New with lots to learn

Hi, my name is Jennifer and my kitty is Hunter . I just met Hunter 2 weeks ago when I found him at a park ( actually a friend found him because he walked up to her meowing, and she texted me bc... that' s what all my friends do when they find an animal in need). Something about her story and seeing his picture kept me up all night and 7 am the next morning I grabbed a kennel and headed to that park to see if I could find him. Sure enough, after about 15 minutes of searching I found him under a car, gave him a can of food i brought and pet him while he ate. He, sadly was literally only a skeleton- skin and bones, I also noticed he was declawed, and appeared to resemble a flame point Siamese breed. As he scarfed down the food, and purred ( he never stops purring) tears welled up in my eyes as I pondered what his story was? How did a gorgeous, sweet cat like this become starving and homeless? I thought, he MUST have an owner searching for him. So I took him to the vet. He has no microchip . He had fleas and parasites, anemia ( somewhat expected that), he is 10+ yrs old, and his blood glucose was 566 ! That is all the BAD NEWS. The GOOD NEWS is he is negative for FeLV and FIV! Fleas and intestinal parasites were fairly simple to treat. The rest of his labs were not all that bad considering his condition and level of malnutrition, his thyroid levels were normal, liver and kidneys were slightly our of range but vet was not concerned bc of the state he was in. She said they should come back to normal once we regulate his BG and get him proper nutrition. She recommended Royal Canin diabetic food, which after reading through Dr. Lisa Pierson's papers on nutrition and Feline diabetes, I don't have a whole lot of faith in her knowledge of feline diabetes and whether she has the best interest of the Hunter in mind at all? I am truly appalled by what I have learned regarding the overwhelming horrible diet options for felines, lack of knowledge of the public, and the partnerships some vets appear to have with certain food companies, and will actually recommend incredibly expensive food, that good pet owners willing spend their hard earned dollars on because of the trust they place in that vet. Then to find out that most of those foods sound like they do more harm then good! I will no longer be feeding dry food to Hunter but also my other cat Emma. How is it that this ugly truth about store bought cat food , RX or NON rx, has stayed so hidden from the public? After reading the label of Royal Canin dry its no good and the wet is not all that great either.
So any how for the time being I am fostering this sweet baby Hunter while I try to get him in good health. I have posted to numerous lost and found web sites for north east Florida and Jacksonville Florida: Craigslist, via facebook, etc, but no owner has come forward. Of course if an owner did contact me I would not dare let Hunter go home with just anyone until I could evaluate their home situation and how he got lost etc. I am searching for an adopter who falls in love with him as I did, which is easy to do. And someone willing and eager to put the extra effort in that a diabetic kitty takes. I truly cannot imagine parting with him, however with 3 dogs and 1 cat already my husband is not super excited to add another furbaby to our crew, but he also sees how special Hunter is and is being patient as I search for the perfect loving FOREVER HOME that will love him like crazy and spoil him rotten. I do not know if there is a resource to assist in re-homing diabetic kitties that anyone knows of . I could use some guidance on the best method of finding him a suitable home. Ideally I would love to find someone who lives nearby Jacksonville Beach, Florida, so I could still help in his care possibly?
Okay, QUESTION: As I am sitting here typing Hunter just vomiting his food up, that is the first time that has happened, I know that can mean his sugar still too high but the vet has him on 1u of Lantus every 12 hours, and now armed with a lot of new information I am not so sure I want to continue seeing this vet, CAN I/ SHOULD I , GIVE HIM A LITTLE EXTRA LANTUS? HE GOT IT AT 10:00 AM.
Sorry for the long introduction , but I am so grateful to have found a resource like this message board! Thank you for any help you can offer!
- Jennifer & Hunter

 

Hi Jennifer and Hunter! Welcome to the best place you never wanted to be!

First, no - don't give more insulin. Are you testing his bg at home yet? It's not hard, just different and will keep your sweet boy safe.

Must go take care of my crew right now but wanted to answer that 'more' question quickly.

HUGS!

 

Hi, Squeaky and KT! Thanks for the response! I have been attempting to home check BG and today was our first successful test: 2 actually. i want to try to do a bg curve at home tomorrow. and I will not increase insulin. thanks again!

 

Hi Jennifer and Hunter and welcome!

Lantus takes about 5 days to build up in a cat's system when you first start using it. The great news is that it's one of the better insulins for cats. The not so great news (at least to begin with) is that it does require a lot of patience and very methodical dose adjustments over the initial period to get Hunter to where you want him to be.

There is a lot of information on Lantus (and Levemir, the other depot insulin we use for our kitties) on the Lantus and Levemir sub-forum here http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-glargine-levemir-detemir.9/

If you read through the stickies at the top of the forum, that will give you a good idea of how Lantus works and will also talk you through the 2 protocols that people here follow for getting their cats to a good dose to get them regulated.

Please do keep asking questions - it's the best way to learn and there are many people here who are happy to help you with anything you need to know.

Oh - and can you let us know what readings you got from the BG tests you were able to take today? (Congratulations on getting started on home testing so quickly and successfully too! )