Post for Tiggs

@TiglathPileser
Was having trouble posting a thread here so I'm starting it for her. The following is copied from the intro forum...
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Tiggs is fourteen years old, a cuddling fiend, and a sweet, fluffy baby who has never bitten, hissed, or swatted. He's a long haired beautiful orange tabby, potentially a Maine Coon x Siamese, based on his looks and body type. We adopted him off of Craigslist four years ago, and he has been a wonderful cat ever since.

He started acting weird about a month ago, draining his gallon water dispenser daily, losing weight, and having pee 'accidents' all over the house. We took him to the vet after an initial run of antibiotics for a bladder infection, and they discovered he has diabetes.

Right now, we are trying to get him to eat ANYTHING. He has Costco brand grain free Healthy Weight kibble we're slowly pulling him off of, and we roasted him chicken breast, cooked up some elk burger our room mate's dad gave us, and we purchased Natural Balance grain free high protein turkey, chicken, and guineafowl pate forhim.

I've even made a solution of raw egg, olive oil, and some of his pate which he takes from a 20ml medicine dropper syringe.

He's lost five pounds, a third of his body weight. I am very worried! He is on three units of Lantus in the morning, two at night. This is an increase from his one and two, as his blood glucose is level but elevated.

I love him dearly and he's such a great cat. I hope I can find help here.

 

Sorry to hear you're having trouble finding food he likes. Most of us feed fancy feast classic as it's all low in carb. You can give that a try.

 

HERE are some ideas to help stimulate his appetite. Does he act like he feels bad, or just not hungry? Are you testing for ketones? How about his blood glucose? Sorry for all the questions, but the more info, the better we can help.

 

I haven't started blood testing, he only went on insulin a week ago and we're still learning what to do! He's got a little smorgasboard of elk jerky flakes, chopped elk sausage stick, cooked ground elk, shredded baked chicken, his pate, and kibble. None of these are appealing to him. He sniffed at them, ate maybe a single bite, then went back to sleep.

 

His first in vet office blood glucose test was yesterday, and they said he was level but elevated, so they upped the does from his 1-2 units in the morning and evening to a hard 3 in the morning and 2 in the evening. It's Lantus and the hope is he goes into remission within the six month frame.

 

Ok, we highly recommend it and will be happy can help you learn how! How is he feeling? Does he seem interested in food, but walks away and licks his lips? If so that could indicate nausea. With him not eating well, I would pick up some ketone test strips and check his urine for ketones.

 

All right, how does one collect such a urine sample, and where do you get sticks? He doesn't seem hungry or interested. He eats a few bites and wanders off.

 

You can get urine ketone test strips at any pharmacy that carries diabetes supplies. Here are some Urine Testing Tips that might help with getting a "sample"

 

ketone test strips can be purchased at any pharmacy. Some use a long handled spoon slipped under kitty when he pees, then dip the strip and follow the directions for timing, usually 15 seconds. While you’re at the pharmacy you could pick up a glucose meter, strips and lancets too. Look for a meter that uses the smallest amount of blood. Many here use Relion Confirm from Walmart

 

Thank you. I'm also going to get some high calorie additives. I'm thinking unflavored gelatin and chicken broth, which I can add to the egg, oil, and pate mix. Maybe coconut oil? Lard? Pure butter?

 

Those are HUGE doses for only being on Lantus for a week! We usually start at .5 to 1U twice a day and you have to hold the same dose both morning and night for at least 5-7 days at the beginning while you're "filling the depot"

Lantus is a depot insulin....in simple terms, when you first start, a little of each shot goes to work and the rest goes into "storage" and is gradually released back into the bloodstream.....Until that "depot" is full, you're not going to see the full effects of the dose.

Lantus also craves consistency, so the AM and PM dose should be the same, not different. Lantus dosing is based on how LOW it takes them, not the Pre-shot numbers.

Also, tests done at the vets office are often a lot higher than they are at home due to vet stress. The cat's just been packed into a carrier, driven to a vets office, put up with other animals in the waiting room and then being poked and prodded by a person they don't generally like much. Their blood glucose goes a lot higher! The vet see's those high numbers, increases the dose and you go home. Your kitty relaxes and their glucose goes down and if you're not home testing, you can end up with tragic consequences.

Home testing not only keeps your kitty safe, it lets you know how well he's actually responding to treatment

 

Okay, I'll get the testing stuff ASAP and call the vet

 

Here's your shopping list


1. Relion micro or confirm meter
2.box of 100 extra test strips
3. Box of 28 gauge lancets
4. Cotton cosmetic rounds
5. Neosporin ointment with pain relief


I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC.

 

Not sure about gelatin, but be careful with store bought chicken broth as it often contains onions, or other ingredients that aren’t healthy for cats.

 

I think you've already got a lot of very good suggestions here, probably the most important one is to home test specially with such a big dose and him not eating properly.

But I would like to ask you if the vet did a culture when they determined he had a bladder infection and how long ago was that test done.

Urinary Track Infections are hard to eliminate in kitties with diabetes so usually you have to have him rechecked two weeks after he finished his antibiotics to make sure the infection is gone, or if he needs another round of antibiotics and then at least once more a month later.

If your kitty hasn't had eggs before it's a taste that is not easily accepted by them specially if he is not feeling well, you could try with some baby food ( without onions) or some prescription diet like Hill's a/d (not as his usual diet just for the time being since it's a little bit high in carbs but if he's not eating the most important thing is that he eats)

 

The vet had started him on antibiotics as a precaution before we took him in, he tested clean at the first visit, but I'll ask. I'm going to try baby food in the medicine dropper, as well as the thinned down pate. Poor guy. He used to be kinda chunky and now I can feel his spine and ribs.

 

You could try a Liver Shake, they're supposed to be very palatable.

 

Thank you!

 

I have an underweight cat.... She's just never been an eater. I think maybe she has a poor sense of smell. Anyway to get her to eat more I sprinkle food with FortiFlora and bonito flakes..... It definitly helps.

 

Most of the sugar kitties loose a lot of weight, Babu lost in the beginning a little bit more than two pounds and he was a pretty skinny cat to begin with (little over 8 pounds), seriously difficult with food, if there were anorexic cats he probably would had qualified before he became diabetic

It took getting him regulated and a long time (almost a year ) for him to recover part of his weight, so be patient he will probably recover his weight eventually for now just make sure he eats because not eating could get really serious.

 

Yeah, hopefully the higher doses of insulin and the Mirtazapine kick in and he eats. So far he seems to want spices and stinky/super umami flavors, so I guess that works. He's eating things like tuna, feta cheese, chicken with curry powder (no onions or garlic in) and cayenne, seaweed snacks, and bits of the jerky.

Not a lot, but he's eating. Whatever, tuna was 79 cents a can at the discount store, he can have it.

 

When my Bo..Luke's brother...was diagnosed he would not eat. I honestly believe the Mirtazapine saved his life!

 

It's working. Fingers crossed!

 

Fingers crossed and prayers said!

 

Sending you lots of hugs and prayers

Glad tuna worked

 

How is he doing today

 

Today you could try mixing the tuna with cat food