Yes, I've been with the Group for nearly seven years and remember
Jasper.  Sorry to hear he's been hurt again.

 Our Hobo's experience is almost identical to Jasper's.  Last summer
he was attacked by a semi-feral tom who spent his time terrorizing the
neighborhood.  Hobo's back leg was wounded and took forever and a day
to heal.  Seemed no amount of antibiotics, ointments, even an
E-collar, helped at all.  It kept re-infecting but finally healed
over.  Then in January, we noticed that Hobo had difficulty with his
back legs crumpling under him as he walked.  Back to the vet for an
X-ray to check for a possible hairline fracture from the bite.  Long
story shorter, there was no break but the vet (a new one) suggested
testing for diabetes.  Weakness in the back legs is one sign of it as
is the long healing process.  It was, indeed, diabetes - a full-blown
case of it.  His glucose level was sky-high.  How I wish it had been
caught earlier - and I truly hope that Jasper is NOT diabetic or that
it's been found early enough that diet alone will help.

Hobo's case has been a roller-coaster ride.  It's been difficult
getting him stabilized.  He'd lost a lot of weight, "crashed" twice,
has frequent glucose-level checks, has insulin injections twice a day,
and has a special Purina DM (diabetes management) food (that is
available only from a vet).  Even so, his glucose level continues to
rise and his insulin dosage increased.  It's a rough battle.

I truly don't mean to scare you or sound pessimistic.  Hobo just
suffered with it too long before the disease was discovered.  Probably
Jasper was just stressed out and will be all right.  I got good advice
from folks here in RPCA; Zuzu (Megan) was a tremendous help, too,
especially since I knew zilch about diabetes.  

Anyway, that's been our experience.  Best of luck to you and Jasper.
Keep us updated.

  Jeanne

I don't have experience with diabetes in cats, but do have 34 years of
experience with diabetes in me. ;o) We are sending lots of purrs that
Jasper's wound heals soon and that the high glucose was, indeed, due to the
trauma and not a sign of diabetes.

My Sheba had diabetes last year. With insulin for a few months and a
rigid high protein/low carb diet, she has been off insulin since last
Dec. Her glucose is now just fine. Jasper's sugar level could just be
due to stress. Check it again after the meds are done. In the
meantime, I would feed him the high protein/low carb diet. Canned
Fancy Feast is great as long as the flavors are NOT sliced, grilled or
marinated. Diet dry food has less carbs than regular or senior. But
his activity and physical condition tells me he is unlikely to be
really diabetic. Purrs,

--
CATherine

jasper could definitely have his sugars off cause of stress.  But if he is
diabetic it is highly manageable.  Not to worry.  My own kitty has been
diabetic for a number of years, and we did actually have a hard time
regulating him.  despite using PZI insulin, and DM food.  We got him to an
herbalist, who prescribed herbs, and we had him regulated in no time.

(snip)

One thing of concern though .... in the tests the vet did, it would
appear that Jazzie's glucose levels were high, indicating the possibility of
diabetes.  He's about 7 years old BTW.  It could be that the levels were
high owing to the stress of the fight/wound/etc but ..... we shall have to
wait and see.

For the last 4 years of his life Fritzie was diabetic, and he was 15 when he
tested positive for it.

We gave him insulin twice a day, and fed him prescription cat food from the
vet, either Hills or Purina. If he gets finicky like Fritzie did, talk to
your vet about adding fat-free, unsalted chicken or beef broth from the
health food section of the grocery store to the dry food and that'll flavor
up the prescription stuff.

It is easy as hell to shoot up a cat: you get him by the scruff, pinch it up
a bit so you make sort of a small flesh-tent, insert the needle quickly and
you're done. The key is to do it quickly, then your cat won't even flinch.
Your vet may even prescribe human-type glucose-regulating pills like Precose
or Glipizide.

Cats can go into remission with proper care and stay there for the remainer
of their lives, or slip back. Fritzie went into remission twice. Ask the vet
to show you the signs of hypoglycemia just in case. You'll spend the first
few months of his treatment getting tested once to twice a month depending
on initial results. He'll get a simple test called a glucosamine which you
get the results that day. The vet may want to do a more complex test called
fructosamine every two to three months, which shows the broader picture: the
diabetes in terms of glucose levels, as well as how other organs are hit by
it. Diabetes can hit the kidneys in later stages and the vet may want to put
your cat on potassium supplements, and have you do supplemental fluids every
other day or so. You do this just like giving the cat insulin, only the
needle's bigger and you may have to get help holding the IV bag. Or the cat.
Don't panic, please! Each case is individual. And if you caught it early in
your cat, good for you! Like cancer, early detection is half the battle won.
Diabetic cats can and do go on for a good many years after diagnosis.

We learned about Fritzie after I had oral surgery and my then-fiance was
staying overnight to make sure I didn't do anything stupid while on the
drugs. He noticed that Fritzie was in bad shape and took us to the emergency
vet, where we learned that Fritzie was dangerously diabetic and had less
than 50% chance of making it through the night. He was 15 then. He lived,
tough boy that he was, and stayed almost 4 more years. I still miss him.

God willing your boy's not diabetic, but if he is the good news is that you
found it early and can take proactive measures to give him an optimum
quality of living. Taking care of it isn't as difficult as you may think.
Best to you, and to your baby too!

Blessings,

Baha

<snip>

Sorry no experience or helpful hints, but are sending purrs