03/07 Taz, AMPS 549, PMPS 524

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Cat-Mom Amanda

Cat-Mom Amanda

Member Since 2023
I found this forum in my endless search for answers/help. My 16-year-old cat, Taz, was diagnosed with diabetes this past September after being on prednisone for over 2 years due to small cell lymphoma cells biopsied in his colon, though he has not developed any cancer tumors yet. My frustration is that over the past 6 months Taz's gluocose reading keep popping high (300-600) despite increasing his insulin. We've increased from 1 unit to 5 units now, and it feels like his glucose levels increase as the units increase. Anyone here ever experienced this? My heart is breaking that all my efforts are not helping him, and now he is developing neuropathy. I tried to enter all his info in the "About" section of my profile, but I kept getting a weird error saying my content was spam... so I'm putting it below. Also, the spreadsheet link in the "Posting Guidelines" section did not work, so, sorry, but I was not able to complete a spreasheet. If anyone can help, I would most appreciate it. My vet and I are at a loss at this point.

Cat: Taz, 16, male (altered)
Date Diagnosed: September 2022
Insulin: Sanofi SoloStar Glargine Insulin Pen
Testing: Yes, I am home-testing with the AlphaTRAK 2 Blood Glucose Monitoring System
Complications Taz is currently experiencing include:
-Polyuria or PU (urinating a lot)
-Polydipsia or PD (drinking a lot)
-Neuropathy (nerve damage, usually manifests as difficulty walking on hind legs/feet)
Medications: clopidogrel (blood thinner), salix (diuretic), chlorambucil (chemotherapy)
Supplements: probiotic, potassium, phosphate binder, miralax (for constipation), and sometimes Dasuquin (for joint health, but may be discontinuing)
Other health issues: Taz has mild congestive heart failure, mild renal/kidney disease, and IBS/small cell lymphoma
Corticosteroids: Taz was on prednisone for a couple of years for the IBS/small cell lymphoma, but was removed from it when he developed diabetes from it. Oncologist changed him to chlorambucil.
Food: Wet food only - hand feeding Purina ProPlan NF Kidney Function and Weruva Wx because he won't eat it on his own, and then Gerber Chicken And Gravy Baby Food, as this is all he will eat willingly on his own
 
Welcome. We are very data oriented here so we need to have you set up a spreadsheet and input the last couple of weeks data. We ask new members to start on the main forum with an intro. It’s good you set up a signature. Once you get the spreadsheet running we can help.
 
Hi Amanda You can probably for more of the more important info on your signature
You can just go back to it and get rid of Seattle Washington and just put (PTZ)
You don't need (altered)
Just put Glargine Pen, don't need to put Sanofi Solostar
Just need to put Alpha Trak 2 don't need to put
Blood Glucose Monitoring System

Then see if you can put it like this
clopidogrel ,salix, , chlorambucil
probiotic, potassium, phosphate binder, miralax
mild congestive heart failure, mild renal/kidney disease, and IBS/small cell lymphoma
prednisone for a couple of years for the IBS/small cell lymphoma,


Is this want you are feeding
Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets NF Kidney Function Advanced Care if so the carbs are too high for a diabetickityy Carbs are 36.98 %
I got this information from
Tanya's Comprehensive Guide To Feline Chronic Kidney Disease
felinecrf.org

As for wet food for cat that are diabetic and who have kidney disease you can try these if Tax likes Pate
You can check these out from Weruva BFF like

One of our members put it together
BFF play chicken Checkmate
Protein 31%
Carbs 5%
Phosphorus 129%
BFF play chicken & turkey topsy turvy
Protein 32%
Carbs 5%
Phosphorus 129%
BFF play chicken cherish
Protein 31%
Carbs 5%
Phosphorus 135%
BFF chicken & turkey tiptoe
Protein 31%
Carbs 5%
Phosphorus 136%
BFF chicken duck & turkey take a chance
Protein 32%
Carbs 5%
Phosphorus 149%
BFF play chicken & lamb laugh out loud
Protein 31%
Carbs 5%
Phosphorus 154%
BFF play chicken & duck destiny
Protein 32%
Carbs 5%
Phosphorus 165%
BFF play chicken & beef best buds
Protein 33%
Carbs 5%
Phosphorus 171%

weruva has low carb and low phospherous wet food
With weruva foods
You want the metabolizable energy profile percentage of carbs to be less than 10%, and the phosphorus which Weruva lists in Minerals to be less than 250 mg per 100 cals. So you have to look at two different places in the Weruva charts.
https://weruva.com
Will also give the protein and fat %


