Hello, I have been studying all night, and am beside myself with grief. My 9 year old cat has been acting strangely the last several months, and I've been treating it as a behavior issue. In the past I've taken her to the vet and had tests done over issues that were behavioral so I figured that was happening again, peeing outside the box, all over the house, and she's become a vocal crier for food at all times, scarfs the other cat's food and rips the treats out of my hand. I thought she was getting old and crabby like people do, and that I would try to accommodate what I could and firmly redirect the "acting out". She still plays and wasn't hiding from me, and I bought Feliway last month and it's been in a defuser for 2 weeks, it didn't help. She hissed at me the first time ever yesterday during grooming. I started noticing crust on her hind legs a couple weeks ago, and thought it was the new kitty litter's fault. The first few times I saw her gait wobbly I thought it was because she was just groggy from sleep. She started drinking huge amounts of water a week ago, and over the course of the last five days she has gotten depressed, lethargic and is walking on her hocks., slipping on the floor and resting every few steps.

I've read all night, I missed all the cues. I called the vet, he's not in on Sunday, I left messages and called the emergency clinic, I can't take her there today, I live on disability, no car and it's three times the cost of an appointment with my vet. I have 300 dollars and a neighbor has agreed to take me to the vet tomorrow. Is 300 enough? I am afraid she is going to die and I can't find any information to tell me if she is now in a life-threatening situation. She's not presenting the hypoglycemia features and I have honey here. She's just laying around and gets up to eat and drink. The other cat is avoiding her suddenly, it's all so ominous and frightening. Can someone tell me what stage she is in and if she will make it til we see the vet tomorrow? Thank you for reading all this.

Robin

Hi Robin. Welcome to FDMB - sorry that you have to be here but glad that you found us.

Can you get to the pharmacy and buy some Keto-stix? I think they're only about $15. Here's some info on ketones: [www.felinediabetes.com]
Whether your kitty tests positive for ketones or not will make a big difference in the advice that you will get here.

Here's some info on treating feline diabetes on a budget: [www.geocities.com]

If you haven't given your kitty insulin, she can't be hypoglycemic (so you don't need to worry about the honey).

What are you feeding your kitty? Switching to a wet low-carb diet is a great way to help lower kitty's BG naturally. It's a first step, anyway. Read more about feline nutrition at Dr. Lisa's fantastic site: www.catinfo.org.

Hi
If your cat has diabetes, please realize this is very treatable and nothing is as bad as it feels. Many of us missed the signs
Walking on the hocks is called neuropathy and it can be totally reversed with glucose control.

If your cat does not have ketones then the 300 should be enough.
If your cat is eating then that is a good sign
You will need a fructosamine test to confirm the diabetes and enough money for insulin, syringes ect. google BCP PZI. It's a good insulin and the vet can get the first vial free. Maybe you can print out the forms for her to fax to get the insulin.
I'm going to give you alot of info here. Don't expect to get everything all at once. Ask questions. You have people here who will help you every step of the way
Diabetes is not a death sentence, no life span needs to be lost and your cat can live a long happy life
You should know that most of the responders to your posts are not vets, including me.
A vet will have dvm by his or her name.
That said; It is very important to check for ketones. You can buy ketodiastic regent strips at the pharmacy to check the urine for ketones. They can become serious quickly and need immediate vet attention.
Regulation takes time and cannot be done at the vet’s office. There are people here whose cats have not been regulated for a year. That doesn't mean they are not doing well.

The problem with diabetes is that you can go to 30 different vets and get 30 different treatments. Working with your vet is important but it will be your knowledge and learning that will be your cat’s best asset. You have to be the one who is proactive with treatment. You are giving the shots so it is you who is in charge!
The way most people would recommend to give insulin is to start with no more than 1 or 2 units 2x daily. Your cat may need more but by doing it this way you won't risk passing the correct dose, which can cause the glucose to go higher instead of lower and you have less of a risk for a hypoglycemic attack. Please click on my name and read my profile and you will understand why I recommend to start with 1 unit 2x daily.

One thing lots of people do here is home test their cats bg's using a human glucometer. It doesn't hurt (neither do the shots) and it will let you know if it is safe to give insulin and give you the information to treat your cat properly. Stress can raise the blood glucose more than 100 points so the glucose numbers at home may be significantly less and more accurate then the numbers the vet gets as it can be stressful for your cat at the vet’s office.
Every week on this board, we see a life saved by hometesting. I think it is the most important tool in treating this disease.
I had problems with testing in the beginning thinking that it wasn’t worth it to my cat, ie, quality of life but boy was I wrong. My cat purrs through the whole process. Test your cat before every shot.

