Maymay
Member Since 2018
Hi,
I'm new here and desperately in need of help. I have two diabetic cats, but one is in remission, off his insulin treatment and doing fine. Surprisingly well, according to the vet, since Murphy has food allergies and cannot eat a diabetic diet.
My second cat, Orlando, was diagnosed exactly two months ago (on his 10th) birthday. He's not doing well and we're losing him, which is why I joined this forum and I hope to draw on your experiences.
Orlando suddenly started peeing and drinking much more than usual, virtually overnight. I took him to the vet and sure enough his fructosamine levels were 510 mmol/l. All his other vitals were good.
He was put on 2 units of Caninsulin, but since he was still peeing and drinking too much after 10 days (less than before) and started showing signs of hind leg neuropathy, the vet decided to run an early test, which showed his levels had gone up to 570 mmol/l and his liver values had started going up.
Vet put him on Prozinc 6.2 units twice daily. I tried measuring his glucose levels, but only managed to get two measurements before he started stressing so much that the numbers went haywire. These showed a drop in glucose levels from around 30 mmol/l to around 16 mmol/l over a four hour period. Another test a few days later said 20 mmol/l right before his injection and then he'd have none of it after that. Vet advised me to stop measuring the glucose levels as not to jeopardize his insulin injection cooperation. He peed slightly less on Prozinc, but otherwise did not improve and the neuropathy in his hindlegs got worse. A test after 3 weeks showed that his fructosamine levels had gone up again to 610 mmol/l.
My gut instinct was to slowly increase the Prozinc dosage, but vet said it just wasn't effective enough and put him on Lantus for a slower and more steady insulin release, 2 units twice daily (I hate using the pen). It'll be three weeks on Tuesday and he's going in for blood tests again, but I already now know that it's unlikely to have had an effect. His neuropathy has gotten worse still and now also seems to be affecting his front legs. He also pees slightly more on Lantus than he did on Prozinc. I managed to get one glucose measurement on Lantus 4 hours after his morning shot and it said 20 mmol/liter.
I do know that I do not have enough glucose measurements to conclude anything on and that I desperately need to get more somehow without him stressing over it.
He's a cat who doesn't like wet food, but through hand-feeding, we're now up to 3/4 of a can daily, which isn't nearly enough since he's a Maine Coon and a big one at that. He was slightly overweight when first diagnosed (10.1 kg), but not so much that the vet thought that was causing the insulin resistance. He's lost weight since, and is of course only otherwise eating diabetic dry food.
Despite the neuropathy, he doesn't seem to be in any discomfort, he has a good appetite, talks, purrs, uses the litterbox, is interested in playing although it happens lying down, but with his history I believe the vet will tell me this is the end of the road when we go in, and part of me is thinking that she might be right. He's the youngest of our cats and dog, and the thought of losing him breaks my heart, but I don't want him to go on for my sake either if there's already irreversible damage or if it's just a matter of time before he starts suffer.
Sorry this got so long. I'm just driving myself crazy with worrying and fretting. (It's 1 am where I am right now, so I might not see any answers or be able to answer any questions until tomorrow).
Thank you for reading. Hugs.
I'm new here and desperately in need of help. I have two diabetic cats, but one is in remission, off his insulin treatment and doing fine. Surprisingly well, according to the vet, since Murphy has food allergies and cannot eat a diabetic diet.
My second cat, Orlando, was diagnosed exactly two months ago (on his 10th) birthday. He's not doing well and we're losing him, which is why I joined this forum and I hope to draw on your experiences.
Orlando suddenly started peeing and drinking much more than usual, virtually overnight. I took him to the vet and sure enough his fructosamine levels were 510 mmol/l. All his other vitals were good.
He was put on 2 units of Caninsulin, but since he was still peeing and drinking too much after 10 days (less than before) and started showing signs of hind leg neuropathy, the vet decided to run an early test, which showed his levels had gone up to 570 mmol/l and his liver values had started going up.
Vet put him on Prozinc 6.2 units twice daily. I tried measuring his glucose levels, but only managed to get two measurements before he started stressing so much that the numbers went haywire. These showed a drop in glucose levels from around 30 mmol/l to around 16 mmol/l over a four hour period. Another test a few days later said 20 mmol/l right before his injection and then he'd have none of it after that. Vet advised me to stop measuring the glucose levels as not to jeopardize his insulin injection cooperation. He peed slightly less on Prozinc, but otherwise did not improve and the neuropathy in his hindlegs got worse. A test after 3 weeks showed that his fructosamine levels had gone up again to 610 mmol/l.
My gut instinct was to slowly increase the Prozinc dosage, but vet said it just wasn't effective enough and put him on Lantus for a slower and more steady insulin release, 2 units twice daily (I hate using the pen). It'll be three weeks on Tuesday and he's going in for blood tests again, but I already now know that it's unlikely to have had an effect. His neuropathy has gotten worse still and now also seems to be affecting his front legs. He also pees slightly more on Lantus than he did on Prozinc. I managed to get one glucose measurement on Lantus 4 hours after his morning shot and it said 20 mmol/liter.
I do know that I do not have enough glucose measurements to conclude anything on and that I desperately need to get more somehow without him stressing over it.
He's a cat who doesn't like wet food, but through hand-feeding, we're now up to 3/4 of a can daily, which isn't nearly enough since he's a Maine Coon and a big one at that. He was slightly overweight when first diagnosed (10.1 kg), but not so much that the vet thought that was causing the insulin resistance. He's lost weight since, and is of course only otherwise eating diabetic dry food.
Despite the neuropathy, he doesn't seem to be in any discomfort, he has a good appetite, talks, purrs, uses the litterbox, is interested in playing although it happens lying down, but with his history I believe the vet will tell me this is the end of the road when we go in, and part of me is thinking that she might be right. He's the youngest of our cats and dog, and the thought of losing him breaks my heart, but I don't want him to go on for my sake either if there's already irreversible damage or if it's just a matter of time before he starts suffer.
Sorry this got so long. I'm just driving myself crazy with worrying and fretting. (It's 1 am where I am right now, so I might not see any answers or be able to answer any questions until tomorrow).
Thank you for reading. Hugs.
