Yemala at 18

If I'm doing this right, all the charts and notes from previous uses of this forum will attach to this post.

In brief, Mala was diagnosed in 2006 with diabetes, presenting with bgs over 500 at the vet. She was on insulin for a month, and went to the falls at the end of June. She had one relapse in 2011, when a vet put her on steroids for an ear infection. She went off insulin again after one month. In 2015, she had a brief scare when she seemed to show signs of hypoglycemia, despite not being on insulin, but followup vet checks showed no signs of strokes, normal glucose levels, and no other indications of concern.

Last month, the little girl started to display pain in her right hind leg. A vet diagnosed her as having arthritis or having pulled a muscle or tendon. She was on anti-inflammatory and pain medication - not steroidal - for three days and was clear again.

I'm beginning to worry about her again. We feed the whole clowder at 6 AM and 6 PM daily, and she gets a small snack of boiled chicken midday.

The last couple of days, her appetite has been down. Typically, she wolfs down breakfast and is good again until around 11 AM, at which point she begins her petition for chicken. She'll get roughly a quarter cup of it in her, then is fine until dinner. Occasionally, she's ask for a bedtime snack, but that's irregular.

This morning, I had to carry her to the kitchen for breakfast (not that unusual), but she didn't eat much. She walks from her dish to check out the dishes of others, snacks a little, and leaves again. No demand for midday snacks at all.

After dinner, which she ate but not in her usual quantity, she went to the basement to sleep in an area which is secluded and a little hidden - not her character at all. She prefers to be in the middle of everything, on a lap or snuggling with her preferred boy kitty. I brought her up and checked bgs.

At +2 after eating, she came in with a 168. A bit high. All previous "just in case" checks had her at or around 100 at that point after eating.

She's a little lethargic, a little irritable. I checked the bgs again 1.5 hours after the last time, and she was at 154. But she growled at every cat around her and at me - not like her at all.

Here's the biggest problem - we're leaving on a 3 week trip on Tuesday afternoon. I can take her to a vet, but I won't be around when the blood work comes in - I'll be out of the country entirely.

I will remove her from her secluded nest again before I go to bed and check the bgs. She ate a little more wet food around 10 PM, and I'll see how it affected her.

Ideas, suggestions, concerns?

 

Definitely sounds like a vet visit is in order. It may be something as simple as nausea or arthritic pain, but it also could be more serious. Can you set something up for the vet to talk to the pet sitter if any meds are needed when bloodwork comes back? Since you'll be gone so long you should tell your vet and let them know it's ok for sitter to bring Mala in if necessary.

 

I agree with Sharon.

 

I am intending to leave a letter with the sitter giving our permission to have her taken in while we're away. The sitter is only 13, unfortunately, as my regular sitter is not available. I can't trust her to do a bg test. However, I have payment set up with my mother covering the cost while I'm away and out of contact.

Fasting bgs this AM were 165. Before I went to bed last night, she was at 160. She ate at least half her food this morning, kept it down, then went to a spot where she can be hidden and isolated. Very worried.

 

It's 11 AM. Normally, Mala comes to the kitchen to demand her midday snack around now. She got up the stairs, but started drinking water. A LOT of water.

 

I would definitely get bloodwork done tomorrow. Since her BG isn't too bad she may have a kidney problem.

 

I would take her to the vet tomorrow and get the blood work done. Sometimes peace of mind is worth it. I hope Mala is okay and is just stressed because she knows you're leaving.
Please leave a printed copy of the hypo instructions and an example of the dose you are giving in colored water or juice for her to compare to. Also, you might want to tell the petsitter what to do if there are any appetite issues, and you might want to stock some old favorites just in case of them.

 

Thank you everyone so much. A neighbor of mine is coming tomorrow to learn how to test her glucose. I'm not asking her to do it more than a few times, but she needs to learn what hypo looks like and what to do. I'll leave typed out instructions for the regular sitter also.

Mala's fasting bg before dinner was 154. Not terrible, but not her typical low. She recently demonstrated a degree of arthritis in her hind legs, on meds for 3 days, seemed fine again. It may be that she has more generalized pain which is causing her stress. I also sense that she may be running a slight fever - kitty is too warm. If she has an infection, that could cause a mild spike.

She's currently sitting in the middle of my luggage, yapping at me whenever I look her way. She's a sweet n sour torti, to be sure, and I want her here to yell at me when we come home.

I'll keep you all up to date as I know something.

 

Mala is definitely a kitty who likes to mess with us. Her fasting bg at midnight is 105. Perfect.

She still goes to the vet tomorrow.

 

The vet took a blood panel and screened her for warning signs on several fronts. Her glucose levels are normal, no sign of protein or sugars in her urine. Her BUN levels and bilirubins are on the slightly high end of normal, but not worrisome.

In other words, no explanation why she should have been throwing off elevated glucose levels. None.

Damn cat knows we're leaving for 3 weeks, and did this on purpose. I swear, she's that clever.

 

Glad everything checked out OK and nothing highly worrisome .

 

I'm so glad you went to the vet to get her checked out. If it were me, I would have worried every day of my trip, if I hadn't been sure my kitty was okay. Bon Voyage.

 

where are you located ? state? city?
maybe someone on the forum more experienced can help?

 

Update - returned home after 2+ weeks and Mala is still alive and pissed at me. Our regular pet sitter stopped in a couple of times, took a bg reading, and it was utterly normal.

However, she reported that she believed the new sitter didn't come to the house regularly, perhaps not even daily. Certainly the quantity of food in the house was not as low as it should have been, and the dozen or so bags of frozen chicken cooked and ready to give to Mala were untouched.

They could have died. Certainly Mala could have.

I'm just so glad my neighbor went in a few times.

 

Thank God for your neighbor.

 

Yes, you have a very good neighbor. I guess a bad review on Yelp could inform the pet sitter that her customer is really unhappy.