It is recommended to feed a low carb high protein diet.. If there aren't any health issues, I recommend you feed canned food with less that 10% carbs. Cats are carnivores and dry food lacks the moisture a cat needs and normally gets when eating. Dry food is NOT better for a cat’s teeth and a dry food diet may cause other problems down the line. Vet prescription foods for diabetes hold no value and is not better then commercially available canned foods. Save your money.

. There are cats here whose diabetes is diet controlled on a low carb diet without giving insulin.
. I can’t stress enough how important it is that your cat eats. That is the number 1 thing. The change of foods from dry to wet can and should be gradual and as I said it is very important that your cat eats, so if he won't eat low carb foods, you can work around that. If your cat will only eat dry foods, so be it. There are cats here regulated on higher carb foods. Your insulin needs may be lower if you use low carb foods. Here's a list that shows the breakdown in different foods.
[www.geocities.com]

I know I may be overloading you with information, but I promise that things will get easier as time goes by. It sounds scary but it really will be ok and it will soon become routine for you. Please let us know what type of insulin and how much, how many times a day when you have that information so we may help you further. I am going to include a few links to read so you may become more knowledgeable. Please don't expect to absorb everything all at once. The people here are great and will do what they can to help so please keep posting and asking questions. Good Luck

[www.petdiabetes.org]
[www.gorbzilla.com]



A voice that echoes everyone elses is not heard.
Speak up for what is right.


Sneakers

Take a deep breath. I know it's scary and overwhelming. And it's easy to miss things; cats try and hide illness.

It doesn't sound like she's in a life-threatening situation, Robin. Is she eating? Drinking?

Since she's not on insulin (I assume, since you said she hasn't been to the vet yet), she's not in danger of going hypoglycemic. In an untreated diabetic (and I think you're probably right about the diagnosis, but don't do anything major until you get to the vet and have it confirmed -- none of us can definitely diagnose your cat over the internet, and very few of us are veterinary professionals), the biggest risk is something called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). I'll add a few links for you to read about that:

[gorbzilla.com]
[gorbzilla.com]
[gorbzilla.com]

Can you get to a drugstore? You can buy Ketodiastix, which will allow you to test Angelbait's urine for both ketones (BAD, if it's positive) and glucose (to be expected in an untreated diabetic, but would be a way for you to know if your suspected diagnosis is likely). If the ketodiastix show ketones in the urine, you're going to want to get your cat to the vest ASAP, as that's a real emergency and could well be life-threatening. If they don't, that's great!

Your vet will want to do bloodwork, and probably a urinalysis. Your cat may have an infection -- sometimes that can cause transient diabetes, or sometimes a diabetic cat will get a urinary tract infection because of all the sugar in the urine. If it is diabetes, you'll want to treat with insulin and probably feed a low-carb diet. But you'll cross those bridges tomorrow. Diabetes can be treated primarily at home, and relatively inexpensively, but you definitely need to get her checked out at the vet before anything else.

Good luck tomorrow!

Me: Active (albeit intermittently) on FDMB since Dec 2002.
Zug (GA): B&W Japanese Bobtail, unknown age.
Diagnosed 12/18/02. Tightly regulated on PZI-VET for most of his fight with diabetes. Died of peritoneal carcinomatosis (a very invasive form of cancer) October 19, 2005, and sorely missed.

Thank you for replying. I did read those sites earlier and can't make heads or tails of them yet. My cat gets both wet and dry food, the dry food changes, sometimes the Indoor Cat and high fiber kind, but last week it was Meow Mix and we just started a bag of Goodlife Recipe yesterday. The Meow Mix seems like junk food to me but I bought it as a treat to pick up her spirits, because I've been "re-training" her to use the litter box. Ugh, I can't believe this, diabetes never occurred to me.

The wet food is also commercial, usually nine lives or the storebrand "fancy feast" knock-off. She likes fish and I guess that's got to go too, from what I've been seeing.

I'll call the drug store right now about the Keyto stix, thanks again for your measured reply.

Don't worry, it will sink it after a while! We were all so overwhelmed at first. It gets easier - I promise you!

