Hi my name is Tiger!

My Tiger had a scary experience. He was sick with what the vet thought was an infection last Thursday. On Saturday morning, he was lethargic and threw up bile. I took him to the emergency clinic, and he was diagnosed with pancreatitis and feline diabetic ketoacidosis. He stayed in the clinic for three days and the vet said he was fine to come home. Tiger came home on Wednesday afternoon and has been doing well. He takes one u it of Lantus twice a day. I was told to feed him every 12 hours. But the night he came home, I called the vet and asked if I could give him a small snack. The nurse at the clinic said he was eating more often than every 12 hours and it was ok to give him a small snack. I can't tell if he's hungry or begging out of habit. I don't have a home testing kit. He is not peeing or drinking as much as he was and has been looking and acting normal. Is there a guideline I should follow about feeding? And how can I tell if he's napping or hypoglycemic? Thank you for helping!

 

Welcome Dawn & Tiger
Im sorry to hear about Tiger.
Glad he's feeling better.
Will you be home testing?
Its important to test before giving insulin. And depending if you are following TR or SlGS you need to be testing several times a day and best to get readings at night.
What are you feeding Tiger? It is best to be feeding LC food.
Do you have ketone strips? To test for ketones?
It would be nice if you could start a Spread Sheet where you can log the readings after each test.
Most diabetic kitties eat many small meals throughtout the day and at night. There is a lot of good helpful information on the Stickys.

 

You can use a human meter like Relion with test strips you can get at walmart. Or a Alphatrak2 pet meter the strips cost more.
If you are interested in the pet one you can order one from Amazon or your vet.

 

For treats I feed Pure Bites freeze dried chicken. Bonita Flakes and baked or boiled chicken breasts.

 

Hi Dawn welcome to you and Tiger. Glad Tiger is doing better! Most of us feed several small meals a day, so some snacks are fine. One of the most important things you can do to help Tiger is learn to home test his glucose. It's easy to do and we'll be glad to help you learn how. It is the best way to see how well the insulin is working and the only way to protect him from hypoglycemia. Since Tiger has had DKA, it's also important that you test his urine for ketones regularly. Test strips can be bought at any pharmacy. If you have any questions, come to the Health Forum where there are more people to answer your questions.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

 

Oh wow, no one told me about testing wit strips. The emergency clinic said to take Tiger to his vet in a very for follow up and at some point he would need a 34 hour urine, after some time. He seems to be ok, no signs of high or low sugar. I have been giving him occasional small snacks during the day consisting of about a teaspoon of dry food. I am going to ask about testing. I have also been dealing with both of my parents being hospitalized this week so there are some things I didn't think to ask when I picked Tiger up. I just got the instructions and I called the clinic twice to ask questions. I am really nervous about doing something wrong. I love my Tiger and don't want anything worse to happen.

 

Thank you so much. How do I test his urine when using clumping litter? Leave the box empty? He is only peeing once or twice a day now. It sounds like it should be easy to test.

 

To test his urine for ketones, you can either catch some while he's going, or you can use some non absorbent litter, such as aquarium gravel, or some people use plastic wrap in the box over the litter to catch a sample. It only takes a tiny bit for the test.

 

With my kitty Fritz I just hold the strip under his urine flow.
Some place a spoon under while kitty goes. Then within 15 seconds hold the strip up to the bottle there is a color chart.
As far as testing it seems hard at first but it gets easier as you do it.
You use a small lancet and gently prick the sweet spot of the ears. The meter tells you the number.

 

Plastic wrap sounds like a great idea! Thanks for that!

 

Can you use a human meter to test for sugar?

 

Yes a human glucometer is fine. It will read lower than a pet specific meter, but will show you the trends and guide your dosing. If you're in the US, many of us use the Relion Confirm from Walmart.