement on these prescribed diets and he is going through 2 cases
A month of wet costing 120 $.
 
Hello and welcome to the board
Novolin isnt the best insulin for cats - its very harsh on them - it hits hard and fast and then wears off fast. What country are you in? Maybe you can get Lantus.

For diabetes you want a low carb canned food like Fancy feast classic pates, friskies pates or Wellness grain free. Here is a food list (look for column C % calories from Carbs under 10%) http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

What meter are you using? Most of us use human meters and we dont add anything to them... The numbers for most meters are fairly accurate for our purposes.

Wendy
 
I was considering switching insulin but he still belongs to the shelter
At the moment.We live in canada and i believe lantus is available
But I will be getting him looked at by the vet and
Bloodwork done before I formally adopt him just need to wait till
His bg is regulated. I'm currently using two meters the one touch
Verio iq and accu-check advantage plus I've got the urine sticks and
Ketosticks.
 
No ketones is good news. Monitor his levels carefully as you switch to all wet low carb. It can mean a 100 point drop; it did for my Oliver.
 
He has been on an all wet diet since January it's only recently
II've given him a little bit of kibble here and there when he
Is extremely hungry but every time it makes his bg go into the 20s.
 
You can get Lantus in Canada from any pharmacy without a prescription.

What type/brand of wet are you feeding? Since you are testing you can also stop feeding the dry food - its not doing the diabetes any good. If you want to give a treat get the Purebites freeze dried chicken or liver. They love it.
 
I'm considering lantus, but don't wanna change
To much at the moment since his bj isn't regulated
At all once he is stable I will most likely switch
Him over. Do you know much about it ? He
Is also currently eating senior consult from
Royal canine was switched over from md about a month
And a half ago bc it was to hard on his kidney's but
His bg was more stable on that food. I really
Need to find a better option then the vet food
Would you have any suggestions Wendy & Tiggy?
 
You are very unlikely to get him regulated on an N insulin. It lasts only 6-8 hours in the cat.

Work arounds for the short duration are to shoot 3 times a day or pick up all food 6 hours after the shot.

You're better off going with the Lantus and starting conservatively at 0.5 units every 12 hour.s
 
How about we look at his readings and see what we think? If you set up a spreadsheet we can take a better look and be able to advise more. Heres how http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207, Let me know if you have problems.

Honestly though, having watched quite a few cats go into remission, you want to do as much as possible as soon as possible - because if you leave it too long then the chances of remission slip away entirely. I would personally switch to a lower carb canned and a better insulin as soon as possible as its your best chance.
 
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