Terrified cat and home testing

Hi everyone…hopefully this is the right place to post this.

My recently adopted cat Robyn turns out to be diabetic. (She's on 1.5 units of Lantus twice a day.) Now that I've educated myself more on diabetes (and lurked around this forum--thanks everyone!), I know the importance of home testing. Unfortunately we’re having a very hard time with it.

She’s a total sweetheart…as long as you don’t try to touch her. She’s TERRIFIED of being held. If you even come near her like you MIGHT pick her up, she runs! Once I finally catch her, she starts screaming, thrashing…and it’s even worse when it’s someone she doesn’t know. I had my mom drive two hours to help me take her BG reading yesterday, and she peed ALL over my mom and all of my electronics. She was so, so scared.

This morning I had to abort testing her before breakfast because she was thrashing and screaming so much (even once I got her in the kitty towel burrito!) that I was afraid she was going to injure herself. To make matters worse, I have a fractured shoulder right now (and I live alone). I actually broke it after she was thrashing so much inside her soft carrier on the way to the vet that I slipped down some steps. She was completely fine and didn't fall down any stairs, thank God! I'd rather have a fractured shoulder than a hurt kitty.

She’s now hiding from me every time I wake up and every time I get home from work because she knows I’ll try to touch her to take her BG. So it’s not even a matter of a sneak attack…she’s just constantly hiding from me now. It’s hard to see a cat that was starting to like and trust you be so scared of you ☹. And if I lock her in the bathroom (so I don't have to chase her) she pees and poops all over herself in fear and even starts compulsively licking/ripping at her fur. She gets little bald spots. It's horrible.

I know BG readings are affected by stress—there’s no way chasing a terrified cat around the house is going to give an accurate BG reading, is there? I’m afraid every test I get is going to be artificially elevated because she’s so scared. She's consistently testing over 300...this to me means her BG is way too high. Her fructosamine test just came back over 500, too. But the vet is being super cautious and isn't sure we should increase her insulin.They won't do a glucose curve at the vet because they say she's so scared the numbers will be wrong. But she seems the same level of terrified there as when she's at home and I try to do a curve! I’ve had cats all my life and I’ve never seen a cat like this. I don't know what to do...

 

@Sharon14 tells how to desensitise. Hold her for 10 seconds - then give a treat & lots of praise. Bring her to the testing site - just pet & a treat, no testing. Do this a few times a day until she associates petting, praise & treats with a special testing spot. It would be good to do that in one area, like a table with a pad or blanket. My cat hates being in a shut room, confined feeling i guess. This method helped my cat to see it’s really not that bad! If you try to remain calm, it helps. Sing to yourself or her & speak calmly to help you too. I know that’s easier said than done! I hope this helps.

 

Poor little cat! Poor you too! First of all don’t even try to test at this point. I would just try to win her trust. Do try some desensitization, but while most of us start by holding, you will have to start maybe with just getting her to let you pet her then treat. Have you tried Feliway diffusers? While I don’t know that it would solve your problem, it might help. There are urine glucose test strips that could help. If she won’t let you collect her urine confused you can put lentils or dry beans in the box. Since they don’t absorb you will have a puddle to test from. I’ll tag @JanetNJ @Kris & Teasel for more ideas and I’ll think on it some more too.

ETA Not sure where the smiley faces came from or the ‘confused’....

 

Yeah I wouldn't try to test yet. Just desensitize her to touch as much as you can. That being said keep high carb food at home just in case! I can empathize. 2 of my six were similar. Allie soils herself if you pick her up... And it took her like 5 years before she was mostly relaxed. She still won't let us pick her up. Luna is 3 and just starting to let us pet her.

 

I agree that lots of time working on desensitizing is the way to go right now. Get a supply of low carb treats (freeze dried meat/fish - eg. Pure Bites brand) and use them liberally for every tiny step forward.

 

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate you taking the time to respond!! I'm going to work on getting her used to me (and get some freeze-dried treats and feliway diffusers) before trying to test again. Going out right now to get some high-carb food just in case her BG gets low (I also have karo syrup for hypo emergencies).

When I got her I discovered she wasn't really house broken, and as soon as any little thing is changed with her litter she won't use it (aka using non-absorbent pebbles/seeds/etc. for urine collection). Sometimes seran wrap over the litter works...and sometimes it makes her use the rug instead. I'll keep on brainstorming, because I really don't want her to get ketones without me knowing.

 

I don't know whether or not they would help, but you can buy "calming chews", treats that claim to help soothe kitties' nerves. I have never tried them but apparently a lot of people say they work.

Honestly, for a kitty as anxious as your poor baby is, I'd talk to the vet about Rx-ing some kitty prozac or something, just enough to take the edge off for her while she adjusts to everything.

 

What about something prescribed to help calm kitty down, I used to have to do that with Bella, he used to terrorize other cats, it really helped him relax, not out of it just relax, he’s not on it anymore cause he finally realized no one was out to get him, just a thought

 

I was just thinking the same thing...

 

I didn't think of kitty prozac-- that's a great idea too. I'll ask the vet about that!