Cognitive decline and Sam-e supplement?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Ben&Squirrel

Ben&Squirrel

Member Since 2022
Hi everybody,

I posted this on the Lantus forum a couple of days ago and I don't think anyone there knew.

Has anyone put their sugar cat on the supplement Sam-e for cognitive decline?

Ben has been OTJ for a few months and is doing well on the low-carb diet. He's 16 but the vet is really happy with how he's doing. He had bloodwork last week and last month and all systems are doing great. Thyroid, kidneys, etc. all okay. Just had a dental cleaning last month.

He has started caterwauling in the night like he is lost in the next room. He sounds devastated sometimes! :( The vet suspects he is just starting to have some cognitive decline due to age, since his thyroid and other labs are okay. She suggested putting him on the supplement Sam-e, brand name Senilife. It is marketed for dogs but she has experience using it in cats and has been happy with it. She says it may slow cognitive decline and keep him more mentally sharp for longer. She's also suggested putting him on gabapentin.

Does anyone have any idea how this might impact his diabetes? I want to do everything I can to keep him feeling good but would feel much better using it if I had reason to believe it would not increase his risk of relapse.

Thanks in advance!
 
I googled and found this

Does SAMe affect blood sugar?
SAMe may reduce levels of blood sugar and may strengthen the effect of diabetes medications, which increases the risk of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

What does SAMe do for cats?
"It is a commonly used supplement to treat liver disease in pets, especially cats and dogs." SAMe has been used to treat liver disease, osteoarthritis, age-related behavior changes, and other cognitive and nerve disorders in mammals.

https://www.amazon.com/maxxicat-max...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
I googled and found this

Does SAMe affect blood sugar?
SAMe may reduce levels of blood sugar and may strengthen the effect of diabetes medications, which increases the risk of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).
Click to expand...

Hi Diane! Thanks for that. That actually makes me feel a little nervous about giving him the Sam-e. It's great that it is not known to raise blood sugar, but it impacts blood sugar, and it makes me worry that some kind of problem might result. I'm probably being too vigilant but I wonder if it could create a bounce by making his BG go too low. Am I worrying too much?
 
Ben&Squirrel said:
Hi Diane! Thanks for that. That actually makes me feel a little nervous about giving him the Sam-e. It's great that it is not known to raise blood sugar, but it impacts blood sugar, and it makes me worry that some kind of problem might result. I'm probably being too vigilant but I wonder if it could create a bounce by making his BG go too low. Am I worrying too much?
Click to expand...
I really wouldn't know Catherine

Here is an old post where members were talking about cognitive decline
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/civvie-question-wild-at-night.193036/#post-2155988
 
Dyana said:
I used Denarmin for J.D. when he had signs of dementia (howling when feeling/acting lost in a different room) when he was getting on close to 18 years old (back in 2012). Recommended by my vet because he said it had an off label use for cognitive help. It has Sam-e and Milk Thistle in it. It seemed to help him. https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/09-03-j-d-amps-291-2-5-423-5-250.78371/
Click to expand...

Thanks, Dyana. It sounds promising; it did not create any problems with his BG? Either raising or lowering?
 
Catherine --

If you are testing Benny, you will know if any medication or supplement is having an effect on BG. However, if Benny is OTJ, there's little chance he'll become hypoglycemic. To be cautious, if you make sure to leave some food out, I suspect Benny will eat if his BG levels drop.

One other thought is to get a night light. If he's having any age related vision issues, having some additional light may help keep Benny oriented.
 
I don't know why it's a subject of debate but we've had a dog that had dementia and it was awful.
When we thought our cat Marco was losing is marbles it turned out to be hearing loss. We never tried any supplements but some thumps on the floor and escorted walks outside the house made his world so much better. Best of luck.
 
Noah & me (GA) said:
I don't know why it's a subject of debate but we've had a dog that had dementia and it was awful.
When we thought our cat Marco was losing is marbles it turned out to be hearing loss. We never tried any supplements but some thumps on the floor and escorted walks outside the house made his world so much better. Best of luck.
Click to expand...

Very sorry to hear about your dog. :arghh: I'll watch out for hearing loss too, thank you!
 
The hearing loss was something that never occurred to me. It wasn't expensive and explained a lot of his behaviors; staring into blank spaces, howling at the door. It all stopped if you just touched him as if he didn't know who or where he was. We say all our cats names in a different way so for years he's been tuned into that and when it's gone their whole life changes. I've had too many concussions, Marco was abused for seven years and could have had his own, we'll never know.
It changes you forever, at one time I started showing signs of CTE. There's no research on cats or dogs but you can only bang your head so many times before things start to change. I'm one of the lucky ones, it's all in my profile. One thing that's not in there is being on my third motorcycle helmet by the time I was 20 and had to give it up.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top