The Things We Do For Cats

As you may recall from this thread, my cat Denver suffers from diabetes. (Photo of Denver, as is required in all cat threads.). He has been doing okay–not great, but not bad either. But it’s the “not great” that bothers me.

I have an appointment to take him into the vet for another glucose curve next week, at which time, the vet will likely decide to up his insulin dosage. But in the interim, this creates a few problems: He’s staggering a bit, and he can no longer jump up on the bed at night. Worse, he can’t get his legs working well enough to get him into the deep litterbox, and has begun to use the kitchen floor. (Yecch! So I clean and mop it daily.)

But he still has his charm–he meows for attention, and likes it when he gets it; he meows to play (and we do play, gently), and he meows for his food. His bright eyes, purrs, and nuzzling thank me for attention and play and food. He’s still the same old Denny; his body is just not cooperating. It may work better after our vet visit, but what about right now?

Well, I found some cardboard boxes and covered them with old towels. I built a little staircase out of toweled boxes that he can use to get up on the bed–and sure enough, Denny was happily asleep there when I awoke this morning. And I got a low-edged litterbox that he has no problem getting in and out of.

A box staircase? A special litterbox? The things we do for cats!

Awe, he looks like an old sweetie-pie.

Aw, he’s very sweet-looking. I also have a black cat and she’s the best.

My cats are both young, only 2 or 3 years, so I haven’t had to go to many extremes for them yet. Probably the worst is when they don’t come home at night, I will stay up to let them in, even at the risk of not sleeping all night- I worry, you know.

My crazy aunt, however, once spent $6,000 on a surgery for her 12-year-old diabetic, blind cat that she had to tube-feed and buy all kind of special medications for. I think she went too far for that cat, but she was childless and so thought of it as her child, so who am I to say?

What a handsome guy! My diabetic cat was staggering around when I was trying to get his meds fixed. I’m guessing your handsome kitteh has the back leg stagger happening? My boy is older than yours, so I also give him some special kitty Glucosamine with Chondroitin.

My boy is doing much better now, he can walk and he’s eating well. He can jump on the bed when I’m not around. If he sees me, he tells me to pick him up and put him on the bed, couch, chair. I’m a well trained slave, so of course I always comply with his demands.

Something that I would suggest is that you start trying to get more water into your guy. I feed canned twice a day and I mix some warm water in it. Denver is probably going into kidney failure as well.

IANAV, and all that, but from what I’ve learned, the blood work doesn’t show kidney failure until its too late to stop it.

My cats love their fountain, my old sick guy will walk past bowls of water to tank up from the fountain. If your finances allow it, I’d suggest you get one of the waterfall ones. My kitties like the waterfall one much better than the slide one.

Cats. :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

Yes, his back legs aren’t as good as they could be. He staggers a bit.

No problem there–Denver happily drinks plenty of water. I think that’s part of the problem with urinating on the kitchen floor–food and water are in the kitchen, and when he needs to go after having a drink, he needs to go now! So, after drinking, he needs to go, and Nature won’t let him get to the litterbox in time. So he goes where he is. Thankfully, Denver is intelligent enough that he knows is is easier to clean up off tile than off carpet. He always looks so embarrassed when I catch him peeing on the kitchen’s tile floor. And, I understand from the vet that the need to urinate frequently is a by-product of diabetes, so I can sympathize with Denver’s plight.

The new, lower litterbox is in the kitchen, so hopefully, we’ve solved that problem. (No, I don’t want it there either, but if it solves the problem short-term, let it be.)

((I previewed this and it’s really long, and meant for anyone reading this, not necessarily just the OP, it’s just once I start spewing information I can’t help but try to make it complete.))

I don’t know how I missed the original thread, but I’m glad to hear your kitty is doing OK. I’m a bit of a feline diabetes specialist - I have had a diabetic of my own who I got in to remission with tightly controlled insulin treatment - and I work with and train people who adopt diabetic cats from the shelter (as few and far between as they are).

Has your veterinarian mentioned testing blood glucose at home? You can do it easily via an ear prick and using an AlphaTRAK meter. You can track blood glucose daily that way, or at least do the curves yourself and call in the results to your vet, who can change doses and save you and kitty a day at the vet’s. It’s a very personal choice, though, and some choose not to do it, but you’re much more likely to get kitty into remission the tighter you can control insulin doses. Which insulin is your kitty on? I mostly see cats on Glargine these days, and that’s what I used at home.

