9/26 - Xander | AMPS 273 | Feline Diabetes Message Board - FDMB

9/26 - Xander | AMPS 273

Brianna & Xander

Very Active Member
Previous post: 9/24/25

Sorry we didn't make it back in here yesterday to respond to all your amazingly sweet and thoughtful comments! It was a very rough day for us right up to the end. ๐Ÿ˜ฎโ€๐Ÿ’จ But I'll respond to them here below!

Yesterday he just wouldn't eat. I woke up around 4:30 and saw that he hadn't eaten his overnight food but also couldn't find him. He was apparently hiding behind the couch (which we normally have blocked off, but he found a way in I guess) until like 7:30. When he came out, he still didn't eat the food with gaba we normally give him at 5. It's not unusual for him to be a pain about the gaba meal though, so I didn't think too much of it. I gave him his PS food and when I went to apply his lido he ran. I managed to hold onto him long enough to get it on, but then he hid for a while. He came out in time to do his injection but was still very nervous, and ran off and hid again when I tried. I let him be and he came out after an hour and seemed normal, so I gave him his dose. Pretty sure the combo of no gaba + the morning routine of sticking him in a carrier to go to the vet lately has made him very nervous.

Unfortunately, despite seeming normal, he wouldn't eat after that either. Like, nothing. Around +4 he was going lime, so I gave him some 21% (just the gravy, because the food itself is shreds and he obviously can't really eat that right now). Struggled for hours and hours to keep him up with just the gravy and even that was a fight to get him to eat. Around 3:50 he vomited (Empty stomach? Nausea? Both?) and at that point I called the vet to find out whether Cerenia (which I had thankfully just picked up a few days earlier), ondansetron and/or Mirataz were safe with the Onsior and gaba he was already taking. Vet said yes, and to give all 3. So I did. Around 6 he was finally eating normal food again and was at least not lime. After that day though and being so behind on food (even feeding him an oz every hour he still barely surpassed half his calorie intake by the end of the day) I decided to skip again. Ugh.

On the upside, it meant I could go back to our normal time this morning without having to take time to walk it back. He ate his gaba with enough time today to work, and actually seemed the most like himself in a while. He was excited about his PS food, and went straight to his bird perch for both it and his injection like he normally would. Almost seemed like he was happy and eager to get back to our normal routine. My partner had been working from home a lot this week with everything going on but was gone for PS and injection, which may have helped (they're the "bad guy" who does the capturing for the vet).

I hope him eating today means he's feeling better and isn't just residual Mirataz. We're out of Onsior now, so I also hope he's not going to be in more pain. He's not as drooly anymore and seems to be fully closing his mouth more often. He even gave (very gummy ๐Ÿคฃ) love bites today for the first time since before this, which seems promising?

No bloodwork results yet, but that's to be expected.
 
Oh poor baby looking for his fangies
๐Ÿ˜ญ

Heโ€™s just the sweetest boy
๐Ÿ˜˜

Glad it seems nothing terrible. Whew
๐Ÿซ‚

Big hugs to you and Xander. Thanks for the update.
Many cuddles for your baby
๐Ÿ’•
๐Ÿ’
๐Ÿ’•
๐Ÿ’

He really is!! Poor guy. At least he's funny while he does it I guess. ๐Ÿคฃ

Very glad it's nothing terrible (hopefully). IBD still seems like a big thing to add on top of FD, but we'll see.
Thanks, Staci!! Hugs and loves to you both too! ๐Ÿซ‚ ๐Ÿ’œ ๐Ÿ’œ ๐Ÿ’œ โœจ
 
Glad to hear what sounds like a more manageable diagnosis. Cute to hear how cuddly he is, enjoy the high, litl' buddy.
๐Ÿ˜œ


Do you give a probiotic? I and others use Visbiome and while expensive, good gut health is life, even for us!

