Please help

My 11 yr old male cat just had colon surgery. Then they diagnosed him with diabetes. We brought him home yesterday. The Dr. told us a lot of information, but it is not of any help now. Our cat wont eat and he is going down hill fast. Do I or don't I give him insulin? He's on Prozinc insulin 2units twice daily. I only gave him 1 unit this am because he barely ate a drop. I had to put into mouth with a syringe and I'm not sure he is drinking at all. We are not checking his blood sugar. I need to get him through the night and have him reevaluated in the am by vet.

 

It is so hard to know what to do without having any information about his blood glucose Did your vet
tell you how to syringe feed him and give him water by syringe? It is important that he stay hydrated. My first advice would be to take him to an ER vet and get his blood glucose levels and see what they suggest for a dose. If that is not possible, can n you go to the drug store and get a human meter, lancets (25-27 gauge) and a lancet device so you can see whether his levels are high enough to shoot? The Relion meter from Walmart is the cheapest. If you can give a blood glucose number, then you'll know if he is high or low and know what amount to give him. It is important for him to get insulin if he needs it, but you can't guess whether he does or not.

 

The first recommendation is GO TO AN EMERGENCY VET NOW. Your cat could have diabetic ketoacidosis, which can be fatal. A previous forum member wouldn't go; her cat died.

Did you change his food? If yes, and he won't eat it, get his old food to see if he will eat that. Still not eating? Go to the emergency vet.

If you are in the US, and near a WalMart or other pharmacy open 24 hours, get a human meter (ex ReliOn Confirm or Confirm Micro or Target Up and UP, nothing with True or Free in the name), matching test strips, and lancets for alternate site testing (26-28 gauge) now. We need to know how high or low he is. You prick the ear on the outer upper edge of the ear, between the vein and the ear's edge.

 

Ok, my husband is on the way to get a meter. I'm going to look for sights to see how to do it. Will post when I have more info. I cant thank you enough for your help and quick response.

 

This is where you want to prick the ear.

 

Do you have any uncooked skinless chicken breast at home? If yes, try poaching it in just water, mincing it up finely and give him some of that to try along with some of the poaching broth. Even if he doesn't want to eat maybe he might drink some of the broth for you. It's a possible way to help hydrate him.

If he is that poorly, I'd second BJ's recommendation to seek emergency veterinary treatment tonight if at all possible (particularly as he's recovering from a recent operation).

 

ok, if anyone is up. His test was 119 any advice?

 

That is too low to shoot. We urge new diabetics not to shoot under 200. I would skip the insulin tonight, work on keeping him hydrated, try to get some food in him and see the vet in the morning