First thyroid/radiation, then cancer/lymphoma now diabetes!

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

lynneat

Member Since 2018
First I don't know anyone here...so cannot address 'up to 10 people' so I cut and pasted some names...hope some of you can see my thread and post to me....

My cat is on chemotherapy and prednisolone/prednisone, also cerenia and gabapentin. Bupernex as needed. She eats fancy feast and a little bit of meow mix.

First it was radiation for a thyroid problem, then cancer and now diabetes! Prednisone can cause diabetes but vet says if we stop that, the chemo drug won't work. It need prednisone to work.

I can't find enough info on any of these and need assistance. Vet said time to put her down. Not if I can fix it. My daughter said what about metformin...a human drug for diabetes. A friend said her son has cancer is is using Boswellia. And what about Meloxicam (Mobic) for cats? And there's Cilantro, tumeric etc for humans. I can't afford an herbalist after paying thousands to vets. I need help please. She buys boswellia from Standard Process (whole food form). As you can see...my brain is scattered. Any help would be appreciated! She's about 14 or 15...we got her from the shelter so not positive. Thanks much.
 
Welcome to FDMB Glad you found us! I cannot address your concerns but there are people here who's cats have multiple issues.
I'm sure more will stop by and chime in.
Again WELCOME to the best site on the planet to help you help your kitty.
jeanne
 
Hi and a big welcome.
Are you going to give her insulin to treat the diabetes? I would. It is a very treatable disease, even for older cats. I get so mad when I hear vets say just to put the cat down! They are heartless.
We can certainly help you. We have multiple cats here with several issues.
I would ask to start her on Lantus insulin. Then go out and buy a human testing kit. The ReliOn brings from Walmart is good if you live in the US, and home test. You don’t need your vets permission to home test.
We can help you with that. We all home test.
You can continue the prednisone while giving insulin.
Are you feeding a low carb canned diet. That is best diet for diabetic cats. Try and get food that is 10% or less carbs. I’ll l put a link to foods at the bottom.

I’ll tag @Wendy&Neko as Wendy has experience chemo and pred. She might be able to remember others as well.
https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf
 
lynneat said:
First it was radiation for a thyroid problem, then cancer and now diabetes! Prednisone can cause diabetes but vet says if we stop that, the chemo drug won't work. It need prednisone to work.
Click to expand...
So you dose the amount of insulin around the need for the chemo drug and the use of the prednisone. It's been done before.

So radioiodine therapy to kill off the excess thyroid tissue, that was producing too much thyroid hormone. Is that all better now?

What type of cancer?

We have lots of resources here, and members that have experience with several types of medical issues. Hang on. Wendy&Neko has been tagged, but it may take a while for her to respond. I think it's dinner time where she lives.
 
Hi all and thanks for your replies. She has intestinal small cell lymphoma (by biopsy). I'm interested in food...she LOVES fancy feast the new CREAMY kind. We started that because she wouldn't eat (because of cancer). We had a feeding tube. I'm gonna check your link to low carb food. I hear that can solve the issue. Also pred causes her to want to EAT and DRINK! What about boswellia? Can cats take that like humans instead of the pred?
Thank you all for your kindness.
 
I'm not going to give her insulin...the testing....the curve testing....she's OLD. I'm OLD. :) We're both under stress. I want to try the food first. Cat info lists contents of food but not brands....or I'm too tired to understand it all. She eats fancy feast creamy (new brand). and the gravy kind. I'm stopping all meow mix. THAT MUCH I got. :) but now which canned food low in carbs high in protein? I guess I'm stressed and can't find what I'm searching for on cat info.
Thank you all so much!
 
Knowing I'm not alone in this helped me destress and re look at cat info and the suggested foods high in protein and low in carbs. She's FAT! Now I find fancy feast IS good (certain kinds) but still how many calories...how many cans a day...she's starving all the time (not really! :) I'm trying to cut her back. It's hard. All she does is lay around depressed if she's not eaten much. I wish she could talk! Anyway I want to try the food first...and hope she doesn't pass away while I'm trying. I just found out about diabetes today. Still I want to know if boswellia can be given to cats like humans. And what will happen? What is so great about pred...why not just chemo pills and no pred? I don't know how pred works with chemo or if another anti anflammatory will be as good. UGH.
Thank you guys so much.
 
It is very normal to feel overwhelmed and stressed when you get the diagnosis of diabetes. You have only just found it all out and it takes time to digest. We were all there in the beginning and do understand.
Diabetes is a very treatable disease and if treated there is no reason why she should not live a normal life.
14 or 15 is not too old for a cat. We have many cats older and doing very well.

Oral diabetic medications are not good for cats so are not an option to be considered.
Many human medications are toxic to cats so I would be very careful what you use.
Unfortunately if she has diabetes, unless it can be controlled by food, which it can in a few cases but certainly not all, she will need insulin to survive.
Otherwise you will condemn her to a slow death.
However it is fine to try the food option first.
Many of us here are old....in fact I would think a lot more than half of us are older than we'd like to be!:(:joyful:

With the food, most of the gravy ones are high carb so check out the list. Try adding some warm water to the food to help fill her up.

Pred is a necessary part of the treatment for chemo/cancer. I doubt there is a substitute.

If the food option doesn't help, we are here to support and help you with insulin. Giving an injection is actually easier than having to pill a cat.
 
All the Fancy Feast Classic patés are low carb. All but the Salmon, which I'd avoid anyhow, have decent levels of protein. While not quite as low carb, the Fancy Feast Roasted/Flaked/Chunky flavors are OK as well. Anything that says "Gravy" will not be low carb. Lots of people here feed Fancy Feast Classic to their cats. Calorie count not too bad, either.
 
When my girl was 15, she had diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease and was diagnosed with small cell lymphoma. The diabetes came first, and by far the easiest of all her conditions to treat. I gave insulin, and did blood tests to know how the change the insulin dose up or down to keep her in good blood sugar numbers. I did all of that with what I learned here - didn't have to go to the vet to manage any of the diabetes. The rest of the condition, those were the hard things to manage. They requited vet visits and blood work and/or ultrasounds to see what was happening. Nothing like a simple blood glucose meter to give me instant results on how things were going. Yes, you do need to give insulin. It's not that hard, coming from someone who faints at the sight of blood.

As for small cell lymphoma, my girl could not take prednisolone due to her heart. I hope it's not prednisone you are giving, cat's can't process it as well. Anyway, Neko's internal medicine vet put her on budesonide instead. It did not impact her blood sugar. On the small cell lymphoma list I belong too, people who's cats become diabetic or have heart conditions are recommended to switch to budesonide. It's not quite as good as pred, but still reduced Neko's gut inflammation by 35%. Also, which chemo drug are you giving, and how often?

I would also get rid of the Meow mix. With any cat who has cancer, as well as diabetics, you want to feed just low carb food.
 
You don't have to know anyone here. Enough members will see the title of your thread and respond so don't worry about that.
Many people hear the word cancer and assume that's it, it's all over. Many of our members, the human ones, are cancer survivors and many more are "old" so you're not alone. Your vet may have said to put her down but sadly too many vets still have no idea of how far we'll go for the ones we love. It's not about unrealistic expectations or pouring money into a lost cause. We had a family of six with cardiomyopathy and everyone shook their head and stared at the floor. Our vet knew better and those cats lived a good life with minimal grief. That certainly wasn't cancer but we showed that the right care gave all six a better life than being put down because they weren't in "perfect" health. Is anybody ever is perfect health?
I have no medical advice for you, just wanted you to know you're amongst people who understand.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top