Hope you're breathing a little easier now!
๐Ÿค—

I hope so! I feel like I'm getting mixed results on the manageability part. :confused:

No, I haven't tried any probiotics, but thank you for the specific suggestion! I'll stick that in my pocket for if we need it. I admit that part of my fears about manageability is the financial aspect - FD itself is a lot for us and I'm not sure how much more we can add. Kinda hoping it's mild, whatever it is, and maybe we don't have to change everything up too much.

Maybe breathing a bit easier, but still worried lol
 
Hey that's exactly Luciole's diagnosis. If your darling boy is the same, it's super-manageable. Lu got a course of Pred, then switched over to Budesonide, then gradually tapered down to the most minimal dose (once every 3 days) and is as fine as fine can be.

So I'm hoping that Xav's feeling really great soon, after a good long sleep, with some dreams of sparkly pink mice and multi-colored birds!

That's so good to hear!! The vet was warning us that the treatments for it and FD conflict and that she'd want to transfer me to an internal specialist to deal with that if it's the case. I really don't want to have to give him extra injections as these ones are hard enough. Not sure how much we can afford either, but... I guess we'll find out.

Glad to hear that you're here with relevant experience! I may be coming to you for help soon! lol
 
They're usually pretty good at telling you if they're not almost 100% sure, so I would assume IBD for now. Roxi had IBD and diabetes (as well as all her other random stuff) for many years. While hers did eventually (as we found out) turn into some type of cancer, it took at least 6 years and probably longer to do so. And she had a history of cancer anyway. We used Visbiome for her. And her IM specialist had her on a low daily dose of budesonide even though she never had any real IBD symptoms. Her feeling was that it was better to stay ahead of the inflammation rather than waiting for it to become difficult to control. Now sure, ultimately, I guess it's possible that the budesonide masked the symptoms when the IBD turned into a tumor. But as she was too old and fragile for surgery anyway, it wouldn't have made the slightest difference to the outcome and it did maintain a great quality of life for her right up to her last 18 hours.
She did seem pretty confident, so that's a good sign.

That's all great info, thank you!! I'm glad to hear that it was so manageable. How did the treatment affect her FD? I was so looking forward to his teeth being fixed and his numbers suddenly getting way better. Now it's seeming like we're just gonna add a new reason for the numbers to suck. ๐Ÿ˜ฉ
 
As others have said, spoil that boy tonight, he deserves it! Thanks for posting that nekid belly picture - love those.

None of my three SCL kitties (including Neko) had diarrhea issues, they were all vomiters and B12 tested fine on 2, one was not tested. My most recent SCL kitty (in remission since 2018) just had her B12 tested again and it's still fine. She also has IBD. :oops: That has not gone away and I find it harder to manage. Swollen lymph nodes can happen in either IBD or SCL. If lymph nodes are swollen, you can get a FNA (fine needle aspirate) done and sent away for PARR testing (clonal) to determine IBD or SCL. That is probably the least invasive way of differentiating between the two. You can also try a novel protein trial, and see if that does away with the vomiting. That'll tell you there is an IBD component. If you haven't read it already: IBD or Cancer? โ€“ IBDKitties

Oh he got lots of spoilies in the form of cuddles! ๐Ÿฅบ๐Ÿคฃ

You have so much experience with special needs kitties! Poor both of you, but also they're so luck to have/had you! It's comforting to hear that there are some cases that aren't so difficult to manage. Thank you for the specific test suggestion - I'll hold onto that if it's needed! I always appreciate specific things to look/ask for.

I have been doing a lot of reading too, so thank you for the link!
Answering yesterday's question here:

Thankfully not a tumour, though that's what the vet thought it was since the majority are. It was just a bony growth, she also had bony growths on her spine.
๐Ÿ˜ข
Acromegaly is caused by a benign pituitary tumour that sends out excess growth hormone. Which triggers the diabetes, and also causes bony, soft tissue, and organ growth.