For diabetic cats and cats that have elevated kidney values
You want to feed low phosphorous wet food

When you go to the weruva site and click on one of the pics of the food , click on Detailed Nutrition information that is under guaranteed analysis to the left
YOU WANT CARBS UNDER 10% AND PHOSPHORUS IDEALLY LOW 200's OR LESS
@Cat-Mom Amanda
 
Hi Amanda and Taz and welcome. Lots of information in this post may help you get set up so we can help you faster/better: New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
The information above goes in your signature, but the amount of information is limited. Don't look at my signature, my lengthy one was grandfathered. The post I linked tells you what to include.

I do have some questions. Was Taz getting Prednisone or Prednisolone? Prednisolone is best for cats. Small cell lymphoma doesn't typically cause tumours, which is large cell lymphoma, they are different conditions. When was Taz diagnosed with small cell lymphoma (SCL) and how was he diagnosed? How long after the small cell diagnosis was he on pred before switching to chlorambucil? Typical treatment for small cell lymphoma is prednisolone AND chlorambucil. In diabetic cats, or cats with heart conditions (like my Neko had), budesonide is often used to replace the prednisolone. It doesn't impact blood sugars as much.

Are you using pens to inject or syringes? We typically increase the dose by 0.25 or 0.5 units at a time, which means using syringes. Pens means larger increases at a time.

I'm sorry for all the questions, but trying to get a better picture of the history.
 
tiffmaxee said:
Welcome. We are very data oriented here so we need to have you set up a spreadsheet and input the last couple of weeks data. We ask new members to start on the main forum with an intro. It’s good you set up a signature. Once you get the spreadsheet running we can help.
Click to expand...

Thank you... I will try to find another link to the spreadsheet, so I can complete one, as the one I clicked on the forum yesterday did not work.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Hi Amanda You can probably for more of the more important info on your signature
You can just go back to it and get rid of Seattle Washington and just put (PTZ)
You don't need (altered)
Just put Glargine Pen, don't need to put Sanofi Solostar
Just need to put Alpha Trak 2 don't need to put
Blood Glucose Monitoring System

Then see if you can put it like this
clopidogrel ,salix, , chlorambucil
probiotic, potassium, phosphate binder, miralax
mild congestive heart failure, mild renal/kidney disease, and IBS/small cell lymphoma
prednisone for a couple of years for the IBS/small cell lymphoma,

...

For diabetic cats and cats that have elevated kidney values
You want to feed low phosphorous wet food

When you go to the weruva site and click on one of the pics of the food , click on Detailed Nutrition information that is under guaranteed analysis to the left
YOU WANT CARBS UNDER 10% AND PHOSPHORUS IDEALLY LOW 200's OR LESS
@Cat-Mom Amanda
Click to expand...

Thank you, Diane... I've think I got the signature updated like you suggested, and I was able to add/save the meds/supplements to my "About" section like you had listed without getting the error this time. And I appreciate the heads-up about the food I was feeding him... it has been a tug-of-war between the renal issues and the diabetes, since the food recommended for each condition is so different. I will definitely be checking into the list you provided to see if swapping this out will help at all. Thank you again!
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Hi Amanda and Taz and welcome. Lots of information in this post may help you get set up so we can help you faster/better: New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
The information above goes in your signature, but the amount of information is limited. Don't look at my signature, my lengthy one was grandfathered. The post I linked tells you what to include.