I worry a little about descriptions of cats being wobbly or weak because that can sometimes indicate blood glucose being dangerously low. Seizures can happen if kitty’s getting too much insulin and glucose drops below 20.

As far as food goes, while many veterinarians might prescribe a “diabetes diet” for their clients, a bit of research goes a long way. Many regular canned cat foods are even lower in carbohydrates than the prescriptions ones. Lucky for us, someone has already done some of that research, and provided a handy list available here - this is the US list, which I would think overlaps a lot with Canada, but there is a “non-US” link at the top of the page for Canada-specific stuff.

I mention the food because it really is vitally important for diabetic cats to get switched to canned food if they weren’t already getting canned, and also to review the canned food they’re getting to see if it still might be higher in carbohydrates than it should be. My rule of thumb for people, especially if they’re finding food that’s not on the list or if they’re in a pinch and need to get something different than they usually do, is to avoid “formed” food. Pretty much any canned food is going to be better than dry kibble, but many canned stuff with the formed bits, called “slices” or “shreds” or “flaked” are not really sliced or shredded or flaked, but rather formed with wheat gluten - “with gravy” is also a tipoff. Stick with the “pate” style, or with fishy stuff in consomme or aspic.

The only kibble I recommend to people is Innova EVO. I don’t recommend it as a regular meal food, though, because it is extremely dense in calories and is very easy to overfeed your diabetic cat who probably should keep the weight that was lost off. EVO is about 600 calories a cup, compared to average cat kibble that’s around 400 calories a cup. Considering most cats should get around 300 calories a day, that’s a big difference. It’s great as a treat, or as 1/4 cup as a meal with the second meal being canned. Other treats that are OK are the all-meat treats like freeze-dried fish/meat or I even recommend those little frozen “salad shrimp” that can be taken frozen from the package in the freezer and rinsed under water to thaw almost instantly (as long as no salt is added).

For all I know, you’re already feeding something fine, I’m posting this for others who may read this thread, too, and could use some information on feline diets.

On preview, frequent urination, and large amounts of urine, are indeed a symptom of diabetes - of unregulated (high) blood glucose. If your kitty is still urinating a lot and frequently, also consequently drinking a lot, that’s a good indication the insulin dose needs to be raised. (Of course, don’t do this on your own, veterinarian must determine doses - I know you know that already!) A cat who has well-regulated blood glucose will urinate normally and that frequent/large urination should go away. Oh, one other thing, if you do want to check for high glucose without pricking an ear for blood, there is a product called Glucotest by Purina that is tiny squares you add to the litter box that give a reading like a test strip. Both this and the AlphaTRAK can be ordered by your veterinarian for you, or I’m sure you can find them online.

But making sure kitty is getting the right food can also help him need less insulin and keep glucose from spiking in the first place. ALL cats can benefit greatly from a low-carbohydrate diet. After all, they are obligate carnivores and naturally should be eating food that more closely resembles stuff from a can than kibble. I know, you know that already!

I hope you and kitty keep doing just fine. The things we do for our cats. Ask the lady who had three of her cats need surgery this year - Ack! :slight_smile:

We don’t do much for our cats. Well, I feed them three meals a day (gooshy food and dry) plus snacks and night lunch, but that’s all. And maybe we lift Maxie up to the sink and turn the tap on for her so she can drink since she can’t jump much any longer. And give them their glucosamine supplement every day. And put a litter box upstairs so that they don’t have to go downstairs to the litter boxes. But that’s it. Oh yeah, and put Feather on the bed since she can’t jump up on it any longer. And play with them and run around with them. And open the door for them so they can go out in the back yard and run around. But that’s it. :slight_smile:

Now I’m feeling guilty. I don’t feel I’m doing enough! :wink:

Not much. :slight_smile:

Jury rigged stairs up to the bed. Water fountain, food and bedding with heat lamp on table next to bed and adjacent my desk. Meds and treats within arm’s reach. 2nd water fountain in the dining room on her walking route.

She’ll be 22 next spring. She’s blind (no response to light at all) and mostly deaf. Meds for hyper-T and high bloodpressure. She’s always been a grouchy kitty, but these days is pretty kitten-like. But she’s responsive and lets me know when she wants something. I’ll be in front of the computer and she’s sitting facing me. She reaches out with her left paw and tugs on the back of my arm if she wants to be held. Well before it’s time to get up, she’ll want her morning feeding and will climb on my pillow and pat me on the head until I get up. Some time ago if I didn’t get up fast enough, she’d climb down, back up and pee on me, but that hasn’t happened since my training was completed.