Aww, poor baby. That really just sounds awful and painful. And then of course the double whammy of triggering the diabetes. Such a mess. ๐Ÿ˜ญ
 
Oh, poor Xander! And you as well...what a tough time you seem to be having. I'm so sorry, but happy to see that initial impression is something manageable. The pics are too funny, but on a serious note, having the teeth out will definitely help. I am always skeptical about it, even though I've had several of my cats have teeth out (Jack had 6 out recently) but the difference in literally EVERY part of his life (the BG, the coat condition, the appetite, the activity level...everything) is tangible. Sending hugs and healing thoughts, and keeping you both in my prayers as you wait for the official ultrasound results.
โค๏ธ
:bighug:

It has certainly been a rough few months! ๐Ÿ˜“ But I hope things can maybe start looking up now.

Also happy to see that initial impressions imply manageability! I wasn't sure how I was feeling. Obviously cancer would have been the worse diagnosis, but a whole new thing to manage on top of FD with limited funds is also scary. Was also just really looking forward to the dental fixing the problems with his numbers!!

Thank you so much, Christine! ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ
 
Hi Brianna and Xander
I'm just catching up with the latest news. I'm sorry you and Xander have so much going on in one week. I'm sorry he's lost his fangies
๐Ÿฅบ
(plus so many other teefs).
Happy to read this update as well that is not worst case scenario. I know how it feels expecting the worst news. Hopefully sweet Xander recovers quickly
๐Ÿ™
๐Ÿˆโ€โฌ›
๐Ÿ˜˜

Sending lots and lots of healing vines
โœจ
๏ธ
๐Ÿƒ
๐Ÿƒ
๐Ÿƒ
๐Ÿƒ
๐Ÿƒ
๐Ÿƒ
๐Ÿƒ
๐Ÿƒ
๐Ÿƒ
๐Ÿƒ
๐Ÿƒ
โœจ
๏ธ

And thanks for sharing these photos. Made my day
โค๏ธ
๐Ÿ˜น
๐Ÿคญ

Thank you so much, Karolina! ๐Ÿ’œ It has been really hard waiting to hear something awful. So glad it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

lol And so glad you enjoyed his pics! They crack me up. ๐Ÿคฃ
 
This is really good to hear! That second photo almost made me spit out my tea... Bell had the constant agitation after her dentals when they gave her zorbium. She was so restless and couldn't sit down. She didn't sleep for 3 days (I didn't even see her close her eyes!). Hopefully Xander's drugs wear off sooner than that. I made sure they didn't use zorbium on Bell's last dental and she was back to normal the same day (no extractions tho). He's such a sweetie
๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ The picture is hilarious lol

It is so weird! 3 days is crazy though (poor Bell, I can't imagine what that'd FEEL like!) Fortunately he wasn't quite that bad, but he was going crazy for a while.

Thank you, Seth!! ๐Ÿ’œ
 
I'm late to this post, so sorry!! HILARIOUS stills from that video
๐Ÿ˜‚
Xander is such a cutie. Glad you got lots of cuddles and honestly laughs from him not stopping for several hours. The drugs really do a weird number of them.

Really hoping that since the vet is pretty confident it's IBD, that it's that and nothing else. It sounds like from some other posts above that is can be super manageable. Please keep us posted! Sending recovery healing vines and positive energy for a quick and positive result from the tests
๐Ÿ–ค
๐Ÿค—


Never any need to apologize! ๐Ÿค—

It is really weird. I understand it's fairly common, but it's so odd that it should be sedating and has... the exact opposite effect on some cats.

Thank you, Briana!! ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿค—
 
That's so good to hear!! The vet was warning us that the treatments for it and FD conflict and that she'd want to transfer me to an internal specialist to deal with that if it's the case. I really don't want to have to give him extra injections as these ones are hard enough. Not sure how much we can afford either, but... I guess we'll find out.

Glad to hear that you're here with relevant experience! I may be coming to you for help soon! lol
With Lu, nothing affected her diabetes, except that the steroid she takes might affect her BG levels, or maybe not.

And she didn't need any extra injections of anything. The course of Prednisolone she took was a capsule, and then when it was clear she was doing better, we started giving her Budesonide, another capsule, which is pretty small. Bude targets exactly the digestive tract, not the entire body, and is easier on a cat's system overall. And it was no problem giving her the medications. I wrapped them in pate, and she gobbled them up like a treat, and looks forward to getting her Budesonide bon bon ;-)

I also give her, instead of a B12 injection, a tablet, Cobalequin, which is chewable.

