My Cat the diabetic

Thanks, MsO, for always reading along. I am impressed.

The diarrhea has come back. He refuses to eat the food meant to help cure that. He refuses to take any kind of medicine (and I can't dose him properly). I called the vet. They told me to cook him some turkey. If he eats 1/4 cup twice a day, I can give him his usual dosage of insulin. And, they suggested chewable antibiotics (I was not hopeful).

I drove across town in rush hour traffic because I wanted the antibiotic before he eats dinner and gets his insulin. He is refusing to eat anything that is remotely near the chewable medicine. I crumbled it with freshly and barely cooked turkey. Nope. I separated the medicine from the turkey and crumbled it even more over his new food (for diabetic diets) which he loves - nope. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking and I waited longer than I should have for him to eat his medicine. Now he has been shot 45 minutes late and is still not eating his freakin food.

Insanely frustrating.

littlek, I'm sorry to hear you and Screech are having such a hard time. However, aside from that, is there anyway I can get you take of me when I'm old and sick. I promise I'll eat and take my medicine.

Ah, and now, four minutes later, he is eating............

Heehee.... greenwitch, sure! Maybe I'll start a fun, hip nursing home.

ai. chihuahua...

Yay!

It wasn't much and I have no idea at this point whether any of what he ate was medicine.

On the bright side, I know have frozen, single-portion pieces of turkey for myself to eat!

I finally got a glucometer. My bro-in-law has a twin who is a veterinarian. He was on the cape with us when screech's sugar tanked. I was terrified and didn't leave the basement for 5 hours on a gorgeous saturday. Now screech is ok, but skinny again. I have taken his blood, myself, only once. All this time I thought he'd hate me for pricking his ear for blood and he didn't even seem to notice it.

The really odd part is that he is low-glucose on only 2 units. That is half of his previous (as compared to last winter) dosage. There is likely some side ailment which is causing his body to use up extra sugar (the vet-brother said a possible infection could make that happen).

Really? When I'm ailing, my blood sugar goes up.

By ailing, what do you mean? Infection, cold, etc? What about stress?

Screech fan listening.

Thanks Osso!

All of that, and add trauma. The only time in my life I was on medication for diabetes was three weeks in the hospital, and the following month. The readings were way high, and with no provocation from eating. Lack of exercise defiantely did not help.

Ditto. I actually discovered my diabetes when my doctor took a blood picture during a severe flu-like infection I had. My blood sugar was through the roof, and never got that bad again when I didn't have an infection, or any of the other ailments you asked Roger about.

Granted, my personal experience is just a statistical sample of one, and your veterinarian is a medical doctor and I'm not. But my case and Rogers seem to be fairly typical, according to the diabetes self-help literature I started reading after I discovered mine. So the idea that side ailments lower a mammal's blood sugar level sounds suspicious to me. I'd definitely take it with a grain of salt.

As to sneaking medicine into an animal, my mother uses pills stuck inside a sausage. (Pills, being solid, have less of a smell, and hence are less likely to give away the sneak-up.) Of course, my mother's animal is a dog, who takes larger bites and gulps. But maybe a variation would work for a cat, too?

Another, possibly stupid idea? Could you raise the price of the bribe? Stick the pill into a piece of liver covered with catnip or something?

As to sneaky meds - nothing I do has work. I've even crushed them and mixed them into various yummy foodstuffs. But, that isn't my issue now.

So, 2 people vote for higher sugar during ailments. Ok. So, what would cause unusual periods of low blood sugar?

I have had three successful glucometer readings. The cat could care less about being pricked. ha! Should have been doing this all along (except the test strips are expensive).

Thanks guys.

Could be a number of things. In a human, the answer could be excessive physical excercise, too little carbohydrate intake, or an overdose of diabetes medication. Or your blood sugar could tank for no good reason at all. One problem with diabetes is that the hormonal control loop for regulating your blood sugar level isn't working properly; it can break down for any reason, or for no reason at all.

(Crossing fingers.)

But, for a cat..... well, his activity is pretty much the same on any given day, his food is the same though he eats somewhat different amounts from day to day (I do keep an eye on that). Neither exercise nor food intake seem to be the common factor in these sugar lows. Which leaves me with "for no reason at all."

Right now he's fine. His sugar is high, but I'm bringing it down slowly, so he doesn't get too low again. And so that I am not treating a rebound spike. His last reading was 260 and that should have been a lower reading given his dosing time. (for cats, we try to shoot for a reading between 90 and 200 - I think)

Or "overdose of diabetes medication." Is he getting any? Just checking. (It would seem not, since this would trigger the same problem as with the antibiotics. And if you're just finding out he doesn't mind the stitch of a needle, you're not shooting him insulin either.)