I Need Advice

I got Gertrude about a year ago from the shelter. Shes probably around 12 years old and shes overweight (weighting at about 15 pounds). When we first got her, she never pooped in her litter box, but she never pooped outside of the litter box room so it wasn't that big of a deal. Then a couple months ago, she started pooping in the family room, still not that big of a deal to my parents because i would just pick it up and flush it. About a month ago, she stopped using the litter box all together. She started peeing behind the couch all the time and in my sisters old bedroom. The smell got so bad, my parents had to rip the carpet out in her room and replace it with hardwood floors, costing them $500. I told me parents we needed to take her to the vet because in my research, every website said the vet was the first thing to do. My dad HATES cats so he was against it. He thought locking her in the laundry/litter box room would be fine, but Gertrude peed on the wall causing her urine to get soaked up into the dry wall. So we moved a litter box/food/water into my parents bathroom and we locked her in there over night and she peed in the litter box no problem. I thought moving a litter box into my room would be fine as it would be away from our other cat. That didn't work and she peed on my carpet so shes back to the bathroom. Now shes not peeing in the litter box in there anymore, she pees on her bed. I finally convinced my parents to take her to the vet where we found out that she was diabetic. They weren't happy and they didn't want to have to spend a bunch of money on the Lantis Insulin, but they bought it anyways. It is still being shipped at the moment so we haven't started her on her medication yet. My parents are getting tired of her peeing everywhere and they've gotton to the end of their rope. They want to take her to the vet to say bye bye forever any day now, they don't care about the medication anymore. I need advice on what to do. Where should I keep her until the medication arrives? What do I do about her food situation? (she only eats dry food, she refuses to eat any type of wet food, even tuna) If she doesn't stop peeing everywhere even when shes on her medication, what do I do? I'm new to this and my parents aren't going to put up with much, they want her gone fast. I could really use all the advice I can get.

 

Hi and welcome to the forum.
I am sorry you are having so much trouble with Gurtrude peeing everywhere. You sound like a very caring person trying to help your kitty.
Did the vet check her urine to see if she had a urinary tract infection (UTI)? Cats don't usually pee outside the litter box unless there is a problem. Diabetes would probably be contributing to the problem. Poor girl is probably feeling very uncomfortable hence the peeing outside the box. Another cat on the forum recently had the same problem with peeing everywhere but now that the diabetes is more under control the peeing outside the litter box has stopped. Hopefully this is what will happen with Gurtrude.

If you want to help Gurtrude you need to get her off all dry food and onto canned lower carb food such as Fancy Feast pate foods. That's the first thing I would do today. Dry food is very high in carbs and is no good for any cats, especially diabetic cats. You can do this before you start the insulin.
Here is a link with suitable foods that are 10% carbs or less.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/links-to-food-charts.174182/

Lantus insulin is a very good insulin for cats. Most cats have a starting dose of 1 unit to 1 1/2 units every 12 hours.
I would recommend you start testing Gertrude's blood sugar levels (BSLs) as it is important to test before giving the insulin to ensure it is safe to give the insulin. Here is a link to how to do it. It might sound scary, but it is not after your first few goes and Gurtrude will not mind you doing it.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

Here is a link to FAQ about feline diabetes
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/health-links-faqs-about-feline-diabetes.14/

I would suggest you copy this post and paste it over on the Lantus forum where there are many people who will help you solve your problems with the peeing and getting started on the right road to helping Gurtrude, and support you all the way. This is just the welcome page and thee are many more people over on the Lantus page.
Ask lots of questions, we are only too happy to help.
Here is the link to the Lantus forum....see you over there
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-basaglar-glargine-and-levemir-detemir.9/

 

Actually, we need you to please post in the Main Health Forum (click on the dark blue print) first. That is where you will learn to test and learn about food. The Lantus/Basalgar/ Levemir forum is for members who have got the basics down on testing, shooting, and feeding.

Once you’ve got that down, then we would love to see you in the more specialized forum.

Wishing you the very best for your kitty. Diabetes is treatable and cats do very well with proper treatment.