Stephanie&Willy
Active Member
Hello all!
My name is Stephanie and my kitty is named Willy. My husband and I picked Willy up as a stray. It took several months, but we were able to contact his owners who bluntly informed us that they did not want him back. He has been a much loved and appreciated family member ever since.
Willy is a very large orange DSH. The day after we found him, we took him into our vet and he tipped the scale at 15lbs! His old owners kept him outdoors, which may be what has caused him to lose one of his front canines and be such a voracious eater. 8 months ago when he stopped eating, slept with his head on his water dish only waking up to consume large quantities of water, and had an accident in our papasan chair, we knew there was a problem. We rushed him into the clinic and met with a vet (not our normal vet) who diagnosed him with a dental infection. She gave us antibiotics and told us if he continued to refuse food that day that we could syringe feed him some chicken baby food to spark his appetite. We spent all night up with him as he continued to get more sick and we waited for the clinic to open. We got him in early the next morning with the “dental” woman (our vet was out) who was very reluctant to see us. She took his temperature (high) and became confused when she was unable to get urine from him. She suggested that we leave him for a few hours and they will give him some fluids and try again (“if we are really that concerned”). Eventually we got a call that his urine came back positive for ketones and his BG was over 500--- he was in DKA and slipping quickly.
She told us if we wanted “to keep our cat” we would need to admit him to the 24 hr clinic for treatment because they were unable to handle it. The other option was to put him down because it was going to be a long/expensive/inconvenient/etc. road for us. We got a lot of judgment for our decision (we are mid twenties, and my husband is still in college) but it wasn’t even an option for us, we admitted him to the 24hr clinic. He spent 4 very expensive nights at the hospital and made a remarkable recovery. When we would visit him, the techs would tell us (jokingly) about how he almost took their arm off when they brough him his meals. We were given a number of handouts over many topics related to diabetes and a prescription for his food (Hills D/M) and his insulin (Lantus). We met up with OUR vet a few days later to discuss our treatment plan. Our vet, as wonderful as he is with animals, had very little knowledge on treating feline diabetes but he was able to present us with a cost efficient list of low-carb foods (Willy was a complete tantrum over being given the D/M once he felt better). We started on 1 unit of Lantus and were scheduled to return in a month for a fructosamine test.
We did a lot of research and stumbled upon this site, which has been amazing for us. We created our ICE hypo plan displayed on the refrigerator (my husband can be forgetful sometimes) and a list of supplies we NEED if we have to travel. We also learned a lot about what we probably *SHOULD* be doing. So we returned for the fructosamine test with many questions. Unfortunately, our vet was unable to answer any of them. He explained why he was doing the fructosamine instead of a curve (which was what the 24hr clinic had advised). He believed checking blood sugar was unnecessary and only stresses the cat out leading to an inaccurate result (and told us doing BG at home was going to be more difficult than it was probably worth). He did the fructosamine (which came back high 400s). He advised us to increased to 2 units 2x a day over the next month.
We called around to other clinics looking for a vet with more knowledge on diabetes but we were unable to find anyone that had any more knowledge than our current vet and reluctantly took a passive stance on Willy's treatment. While I regret not being more aggressive sooner, I do not regret leaving our clinic because they hired a very nice woman that has decent knowledge on diabetes. My only criticism is she is very rigid in her treatment approach (she really wants us to stay on D/M but Willy refuses to eat it, throws it up, or the rare occasion he keeps it down he gets horrible diarrhea).
We met with her in December, and Willy's fructosamine came back at 350. We have increased his insulin, switched his food to D/M and back to Fancy Feast, and we do a mini-curve every other week. Her goal was to get him ANYWHERE in the 200s for the full day. We do our curves at home to minimize stress and come in for a fructosamine test after 4 weeks of making a change. Willy has been such a trooper; he doesn’t mind having BG done if we prick his pads or getting his shots. I think it pains our hearts more to be poking our cat than it bothers him! He is on 4 units of Lantus 2x a day (8 total) and his BG is in the 200s now (220 in the AM, 280 in the PM) and holding. We still plan to make adjustments but we’ve been waiting to make the gradual jump to 5 units 2x a day because our vet wants to make sure he is not developing any sort of resistance (or improving further).
