herbal cures

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london2z

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Hello! I was just trying to find out if it was allowable to list an herbal feline pancreatic- healing product I've been using on this site, to see if others knew about it, and what they thought. I guess it will will be ok- I don't think it's spamming. My cat has been getting PZI insulin for about 4 months. Anyway, I thought I'd try an herbal product called GlucoEnsure. After 4 weeks or so on GlucoEnsure, my cat's BG suddenly went from being in the 350-425 range, including nadirs, which it had been at for two months, down to about the 260-360 range. It's two weeks later, now, and still about the same. So it seems as though it is effective, though the jury is still out. The site Buzzillions has several 5-star reviews on it. Has anyone else tried it?
 
Though those numbers are improved from the initial readings, they are still well above where they should be and the longer your cat spends at those numbers the more organ damage is done. Do you plan on starting insulin soon? No herbal supplements can replace insulin, so while the herbs may help with overall health, you really should be giving your cat the insulin it needs until the pancreas heals enough to produce it on its own. Have you changed to a low carb wet food diet? That is often the biggest change that will bring BGs down.
 
Sorry, on the first, pre-edit entry, I didn't mention that he has been on PZI for about 4 months, and lantus for a few months prior to that. He's been at 2u, twice daily, for the past couple months. And he has been on canned food over a year, since I first found out he had diabetes, and the vet suggested wet food diet.
 
Dose adjustments may be made on the basis of home tests, and if you're still getting diabetic numbers, it suggests the dose may need to be increased.

Are you feeding LOW CARB canned food? Check out Binkys Page and Pet Foods Nutritional Comparison
The food you select should be under 10% calories from carbohydrates.
 
I keep him at 2u, now, because when he was on either a higher or lower dose than that, the numbers just got worse.
As for the food, I feed him WalMart Friskies pate. It's all I can afford, as he has to have 3- 13 oz cans a day with his increasingly fast metabolism. I'll check and see if it has less than 10% calories from carbs. Thank you-
 
Wally
The numbers you listed above....are those preshot numbers only, or are the nadirs in that range too?
What strikes me is the amount Costello is eating.... 39 oz of wet a day? Is he gaining weight? With a metabolism that high, it sounds like something else might be going on with him. Either he's dipping so low he is pigging out to keep his numbers up, or there's something besides just diabetes making that much food necessary.

If it is Friskees pates you are feeding, the carbs should be fine (less than the 10% for sure).

For folks not familiar with Costello, he's had allergic and other reactions to specific foods and contents in the past....I don't remember what it is that he can and can't eat...it was very hard for Wally to find food that Costello could tolerate

Carl
 
The ranges include the nadirs. And his weight has been steady at 10-11 lbs, for several months, now. Yeah, it sure seems like a lot of food. Glad to hear about the Friskies. He's also eating 'Special Kitty' pate. I just checked on that one, and it's fine, as for carbs.
 
Both Special Kitty and Friskies Pate are fine carb wise for a diabetic..

But WOW on the amount of food...I too would second that it sounds like something else is going on there... I feed 13 cats ranging in size from Musette at the tiniest 8lbs to Maxwell at 17 lbs, with most tending to be closer to Maxwell's size at about 12-14lbs (Yeah I have big cats) on 8 large cans a day. Also in that mix of cats there are 3 that are under the age of 2 and still growing like weeds. Everyone here is maintaining weight just fine and a couple are actually still kind of pudgy.

I would tend to think that Costello might possibly be Hyper-T if his metabolism rate is that high. Has he ever had his thyroid checked?

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
Not that I'm aware of. But I'll look into it. Are your cats diabetic? It could just be the disease? Thank you. Gotta run, as usual!
 
two are diabetic ...Maxwell is in remission but Musette is still insulin dependent. The other 11 are just civies (non-diabetics) but even when Maxwell was still unregulated and underweight he was still only eating about 1 large can of Friskies a day. Musette who is still insulin dependent and still not as tightly regulated as I would like only eats a little over 6 oz and has been gaining weight. ( still get readings on her in the 300 to 400s every now and then).

As far as my 11 civies go 10 of them range in age from 18 months to 4 years old and are highly active cats, so they burn through the calories. There are only 3 seniors in the household...Maxwell (13) , Musette (12) and one civie Onyx (15). Everyone else are just about in constant motion, running up and down stairs, climbing their cat trees, wrestling with each other etc. I can really say I have any couch potatoes here with the exception of the 3 seniors but even they are fairly active for their ages.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
I think it may be just his own reation to the disease. Something tells me it isn't his thyroid. Although I don't know. Doesn't the thyroid have more to do with energy levels? ECID. Veternary health isn't my neck of the woods. TC
 
london2z said:
I think it may be just his own reaction to the disease. Something tells me it isn't his thyroid. Although I don't know. Doesn't the thyroid have more to do with energy levels? ECID. Veternary health isn't my neck of the woods. TC
Click to expand...

Unless you have blood work to rule out hyperthyroidism, this needs to be done asap. Hyper-T can kill with stroke or heart attack. The amount of food would support that diagnosis, as the metabolism is in super high gear and needs the calories to keep going.
 
