Accepted Answer

Hello Mary,

I'm so sorry you find yourself in this difficult situation with your cat. If he continues to have seizures, you can rub some honey, maple syrup or Karo corn syrup on his gums. He became hypoglycemic when you gave him the insulin and he hadn't eaten properly. You should also have him seen by the ER vet center, as his blood glucose needs to be stabilized, now.

It's possible that the insulin he's on is not working properly. If you mean he's on 'Humulin', this is not the best insulin choice for a feline. PZI is often prescribed for diabetic cats, and my own 14 year old furry boy is diabetic and doing well on it for almost 8 years.

Diabetes can be manageable with insulin and diet and it's important to have you cat either seen by a different vet or ask for the insulin to be changed, since he doesn't seem to be doing well on the current one. The seizure he had was more than likely caused by the diabetes. Seizures can occur in diabetic cats when their blood glucose is too high or too low. If you cat is not eating, he can't be give insulin; this is most likely what caused the seizure, because he had very little food in his system. He's not eating because the diabetes is not under good control. As you can see, it's like a vicious cycle, but with the proper veterinary care and careful monitoring at home, a previously healthy 6 year old cat can live many years with diabetes.

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/diabetes2.html
http://www.felinediabetes.com/pzi.htm

Right now, the most important thing is to get your cat stabilized on the proper insulin and dosage. Continue to feed him with a dropper with the watered down canned cat food and plain water. You can also water down plain jarred baby food chicken with no onion product--Beechnut Stage 1 Chicken and Chicken Broth is a good one. Use a 1cc sized dropper and give him 1 dropperful every 15 minutes for an hour. Go slowly and in from the side of his mouth where there is an opening between his upper and lower teeth; wait for a swallow after each little bit, and rub his throat to encourage a swallow. Repeat in 2 hours. In the next hour, after the food, dropper feed him water on the same schedule-1 dropper every 15 minutes, then repeat in 2 hours.

Foods for cats with diabetes should be high in protein and fiber and low in carbs and fat. Wellness CORE (grain-free) is a good choice, as is Innova EVO and many other brands with meat as the first ingredient and no artificial additives/preservatives or corn and other grain fillers.

I hope, with the help of a vet knowledgeable in treating feline diabetes, you're able to help your furry boy get back on his feet. If you have any feline-only vets in your area, that would be your best course of action.

Cher

Expert:	Jessesmom
Pos. Feedback:	99.7 %
Accepts:
Answered:	7/9/2009

Feline Specialist Health/Behavior

Feline Healthcare and Behavior Specialist 40+ years Experience