You're lucky that your kitty likes wet food. Check out Janet & Binky's food charts (link at the top of this page - look at both the old and new pages for wet food) and look for wet food with less than 10% carbs. Cutting out the dry food altogether is very important and will likely lower kitty's blood glucose (BG) levels quickly.

Thanks for the replies all. Yes she is eating and drinking a lot, and prefers canned food so I will switch to that right now. She has gotten fatter over the last few days but I keep reading that she's starving. I need to understand these writings, and have visited over a hundred websites and the wiki, but will just stick to what you've linked. I called HEB here in Austin, the only store I can get to and the clerk said they have "lancets" and "glucose" strips. I had her look at the labels and she did not see the word "ketone". I wonder if the glucose strip would work?

Hi
It's not just canned foods, It should be canned foods under 10% carbs


There are different things you are talking about here
ketodiastic strips or ketostrips are used to check the urine for ketones. They are usually behind the pharmasist counter

Lancets and possibly glucose strips are used to test the blood glucose.
You will need those along with a glucometer later but right now I would get the ketostrips and go to the vets to confirm the diagnosis before buyhing a meter. It is unusual for a cat to gain weight with untreated diabetes.


A voice that echoes everyone elses is not heard.
Speak up for what is right.


Sneakers

Robin and Angelbait Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I had her look at
> the labels and she did not see the word "ketone".
> I wonder if the glucose strip would work?

Hi, Robin. In my local drug store, these are kept on the shelves in the diabetic section. This is the product here:

[www.drugstore.com]

but I believe you can get 50 of them rather than 100. Or if you have any diabetic friends nearby, they are very likely to be able to lend you a couple.

I've changed the subject line in case we have any members in your area.

-- Janet

Regarding the $300 question, my initial vet visit (when they took the blood and urine tests to figure out what was wrong with him) was about $225 so I bet you're ok there.

Good luck tomorrow, and post here to let us know how it went - you will find lots of support here!

Patty

Yes, Austin, I googled, and recognized the product, had a whole pack of them when I tried the Atkins diet ten years ago and will look around in case they're still here. What happened I can only say I got it in my head that this was behavioral and all the signs fed into that. I won't know for sure it's diabetes til the DVM says so, but I'm trying to make up for being so blind by seeing too much I guess.

I am in NW Austin. I am happy to help if you need it. If you need help, send me a Private Message with your phone number. I can help you get started with home-testing, too.

Don't be too hard yourself -- I missed the symptoms with my cat, too.

Right now the ketodiastix are probably the most important. That will tell you how urgent the situation is. They may even have them at a local HEB pharmacy is that's easier to get to than Walgreens or CVS.

Victor (GA) and Victor's Mom
Civvies - male Flame Point Siamese and one female Pixie Bob




V-man: GA 06-20-09 at age 15+, diabetic, IBD, hyperthyroid, heart murmur, mild neuropathy.
Food: NV Raw Rabbit - (more for his worsening IBD than for FD)
dx 06-15-07 - Humulin N

Last shot 05-18-08 - and still off the juice when he passed to the Bridge on 06-20-09.

Might want to check the expiration date if you find them in your cabinet- I just checked mine and they have an expiration date of Oct 2010 (if unopened) shelf life. Good luck!



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 06/01/08 04:25PM by patty and otto.

Robin and Angelbait Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, Austin, I googled, and recognized the
> product, had a whole pack of them when I tried the
> Atkins diet ten years ago and will look around in
> case they're still here. What happened I can only
> say I got it in my head that this was behavioral
> and all the signs fed into that.

I totally know what you mean. I thought my guy was just drinking a lot because it was wintertime and it was dry.

I should also mention that, if she has glucose in the urine and elevated blood glucose, you can probably skip the fructosamine test and save a little money. I wouldn't say that in every instance, but here the symptom profile is obvious. Better to spend that money on cat food or supplies.

Also, do not spend money on a glucometer! You'll have to pay for strips, of course, but you should be able to get the machine for free.

-- Janet
edit typo




Edited 1 times. Last edit at 06/01/08 09:23PM by Janet & Binky (GA).

if she shows positive for ketones i'd get her to the animal emergency clinic. that's an emergency.
if not, and she is confirmed to be diabetic your biggest expense is going to be leaving her at the vet's for a blood glucose curve and the price of insulin.

i don't think it's a bad idea to pick up a blood glucose meter and some strips and learn to test her before she's even diagnosed. you can use it to check your own blood sugar every once in a while as well as your cats' blood sugar.
if you can test her, you can do a curve at home and save money. walmart has a cheap meter and cheaper strips (ReliOn brand). otherwise, for an emergency situation if you can't get to walmart, most pharmacies offer free meters (after rebate) each week. the ad would be in the sunday paper, i'm sure. their test strips are usually more expensive than ReliOn strips, tho. lancets to prick her ear and get a blood drop to test are around $6 for 100.