My questions:
We are supposed to be encouraging Willy to lose a pound by cutting his food back (she would like to see him at 14lbs). The vet insists he is not overweight, but simply losing a pound MAY decrease or eliminate his need for insulin. We currently feed 4 cans of Fancy Feast Classic split 2/2 AM and PM (chicken, beef, turkey on occasion, fish on occasion). Yes, this is a lot of food but he has lost a pound since the hospital and using D/M. We feed NO treats. Any time we cut his food back at all (even a tsp each meal) he completely freaks out and tries to get into things ALL THE TIME (even right after eating). It can be anything- a loaf of bread on the counter, the trash in the kitchen, bags of noodles in the pantry, the dog’s bully stick, wrappers etc. Our vet insists it will stop if we wait it out and we are not not not not to decrease his insulin. We have already removed the trash, don’t keep food out, etc. but he seems to hurt himself periodically searching for food (jumping off the counters wrong, trying to knock things over and they fall on him-- he has never been graceful) and his obsession is very upsetting to us (he will cry for days until he is completely hoarse). We have attempted to gradually cut him back twice, for 3 weeks each time with no success. I was wondering if anyone knew of a no/low calorie filler safe for cats (pumpkin? Green beans? Sweet Peas?). I would either like to give it to him at feeding times and cut back his food, or cut back his food and leave some amount out for him to "free feed" off of. If I were to leave it out I would monitor him closely because I know eating (period) can actually increase various chemicals even if the food is essentially nothing (splenda is the only example I can think of that does this atm but I think that's because your body anticipates BG that isn't actually there).
My other question is regarding Methyl-B12 as I just read up on this tonight! I came across the information on nerve damage and while none of these things are “him” I have been concerned about the feet slipping in the past. We have told our vet before because we actually thought he may have sprain something in one of his food grubbing attempts and the symptoms come and go. She didn’t think it was anything. I plan to talk to my vet about this information when she comes back from vacation but I fear she may not know anything that I haven’t found already and it may take me a few weeks to get this supplement. Anyways, I read Methyl-B12 can be put in drinking water because it won’t bind/store to fat (so they excrete anything they don’t need and won’t OD on it), I still have to ask, is this safe for other (healthy) animals to consume DAILY? I have a filtered/moving/cycling water… thing… that my other two cats (one is 3 and one is 12) and my Lhasa drink out of, would I be able to put it into that water? I change the water every 4-7 days, would the Methyl-b12 degrade during that time? Could it be filtered out completely or deactivated by a charcoal filter (which I can remove)? Would I be better off mixing it into Willy’s food daily instead?
Thank you all for all that you contribute to this site and the hope you gave to me (and give to others)!
Stephanie and Willy
My name is Stephanie and my kitty is named Willy. My husband and I picked Willy up as a stray. It took several months, but we were able to contact his owners who bluntly informed us that they did not want him back. He has been a much loved and appreciated family member ever since.
Willy is a very large orange DSH. The day after we found him, we took him into our vet and he tipped the scale at 15lbs! His old owners kept him outdoors, which may be what has caused him to lose one of his front canines and be such a voracious eater. 8 months ago when he stopped eating, slept with his head on his water dish only waking up to consume large quantities of water, and had an accident in our papasan chair, we knew there was a problem. We rushed him into the clinic and met with a vet (not our normal vet) who diagnosed him with a dental infection. She gave us antibiotics and told us if he continued to refuse food that day that we could syringe feed him some chicken baby food to spark his appetite. We spent all night up with him as he continued to get more sick and we waited for the clinic to open. We got him in early the next morning with the “dental” woman (our vet was out) who was very reluctant to see us. She took his temperature (high) and became confused when she was unable to get urine from him. She suggested that we leave him for a few hours and they will give him some fluids and try again (“if we are really that concerned”). Eventually we got a call that his urine came back positive for ketones and his BG was over 500--- he was in DKA and slipping quickly.
She told us if we wanted “to keep our cat” we would need to admit him to the 24 hr clinic for treatment because they were unable to handle it. The other option was to put him down because it was going to be a long/expensive/inconvenient/etc. road for us. We got a lot of judgment for our decision (we are mid twenties, and my husband is still in college) but it wasn’t even an option for us, we admitted him to the 24hr clinic. He spent 4 very expensive nights at the hospital and made a remarkable recovery. When we would visit him, the techs would tell us (jokingly) about how he almost took their arm off when they brough him his meals. We were given a number of handouts over many topics related to diabetes and a prescription for his food (Hills D/M) and his insulin (Lantus). We met up with OUR vet a few days later to discuss our treatment plan. Our vet, as wonderful as he is with animals, had very little knowledge on treating feline diabetes but he was able to present us with a cost efficient list of low-carb foods (Willy was a complete tantrum over being given the D/M once he felt better). We started on 1 unit of Lantus and were scheduled to return in a month for a fructosamine test.
