Cat fur and skin peeling off

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Muchfaith

Member Since 2012
My cat Samantha was just diagnosed with diabetes in August and I have her on 2 units of Lantus 2 x a day. Because of her neuropathy she was starting to smell from sitting in the litter box so I gave her a bath and a patch of fur about 3 in x 3 in just peeled off skin and all. I called the vet and took her and they thought it was a deep infection and gave me antibiotics and pain meds. You an see a picture of her here https://www.facebook.com/groups/diabeti ... =1&theater
I was wondering if anyone else has seen this? It was very unnerving and she looks like she may be getting another patch on her hip.....
 

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There are some endocrine disordersc that may cause that - ask vet to check that.

Ps we use the candle icon to signify a cat has passed away.
 
This was the vets take on her skin:

This could be a deep infection. If so, it will respond to the antibiotics and e-collar.
It could also be related to her diabetes, another metabolic disease (Cushing's), or paraneoplastic syndrome. This is a skin condition secondary to cancer.

After reading the links provided I see that the Cushings aould be a possibility. Unfortunately I do not have the financial resources to prursue the blood tests etc to find out. I am going to continue treating the diabetes and will probably take to the Vet Wednesday when she comes back from vacation and see what she thinks. Sammy is 11 and very fiesty. I hate to say it but maybe it is time to put her down though it breaks my heart. If she has this and it's so hard to treat and not that successful then maybe it's time to put her out of her misery. I'm doing the best I can but we are really limited financially since my husband had his pay cut 50% it's all we can do to hold on eo the house!
 
Take it one day at a time and do what you can do .... the diabetes can be treated and anything else thrown your way. 11 is not very old for a indoor cat, hang on and see what you can do. Concentrate on what you are doing and don't worry at this moment about all the other stuff.

I would go to the Lantus tight regulation and have them help you. Are you home testing? It is important and it will help Samantha's neuopathy. I KNOW times are difficult everywhere but Samantha deserves your help. Diabetes can be treated on very little money but you must be diligent.

Please ask questions but Samantha is in your hands and I know you'll be there for her. Good luck and my prayers are with both of you.
Nancy
 
Thanks Nancy. Her sugar today is in the 350 range. I'm doing everythign I can. Have got the tenting down now. Even figures out a way to test using her ear!
 
Do what you can and take it a day at a time. I'd not worry about the testing for cushings as none seem to give any firm yes or no answers, so just stick to treating the diabetes and keeping your cat happy.
More notes on cushings as posted in the past by Dr. Lisa to another person I think....

Cushings Test Info from Dr.Lisa
You may want to ask your vet to peruse VIN if she/he is a member. I am not faulting your vet for the test that was run because it seems like this has never been very clear-cut but here are some excerpts from the VIN consultants with the date of their comments noted:
5/18/10 VIN consultant #1:
The ACTH stim has much lower sensitivity than the LDDS in cats. 60% of cats with hyperadrenocorticism return normal ACTH stim results.
That is, most cats with Cushings will not be picked up by a stim.
(LDDS = low dose dexamethasone suppression test)
6/25/10 VIN consultant #1:
The ACTH stim test is not recommended; it has very low sensitivity for Cushings in cats. The test of choice is a dexamethasone suppression test using the canine high dose.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Other VIN consultants have recommended a UCCR...Urine Cortisol:Creatinine Ratio and while cushings can't be diagnosed simply by an elevation in the UCCR, it can be a useful tool.
The UCCR is a SENSITIVE test for Cushing's (e.g. very few animals with Cushing's would have a negative UCCR), but it is not a SPECIFIC test (e.g. many other diseases will make the UCCR elevate e.g. uncontrolled diabetes could).
So among the screening tests, we usually pick a LDDS to screen cats (using the 'high' dose for a dog DSP).
Adrenal ultrasound is also used since false positives and false negatives can be seen with the LDDS.
So, as you can see, the Dx of cushings is not straight-forward so you should probably keep going with your 'hunt' for answers....IF you and your vet are still concerned about cushings.
Lisa Pierson, dvm
 
Thanks Lisa. In the reading I did it sounds like there is not a big cure rate either. Sammy looks kinda miserable buut she is eating and drinking and peeing and pooping. I'm thinking I'll take her to the vet Wednesday when she is back and see what she thinks. We are still considering putting her down but not going to make a rash decision. Just don't want to have her in pain. She doesn't much take care of herself. I carry her to the litter box at least 3 x a day. She wags her tail a lot but how do you know a cat is in pain? I am getting bitten all the time. SHe is really a feral cat but until recently when the diabetes and neuropathy kicked in she basically hid under the bed or on the kitty condo in our bedroom. Now she is living downstairs in the entry way on a cat/doggie blanket! I was just looking at some video I did of her a month or 2 ago and she looked mych better then. This is a video I did of her a few weeks ago before we brought down the blanket for her when she started hanging out in the dining room.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WztHk_7QLjU
Now she doesn't even do what she was doing in the video. Now she sleeps on the blanket almost all day. Just looks like she is pooping out!
 
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