RestStop, now our oldest kitty, has been losing weight like crazy. To be honest, I didn't pay as much attention to him as I should have because Little Girl was so old and needed a lot of attention before she passed away to kitty cat heaven.
So I took him to the vet yesterday- not the regular, fine for annual immunizations and boarding vet, but the vet that costs more money and has a ton more experience with critters. Dr. Teeter said his heart was fine, there were no obvious growths or tumors, and that RestStops' breathe indicated that he did NOT have a kidney problem. Good. So he took a couple of vials of blood from Resty and called a courier to have the blood overnighted to a lab in Chicago.
That was expensive! It's a special lab, they test for everything, apparently. I just got off the phone with the vet, and they believe that RestStop is diabetic. His blood glucose was at 320 - way over normal! But to make sure, they need to have that lab run one more test. They also found signs of a low-grade infection, so I'm giving him antibiotics until Friday, when we will get the final verdict.
Chances are, John and I will be treating Resty's diabetes with insulin injections and trying to keep his diet whatever it needs to be. RestStop is about 15 years old, and hopefully, he will live for quite a long while yet.
So I took him to the vet yesterday- not the regular, fine for annual immunizations and boarding vet, but the vet that costs more money and has a ton more experience with critters. Dr. Teeter said his heart was fine, there were no obvious growths or tumors, and that RestStops' breathe indicated that he did NOT have a kidney problem. Good. So he took a couple of vials of blood from Resty and called a courier to have the blood overnighted to a lab in Chicago.
That was expensive! It's a special lab, they test for everything, apparently. I just got off the phone with the vet, and they believe that RestStop is diabetic. His blood glucose was at 320 - way over normal! But to make sure, they need to have that lab run one more test. They also found signs of a low-grade infection, so I'm giving him antibiotics until Friday, when we will get the final verdict.
Chances are, John and I will be treating Resty's diabetes with insulin injections and trying to keep his diet whatever it needs to be. RestStop is about 15 years old, and hopefully, he will live for quite a long while yet.
Poor kitty.
Diabetes - it’s tough to deal with in animals because of doing the testing to be sure the blood sugar is okay. Not impossible, just lots of work (my inlaws had a diabetic dog on insulin for about 5 years) .
Good luck and I hope RestStop is soon feeling much better.
Beth,
Don’t worry, this will be easier than you think. I got Motor Cat — the famous motorcycle-riding cat of Takoma Park, Maryland — an extra five years by getting her diabetes diagnosed and treated. After the vet figures out the right insulin dose, you just give RestStop the shot every day. Ask the vet how often to bring him back for a blood test to see how well his blood sugar is being regulated. Don’t re-use the needles — they get dull and you can’t get them totally disinfected. Dispose of the used syringes in a sharps container (ask your pharmacist or a home health nursing agency about where to get them). Also, don’t shake the insulin bottle — one vet told me it damages the molecules of the insulin. Just tilt and roll it gently. The insulin injection will probably make RestStop feel so much better that he’ll come for it, or at least won’t hide. Ask your vet if you need to give him a potassium supplement, too, to keep his electrolytes in balance. There’s one that’s a beef-flavored powder. Get a bottle of white Kero syrup in case there’s a low blood sugar episode. The only other tip is that his urine may still have enough sugar in it to make him prone to urinary tract infections. If you see him straining to urinate and nothing is coming out, or just a few drops, get him to the vet for a proper diagnosis and treatment. With a male cat with that behavior, there’s a greater likelihood than with females that the urinary tract is blocked by a small stone — the male urinary tract takes a more tortuous path than the female one and stones hang up at the bends in the river, so to speak — if it is, then kitty has about 24 hours to live as his bladder fills up with toxins that can’t get out, so you have to get him to the animal ER immediately. Sooner is better — and cheaper. Good luck to you and RestStop!
Thanks for the Sparta cat video — great song, great kitty!
Cynthia