I do have some questions. Was Taz getting Prednisone or Prednisolone? Prednisolone is best for cats. Small cell lymphoma doesn't typically cause tumours, which is large cell lymphoma, they are different conditions. When was Taz diagnosed with small cell lymphoma (SCL) and how was he diagnosed? How long after the small cell diagnosis was he on pred before switching to chlorambucil? Typical treatment for small cell lymphoma is prednisolone AND chlorambucil. In diabetic cats, or cats with heart conditions (like my Neko had), budesonide is often used to replace the prednisolone. It doesn't impact blood sugars as much.

Are you using pens to inject or syringes? We typically increase the dose by 0.25 or 0.5 units at a time, which means using syringes. Pens means larger increases at a time.

I'm sorry for all the questions, but trying to get a better picture of the history.
Click to expand...

No worries at all about all the questions... I'm more than happy to give more info, if anyone can help me figure out how to make my little boy better, as I feel that I'm failing him miserably. As for your questions, yes, sorry, it was prednisolone--not prednisone. Taz was diagnosed a little over 2 years ago when a vet scoped him to find out why he was vomitting. A biopsy of a sample of his colon discovered SCL cells, so we were transfered to an oncologist who put him on pred. Since the oncologist said pred is bad for diabetes, she switched him to chlorambucil to help keep the IBS/SCL in check. I have not heard of budesonide, so I will have to chat with our oncologist about the possibility of switching. Thank you for letting me know about this alternative. And for injections, I've done both. Currently just using the pen; however, in the past when the units were climbing, I would use a syringe with 0.5 unit markings to draw insulin from the pen as we were moving him up in 0.5 increments (and then continue using syringes on that pen, since using it as a pen would not work anymore with units of the insulin missing because of syringe draws). Hope all this info helps... if any other questions, just let me know. Thanks!
 
Cat-Mom Amanda said:
Thank you, Diane... I've think I got the signature updated like you suggested, and I was able to add/save the meds/supplements to my "About" section like you had listed without getting the error this time. And I appreciate the heads-up about the food I was feeding him... it has been a tug-of-war between the renal issues and the diabetes, since the food recommended for each condition is so different. I will definitely be checking into the list you provided to see if swapping this out will help at all. Thank you again!
Click to expand...
Hi Amanda anyway you can add this to your signature, I shortened some things for you
clopidogrel , chlorambucil
, potassium, phosphate binder,
mild CHF , mild KD / IBS/small cell lymphoma
prednisolone a couple of years for the IBS/SCL
You can omit the word pen and just leave glargine
For the food just put Gerber Baby Food
Just trying to help you shorten everything so you can add the important stuff
Sometimes members don't always look at the about section
Give it a try
@Cat-Mom Amanda
 
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Glad to hear he's on prednisolone. I'm on my third cat with SCL and do sometimes hear of cats on the wrong meds for it, or protocols that aren't the latest. It also sounds like he was diagnosed properly, so that's also good. How long after the SCL diagnosis did he switch from pred to chlorambucil? He could probably be on both chlorambucil and budesonide, which is the combo my Neko took. She was pretty regulated when I got her SCL diagnosis, so I could tell if budesonide was impacting her blood sugars.
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
mild CHF , mild KD / IBS/small cell lymphoma
Click to expand...
I'd change this to just CHF, CKD, SCL - does he have IBD as well? Cats don't usually get IBS.

He's also eating more than Gerber baby food, which is not a complete meal. So you could Purina Proplan NF + LC wet. LC means various low carb foods which the others are. The Proplan NF is listed as 27% carbs, and we suggest foods under 10% carbs for diabetics. What percent of the NF is he getting now vs other foods? The high carb Purina NF may be one reason he's harder to regulate.
 
@Cat-Mom Amanda
I just wanted to add this about the Weruva WX that was posted by one of our members

I reached out to Weruva and spoke with a representative. She pointed me to the website https://weruva.com/wx/ which explains the disclaimer for "not complete and balanced" food is because ...
"Wx Phos Focused foods is not complete and balanced because it does not contain adequate levels of phosphorus." Per the AAFCO standards.
It does meet all the other AAFCO nutritional standards.

I'm glad you are going to look into the other weruva foods that I posted in post #4
 
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