Tweets was just diagnosed this past Tuesday. I'm a little worried about her. In some ways she seems lots better - she's leaving the bathroom where her bed is more often and is more steady on her feet. (We have other cats that are lots younger and like to pester her trying to play so I built her sort of a 'pillow fort' in a small bathroom off our laundry room, which is where one of our litter boxes is. The door stays open and I go in there a lot for pets/treats, she comes out when she wants attention or food so I haven't worried about her isolating too much.) But the past couple of days she seems to be lethargic and like her appetite is reduced. I am watching her closely for unconsciousness/hypo. She's on the 'starter Prozinc' 1 unit dose 2x per day - yes I did set my alarm for 8 AM both days this weekend for her shots - she's getting a curve this Wednesday. I can still get her to eat treats and some canned food (I try both Fancy Feast and Pro Plan) or I would not be giving her shots. Her sugar level was about 400 at her last appointment at which she got subQ a couple days ago. We were NOT sold a glucose meter at her appointments this past week but were told we'd be shown how to use one at her next appt this coming Wednesday. How concerned should I be? She just seems tired and kind of 'out of it.' She doesn't yell at me for food as she did pre-starting treatment. I do have honey and corn syrup on hand in case. She does seem to be tolerating the shots themselves better now that she's getting a little used to them. Edit: Come to think of it, maybe what this is, is the meds working... I'm noticing her peeing less... maybe she's no longer ravenously hungry since the glucose is being metabolized... hoping so and that she's just tired b/c she really hates vet visits and has had two this week with a lot of needle sticks, which she also hates.
Hmmm...it's hard to say why that would be. Does she have any other medical problems? The vet said they would be giving you a meter at the appointment so you can home test...that's a good thing! Home testing is the best way to find out what's going on. I think I might call the vet first thing tomorrow and see if you can get the meter now. Those symptoms could be hypo, but there's just no way to know without home testing.
I am reading about "ketones" and hoping that is not what it is. Like I said she's still eating some and she doesn't seem too too out of it... but I just don't know what "normal" is supposed to look like here.
Ketones are a worry. The normal recipe for ketones is not enough insulin + not eating well + some kind of infection. However all 3 don't have to be present for ketones to show up. Do you have a pharmacy nearby? You can do home testing for ketones using urine strips. You can get the human ketone strips and when Tweets goes to the litter box, you just test her urine. There's several ways to do it...some of us are lucky enough to be able to stick the test strip in our cats urine stream while they pee, some of us crumple up some plastic wrap where they normally go and dip the strip in that, some of us use a long handled spoon (EXTREMELY well labeled that it's for cat use only) to catch the urine while they go and then dip the strip in that. It sounds harder than it is. You dip the strip in the urine, wait EXACTLY the number of seconds on the container (usually 15 I think) and compare the color to colors printed on the container. You have to do the exact amount of time because the color darkens as time passes. Anything above trace is an emergency. If you can grab some ketone strips today and then just get a test when Tweets next goes to the bathroom, that will set your mind at ease (and mine!) and if it IS an emergency (not saying it is, but it's good to be cautious) then you can know and get treatment. The sooner you catch ketones the faster and easier the recovery is. Any chance you could give that a try today? We can talk you through it more if you need and we can help you determine what to do with any test results you get.
I agree with you both that given the described symptoms, ketones are a concern. I would go buy the strips and start camping out near the litter box. I like combining the wrinkled plastic with stalking my cat. Sometimes he's sneaky or I get distracted, and then it's hours and hours before my next opportunity. The plastic wrap in his two favorite corners increases my chances of getting a test. You still have to be aware enough to get him out of the box before he covers it in litter though. As Rachel said, the earlier you can catch it, the better, so if he's still eating some, but does show ketones, then this is the best time to catch it and get him into treatment. Waiting until he's stopped eating altogether could be too risky.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I can tell I've come to the right place! Went and bought some urine test strips today and should have an answer soon. She seems better today. I think it could be a situation where she's still feeling crummy b/c she just started insulin and is on a low dose, combined with the fact that she may not like the Pro Plan food. I'm trying to get her to eat wet food so she gets more liquid and tonight I decided to try a different food so got her some of that super expensive Fancy Feast in the plastic tray. Well good news, she scarfed it right down. Just now I went in there and she was lying on a blanket at the entrance to her closet which she hasn't done in months. I can tell she's feeling more social. I'll test her pee but I'm feeling a lot better about what may be going on. Will report back!
Yeah a food change could cause her to feel kind of icky. Wet food is great, but you don't have to feed Purina. Fancy Feast or Friskies pates are cheap, and what most people on here feed. They're low carb and cats seem to like them. You could give some of those a try or check out the food list at catinfo.org to find other options. That might help Tweets feel better! Please do let us know when you get a urine test. We worry about the kitties here! And please do let us know if you have any questions and if we can help you further. We'd love to work with you on helping Tweets get to a good place and feel better!
