Weird symptoms - waiting to hear back from the vet

Hi everyone -- Dexter was diagnosed with diabetes in August of this year. I switched him onto a wet food diet (Fancy Feast pate per your suggestions on here) and have been giving him 1 unit of Lantus twice a day. His numbers were in the blue and yellow for a bit, and I was getting hopeful that he might get to go down in his dosage. Until this weekend...!

I took Dex to the vet on Friday afternoon, which was pretty traumatic for him. He peed himself on the way over, had to get cleaned up by the vet tech, and had to wait in the front room for a while before the vet could see us. Needless to say, his stress was pretty high. The vet checked his BG; he was at 299, which is higher than it'd been for a while (usually in the upper 100s). I'm wondering, do any of you have stressed out cats with high numbers at the vet? How long does it take for their stress numbers to wear off?

On Sunday or Monday, so a few days later, I noticed Dexter coughing a little bit. He sometimes sneezes, so I didn't think much of it, although I did wonder if his vet stress caused his immune system to drop. Numbers were high on Monday and Tuesday - still stressed from the vet? Sick?

This morning, Dexter woke me up because of his coughing - it sounded much different from a fur ball cough; it sounded more like he had a bad kitty cold. I had to go to work, so I left my husband to monitor him. The coughing stopped, but his numbers were pretty high all day - in the high 200s/low 300s.

This afternoon, he seemed to be in a perky mood, no coughing, but was 311 when I tested him at 4 pm. Then I saw his teeth! All his teeth are are discolored, kind of an orangeish-brownish color which streaks vertically up the teeth. What?! Immediately called the vet and sent them pictures, but now it's already 7pm my time, and I'm not expecting a call back tonight. Do any of these symptoms sound familiar?! I googled (not a good idea), and have found that it's anywhere from cancer to FIV to the all-wet-food diet. Any thoughts?

Sorry to dump so much on you all. I'm so appreciating this whole FDMB support network, so I thought I'd gather your input. Many thanks in advance.

 

My cat's glucose spikes very high when he's stressed. If he's at the hospital for an emergency it can go up at least 100 pts. The only time it doesn't spike is when he's seeing his vet specialist for some reason who he knows and likes. Every time I've gone for ER visits they are alarmed and I have to explain how he reacts. One time he went from 285 at the hospital and came down to 110 at home. It usually takes a day or so for it to come down depending on how stressed he is. I always had to take an extra carrier with me to the vet with my previous kitty. Peed and pooped on the way every time!
I don't know what would cause such badly stained teeth if it wasn't happening before. My cat's teeth don't stay white for very long after a cleaning but the vet just says maybe it's his body chemistry.

 

Thank you for your thoughts-- it's good to hear that someone else's cat reacts wildly to stress. I figured that what it was, but my vet was nervous, too.

Still waiting to hear back about the teeth thing. They were definitely a normal shade on Friday at the vet, so maybe it's related to stress/sickness.

 

I know from experience that going to the vet really raises the stress level and BG levels for Idjit. I think just about all the members have reported the same effect, unless the cat in question is one mellow fur person and doesn't give a hoot. I wonder if you would consider giving Dex a few meals of baked or poached chicken breast (if he likes it) to see if the tooth discoloration lessens. I give Idjit homemade chicken broth also, and FurBabiesMama cooks up a bunch of chicken legs for broth for her furkids too. Nourishing, low carb and the "chicken soup" might make Dex feel better.

 

The "chicken soup" is a great idea -- thank you.

 

Ollie, just be sure that there are no "additives" to the broth, some seasonings are not good for our kitties. I pressure cook my chicken bones, but you can use the stove top method or use a crock pot.

 

Yes! Skittles gets stressed at the vet. Usually takes a day or so for his BG to level out.
I have been traveling with him more this past year, at first they ( him & his brother ) cried out and fussed the whole way ( 1.5 hr drive each way ) Now after many trips, they are fine and rarely make any noise. I do cover their kennel w a black blanket now, didn’t do that the first few times.
Last week I had to rush Skittles to the vet ( see my other post ) and he FREAKED out BUT #1. He was in the carrying kennel instead of the big wire kennel I use for our trips so he “ knew” #2. His brother wasn’t w him so he “ knew” and #3. He was VERY sick
It’s been 7 days since he went to the vet ,( had to rush him there twice the first day, once the second day and once the third day of his sickness ) and his BG #’s are still above normal.
I don’t know if his #s off because he was sick, on meds or the all the vet trips.
Do you think his teeth where strained before and you are just noticing? Though the cough is throwing me off, if he was a dog I would lean towards him catching kennel cough from the vets office.

 

Covering the carrier with a blanket is a good idea - thank you! And yeah, it's hard to know how when his numbers are messed up because of the vet or because he's sick (or both).

The teeth thing is also hard to know-- I was at the vet last Friday, so less than a week ago, and she checked his teeth and said they looked good. All of his issues kind of emerged at once, so I don't know if the teeth discoloration is because he's sick, because he's only eating wet food now, or some other reason (bacterial infection?). Still haven't heard back from my vet, which is frustrating. His cough stopped, which is good!

 

I’m curious about his teeth & the now gone cough ,plz update when or if you get one.

 

I will! No new updates, but here’s a picture of the teeth. The orange/brownish color is more pronounced in person.

 

It is not abnormal for a cats canine teeth to have longitudinal grooves which accumulate brown stains

 

The gums look good, no swelling, reds or irritation. I think it’s fine & nothing to worry about

 

Agree

 

I’d like to try this . Sometimes when Boots isn’t feeling well I can only get him to drink a little tuna water from the can (I buy the “no sodium added” variety) but this sounds healthier. Thanks for the tip!

 

He can also cough do to being at the vet - they try hard but their air in the back rooms is THICK with cleaning products, stale air, dusty cat litter, etc. plus whatever laundry detergent they use on the towels and blankets they primarily put in their cages. The techs, assistants, etc, can also heighten it due t wearing perfumes, etc. So if his coughing has slowed down/stopped, that's where I'd lay my money. Like previous posters have said, added water - any kind of water, to start with.