BCP has free PZI insulin to try (a half bottle of U100) if your vet will fax them a prescription. if you google "BCP PZI" you'll find their website and a link to a pdf form your vet can fill out and fax to them with prescription. after the first half bottle, full bottles of U40 PZI are around $52 including shipping and are good for around 6 months.

otherwise, the humulins are generally cheaper altho we don't usually recommend them as the first insulin to try.

at least these are ways to keep your expenses down. you are going to have to pay the vet for blood and urine tests, tho, to get the diagnosis.

Hi --

The 'he's eating everything in sight, yet he's starving?' thing is because of the diabetes. Without the insulin, he can't digest the food properly. Since he's not getting enough nutrients from the food in his stomach, it keeps telling him that he's hungry and he wants more food. So, yes, he *is* eating a lot, and yes, he is definitely hungry despite the amount he's eaten, but it'll get better once he gets on insulin.

As for the $300, we had to take a friend's cat to the emergency vet on a Sunday because something was wrong and we had no idea what (we were using power tools three feet from his head and he wasn't reacting at all, which really freaked me out). The emergency vet did the tests and initial treatment for diabetes, and all of that came under $300. Since you're going to a regular vet during regular hours, I would imagine you'll be fine.

Once you're more settled, since money's an issue, try The Supply Closet on this site ( [www.felinediabetes.com] ) to see what might be available for free (you can also post wants), and also check out the Frugal Feline Diabetics page ( [www.geocities.com] ).

Good luck, and let us know how things go!

-- Jean & Gwyn

I rented a car and went to the emergency vet, she wouldn't pee and seemed to be crashing. I was crying hysterically and the vet treated my like crap because if this is diabetes he said, it is late stage. I explained that the last time I took her to a vet a year ago there was nothing wrong, and the vet told me I need to learn to do behavior mod. So that's been my premise all these months. She has trace Ketones, the vet gave her enough insulin to last 8 hours and faxed my vet that we'll be there in the morning. It cost 150 and that leaves me enough money to start a program, since it looks like the diagnosis is now official. Haven't slept for a couple days, am off to bed. I am so grateful that you are all here. I will need you.

((((hugs)))<<<if you want 'em.

Robin

I may have posted this in the wrong thread, there's an updated one I missed.

Patty-Your cat probably has diabetes. We took my cat to vet on 2/20/08 because she was walking all crazy, on her hocks, eating-drinking-eating-drinking. The vet told us your cat has diabetes, and you must give her shots. The world fell in! BUT---I love her--Dried litter on the paws is frosty paws, and it happens to feline diabetics who have neuropathy, and cant move right, in the litter box, and the litter winds up stuck to their paws. I saw all the signs, came on here after diagnosis, and the rest is history. Go to the vet, find out what's what, then tell us, and we can help you.

(((Robin))) I'm sorry that you're going through this. I think your instincts were good, though; it's frightening how fast trace ketones can turn into a real emergency, and that shot of insulin will help prevent that.

Do you have any idea what kind of insulin it was, and how much he gave? And do you know the symptoms of hypoglycemia and what to do about it? It's not likely to be a problem, but forewarned is forearmed, so here are the links:

[www.indulgedfurries.com]

[www.gorbzilla.com]

And for financial aid resources: [felinediabetes.com], carefully compiled by SqueeM3.

More hugs,

Janet

Robin, I just saw this message this morning. ((hugs)) to both of you. I think you did great with testing for ketones and getting her to the vet. That shot of insulin will help keep things in check until you see the vet this morning. Please start a new thread and let us know how you are doing.



Victor (GA) and Victor's Mom
Civvies - male Flame Point Siamese and one female Pixie Bob




V-man: GA 06-20-09 at age 15+, diabetic, IBD, hyperthyroid, heart murmur, mild neuropathy.
Food: NV Raw Rabbit - (more for his worsening IBD than for FD)
dx 06-15-07 - Humulin N

Last shot 05-18-08 - and still off the juice when he passed to the Bridge on 06-20-09.