We did a lot of research and stumbled upon this site, which has been amazing for us. We created our ICE hypo plan displayed on the refrigerator (my husband can be forgetful sometimes) and a list of supplies we NEED if we have to travel. We also learned a lot about what we probably *SHOULD* be doing. So we returned for the fructosamine test with many questions. Unfortunately, our vet was unable to answer any of them. He explained why he was doing the fructosamine instead of a curve (which was what the 24hr clinic had advised). He believed checking blood sugar was unnecessary and only stresses the cat out leading to an inaccurate result (and told us doing BG at home was going to be more difficult than it was probably worth). He did the fructosamine (which came back high 400s). He advised us to increased to 2 units 2x a day over the next month.
We called around to other clinics looking for a vet with more knowledge on diabetes but we were unable to find anyone that had any more knowledge than our current vet and reluctantly took a passive stance on Willy's treatment. While I regret not being more aggressive sooner, I do not regret leaving our clinic because they hired a very nice woman that has decent knowledge on diabetes. My only criticism is she is very rigid in her treatment approach (she really wants us to stay on D/M but Willy refuses to eat it, throws it up, or the rare occasion he keeps it down he gets horrible diarrhea).
We met with her in December, and Willy's fructosamine came back at 350. We have increased his insulin, switched his food to D/M and back to Fancy Feast, and we do a mini-curve every other week. Her goal was to get him ANYWHERE in the 200s for the full day. We do our curves at home to minimize stress and come in for a fructosamine test after 4 weeks of making a change. Willy has been such a trooper; he doesn’t mind having BG done if we prick his pads or getting his shots. I think it pains our hearts more to be poking our cat than it bothers him! He is on 4 units of Lantus 2x a day (8 total) and his BG is in the 200s now (220 in the AM, 280 in the PM) and holding. We still plan to make adjustments but we’ve been waiting to make the gradual jump to 5 units 2x a day because our vet wants to make sure he is not developing any sort of resistance (or improving further).
My questions:
We are supposed to be encouraging Willy to lose a pound by cutting his food back (she would like to see him at 14lbs). The vet insists he is not overweight, but simply losing a pound MAY decrease or eliminate his need for insulin. We currently feed 4 cans of Fancy Feast Classic split 2/2 AM and PM (chicken, beef, turkey on occasion, fish on occasion). Yes, this is a lot of food but he has lost a pound since the hospital and using D/M. We feed NO treats. Any time we cut his food back at all (even a tsp each meal) he completely freaks out and tries to get into things ALL THE TIME (even right after eating). It can be anything- a loaf of bread on the counter, the trash in the kitchen, bags of noodles in the pantry, the dog’s bully stick, wrappers etc. Our vet insists it will stop if we wait it out and we are not not not not to decrease his insulin. We have already removed the trash, don’t keep food out, etc. but he seems to hurt himself periodically searching for food (jumping off the counters wrong, trying to knock things over and they fall on him-- he has never been graceful) and his obsession is very upsetting to us (he will cry for days until he is completely hoarse). We have attempted to gradually cut him back twice, for 3 weeks each time with no success. I was wondering if anyone knew of a no/low calorie filler safe for cats (pumpkin? Green beans? Sweet Peas?). I would either like to give it to him at feeding times and cut back his food, or cut back his food and leave some amount out for him to "free feed" off of. If I were to leave it out I would monitor him closely because I know eating (period) can actually increase various chemicals even if the food is essentially nothing (splenda is the only example I can think of that does this atm but I think that's because your body anticipates BG that isn't actually there).
My other question is regarding Methyl-B12 as I just read up on this tonight! I came across the information on nerve damage and while none of these things are “him” I have been concerned about the feet slipping in the past. We have told our vet before because we actually thought he may have sprain something in one of his food grubbing attempts and the symptoms come and go. She didn’t think it was anything. I plan to talk to my vet about this information when she comes back from vacation but I fear she may not know anything that I haven’t found already and it may take me a few weeks to get this supplement. Anyways, I read Methyl-B12 can be put in drinking water because it won’t bind/store to fat (so they excrete anything they don’t need and won’t OD on it), I still have to ask, is this safe for other (healthy) animals to consume DAILY? I have a filtered/moving/cycling water… thing… that my other two cats (one is 3 and one is 12) and my Lhasa drink out of, would I be able to put it into that water? I change the water every 4-7 days, would the Methyl-b12 degrade during that time? Could it be filtered out completely or deactivated by a charcoal filter (which I can remove)? Would I be better off mixing it into Willy’s food daily instead?
Thank you all for all that you contribute to this site and the hope you gave to me (and give to others)!
Stephanie and Willy
