? Hello, first post. Some questions about my old diabetic cat!

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greatnorthern

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Hi, my cat Peanut Butter is around 16 yrs old, orange tabby. He used to weigh almost 14 lbs! we put him on canned food a couple years ago and he went down to around 11.5, and looked great.

well, this last June he started losing weight and looking ill, so I took him in and he was diagnosed diabetic :/ I began treating him right away with Prozinc (have now switched to Vetsulin) 1 unit 2x a day, and feeding him only Fancy Feast's lowest carb cans- 2 3oz cans a day. In June 2017 he weighed about 10 lbs.

He (as of today) now weighs about 7 :/ He continues to lose weight and his appetite is CRAZY. He cries all day for more food. I have taken to feeding him a snack of a hard boiled egg between feedings. This is very difficult, and I am at a loss why he stays so hungry and loses weight. I have bumped his dose up to 1.5u 2x a day.. it doesn't seem to help the hunger. I bought a human BG tester, have thus far been unsuccessful in getting a sample... I'll keep working on that, but for now- any ideas???? the vet is too expensive for me right now. We took him in and he says well, maybe he has kidney problem,s he's old. (he felt for thyroid problems and didn't feel it was swollen)

thanks for any suggestions.
 
Hi and welcome! I’m glad you’re willing to home test. What problems are you having with the testing? As far as food, most of us feed multiple times a day. If he needs to gain weight and he’s hungry, you need to feed him more.
 
greatnorthern said:
Hi, my cat Peanut Butter is around 16 yrs old, orange tabby. He used to weigh almost 14 lbs! we put him on canned food a couple years ago and he went down to around 11.5, and looked great.

well, this last June he started losing weight and looking ill, so I took him in and he was diagnosed diabetic :/ I began treating him right away with Prozinc (have now switched to Vetsulin) 1 unit 2x a day, and feeding him only Fancy Feast's lowest carb cans- 2 3oz cans a day. In June 2017 he weighed about 10 lbs.

He (as of today) now weighs about 7 :/ He continues to lose weight and his appetite is CRAZY. He cries all day for more food. I have taken to feeding him a snack of a hard boiled egg between feedings. This is very difficult, and I am at a loss why he stays so hungry and loses weight. I have bumped his dose up to 1.5u 2x a day.. it doesn't seem to help the hunger. I bought a human BG tester, have thus far been unsuccessful in getting a sample... I'll keep working on that, but for now- any ideas???? the vet is too expensive for me right now. We took him in and he says well, maybe he has kidney problem,s he's old. (he felt for thyroid problems and didn't feel it was swollen)

thanks for any suggestions.
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I'm pretty sure you'd need a blood test done to diagnose hyperthyroidism. It's common in cats and can certainly cause weight loss and ravenous appetite.
 
thanks, the vet tested him for that in June, with a blood test. Today he said his heart sounded fine and he didn't feel anything abnormal with his thyroid.. that's all I know for now, his appetite has been crazy since I got him on insulin, it has intensified over time tho.
 
re: home testing- having trouble getting enough blood for the test! I'll keep trying. hard to hit that tiny vein. feeding him more: well, yeah, I have been , it doesn't help- in fact it seems he now expects that he can be fed any minute of the day which is terribly annoying. also- going out of town and having friends feed/ inject him is already hard enough, I don't want him to get used to having 4 meals a day and then all of a sudden feel like he's being neglected haha
 
You don’t have to be home to feed multiple times if you have an auto feeder. Many of us use this one
https://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-5-Meal-Automatic-Dispenses-Digital/dp/B000GEWHNS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1515643530&sr=8-1&keywords=petsafe 5 auto feeder

To get enough blood, be sure his ear is very warm, 28 gauge lancets, and milk the ear working from the base towards the poke spot. You’re not really aiming for the vein, but the tiny space between the vein and the ears edge.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
 
Glad you got the test! Not sure about peanut butter, maybe try some all meat treats, such as Pure Bites.
 
Hi there and welcome to yourself and Peanut Butter. :)

As Kris says above, hyper-T diagnosis is via blood test. When you can afford it again it may be a good idea to get it checked again (June was a long time ago in kitty years! ;) ). It's important to know about other concurrent conditions because they can affect BG regulation.

greatnorthern said:
his appetite has been crazy since I got him on insulin, it has intensified over time tho.
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Without BG data it's impossible to know for sure but the problem with insulin treatment is that too much insulin can produce the same clinical signs as too little. It's great that you're starting to home test and this will give you the information you need to help you help Peanut Butter. Here are some helpful forum information stickies:

Testing and Injecting Tips (really good diagram of the testing 'sweet spot' here)

Home Testing Tips (includes several 'how to' videos)

Please try to get a preshot test before each injection (don't feed for the two hours before the preshot test - needs to be a fasting test to gauge whether it's safe to give insulin). Feed and wait about 20 minutes before giving the Vetsulin dose. See the FDMB Caninsulin/Vetsulin guide for more information on using this insulin.

Also, because there are concerns about your boy's current dose it would be wise to get a test at +2 and +3 hours after each dose (certainly a 'before bed' test every night) to get an idea of how low the current Vetsulin dose is taking Peanut Butter. (Note: some cats reach the lowest BG in the cycle on Vetsulin around +4 - +5 hours after injection but it can vary from day to day and from cat to cat.)

Question: Is Peanut Butter drinking and peeing a lot?


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Kitties drink more when their BG levels are high (excess glucose is excreted via the kidneys and also the hyperglycaemia tends to have a dehydrating effect). As mentioned above, too much or too little insulin may lead to higher BG levels. Without home BG monitoring it's impossible to get a true picture of what's happening with Peanut Butter's BG.

It's good to hear that his water consumption has reduced. :)


Mogs
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I would like to second what @JanetNJ said. If a cat is diabetic, and its BG remains high, it means not enough glucose is getting into its cells, thus "starving" them, and so they send signals to the cat saying "feed us! feed us!" which makes the cat hungry.

The crazy hunger will sort itself out with the crazy drinking and peeing as his BG lower. You're doing the right thing by starting to home test, it will really help you see more clearly! Keep it up :-)
 
As far as thyroid testing , you would only need a thyroid panel run , not a full blood chemistry . My kitty is hyperthyroid and that is best way to detect a hyperthyroid condition .
 
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