Karen and Krinkle

Krinkle cat is currently at the vet hospital with pancreatis. They say he has diabetes. He's been there since Saturday and we have reached the limit of what we can pay for his care there. They've said that they won't release him until he's eating well and they can get him on a longer term insulin.

We have 4 other cats, three of whom share a feeding location with Krinkle.

Both adults at our house work full time out of the house. How are we going to mange all this? Round the clock testing? Scheduled feeding?

Help?

 

First of all welcome to a great place filled with kind knowledgeable and experienced cat lovers who will help you figure this out. There is hope. I'm sorry your Krinkle cat is not well. You've taken the first great step in figuring out what to do to help him.

 

Hello Karen, and welcome to you both.

Now breathe.

I'm sorry to hear that Krinkle has pancreatitis and diabetes. My girl was simiarly diagnosed just over a year ago.

I have a little bit of an idea of how upsetting, stressful and overwhelming things are right now, as do most of the members here - we've pretty much all been where you are right now. Good news is that you've found a terrific place to learn how to help Krinkle get better. Diabetes is manageable, and so is pancreatitis. There are many of us here who have cats with both conditions.

Here, you can learn more about diabetes and pancreatitis. We can help you learn to home test blood glucose, track trends, find diabetic-friendly foods, and a whole lot more besides.

There is a lot of great information on the Feline Health FAQs board to get you started. Also, here are the IDEXX treatment guidelines for pancreatitis. I found the latter very useful when trying to get the right treatments in place for Saoirse.

Tip: When Krinkle is ready to come home, try to have a stock of what he's eating OK at the vets so that you can keep a bit of continuity going. (Eating is usually the tricky part of managing pancreatitis.) Adding a little water to Krinkle's meals (assuming you're feeding him a wet food) will help him to keep hydrated in the event that he may not want to drink water on its own. Also, it is a really good idea to make sure the vets send you home with a supply of anti-nausea medication (e.g. ondansetron) and an appetite stimulant (e.g. cyproheptadine) and a pain reliever should Krinkle need that (buprenophrine). It makes a world of difference having these meds to hand - you can react quickly to changes in appetite or nausea and that makes kitty more comfortable and management much easier. Also, double-check whether they have given Krinkle any B12 and if they haven't already done so I'd recommend that you ask them to give him a dose before bringing him home (and ideally get once-a-week B12 injections for the next few weeks - it really makes a difference).

I'm glad to hear that your vet is proposing a long-acting insulin. With pancreatitis, feeding smaller regular meals helps a lot. Would it be very disruptive to keep Krinkle isolated while he's recovering? I ask because the way to manage the frequent feeds is to get a timed feeder such as the Petsafe 5. Saoirse had a major pancreatitis flare last year and I could not have managed her care without automatic feeders. As you're both working full time away from home, I'd definitely recommend checking them out. They are an absolute godsend.

I'm going to stop here for now. I'm sure you already feel overwhelmed enough without me adding to it.

Be sure to post updates to let us know how Krinkle's progressing.
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Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.

One thing to remind the vets - he may eat better at home. Or, you may be able to assist-feed him using a large oral syringe to place small amounts of food into his mouth.