Cesar the Burmese , 12 yo male burmese cat

[Cesar the Burmese]

Hello Folks,

My name is Joel and i'm the owner of a 12 years old male burmese (Cesar). I'm his second owner from a rescue of a friend of mine who wasn't able to keep him anymore (allergies). He's in my life since 5 years.

Last year, Cesar had diabetes mellitus from episode of DKA (diabetes keto acidosis) during last summer. He once weighted 15 lbs in January 2014 and dropped to 11 lbs during his DKA last year (2014). He also done a DKA this year 6 months ago and that was less severe than first time (caught him in very early stage).
FYI : DKA is very expensive to control.

Cesar was on Lantus since 2 weeks ago and switched to ProZinc. Lantus dosage was 0.5 U twice a day before switch. He had done alot of hypoglycemia and rebounds at this dosage.

His diet is
1/2 can of Purina DM per meal
1 liquigel of Omega 3 per day
1 pinch of Fortiflora per meal
1/4 teaspoon of Metamucil (chronic constipation) per meal

 

[pevsfreedom]

He looks like a Cesar. DKA is a nightmare and I've seen a few kitties not make it through it. Glad you caught on early.

So, welcome. Do you have any questions? Are you home-testing his blood, and do you know how to monitor ketones at home (and keep them away)? Testing for ketones is very easy.

What made you guys switch to ProZinc? Typically it goes the other way (PZ to Lantus).

 

[Cesar the Burmese]

I totally agree about DKA, it's a nightmare on cat and finances.
After first epidose, Cesar had a megacolon (severe constipation) wich drove me nuts about his BS value and food quantity on his diet.


Lantus had a small margin of control with low dosage (Cesar was 0.5 U twice and doing hypoglycemia alot). Skipping a dosage would make him skyrocketing on BS values and lose control on single shot (climbing stairs with values).
I'm home testing his BS with my girlfriend as an helper. We do curves twice a month and recently before every meal (transit from Lantus to Prozinc).
Can't do urine testing at home because of my two other cats (4 litter boxes) but i could isolate Cesar into a room so he could pee in empty litter box and test him once done.

For switch to Prozinc, my vet told me that we could have better dosage control with Prozinc (U-40) instead of Lantus) (U-100).
I know i have no room of error with Prozinc (time and well given shot).

For now , Cesar is in transition with Prozinc, his weight loss is worrying me (being very skinny) even eating well his meals. He's at 8.5 lbs. Down from 2.5 lbs from last year. He's a small cat.

 

[pevsfreedom]

That's interesting. Sometimes people end up dropping single drops of lantus, or measuring 0.1/0.25 with a magnifying glass. Hopefully Prozinc works better for you.

I'm not too experienced with Prozinc but heard it's a little tougher to find a stabilized dose but if it works it works! Do you like your vet?

The weight loss is scary, especially with 1.5 episodes of DKA. Do you know how ketones/insulin and everything are 'connected'? Getting the insulin dose and BG #'s where they need to be is pretty crucial to fighting off ketones, in which the weight loss worries me. It is great he's eating fine though.

I have 3 cats so urine testing was a no-go for Luna. I bought these to test Luna at home for ketones. Works great and is as easy as taking BG levels. You just test the blood. If you do buy it and use it note that ketones under 2.0 on the meter are negligible, but if OVER 2.0 you are looking at trace values (nobody told me that when I got it! ).

I think buying this and testing with a strip once every week or so would be VERY beneficial for you (more so if positive ketone levels), since ketones are unfortunately probably the biggest worry for your right now, and thus getting a good insulin dose is priority.

Either way, welcome, and good job getting on top of Cesar's diabetes!

http://www.amazon.com/Precision-Glucose-Ketone-Monitoring-System/dp/B008UZVLM8/ref=sr_1_sc_2?rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1441388971&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=precisiion ketone&pebp=1441388973218&perid=1C9XGDRC6QX5BN93QANX

http://www.amazon.com/Abbott-Precision-Xtra-Ketone-Strips/dp/B00R219D4E/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20

strips are a bit cheaper on eBay too.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Set-s-of-10...tra-ketosis-/141726801177?hash=item20ff935d19

 

[pevsfreedom]

Also just for total bombardment of info if you can add water to Cesar's food that will help flush out ketones and help prevent them from forming. I made Luna's pate food like a 'pate soup' when she had ketones.

 

[Cesar the Burmese]

My vet so far is doing her best, but i, sometimes, could expect better from vet. Knowledge about Prozinc could be better (time before Prozinc kicks in, typical blood sugar curve with Prozinc, etc ...).

I also add water to his meals, to make it more like sauce style meal. However, it takes long time to eat (1 hour to 1 ½ hour) and makes me late for work.
His water intake is not a problem, 3 sources of water available for him (2 water fountain and bathroom sink half filled changed alot per day).

 

[pevsfreedom]

Takes him an hour to eat? Hmm. No help there. All mine are devourer's.. literally 30 seconds each and their bowl is clean.

How are his teeth? Stinky breath at all?

 

[Cesar the Burmese]

Gingivitis for sure since last check ups. Was on nuggets most of his life until DKA showed up. He licks alot (his way to eat) instead of devouring unless his meal is colder than room temperature (discovered this recently).

 

[pevsfreedom]

Gingivitis for sure since last check ups. Was on nuggets most of his life until DKA showed up. He licks alot (his way to eat) instead of devouring unless his meal is colder than room temperature (discovered this recently).

I wonder if there's some infection/tooth problem affecting his eating. Almost sounds like it's painful for him. Luna slobbered all over the place until her dental a few weeks ago and had 2 extractions and now actually eats rather than shoving her face into the bowl. It was kind of funny to watch.

 

[Cesar the Burmese]

Will check that indeed. Also, he's chewing food on his left or right side, tilting his head on left or right. Like same posture for scratching his left or right ear with his back paw.

 

[pevsfreedom]

Very well could be a dental issue. Inflammation/infection can lead to ketones as well. Have vet take a look inside next time you're there. Luna's dental was very successful.

 

[BJM]

Welcome to FDMB.
Dental infection/inflammation will make it very difficult to control the glucose levels.
To help you micro-dose as needed, we have a conversion chart to let you use U-100 syringes (every 0.5 U-100 tick mark actually equals 0.2 units of ProZinc.)
What are you feeding? A low carb, over the counter diet is good for all your cats. See Cat Info for more details. I feed all of mine Friskies pates, as I am feeding 15.