Tiger, my 9 year old grey tabby, was just diagnosed with diabetes on Friday and I am trying to figure out if there is a correlation between this and other ailments.
He has suffered from a bad cough for over a year which we thought was due to enviromental issues (mold in my home that I was unaware of and that possibly caused the death of one of my other cats). After bronchialdialators (sp?) for several months we then also administered a round of steroids and he has been cough-free for over 3 months, without any pills needed. Suddenly, his cough returned within the past week and it is more severe than ever (longer-lasting and more frequent attacks) and his "normal" breathing is very belabored. As mentioned above, another one of my cats died quite suddenly after she was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis, emphysema and pneumonia - all discovered after she began having coughing attacks. Additionally, I have two other cats now: Puma who has only had one coughing fit that I have seen in the 18 months I have had her but she sneezes quite frequently; and then Juju who also had coughing fits earlier this year but the vet diagnosed it as different than Tiger's diagnosis and treated her with antibiotics - to which she has been fine other than a few sporadic coughing spells, nothing too severe.
Issue # 2: Tiger has had a facial "twitch" for a few years that typically takes place when he is falling asleep and/or purring. It was never very severe and my vet did not think it was an issue. However, over the course of the past few months/year his twitch has gotten a great deal worse - more frequent and more dramatic - and over the past few weeks alone it has intensified even more.
I am sorry for such a long-winded post but I am hoping that someone else can tell me if their diabetic cat has displayed any of these symptoms. It just seems strange that his cough has returned and his twitching has gotten worse now that he is diabetic (after lab results showed him as non-diabetic in April/May). Thank you!!
He has suffered from a bad cough for over a year which we thought was due to enviromental issues (mold in my home that I was unaware of and that possibly caused the death of one of my other cats). After bronchialdialators (sp?) for several months we then also administered a round of steroids and he has been cough-free for over 3 months, without any pills needed. Suddenly, his cough returned within the past week and it is more severe than ever (longer-lasting and more frequent attacks) and his "normal" breathing is very belabored. As mentioned above, another one of my cats died quite suddenly after she was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis, emphysema and pneumonia - all discovered after she began having coughing attacks. Additionally, I have two other cats now: Puma who has only had one coughing fit that I have seen in the 18 months I have had her but she sneezes quite frequently; and then Juju who also had coughing fits earlier this year but the vet diagnosed it as different than Tiger's diagnosis and treated her with antibiotics - to which she has been fine other than a few sporadic coughing spells, nothing too severe.
Issue # 2: Tiger has had a facial "twitch" for a few years that typically takes place when he is falling asleep and/or purring. It was never very severe and my vet did not think it was an issue. However, over the course of the past few months/year his twitch has gotten a great deal worse - more frequent and more dramatic - and over the past few weeks alone it has intensified even more.
I am sorry for such a long-winded post but I am hoping that someone else can tell me if their diabetic cat has displayed any of these symptoms. It just seems strange that his cough has returned and his twitching has gotten worse now that he is diabetic (after lab results showed him as non-diabetic in April/May). Thank you!!
