Hi from Aaron, Molly, Thor, and Marco

Hi there.

Firstly I'm glad I found these forums. They've already made my feel much better.

So here's our story:

We got Marco a few years ago when our cat Thor was getting upset that we were leaving her at home alone while we worked full time after we had graduated from college. Marco was a godsend. We picked him up when he was a little over a year old from a shelter who had actually adopted him out as a kitten, but then he was returned to them from somebody totally different 200 miles away! I couldn't understand why anybody wouldn't want this lovable dude. He is one of those black tuxedo cats and had just been the best.

So molly and I finally booked our very late honeymoon back in June, and just two days before we were to leave Marco's behavior changed dramatically. Usually he's always at the door to greet me when I get home, and he's always been a very vocal guy, but on this day he didn't come upstairs to say hi until I called him, and I immediately knew something was very wrong. He was lethargic, couldn't even lift his tail, his eyes were sunken, and he had been losing weight fast.

So off we went to the emergency clinic, where Marco was checked in for 24 hours. Blood and urine tests were done and he got done iv fluids, but the official diagnosis was an infection of unknown origin. We got him in to his regular vet the next day who gave him subcutaneous fluids and antibiotics, and we decided to take him home as we were concerned about his stress levels if we were to have left him at the clinic for the week we were to be gone (not to mention the cost!)

Our neighbor was watching the kitties while we were away, and she undoubtedly saved our little man's life. She syringe fed and watered him, gave him his antibiotics, took him to the vet every other day for more fluids, and just stayed with him for hours (not to mention cleaned up his messes as he would barely move).

Needless to say, our honeymoon had a bit of a dampener on it. We were convinced that he wouldn't make it until we got back, and kind-of resigned ourselves to the possibility that we might never see him again.

But he made it through! He went from 15 lbs to 11.5 lbs over the course of ten or so days, but he bounced back.

Well, he went back to pretty much normal, but we believe the infection damaged his pancreas. Over the last two months, he dropped down to eight pounds, just skin and bones for a cat his size, and he was peeing a ton. I was also convinced that his breath had an acetone smell to it, although my wife never thought so.

Finally we made another vet appointment last week since we were concerned about his weight and him perhaps having diabetes or a thyroid problem. Diabetes was the diagnosis, which is shocking since he's only 5 years old now! So I feel if must have been brought on by the infection, as he has always been a healthy cat.

So we got an intro to injections and a vial of version and have been giving him a unit a day now for almost a full week, with instructions to go back to the vet early next week to test his levels again.

We haven't seen much of a change yet, but are hopeful. He's shown signs of peripheral neuropathy lately, so hopefully that subsides with regulation. After reading through these forums a bit, I think we'll try to pick up a home testing kit and start recording everything.

The big thing I'll be looking for advice will probably be regarding food. Thor is our resident moody pudge, and we free feed them science diet adult light dry food. When she can even see the bottom of that bowl she goes crazy. I'd love nothing more than to change his diet to a low carbs canned food with the at home testing, but have no idea how we could make that a possibility.

So for now, that's it. Injections are going well but we'll see how the vet visit goes next week. I'll also grab a tester and start recording levels myself.

Thanks for listening, and thanks in advance for being around as a community for advice. With any luck, Marco will bounce back and be able to enjoy a long and happy life with us.

 

Welcome! Some people can smell the acetone smell and others just can't. You must have a more sensitive nose.

My goodness that neighbor of yours is an angel!!!

Get him off that dry food! It's like feeding a diabetic human cookies all day! Most of us feed fancy feast classic or Friskies pate foods. If you aren't home mid day some set up timed feeders to give mid day meals. There are also a small handful of diabetic friendly dry foods such as Young Again Zero and Dr Elseys clean protein.

Definitely start testing at home. It's the best way to keep your cat safe and find the ideal dose (which changes often). It's also cheaper and less stressful than trips to the vet.
I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC.

 

Welcome! You're obviously devoted kitty people. Please post any/all questions you have on the main health forum. We can certainly help you to help Marco.

 

Welcome! If you have not already seen it, here is a link to a cat food database that is a HUGE help when you are trying to figure out what wet foods to try.

 

Welcome Aaron, Molly, Thor, and Marco!
Here's the link to get to Main Health Forum