Related Behavioral Issues?

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Jessica B Herring

Jessica B Herring

Member Since 2018
Hi there,

I've noticed something kind of strange going on with my 16lb. seven-year-old boy. He was diagnosed with diabetes back in September 2017 (luckily, I think we caught it early). He's been on insulin shots twice daily since then.

He's always had a very timid nature. He scares easily and frequently runs from the room if I so much as sneeze. Seriously. Despite what you may think, this isn't due to any sort of abuse or trauma. I've had him since he was four weeks old.

My point is that he has always been very sensitive so he hasn't adjusted very well (emotionally) to his insulin shots. It's like herding sheep just to get a hold on him when it's time for a shot. Otherwise, he's very cuddly. We have to shut the bedroom door to keep him from hiding under the bed when it's time for his shot. The sound of the door closing now sends him into a panic.

➜ Nevertheless, we do what needs to be done. However, over the last couple of months, I've noticed a new and odd behavior forming that I'm thinking must be an act of "rebellion". He has begun peeing and pooping in the shower. It started out as just peeing in the shower, but in the last month it has escalated. The litter box has never posed a problem for him before and it is always kept clean. In fact, it is right next to the shower, so his choice of potty spot is very deliberate.

There are certainly worse places he could choose to "act out", but I'm worried it might escalate further in the long term. It's only been four months, after all. Has anyone else experienced anything like this with their diabetic kitty?

-Jess & Steeler

P.S. Does anyone know what happened to Evo's Dry Cat Food? It seems to have been taken off the market recently. I want to transition him to a lower carb/higher protein dry food until I can get him fully transitioned to wet food. That's the ultimate goal, but he's been quite resistant so far.
 
Jessica B Herring said:
Hi there,

I've noticed something kind of strange going on with my 16lb. seven-year-old boy. He was diagnosed with diabetes back in September 2017 (luckily, I think we caught it early). He's been on insulin shots twice daily since then.

He's always had a very timid nature. He scares easily and frequently runs from the room if I so much as sneeze. Seriously. Despite what you may think, this isn't due to any sort of abuse or trauma. I've had him since he was four weeks old.

My point is that he has always been very sensitive so he hasn't adjusted very well (emotionally) to his insulin shots. It's like herding sheep just to get a hold on him when it's time for a shot. Otherwise, he's very cuddly. We have to shut the bedroom door to keep him from hiding under the bed when it's time for his shot. The sound of the door closing now sends him into a panic.

➜ Nevertheless, we do what needs to be done. However, over the last couple of months, I've noticed a new and odd behavior forming that I'm thinking must be an act of "rebellion". He has begun peeing and pooping in the shower. It started out as just peeing in the shower, but in the last month it has escalated. The litter box has never posed a problem for him before and it is always kept clean. In fact, it is right next to the shower, so his choice of potty spot is very deliberate.

There are certainly worse places he could choose to "act out", but I'm worried it might escalate further in the long term. It's only been four months, after all. Has anyone else experienced anything like this with their diabetic kitty?

-Jess & Steeler

P.S. Does anyone know what happened to Evo's Dry Cat Food? It seems to have been taken off the market recently. I want to transition him to a lower carb/higher protein dry food until I can get him fully transitioned to wet food. That's the ultimate goal, but he's been quite resistant so far.
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They recently stopped making evo food for some reason. It's a bummer because it's one of the few things one of my non diabetic cats can eat.

Sorry is such a struggle to inject your cat. I have a few that would be the same way. They are sweet but only allow minimal touching.

Peeing in the shower is probably an indication that she isn't feeling well. With the bg is still quite high or something else going on. In assuming since she barely let's you inject her that testing wild be quite difficult. May be worth the struggle though to know what's going on.
 
You're right, he has not been letting me test at home, so I've been driving 45 minutes to have him tested at our vet. Thankfully, we have a very inexpensive vet, as far as vets go. Silver lining.

At the last visit, we finally got him settled on 2 IUs of insulin.I just know that I could get him off of the insulin if he would eat wet food, but he's never had a taste for it, even as a kitten. I've tried all of the suggestions here (I was a lurker before posting), but it's clearly going to be a long term effort to get him to transition.

That's why I was looking for Evo. The Young Again website says that the zero carb food shouldn't be used if you can't test before each feeding.
 
It's such a struggle sometimes to get a cat who is addicted to dry food transitioned to wet. I never thought it possible with my boy but he finally made the change. He never liked the consistency of wet food as I think he had been on dry food his whole life until I adopted him. I found a duck pate that he liked after going through dozens of different foods. Sprinkling some Forti Flora over the wet food was very enticing and got him eating more. He still gets excited when he hears me opening a bag (thinking it's his dry food again) but later on he forgets about it. ( I hope) Keep trying- my cat went into remission after three weeks of insulin and transitioning to wet food.
 
I've seen recommendations for some varieties of Dr. Elsey's foods recently. If you do a search on Feline Health posts over the past 2-3 weeks for this brand it should bring up the relevant posts. Alternatively, start a new thread asking members which Dr. Elsey's foods might be helpful for Steeler (who is very, very handsome, BTW! :) ).


Mogs
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Three weeks?! That's incredible. It's stories like that they give me so much hope.

I do plan to keep trying. But the immediate focus was on getting his insulin to the right dose and stabilizing him. Once I realized that the transition from dry to wet was going to take longer than I anticipated, I immediately switched him to a lower carb, grain free dry food. He was on Hill's Science Diet which I was shocked to find had something like 38% carbs. I switched him to Nature's Variety Instinct Chicken by the end of September (23%). I think that's what has enabled him to drop a couple of pounds. Now he just needs to drop a couple more! He's a big boy, so the doctor says his goal weight should be around 14 pounds.

I've tried the Forti Flora and Freeze dried chicken treats. It's like he knows what's healthy for him and won't touch it!
 
Mogs, I'll look into that right away. I've been using the Petnet app that came with my smart feeder to check the scores of various foods along with protein and carb percentages. My vet also recommended a diet that is high in fiber.

Thank you! I'm sure you know how hard it is to photograph a black cat. :cat:
 
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