All of this is working really well for Lu, and I hope for an equally easy path for your dear Xander. I hope he's showing you he's feeling better!
 
Aww I am glad he was coming back to normal in the PM. Getting all out of order with vet visits and stuff is really frustrating because we know how important consistency is with FD, but Egon bounced back from his appointments quicker than I thought and now seems like he's overall doing a lot better! I really hope the same for Xander!!
 
That's all great info, thank you!! I'm glad to hear that it was so manageable. How did the treatment affect her FD? I was so looking forward to his teeth being fixed and his numbers suddenly getting way better. Now it's seeming like we're just gonna add a new reason for the numbers to suck.
We didn't see any effect on her glucose. Then again, there wasn't much that DID affect her levels. Dentals made no difference whatsoever (the dental specialist was kind of upset about that). The budesonide made no difference. The pred that she was on temporarily when her Addison's was first diagnosed made no difference (not to mention that, being her she was able to come off pred but not off the super-expensive DOCP). With that said, she'd never really had normal numbers regardless of insulin dose either. So she was far from the "usual" diabetic cat. In the end, we had to settle for half-decent control of her glucose - she'd dive wildly if we increased the dose, but stayed higher than ideal on lower doses. She was just weird in so many different ways.
 
Previous post: 9/24/25

Sorry we didn't make it back in here yesterday to respond to all your amazingly sweet and thoughtful comments! It was a very rough day for us right up to the end. ๐Ÿ˜ฎโ€๐Ÿ’จ But I'll respond to them here below!

Yesterday he just wouldn't eat. I woke up around 4:30 and saw that he hadn't eaten his overnight food but also couldn't find him. He was apparently hiding behind the couch (which we normally have blocked off, but he found a way in I guess) until like 7:30. When he came out, he still didn't eat the food with gaba we normally give him at 5. It's not unusual for him to be a pain about the gaba meal though, so I didn't think too much of it. I gave him his PS food and when I went to apply his lido he ran. I managed to hold onto him long enough to get it on, but then he hid for a while. He came out in time to do his injection but was still very nervous, and ran off and hid again when I tried. I let him be and he came out after an hour and seemed normal, so I gave him his dose. Pretty sure the combo of no gaba + the morning routine of sticking him in a carrier to go to the vet lately has made him very nervous.

Unfortunately, despite seeming normal, he wouldn't eat after that either. Like, nothing. Around +4 he was going lime, so I gave him some 21% (just the gravy, because the food itself is shreds and he obviously can't really eat that right now). Struggled for hours and hours to keep him up with just the gravy and even that was a fight to get him to eat. Around 3:50 he vomited (Empty stomach? Nausea? Both?) and at that point I called the vet to find out whether Cerenia (which I had thankfully just picked up a few days earlier), ondansetron and/or Mirataz were safe with the Onsior and gaba he was already taking. Vet said yes, and to give all 3. So I did. Around 6 he was finally eating normal food again and was at least not lime. After that day though and being so behind on food (even feeding him an oz every hour he still barely surpassed half his calorie intake by the end of the day) I decided to skip again. Ugh.

On the upside, it meant I could go back to our normal time this morning without having to take time to walk it back. He ate his gaba with enough time today to work, and actually seemed the most like himself in a while. He was excited about his PS food, and went straight to his bird perch for both it and his injection like he normally would. Almost seemed like he was happy and eager to get back to our normal routine. My partner had been working from home a lot this week with everything going on but was gone for PS and injection, which may have helped (they're the "bad guy" who does the capturing for the vet).

I hope him eating today means he's feeling better and isn't just residual Mirataz. We're out of Onsior now, so I also hope he's not going to be in more pain. He's not as drooly anymore and seems to be fully closing his mouth more often. He even gave (very gummy ๐Ÿคฃ) love bites today for the first time since before this, which seems promising?