BJM said:
london2z said:
I think it may be just his own reaction to the disease. Something tells me it isn't his thyroid. Although I don't know. Doesn't the thyroid have more to do with energy levels? ECID. Veternary health isn't my neck of the woods. TC
Click to expand...

Unless you have blood work to rule out hyperthyroidism, this needs to be done asap. Hyper-T can kill with stroke or heart attack. The amount of food would support that diagnosis, as the metabolism is in super high gear and needs the calories to keep going.
Click to expand...

Wally, uncontrolled hyper T can also cause blood glucose numbers to remain high--so it could be why you're not seeing improvement on the insulin yet. The Hyper T needs to be brought under control to see an improvement in the diabetes.
 
I called my vet and they looked at the results of the blood test again, and said his thyroid is fine. I wonder if I should get it tested again, anyway? A second opinion. The readings on the thyroid can jump around, I believe.
I just talked to a second vet and was told the readings should be accurate enough.
 
Does your vet know your cat eats that amount of food? Does he vomit so that some of it really isn't being consumed? I have 5 cats and they eat about that or less in a day. Only 1 is diabetic, 3 of them are young and relatively healthy (2 are good sized boys) and are very active. That really is a tremendous amount of food for one cat to consume in a day, even with unregulated diabetes. Based on the rough estimate given of one 3oz can per 5lbs of cat, you are feeding for a 65pound cat.

Have you had a blood panel done since starting the herbs? It might be a good idea to have blood work done if you haven't just to make sure that the herbs haven't reved something into super high gear.
 
I've been doing some studying up on thyroid, and I think now that it may well be hyperthyroid, as he has some of the symptoms. Even though the tests were negative. I stumbled into some herbal cures for thyroid problems, and an integral part is Atlantic kelp. Yes, I better do a blood screen again, before starting the kelp or anything, and ask the vet. His numbers have come down lately, though.
 
There is a specific blood test for Hyper-T it is a T4 test and it is usually separate from the normal blood panel, you may have to ask you vet to run that specific test. I know when I adopted Maxwell there was some question if he might also be Hyper-T as well and they had to run a separate test to rule it out.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang
 
HI. I called my original vet, the holistic one, and tried to find out what the results on that blood test were, and also to see why they didn't mention thyroid problems as a possible cause. The vet was out until Monday, but the lady told me his T4 level then, (Oct., 2010- when the diabetes symptoms started), was at 1.4. Then I called the other vet about the more recent test from a few months ago, and it was 1.4 as well. I wouldn't want to try herbs for HT when it isn't it. If anything, the 1.4 is closer to hypo than hyperT. But the symptoms are closer to hyperT. Except for his energy levels. Here is some interesting stuff I found on hyperT, anyway:
Herbal remedies

Herbs that have been shown to be beneficial in treating hyperthyroidism in cats include native ones such as stinging and dwarf nettle, bugleweed and kelp as well as foreign ones like the Chinese herbs huang qi or Siberian ginseng. They are most often administered as tinctures, capsules or added to food.


Diet

Changes in your cat’s diet will aid the treatment of hyperthyroidism. Increase the amount of healthy food, or even better, base the entire diet exclusively on healthy foods. Feed a lot of raw beef and poultry. Avoid salmon, seafood and white fish. Soy is suspected of contributing to the development of hyperthyroidism. It contains high levels of isoflavones, the main substance suspected of causing hyperthyroidism. As it is present in many canned cat foods, it should also be avoided.

Mineral deficiencies, iodine in particular, are common in cats with hyperthyroidism. Hence, you need to make sure that your cat’s food contains plenty of iodine and proper amounts of selenium which makes thyroid hormones less toxic. To tackle abnormal thyroid cell growth also add docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acids to the food.

These home remedies for cats with hyperthyroidism will help you to keep the condition under control.

I just found out some of the herbs, like kelp, that are good for overactive thyroid can be used for hypoT, as well. If he is bordering on hypoT, I think I'll try it. And switch back to natural diet.
 
Another Herbal Question

Has anyone used or is using the Mellit drops from the website petwellbeing.com? These are for cats with diabetes. I am wondering if anyone here has had any experience with these drops?

Thanks.

Nancy & Shelby
 
Just a T4 reading isn't reliable for testing for Hyperthyroid. You need to also have them run a TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) and free T4 in addition to the bound T4 (found on most senior panels). Oscar's regular T4 is in the low of the normal range, but his free T4 last we checked was 43, with a high range of 50. He isn't gaining weight despite food increases, so I just had a full thyroid panel run again today. Make sure they do more than one test for checking the thyroid.
 
Nancy, I only know of one poster who used it here and I don't remember if it was really worth it. While supportive treatments like holistic treatments can help, it doesn't remove the need for insulin.

As for the food that London2Z's cat is eating...well, to my non-vet mind, 39oz is rather alarming....
 
Yes, his metabolism has sped up the past few months and is eating at-least 1/3 more than before. Someone I know had an experience with hypothyroid, and the tests came out with a reading at the high end of the range, but within the normal range, borderline hypo. The lab results can be inconclusive. And readings can jump up and down. So they started on herbal hormones and thyroxine, and are doing better. I got the kelp today, and started it on Costello. 1/4 teaspoon a day was recommended. It regulates thyroid production. So it works for either hypo or hyper T. I'm also going to start with the ground nettle I have, which is similar.
 
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