Hind legs

[Ashley82]

Citrus has been on Prozinc since February. We made it all the way up to 6 units once a day before I was able to get additional assistance. Thank you very much to this group for helping me find someone!!
It has been a month that Citrus has been on twice a day Prozinc shots. 3 units in the morning and 3 units at night and we continue with the prescription food.

His sugars are still all over the board. We go from 9.9 (which is right on the money) to the next one being 35 despite nothing changing. I have done checks every few hours for 24 hours to try to see the peaks and valleys-- but none of it seems to follow a pattern.

I took him back to the vet and it has been discussed to change him to the Lantus for the twice a day shots and see how that works. He did manage to get 2lbs back.

Here's the big problem. His hind legs are weak, he isn't walking properly, he is having a really hard time with stairs and definitely with jumping. He seems off balance. This is causing him to simply lounge around most of the day or ask for me to pick him up or carry him.

Does this go away? Or am I just leaving him in pain?

We are about to move as well and the boxes are causing plenty of stress on all of us. We will be together daily which is wonderful but it means no support again when I have to get something else done. Plus the new place has more stairs...

Looking for some input from others as to whether or not this gets better... or am I being selfish and letting him suffer

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Hello,

Regarding Citrus's blood glucose numbers, is there any chance you could put the recent ones onto a spreadsheet so that other folks here can have a look at them?
The instructions are here (please ask if you need help):
12/27/14 How to Create a SS and Link it in your Signature

The back leg weakness might be caused by neuropathy. It's quite common in cats who have high blood glucose.
Quite a few of us have found supplementing methyl B12 (methlycobalamin) to be helpful in healing the nerve damage. Zobaline is a popular form, and is made especially for cats.
Take heart. Neuropathy can often be completely reversed.

Other causes of back leg weakness include potassium deficiency and joint stiffness/arthritis.
A blood test would be needed to see if Citrus has low potassium; but if he does then potassium can also be supplemented.
And some folks here have found Cosequin (or similar) to be helpful with stiff joints.

Really hoping that Citrus feels better soon.

Eliz

 

[Sue484]

My Frankie has very bad neuropathy and has been on Zobaline for about 2 months now. Only just recently has there been some improvement once his numbers are becoming better controlled. It is not painful, or doesn't seem to be judging by my happy boy. He lives upstairs now as he can't manage the stairs anymore. He was never one for going outside so that doesn't bother him. So he couldn't walk properly? He doesn't care. If he wants to chase his brother, he bunny hops around after him. I massage his legs to get the blood flowing through them and he loves that too.

 

[Karen & Rudy]

Rudy was like that and we put him on B12 injections .5mil twice a week. He climbs stairs and jumps on the bed now my vet said it is liquid gold!!!!

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Citrus is looking so much better now than he was when I first saw him! He's still got a lot of spunk in him and I'd be the first one to tell you if I thought for one minute the little guy was suffering!

From my perspective, you ARE making progress with him even if his numbers do not suggest much improvement and his leg weakness has increased. I thought I noticed a bit of weakness one day a couple of weeks ago but then the next day he seemed fine so even that seems to be fluctuating somewhat. Yesterday he did not get up on the counter... today he did, albeit via the bar chair. Yesterday I had to go find him and he didn't seem to want to move much although he stormed into the kitchen when the feeder went off at 9:30am. Today he seemed a little better and came out to greet me again but wasn't nearly so anxious about getting or eating his food...he ate his meal in a rather leisurely fashion today but relished his treat!

I too am very puzzled by his ups and downs and would love to hear anyone's views on this although I realize there is very little consolidated data to go on here. He threw me another zinger yesterday.

