Diabetic shots for an old cat w/ kidney trouble

[MJIthewriter]

In this last year, our cat Waldo has fallen apart. We are treating him for hyperthyroidism for about a year now.  Recently his kidneys have started to give way.  I switched his diet to something for kidney health.  He was still not improving, so we scheduled another appointment earlier than the three months they advised to check his levels.

Now he's developed diabetes. His other levels seem to be stable. We're given two options on what type of shots we want to give him. One is designed for cats, but costs a lot more. The other is designed for human but can be used on cats.  I'm not sure what option would be better.  I'm also left with a decision, if this doesn't work how long I should give it before deciding to let him go.

[MJIthewriter]

I'll have to wait until tomorrow.  I'm not calling the after hours emergency vet if I can avoid it.  The last time we did that with Sahib, I left with an empty carrier. :( I fear the bloating may be a serious concern, but when I looked up possible causes, the most serious causes would also come with loss of appetitive, which I haven't seen with Waldo, at least not yet.  It could be he is constipated again and needing an enema.  I hope not...  We've been giving him miralax along with all the other stuff we have to do around his meal time.

[Maddie6]

Hi MJ.
I'm glad you got some help on food from the pet store for Waldo.  You really don't need to buy the Vet's meter, as you're right, it's about $200.00 for the kit and can get very expensive with testing.  You can use a human meter, and the numbers will just be in a different range than with the Vet meter.  If I were you, I would call the Vet anyway and mention the bloating and other symptoms of lethargy.  It can't hurt, and your Vet should call return your call.  Or ask for one of the Vet Techs you feel comfortable with and and give her the info to relay to the Vet.    Is Waldo urinating normally, as diabetic kitties are prone to urinary tract infections, and this can make them ill and lack of appetite.

[MJIthewriter]

Something I'm noticing, yesterday and today, Waldo seems to be very bloated.

[MJIthewriter]

The vet wanted to get his levels stabilized first before considering the home testing kit.  They weren't willing to sell it right away.  It would cost $200, and I might have to get one from the pharmacy geared towards people.  I will bring it up again the next time I see them.  They wanted to wait two weeks from the last visit, so I'll be planning to take him next Tuesday.  I did ask them yesterday when I stopped to pick up the syringes. They seem to think it is because he may need more insulin.

I didn't make it out to petco tonight (to say the weather is terrible is a huge understatement) but I did find a closer place. I can't remember the name, whether it was "Happy Dog" or something that is geared towards holistic pet health food.  The people at the shop claimed their shop kitty has the same exact problems Waldo has, so I took their recommendations.  They recommended Merrick's Grammy's pot pie (canned food) and when I asked them they also found some dehydrated food named Prowl to be helpful.  If this diet is any good, it is cheaper than the Royal Canon, I believe.

[Maddie6]

Hi MJ,
If Waldo is lethargic and not feeling well, he could be getting too much insulin and he could get low blood sugar.  They get low blood sugar when too much insulin is given.  Here is a link explaining what can happen and how to treat the symptoms.  

http://www.felinediabetes.com/hypogly.htm

I don't know how to get the links to work so you can click on them.

The only way to tell what's going on is to get his  blood glucose.  I believe you are using a different insulin than the one I was using (Lantus Insulin), so I had a different protocol.  Has the Vet mentioned any more about home testing so you will know what his blood glucose is before giving insulin.  I think a lot of Vets don't recommend home testing because they might feel it to be too difficult for the owner, but it's the only way to know how the kitty is doing.   I don't want to bombard you with too much info or interfere with what your Vet is doing, but this is a good link just to learn more about feline diabetes.  

www.feline diabetes.com

I would place a call to your Vet and mention Waldo's symptoms if you feel he's not getting any better.  Let us know how Waldo is doing.  I can see how much you love Waldo and tthe other cat and you're trying to do everything to help them.  Take care.

[MJIthewriter]

I think it is the dog food that is being recalled.  Will keep an eye out on the cat dry food as well.  So far it is only the female cat that I'm feeding the Blue Buffalo spa select dry to. Waldo is still on the royal canon dry and wet food.  I don't like that pork byproducts are RC's main meat source.  I'll look into Tikki, if I go to Petco. If not I'll check them out online.

The raw food I was looking at was on a website, Natures variety or some similar brand. There was a site offering samples for about $20. I would not prepare my own, because I don't feel confident enough, plus having to keep track of all the needed vitamins. I had to reboot my computer, so I lost the links I had up.  The vet was against the idea of changing Waldo's diet when I brought up the idea.  They want to stabilize his blood sugar first before changing his diet, but I'm getting frustrated because it doesn't seem to be stabilizing.  Their last test was encouraging, but Waldo is still rather lethargic and just doesn't seem happy.