Spazz

Hi this is Tiffany I was Tiggys mom he had passed away about three years ago, my other cat spazzes now 15 it was his brother and had been drinking a lot lately so I tested him and he is now 472 and high that was two readings. I am wonderingif I should take him in or if I should just start him on insulin, I will be doing more testing over the next few days.

 

What are you feeding him?
Does the urine smell? Have you tested it for glucose and ketones?

It would be easy to assume diabetes, but vet confirmation and ruling out any other problems would be a good idea.

 

His urine doesn't smell which I'm used to the smell from tiggy, I haven't tested for key tones but I will pick some up tomorrow

 

Also he's on fancy feast but occasionally has the gravy ones which I know are bad

 

Get the KetoDiaStix so you can check for both ketones and glucose in the urine.
- glucose in the urine means the blood glucose level has exceeded the renal threshold and is very likely diabetes.
- ketones over a trace mean that fat is being broken down for energy and definitely points to diabetes. If really high, and the cat isn't looking well, get to a vet asap.

Very dilute urine may also be hyperthyroidism, which can cause some insulin resistance, or renal disease.

 

So we took spaz to the vet, He is diabetic. He is getting 150 mL every other day to boost his dehydration, we will be starting him on insulin tomorrow. The vet chose vetsulin, Which I am not familiar with but I'm going with what she said for now, she starting him on when unit tomorrow and we're going to do a curve. Any input is appreciated

 

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. All of our insulin guidelines use human glucometer numbers for reference.
- 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.

 

Hi Tiffany! Nice to see you again but wish it were under different circumstances.

Vetsulin is similar to the 'N' insulins like Humulin N/Novolin N. It's an 'in and out', not depot like Lantus/Levemir. I can't remember what Tiggy was on...

 

Vetsulin/Caninsulin Guide