No bloodwork results yet, but that's to be expected.
Oh boy, Iโ€™m so sorry yesterday was so hard. Youโ€™re an incredible Mom to your sweet boy, Brianna. Your dedication and strength are so admirable ๐Ÿ’–

Isnโ€™t this place where we connect just full of amazing cat parents? ๐Ÿ’•

Iโ€™m so glad to read that Xander is feeling much better today. Thatโ€™s the best news ๐ŸŽ‰

Youโ€™ve both been through a lot this week๐Ÿ’

One thing I tried to do with Ivy's carrier was to make it a little safe spot for her. I put a cozy towel on the bottom and when she wanted to chill out she would go to sleep in it.
I left it out all the time so it became a place she chose to go into.
(Not that it ever made her behave at the vet, I just wanted to have her be comfortable going into it on her own.)

Just an idea if you have a place where you could put his crate if you wanted to try that ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™€๏ธ

Anyway, we are sending you all lots of calm and zen vines for a quiet weekend of relaxing and serenity. ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿ€๐Ÿ€๐Ÿ€๐Ÿง˜โ€โ™€๏ธ
You sure need it ๐Ÿซ‚๐Ÿซ‚๐Ÿซ‚๐Ÿ’๐Ÿ’•โค๏ธโ€๐Ÿฉน
 
Oh Brianna, so sorry yesterday was scary and stressful ๐Ÿค—I'm glad he's feeling better and eating better today :D. "Gummy love bites" ๐Ÿคฃ I LOVE this cause I know exactly what you mean and how they feel. โค๏ธ

With all things considered after the week he has had and a couple of skips, he hasn't shot off to the moon ๐Ÿš€, and I hope that yesterday's lows don't point him in that direction either. You are such a wonderful cat momma, and you do so well for him. Great job keeping him safe yesterday. Hoping that today is much calmer and boring and that your sweet boy continues to heal โค๏ธโ€๐Ÿฉน
 
With Lu, nothing affected her diabetes, except that the steroid she takes might affect her BG levels, or maybe not.

And she didn't need any extra injections of anything. The course of Prednisolone she took was a capsule, and then when it was clear she was doing better, we started giving her Budesonide, another capsule, which is pretty small. Bude targets exactly the digestive tract, not the entire body, and is easier on a cat's system overall. And it was no problem giving her the medications. I wrapped them in pate, and she gobbled them up like a treat, and looks forward to getting her Budesonide bon bon ;-)

I also give her, instead of a B12 injection, a tablet, Cobalequin, which is chewable.

All of this is working really well for Lu, and I hope for an equally easy path for your dear Xander. I hope he's showing you he's feeling better!

Yeah, the steroids are what I'd worry about, especially since they're what causes FD for so many cats in the first place. :confused:

Great to know that these things can all be taken in pill form! Xander won't take pills either, but if they can be crushed into food (without tasting awful) I can usually get him to eat that. Pain in the butt though.

Thank you so much again, I really appreciate it! So nice to see that this may not have to be such a massive undertaking.
 
Aww I am glad he was coming back to normal in the PM. Getting all out of order with vet visits and stuff is really frustrating because we know how important consistency is with FD, but Egon bounced back from his appointments quicker than I thought and now seems like he's overall doing a lot better! I really hope the same for Xander!!

Thank you so much, Mady!! I hope so too. I'm so glad Egon bounced back quickly and is doing so well!! ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ
 
We didn't see any effect on her glucose. Then again, there wasn't much that DID affect her levels. Dentals made no difference whatsoever (the dental specialist was kind of upset about that). The budesonide made no difference. The pred that she was on temporarily when her Addison's was first diagnosed made no difference (not to mention that, being her she was able to come off pred but not off the super-expensive DOCP). With that said, she'd never really had normal numbers regardless of insulin dose either. So she was far from the "usual" diabetic cat. In the end, we had to settle for half-decent control of her glucose - she'd dive wildly if we increased the dose, but stayed higher than ideal on lower doses. She was just weird in so many different ways.

