Sue Maus and Marky
Member Since 2020
Hi, everyone. My cat Marky, who is 5 1/2 years old and 18.6 pounds, just got diagnosed last Tuesday with feline diabetes. He always drank a lot of water, but about 3 weeks or so before his scheduled annual on July 1st, we noticed several changes. He started having BM's outside of his box and also wet outside of it twice. We were both scooping a lot more, even getting into "discussions" about each other not doing it often enough. Those discussions were also about not giving him enough to eat or drink, as his bowls always seemed to need filling. He was supposed to be on a diet, but he was failing at that. We got magnetic whiteboards for both his room and the kitchen to bring his feeding under control but were still giving him a LOT of water. He was also scratching, licking, and biting to the point he was making himself bald in several spots.
Although we never saw a flea or tick on him, we do live in an apartment building that's one of 12 on 43 acres of land. There's a LOT of trees, grass, shrubs, etc. around us. The vet put him on Revolution Plus. The first dose seemed to help until about 3 days before the next. The hair started coming back. The second dose seemed to quit after a little less than 3 weeks, and he was biting, licking, and scratching more than ever. I made him another appointment. The 3rd dose did nothing at all.
During the annual, the vet mentioned a steroid shot to make him more comfortable. Since we mentioned all the water consumption and the accidents, she wanted to do a BG reading on him first, and it was around 350. That's what lead to trying the Revolution Plus. When we took him back on the 4th of this month,it was still around that number, and we moved ahead with additional blood work. I know several have mentioned their cats became diabetic following a course of steroids, but he was never administered any because his numbers were too high when being checked beforehand.
At this visit, the vet prescribed cyclosporine liquid. It took a week to arrive. I had a time getting the first 2 doses into him, and am not sure how much of it actually did go into him. Yesterday,for whatever reason, it went smooth as silk! And the change I saw within hours was amazing! This boy who had been moping for over a week, wanting to be alone and not even enjoying one of his favorite activities of looking out the sliding glass door, and using the vast majority of his energy to scratch, bite, and lick, seemed like his old self again. He became more social again, stopped the scratching, biting, and licking behavior almost 100%, and played for the first time in over a week. He also did his cardio workout...running from room to room.
I know this is long, but it brings me to this question. How many of you saw a significant positive impact on your cat's BG #'s when getting another health issue under control? I know as a diabetic myself, stress or having a flareup of my fibromyalgia or neuralgia will influence my numbers a LOT more than my eating habits. I just wonder if that's true for cats, too. Also, there's been a TON of stress in this household lately, and I have to wonder how much of that is having an affect, too.
That brings me to another question while I think of it. What can I do to reduce his stress? He's very affectionate, and it seems he "worries" about me on my bad days. If I cry, HE cries. If I lie down or sleep a lot, he will also come to me crying often, as if he's checking up on me. I feel my own health issues are contributing to his, and I just don't know what to do there.
Thanks.
Although we never saw a flea or tick on him, we do live in an apartment building that's one of 12 on 43 acres of land. There's a LOT of trees, grass, shrubs, etc. around us. The vet put him on Revolution Plus. The first dose seemed to help until about 3 days before the next. The hair started coming back. The second dose seemed to quit after a little less than 3 weeks, and he was biting, licking, and scratching more than ever. I made him another appointment. The 3rd dose did nothing at all.
During the annual, the vet mentioned a steroid shot to make him more comfortable. Since we mentioned all the water consumption and the accidents, she wanted to do a BG reading on him first, and it was around 350. That's what lead to trying the Revolution Plus. When we took him back on the 4th of this month,it was still around that number, and we moved ahead with additional blood work. I know several have mentioned their cats became diabetic following a course of steroids, but he was never administered any because his numbers were too high when being checked beforehand.
At this visit, the vet prescribed cyclosporine liquid. It took a week to arrive. I had a time getting the first 2 doses into him, and am not sure how much of it actually did go into him. Yesterday,for whatever reason, it went smooth as silk! And the change I saw within hours was amazing! This boy who had been moping for over a week, wanting to be alone and not even enjoying one of his favorite activities of looking out the sliding glass door, and using the vast majority of his energy to scratch, bite, and lick, seemed like his old self again. He became more social again, stopped the scratching, biting, and licking behavior almost 100%, and played for the first time in over a week. He also did his cardio workout...running from room to room.
I know this is long, but it brings me to this question. How many of you saw a significant positive impact on your cat's BG #'s when getting another health issue under control? I know as a diabetic myself, stress or having a flareup of my fibromyalgia or neuralgia will influence my numbers a LOT more than my eating habits. I just wonder if that's true for cats, too. Also, there's been a TON of stress in this household lately, and I have to wonder how much of that is having an affect, too.
That brings me to another question while I think of it. What can I do to reduce his stress? He's very affectionate, and it seems he "worries" about me on my bad days. If I cry, HE cries. If I lie down or sleep a lot, he will also come to me crying often, as if he's checking up on me. I feel my own health issues are contributing to his, and I just don't know what to do there.
Thanks.
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