Kittys back legs are bad

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Navi D

Navi D

Member Since 2020
So the reason I found out my cat has diabetes was because she started to walk a little strange.

I've been giving injections for a week, one day she seems better, next day her back legs are slipping under her. She falls on the stairs. My room is upstairs and she doesn't like being trapped so she wants to go down but has the hardest time coming back up stairs.

Anyone have this with their kitties? Did it resolve itself? How long did it last? I feel so bad and I dont know if the injections are working because her legs don't seem to be getting better. I have a vet visit tomorrow for more bloodwork so i will find out if i need to adjust her insulin.

Just looking for some personal experiences!
 
Sounds like diabetic neuropathy which is quite common. This is a pretty severe case but does it look like what's going on?

If it's neuropathy, getting the blood glucose under control is the best thing you can do for her. Without lowering the blood glucose, nothing you do will really help much.

A lot of people use Zobaline for cats which is a special form of B-12 that can help the nerves heal and get her back up on her toes.
 
Yes as Chris said, it sounds like diabetic neuropathy. My cat Sheba had it and I gave her Zobaline. Also getting the cat regulated or lowering the blood glucose helps.
Don’t expect it to disappear soon. It will take time. Sheba would slip and slide, had trouble with stairs, couldn’t jump in the bed or chairs and had to stop frequently when walking. She recovered fully over about 6 or 8 months.
 
Yes, the neuropathy can get better. This is a little blurb from Wink's Profile that is linked into my signature.

"you could barely walk and could not jump up at all, your diabetic neuropathy was so bad you were walking entirely down on your hocks and had to stop to rest every couple of steps, flakes of dandruff the size of nickels and quarters, half your fur had fallen out, you were extremely matted where you still had fur, and your fur was dull and lifeless" (This is when I first got him from the shelter as a foster).

Got him not only regulated, but with switching gradually to a low carb food wet diet, testing more frequently, and lots of love, he went OTJ with BG readings usually below 100 mg/dl and never needed insulin again. He did get some injectable Methylcobalamin liquid (from the shelter) so it's hard to tell what really worked. He regained the use of his back legs, learned to manage the stairs, learned to jump up on the kitchen counters and one day I found him eyeing a jump to the top of the 6' bookcases.:woot::eek::nailbiting: He was able to walk up on his tippy toes again, like a normal cat and not down on his hocks. Don't remember how long it took him to get his 'rope jumping' skills back, but it was probably 4 months from the foster date, which would make it about 7 months from the diagnosis date.

Neuropathy is painful. Ask any human diabetic. You might ask your vet about gabapentin, which is for nerve pain. Can make cats (and people) sleepy.

Was it the methylcobalamin or getting him regulated or getting his BG's back to normal non-diabetic range (<120 mg/dl human meter)? I'll never know.
 
Deb & Wink said:
I can't read Navi's spreadsheet. I wants me to log on to your google account to fix that.Tagging @Chris & China (GA) to help you with that.
Click to expand...

You need to go to the top right of your spreadsheet where it says "Share"...a new box will pop up and in the bottom right corner you'll see "Advanced". Click there and then choose "Anybody with the link can view" and you're done!
 
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