Hello from me & Kobe

[zea14]

Started searching the internet for advice and came across this forum. It may be just what we need!

My cat, Kobe, will be 13 next month & was diagnosed diabetic this summer. He was acting perfectly normal, me always joking he was a 12 year old kitten who was full of life, running up the stairs in a single bound, playing and happy. He weighed 15-16lbs. (He looks like a Norwegian Forest Cat) Then he started having some swelling under his right eye, near his nose.

I took him to the vet, she was stumped as the teeth appeared fine with no obvious abscess. She suggested a trip to the Care Center. They too were stumped and ran a $300 blood test for cryptococcus. It was negative. They then suggested a $1200 CT scan to check for a tumor. They said the teeth were fine.

Don't get me wrong. I will spend any amount on my pets. And I have spent thousands & thousands, not batting an eye because these are my babies. But I'd just had my dog go thru a tooth abscess and this just seemed like the same thing. So I didn't get the scan. I asked my regular vet to xray him and it barely showed a possible tooth issue. I said put him out and let's see if something comes of that. Sure enough, he had a terribly infected tooth. The swelling went down, he seemed fine but was now drinking & urinating a lot more. So back to the vet.

She tested his BG & it was 356. Ok, so we started on Glipizide pills 2x daily with the addition of a little DM canned (which he hated). Vet says go to Fancy Feast. That worked much better. His regular dry diet which he eats well, is Royal Canin Urinary SO. He has been on it 10 years. Somewhere around this time, we went to the low-cal version. I'm wondering if that complicated things?

Anyway, the pills never worked to regulate him and now we have been on Humalin N. We started with 2 units 2x/D. We go in for weekly testing. We have been as high 476BG and 5 unit 2x/D. The dosage is always changing and is BG dropped to 22 on one visit. So back to 2 units. The next visit he was a nice 98. No changes. Then next week he was 267, so back up to 3 units where we are today.

The mostly troubling is seeing my once beautiful boy just lying around, no glimmer in his eyes. He is down to 12.4 lbs, no longer grooms himself, he drools and his chest is wet and yellowy (blood work says kidneys are fine) & has started walking funny, his back legs sliding out from under him. Vet says likely neuropathy. The past few days he is having diarrhea. He is a long haired cat. Ugh.

I want to start testing him at home but the vet is not keen on people meters. I have one here and I used my other cat as a guinea pig last night and I was able to get a reading from her ear. I tried on Kobe and I couldn't get enough blood for a sample before he was struggling to get away.

My vet specializes in cats and I love her to pieces. She is the absolute best when it comes to experience & compassion in our area. What more can I be doing for him? At this rate, I can see him leaving me in the near future and well, I love him so much & just don't feel like I'm doing enough to help.

I appreciate the opportunity to vent my story and frustrations. It looks like I have a lot of reading to do here!

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Welcome! You and Kobe have had quite a journey. There is a wealth of knowledge from members on this site and lots of information.

You don't need your vet's permission to test him at home. We figure we wouldn't give our 2 legged children insulin and then wait a week to have their blood glucose levels checked; we treat our 4 legged kids the same way. It is more accurate than at the vet also. Stress raises bg levels and most cats are stressed at the vet. And of course, much cheaper. We think human meters are fine since we are looking for trends and patterns. Pet meters are very expensive as are the strips.

You might start with warming Kobe's ear, giving him a treat and letting him go. Do that a few times, always with a treat. Then add the poke. Warming the ear is a vital part of the process as are treats. We also have found 25-27 gauge lancets work best for new diabetics; the 30-31 gauge ones that humans use are too small at first.

Unfortunately your vet is behind the time with insulin choice. The best insulins are the mild long lasting ones like Lantus, Levemir and ProZinc. Humulin is a harsher, shorter lasting insulin and is no longer used by FD vets. We have studies that you can share with your vet if you would like. The insulin is probably taking Kobe down in a sharp drop soon after the shot and then he bounces back up before the 12 hours are over. You'll be able to see this and share the info with your vet once you get some data from home testing.

Let us know how we can help. Keep reading and asking questions.

 

[Wendy&Tiggy(GA)]

Hello and welcome to the board!

He sounds like a very pretty cat- would love to see a picture! Anyway you are in the right place..... There are 3 keys to good insulin regulation and even remission - i will address each one in turn below..

1. Insulin - glipzide doesn't work. It stimulates the already stressed pancreas to produce more insulin - which makes the issue worse. So your vet was correct in changing to actual insulin however Humulin doesn't work well in cats either - its hard to regulate them and very harsh and fast acting. Its what is causing these highs and lows. We (and the american animal health association etc) recommend Lantus , levemir or prozinc. Ask your vet about those. Lantus has a great track record and many cats go into remission with it. We can provide reference papers if your vet needs those?

2. Food. You want a low carb wet food for diabetic cats. Needs to be under 10% calories from carbs. Fancy feast is good but only the classic pates (or see this list http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=94685). Dry food will spike the blood sugar and keep his BG high. I would slowly over a week transition him off the dry but you want to be home testing first as a food change can cause a rapid drop in insulin needs!!

3. Home testing - This is critical especially with a harsh insulin like Humulin. Its the best way to see how the dose is working, keeps him safe ( you don't want to shoot as a newbie under 200) and saves $ on vet curves which aren't very accurate anyway due to stress. People meters are fine. I can provide another paper on that too for your vet Here are some home testing tips but its better if you don't restrain him. Wait till he is snoozing and go up and start stroking the ears. Give a treat. Repeat every few hours for a few days until he is used to it. Then do poke! Heres the tips: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13c_CPZVKz27fD_6aVbsguadJKvjSrSAkD7flgPPhEag/pub

Let us know how you get on!

Wendy

 

[terriy]

Hello and welcome!! You HAVE found the right place!! There is unlimited knowledge here and everyone will help you every step of the way!!

 

[Deb & Wink]

Hello sugardude Kobe and welcome to the message board. Would you please introduce your owner to us?

I think the best thing you can do for your cat Kobe is to get a better insulin and start to home test. It's easy, we have lots of home testing tips and tricksand may even have someone near you to teach you how to home test. Most of us here use the people meters, mainly because the test strips are more readily available and they are so much less expensive.

The walking funny is diabetic neuropathy. My Wink had it really bad, but methylcobalmin (methyl B-12) helped as did getting his BG (blood glucose) regulated. He walks on his tippy toes again, where before he was walking on his hocks and had to stop every 3-4 steps. Couldn't jump
or play. Today, he is EVERYWHERE! ohmygod_smile

Also, the diarrhea sounds like it could be caused by the unregulated BG (blood glucose) levels. Wink was prone to UTI's and bouts of diarrhea until we got him off the terrible high carb dry food which helped to get his numbers below the renal threshold. Above renal threshold, means the excess glucose is spilling into the urinary tract and provides a nutrient rich environment for bacteria to breed.

AAHA Diabetes Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats This vet journal published article from May 2010 summarizes some of the recent research and best practices on diabetes treatment for our pets. I recommend printing off a copy, maybe 2, one for you, one for your vet.

We'd love to help you get Kobe feeling and looking better and more like his old self.

Where do you live? country, state/province, city/town so we can give you country specific recommendations on testing supplies and food suggestions.