Tyler...

A while back, I posted about my other cat Tyler. He is 14 years old. He has always been overweight since he was a year old and after getting neutered and declawed. He has always been around 20lbs. When I made that post, I had checked his BG and it was about 174 and then another day before eating it was 500. He has the chemical sweet smell around his mouth and has been hanging out by the water bowl a lot. Always starving and has lost some weight. I weighed him a few weeks ago and he was 16lbs. At the time, I figured it was just because he was eating less and lazy. Now I am very suspect that it is diabetes. He is exhibiting all the symptoms and signs like Booger was. Starving but losing weight, the smell around his mouth, extreme thirst, small ketones in his urine, all like Booger. He is my vet problem child. He is horrible at the vet and they have to gas him to get anything done. He ate at 7:30 this morning and I just checked his BG level at noon and he was 476! Should I start giving him insulin????

 

Certainly sounds like signs of diabetes. I'm not sure what to suggest if you can't have that verified by your vet. The BG tests and other signs are proof I'd say. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful.

 

I understand. I am just not sure what to do at this point really.

 

tough one, he needs to be seen to have it verified but, i too have a once feral cat that we still can't take to the vet unless he is really sick like first time and not well enough to fight much. the second time we took him for follow up, he was quickly sent home without care after he beat up the tech and destroyed their back room trying to get away from them (i warned them he didn't like towels/being wrapped) so if he was to ever develop sure signs of diabetes, i would personally give my cat at least a low dose of insulin if his BG was regularly on high side especially if i found low trace levels of ketones in his urine but, i would also look into having a vet/tech come to my house asap where cat is more tolerable of others to have blood drawn for a complete lab work. you should look to see if there are mobile vets in your area.

 

Yeah he is pretty horrible at the vet. When he got declawed, I had to hold him for them to take the bandages off and he ended up jumping off me in to the blinds in the room and ran all over the place and got blood everywhere! It was horrible. He had a UTI one time and had to stay at the vets office all day to get urine from him and I had to go to the back to get him myself bc they were too afraid to get him out of their cage. When I took Booger to the vet, They just checked his BG level and urine for ketones and thats how they diagnosed him pretty much. We did end up doing blood work the second time we went. Booger was only about 10lbs when he was diagnosed and they started him so I figured with Tyler being at least 16lbs about 2 units of insulin probably wouldnt been too much.

 

Is there any sedative medication you could ask the vet for to give Tyler before a vet visit?

 

My previous vet said they sometimes give a dose of gabapentin to calm down kitties. You could ask for a single pill and give it before leaving house for vet visit.

 

vet can prescribe a very low dose of valium which he obviously needs in order for vets to be able to even sedate him when he arrives for any blood tests...not ideal but doable all the same...I know all about how dangerous cats can actually be (I volunteered to care for feral cats ...wow...!!)

 

Our vet clinic prescribed gabapentin, one cap pm before visit one cap in am on day of visit. Idjit is horrified at going to the vet, this really helps. I was able to mix in his food so we could get a curve done, before we got better at home testing.

 

that is very positive...gabipentin I do know causes a type of drowsiness/ sedation so perhaps that is very helpful in scary visits to the vets office....! It is also used for nerve pain (I have had it myself)...

 

Do you not have a vet that will come to your house? I had one come to mine before called Vets 2 You but i live in the uk.