Interesting! Well, maybe we'll get lucky then... The dental made no difference either? That's crazy. The description of diving on any higher dose but not really getting low enough on a safer one I can absolutely relate to, because Xander's exactly the same way. Maybe we'll end up in the same boat. He's always been extra weird too.
 
Oh boy, Iโ€™m so sorry yesterday was so hard. Youโ€™re an incredible Mom to your sweet boy, Brianna. Your dedication and strength are so admirable ๐Ÿ’–

Isnโ€™t this place where we connect just full of amazing cat parents? ๐Ÿ’•

Iโ€™m so glad to read that Xander is feeling much better today. Thatโ€™s the best news ๐ŸŽ‰

Youโ€™ve both been through a lot this week๐Ÿ’

One thing I tried to do with Ivy's carrier was to make it a little safe spot for her. I put a cozy towel on the bottom and when she wanted to chill out she would go to sleep in it.
I left it out all the time so it became a place she chose to go into.
(Not that it ever made her behave at the vet, I just wanted to have her be comfortable going into it on her own.)

Just an idea if you have a place where you could put his crate if you wanted to try that ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™€๏ธ

Anyway, we are sending you all lots of calm and zen vines for a quiet weekend of relaxing and serenity. ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿ€๐Ÿ€๐Ÿ€๐Ÿง˜โ€โ™€๏ธ
You sure need it ๐Ÿซ‚๐Ÿซ‚๐Ÿซ‚๐Ÿ’๐Ÿ’•โค๏ธโ€๐Ÿฉน

Aww, thank you so much Staci!! ๐Ÿฅน๐Ÿฅน๐Ÿฅน

He has been so far! Has eaten all his meals. I'm about to give him lunch and am less sure he'll eat that though. We'll see...

We actually left the carrier out until yesterday afternoon because he had been choosing to go in it at times, but when he started to seem really nervous yesterday morning I hid it, and he's seemed better since then. He's weird. He was enjoying it for a bit and then didn't want it around. ๐Ÿคท๐Ÿปโ€โ™€๏ธ But it was a good idea! ty for the suggestion!
 
Oh Brianna, so sorry yesterday was scary and stressful ๐Ÿค—I'm glad he's feeling better and eating better today :D. "Gummy love bites" ๐Ÿคฃ I LOVE this cause I know exactly what you mean and how they feel. โค๏ธ

With all things considered after the week he has had and a couple of skips, he hasn't shot off to the moon ๐Ÿš€, and I hope that yesterday's lows don't point him in that direction either. You are such a wonderful cat momma, and you do so well for him. Great job keeping him safe yesterday. Hoping that today is much calmer and boring and that your sweet boy continues to heal โค๏ธโ€๐Ÿฉน

Haha yes, gummy love bites! Very wet and squishy. ๐Ÿ˜‚ Trixie gives them too? I much prefer them to the fangies-bites, to be honest. He didn't know his own love bite strength lol

It really is incredible that he's been mostly okay. Even today so far he hasn't been in any kind of awful bounce. I'll take it!!

Thank you, Kat!! ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ
 
Oh boy! Gummy love bites sounds like quite the experience ๐Ÿ˜‚ I wonder if him being agreeable this morning was because he realized he wasn't getting brought the vet and he was just generally happy to be back to routine... lesser of two evils, right? Glad you got him eating and you had to make the safe call by not shooting if he wasn't going to eat. Hoping he settles in and the no more onsior will be okay. Safe surfing and healing tonight ๐Ÿค—๐Ÿค—
 
Haha yes, gummy love bites! Very wet and squishy. ๐Ÿ˜‚ Trixie gives them too? I much prefer them to the fangies-bites, to be honest. He didn't know his own love bite strength lol

It really is incredible that he's been mostly okay. Even today so far he hasn't been in any kind of awful bounce. I'll take it!!

Thank you, Kat!! ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ
Not Trixie, but another kitty who crossed the bridge a few years ago. She would try to be all scary and intimidating with her little nibbles, and I when I didn't react it would just anger her more. lol ๐Ÿ’œ
 
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