My Cat the diabetic

hmmm.... not so sure underbed digging is good.....

he ate all his food today. is resisting pills. and has no glucose in his urine.

Underbed digging is a sign he's up to a bit of investigative mischief, k. An excellent sign!

And he has his appetite back!

Watch out! He's gonna be trouble soon!:wink:

Since I know so little about cats, just what is underbed digging? Like trying make a hole in the carpet, or what?

Well, I made my comment up, taking underbed digging as a sign of investigation..

no carpet, but i have lots of interesting (to Screech) stuff down there in vacuum sealed plastic bags and such... When he's in the mood, he will crawl towards the bed and then pounce on the plastic bags, sometimes he crawls between them from one end of the bed to the other...it's like a tunnel. i have a low bed, so there's not much space...just enough for one cat.

I have tried giving the cat his antibiotics mixed in a little food (he wouldn't touch it) and in a lot of food (he won't eat much of it). I know many might suggest he'll eat it when he gets hungry - but he'd sooner go into diabetic shock first. I just tried mixing a crushed pill into an even smaller bite of food (about a 1/4 tsp) and swiping it on his gums. He frothed, he drooled (good hound dog drools), he hid. I think some of it went down......

Dissolve the pill in water. Use an eyedropper to squeeze the liquid into his cheek. You want to do this at an angle so it does not go down the throat directly (he could literally choke or drown}, but by putting it in his cheek he will have to swallow. Kitty will not be happy, but down it will go. Good luck.

ah.... maybe this could work.

bm.

I nearly died with the last pair of stinky pills...(I have scars)

Lil'K yer a saint...

RH

he ate the half a can (clean, not compromised with any pills) that i gave him today at 1-ish pm after you called.... I put the bowl up on his chair under your desk...not sure if you've seen it there? He inhaled it within seconds....

You can wrap your cat in a towel like a baby.

get him in there as tight as possible.. The purpose is to hinder his movement with his legs so he can not get away and can not kick you. You may need some help. Hold him by the scruff so he is a little more subdued then wrap him tight.

Lay him on his back and with one arm hold the syringe and squirt the liquid into his cheek.
As soon as you are done, with the other hand hold his mouth shut (gently) so he can not spit it out but he can still swallow. It helps to be holding his mouth 1/2 shut to begin with so he cant spit it out as you are giving it to him


Sounds cruel.. but when you actually do it, you will see it isnt.
he will hate you. so be careful.

...this should be fun.... i have some experience from the forcefeeding sessions we did some years ago. i'm at the ready.

Does Screech like cheese? (Are diabetic cats allowed to eat cheese, for that matter?) If so, something that might work (which we used on dear, long departed Billy Baxter, many years ago) was to mold cheese around his pills. Into sort of little savoury balls, with the pill in the middle. He loved them! But then Billy B was a bit of a cheese freak!

The cheese with pill imbedded thing worked for us and our cats. Am having my doubts re Screech. Don't know re the diabetes either. That dissolved pill in syringe to cheek sounds, uh, workable.

Definitely no to cheese. It is a big no-no with pancreatitis. It never worked before anyway. To sharp, this cat.

I tried the turkey baster with antibiotic solution. I got some in and some down, but I haven't a clue as to how much. He frothed and slobbered again.

I do appreciate your offer to help, Dasha, but you are rarely here when he needs to be medicated. Perhaps this weekend....?

Oh damn.

Back to the drawing board!

I have been getting in what I can get in by way of turkey baster to the cheek. I think I am mostly missing.

Kitty's doing well anyway.

Ah, k, I've been there & done that (for entirely different - though very urgent - reasons!

My cat came to dread me sneaking up on him with his "treatment". He got that look in his eyes!

I remember having the odd weeping episode after a few abortive attempts with the baster/syringe thingy.

Horrible, I know, this business of having to be cruel to be kind!

But I'm delighted that Screech is doing well! Please congratulate him (I your good self! ) on his improved condition! It didn't come easily, I know.

I did congratulate him. Or at least I tried to. He sniffed my hand.

The things we do.....

I know, k ...

It's because they're special & they're our responsibility ... & because we love them.

We try to do our very best, that's all ...

Hang in there!