Not much at all. :slight_smile:

I feed one of my cats by himself in a closed bathroom so the others leave him alone. It’s a longer story than that but it boils down to that.

You can get pet stairs from pet supplies places like Fosters & Smith, if you’re not inclined to build your own.

I do recommend monitoring a diabetic cats blood glucose at home if you’re not squeamish about blood or needles. My cat hates getting her ears stabbed for blood more than she dislikes her regular insulin injections, but you don’t have to do it very often once the kitty’s sugar levels are stable and it helps you keep an eye on them so you can adjust the insulin dosage if necessary, or deal with very low sugar in an emergency.

Lucia has been diabetic for more than 4 years now and the vets tell me she’s doing remarkably well. Back when she was first diagnosed after nearly dying of pancreatitis, I used to do a lot for her in the way of medical care–including getting up at 2 in the morning to give her her multiple medications and lie on the floor with her half inside her little sick-kitty kennel while giving her slushy, warm cat food through an esophageal tube.

Lately, more of my attentive cat care has gone to Miss Austen, who was diagnosed with lymphoma about 2 years ago. For her, I’m willing to handle these nasty little chemo pills 2-3 times a week (but not with my bare hands–you have to wear gloves). But she’s in remission now, so all this complicated. sometimes icky medical care and attention I’ve given them both has been to good effect and therefore worth the trouble.

We regularly let my (18 lb) cat sleep with us even though we don’t get a good night’s sleep when he does. Yes, we are suckers.

I suspect you’re actually a Man With Multiple Cats. :slight_smile:

I was thinking about trying a kitchen step-stool and see how that goes. If the cats don’t like it, I still have a proper step-stool for my kitchen.

Thanks for all the advice and kind words, folks!

The glucose testing at home is something that the vet says we can do later–as he was only diagnosed a few months ago, she wants to keep an eye on him for a bit. Fair enough; I won’t mind doing it when the time comes, but I’d like her to look after things for now.

Right now, Denver is enjoying a nap in a pool of sunshine coming in the window. At least, when he is asleep, he is not staggering or peeing!

Just your average old guy. :smiley:

We bought a new house last year. One of the things that was on my list was that the new house must have a lot of low, wide windowsills. Cats need to sit in the windows and watch the world, to make sure the world is running properly. The new house also has French doors, which I don’t care for as a security issue, but the cats LOVE to look out onto the back yard. We have a huge live oak, and so we have lots of squirrels and birds in the back yard. The cats are very, very interested in both the squirrels and the birds. Plus, the driveway swings around the house, so the cats can see when someone pulls into the carport. My husband is a little late getting home, so his little female cat is watching through the French doors, and complaining to me that her Daddy isn’t home yet.

We also bought one of those water fountains for the cats, which they love. They enjoy drinking from it, and they enjoy watching it. And we’ve got one of those Litter Maid litter boxes, which at least two of the cats will use. I have to admit, that auto scooping is as much for the humans’ benefit as it is the cats’. However, at least one cat prefers the old fashioned NOT auto litter box, so we have to keep one of those around, too.

I have knitted several blankies for the cats’ use. Yes, I did this deliberately. Every time I have a knit or crochet project, the cats have always tried to persuade me that THEY need that item. So we have several knit blankies around the house, on top of the various waist height bookshelves. And the cats have the exclusive use of those particular shelves.

My husband says that he’s gonna get a couple of those electric cat beds. This is because currently, he IS the warm cat bed whenever he’s at home.

My best bud Little Guy, in my old house, absolutely loved sitting in front of the fireplace on one of my winter jackets, alternating between sleeping and just watching the fire. There were times when, even though I had other things to do, I would set my jacket on the floor (inside up, he wanted to be on the soft inside that smelled like me) and start a fire in the fireplace. Then while I did other things, I’d occasionally stop by, tend the fire, and say hello.

He’d sit there with his tongue hanging way out of his mouth, purring and letting me know how happy he was.

I suspect that our labels in cat minds are, “Warm Soft Furniture.” :slight_smile:

“…that make with the pets and skritches.”