I tested him with your human meter and got 9.3 (167) preshot. I retested to confirm (same meter) and got 10.6 (191). So I fed him 1/2 can of the Purina DM canned which he ate like a champ. He then pushed Fly out of his dish and may have got a lap or 2 before I intervened! I waited 20-30 minutes and tested him again. He ate a tiny bit of kibble during the wait time. Your human meter then gave a reading of 19.0 (342) and my AlphaTrak with a Freestyle strip gave a reading of 20.6 (371). I always take my meter as a backup for this type of situation. I was amazed by how fast and how much his BG had soared in that short time frame! Is that much of a sudden rise normal?

I also noticed in your notes to me that a few days ago he had a reading of 7.8 (140) at what looked to be about 45 minutes after his shot and then a high 20's number (can't remember exactly) a couple of hours later. He seems to be bouncing so is it possible he is actually on too high a dose of insulin? Or maybe ProZinc isn't the right insulin for him? I too would love to understand what is going on with him. He is such a sweet little guy!

This morning his BG preshot was 28.3 (509) which is within the range of preshot numbers I have usually been getting.

Ashley I will PM you in the next day or so. But for now rest assured Citrus is doing just fine!

 

[Louellen]

Citrus has been on Prozinc since February. We made it all the way up to 6 units once a day before I was able to get additional assistance. Thank you very much to this group for helping me find someone!!
It has been a month that Citrus has been on twice a day Prozinc shots. 3 units in the morning and 3 units at night and we continue with the prescription food.

His sugars are still all over the board. We go from 9.9 (which is right on the money) to the next one being 35 despite nothing changing. I have done checks every few hours for 24 hours to try to see the peaks and valleys-- but none of it seems to follow a pattern.

I took him back to the vet and it has been discussed to change him to the Lantus for the twice a day shots and see how that works. He did manage to get 2lbs back.

Here's the big problem. His hind legs are weak, he isn't walking properly, he is having a really hard time with stairs and definitely with jumping. He seems off balance. This is causing him to simply lounge around most of the day or ask for me to pick him up or carry him.

Does this go away? Or am I just leaving him in pain?

We are about to move as well and the boxes are causing plenty of stress on all of us. We will be together daily which is wonderful but it means no support again when I have to get something else done. Plus the new place has more stairs...

Looking for some input from others as to whether or not this gets better... or am I being selfish and letting him suffer

@Ashley82
I'm sure that this move is hectic for you. Moving always is so, please don't let your nerves get the better of you right now. Make your move (whenever that is), keep treating Citrus and try getting the B12 methlycobalamin into him and as another member has mentioned...have him checked for potassium levels. From what I can see from Mr. Wormen's Mom's post, she knows Citrus and is giving us a first hand account as to his status, along with yours. She's said that she would be the first to say if she thought he was in pain and he doesn't seem to be from what she's observed.

I know that it's hard. I know that there's work to be done but, when we take on pets, we take the good and the bad...so, we owe it to ourselves to not give up on them and to try for everything we can do to help them. Sometimes, the sickest seeming of kitties have bounced right back with proper meds/supplements as others have been describing. And, if one vet doesn't suggest those types of measures...another one will. You might need to get another vet's opinion and help to pull Citrus into proper numbers, deal with the neuropathy and as another member has said, cats deal with physical issues much differently than humans. They don't "care". They get around in one way or another. Getting some B12 in that form into him, might bring that right back around again well. You owe it to Citrus and yourself to TRY!

Maybe, once you've moved, you'll be able to get in to see another vet where you have moved to and will be able to get another point of view with fresh eyes on the situation. Sometimes, one vet won't have much of an idea whereas, another one will. I've had it happen with other pets and been thankful that I did change vets and got a different treatment plan.

Don't give up on Citrus! You've got a lot of people here who want to help you and while I can see that Mr.Worfmen'sMom has been one of them, I'm sure that once you move, you'll find someone else who can help you too. You might even be able to get a neighbour in your new area who will offer up their help when you can't be there for him. There's always answers and hope so, don't make any decisions while you're stressed over a move. It IS stressful but, our fur children are not "disposables" so, we owe it to them to try our best for them. There ARE answers so, don't give up.

We're here for you too.