Help

My darling Burmese is 12 years 7 months old and is really the fur baby of a relationship where my partner passed away 6 years ago. Now that she has been diagnosed with diabetes 2 a few days ago I'm devastated and all over the place emotionally and she is in the animal hospital and is not eating.

I am not sure if I can administer, sustain or afford the treatment that she is likely to need. She had a terrible cough about 3 months ago which was treated with Prednisolone and now she has an Pancreatitis, Diabetes 2 and is not eating.

Up until the cough she was a healthy cat.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation and what would you advise?

I am trying not to panic,

Many thanks


Arthur

 

Arthur:

Welcome to the forum.

It is always overwhelming when a kitty is diagnosed as diabetic. However there are many wats that members here can help with advise and support and information on where to get supplies as cheaply as possible.

It is possible that the FD may be connected to the steroid treatments that your kitty had for the chest infection. The best thing you can do is to start posting specific questions on the Health forum which gets a lot more "traffic" so that members can offer more information and help you with getting adjusted to the different procedures and protocols to treat FD.

Please post as much information as possible about your kitty at:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/

This is a big community and the people here are experienced and very supportive.

 

It's so scary and overwhelming at first. Did your cat have ketoacidosis? Is that why he's been at the hospital?

The initial upfront cost is pricy but maintaining its not super expensive. There are ways to cut costs.... Such as Buying insulin online (let us know which insulin your cat is on), feeding fancy feast classic or Friskies pate rather then perscription food, testing the bg at home rather then curves at the vet.

 

Welcome! It is very overwhelming at first, but as you gain more knowledge and get more practice with giving shots and doing testing, it gets better. Read as much as you can both on this site and from other sources like the AAHA diabetes guidelines and ask any questions you have on the Main Health Forum. You will get a lot of support here and will not have to feel so alone.

 

Dear Mary Ann, Janet and FurBabies Mama. Thank you so much for your kindness. Boo Boo is a 12 years 7 months blue cream Burmese tortie and is still in hospital receiving pain killers for her pancreatitis, fluids for hydration and is being fed by tube at the moment because she is food shy and not eating, I am very very new to this and was considering putting her to sleep as I have felt so overwhelmed and upset. I have a lot to learn. She went into hospital because she stopped eating and was just sitting in the one spot like a little bird and she normally licks me and plays and she was just sitting there in pain I think. She used to weigh 5.8 Kgs and is currently around 4 Kgs. I visited her today at the hospital and she was quite drugged and disoriented but eventually settled in my lap and of course looked up as they do.

Cheers

Arthur

 

Hello Arthur and welcome to the board. We completely understand the panic and worry you're going through. You've found the very best place to visit as often as you like for all the support and advice you need.
I'm sorry to hear about your kitty and I hope she picks up while she's in hospital. As others have said above, read up here as much as you can and ask questions over on the Main Health forum.
Where are you located, by the way? We have members all over the world but it's good to make contact with people in your own country who can advise specifically about brands of food etc.
Best of luck with everything and keep asking questions, we're here to help.

Diana

 

Thanks Diana I'm in Sydney, Australia. I appreciate your encouragement

 

Ah so it's pancratitis. One of my cats had that. Luckily we caught it before it was too severe, so he was eating at least a bit on his own. We treated him at home with pain killers, cerenia for nausea, sub q fluids. Once he had the cerenia he started eating more on his own. Took him about a week to be back to normal.

 

Great! I'm sure we have some members in Oz... will try to find some.

 

Hi Janet. Thank you. Thank you. I already feel understood. It beats crying which I have done a lot of over this very sweet, very tiny Burmese, not that crying is bad. It's part pf the human experience as well. Boo Boo was eating a tiny bit and sort of circulating around her food. In the hospital they have given her a food tube so I will be feeding her through this when she comes home tomorrow or Tues as well as learning about injections, pain killers and how to ease her off of the predisonole. It all feels way too much for me right now, but they are incredibly good at the Uni of Sydney Vet Hospital and may have well saved her life. I am getting anxious about the costs now as well and Boo just sat in my lap today (I suspect she wants to go home). If she is well enough she will be home tomorrow.
I would post a pic of her but I'm a computer dinosaur and I don't know how to it
Can you recall what painkillers you used for your fur baby?

Cheers

Arthur

 

Diana. Thank you. That would help greatly. Cheers

Arthur

 

Yes they gave us Buprenorphine for pain. He needed it about 5 days. sorry you are going through this financially and emotionally stressful time. We are here for moral support.

 

Insulin injections may sound scary at first, but the syringes are so thin, they aren't really painful. It all soon becomes very routine.

Another thing you might consider is learning to home test to prevent hypoglycemia and find the ideal dose.

 

Arthur

Dealing with extra problems like pancreatitis as well as the diabetes may seem overwhelming but it is treatable. Many of the members on here have kitties with multiple issues and can give excellent advice and support. I dare say all of us were in a state of shock when we first had our kitties diagnosed, but an important step you have taken already is to reach out and join this wonderful forum. I spent the first couple of weeks in a state of constant tears but with the information and support of this group I was able to become informed and get a feeling of some control over what was happening. Knowledge is power and the support here keeps many of us from going crazy,

There are a few members from Australia here. At this time (still early morning for me) I can only think of one @Bron and Sheba. When she comes on she is an excellent source of information about what is available in Australia. One other I just thought of is @Girlie's mom who is a newer member but is doing a great job with her kitty, and can give some information of proper foods available in Australia

When your girlie is back home or even before then please do post on the Health forum to get more people giving you input into how to settle into the "sugar dance":

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/

 

Thank you Janet

 

Thanks again Janet. You have been very helpful

 

Anytime.