Is it possible?

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s.sallaz87

s.sallaz87

Member Since 2015
Hello all.
It has been a LONG time since I've posted here. I have a very hectic and busy life, and don't always have the time to hop online.
So much has happened since my last post. My little fur baby Snuggy has gone through the wringer this past year, and my head is spinning!
Since I adopted him, Snuggy has had multiple X-rays, scans, unreasoned, lab work, curves and hospital stays. Snuggy is about two years old and was diagnosed diabetic at the age of 9mos. He has many strange symptoms including abdominal swelling, vomiting, diarrhea, uncoordinated movements, lethargy, aggression and unregulated blood glucose. All scans and testing have shown no physical illness. He has randomly occurring high white blood cell counts, but they resolve themselves within a day or two without treatment. He had exploratory surgery soon after adoption and even the biopsies showed no disease process even though there was visible swelling and abnormal coloring and texture to his intestines, liver and kidneys. He is a mystery to both vets I have taken him too. And I am at a loss.
My question here is- is it possible for a diabetic cat to be resistant to insulin and unable to be regulated ever? His BG #'s run anywhere from the mid 300's to the HIGH 400's - usually closer to 500. This morning at +3 after his am shot he was 480. I have tried new food, increasing his insulin, added exercise- nothing makes a difference in his numbers or behavior. I don't know what to do for him.
Any tips?
 
I was feeding fancy feast classic. The vet recommended I switch to a diabetic maintenance by purina or science diet. I've tried both and he is currently on the purina DM as I am trying to use up what I have. Wet food only. But no matter the food the numbers don't change.
Pancreatitis has been ruled out. And as far as I know IBD as well during his exploratory surgery and biopsies.
There aid LITERALLY nothing wrong with him- except that there is. He is just a baby but his behavior has taken a massive twist and he spends his life now lethargic, then up to go pee massive amounts, then lethargic, back and forth with peeling and eventually violently aggressive at feeding times. Ugh
 
If you could update your SS, it might help to see what's going on at least with the FD. I have read that some cats do have problems with aggression on Lantus. The lethargy, and massive peeing can be due to the unregulated diabetes. You said you've increased his dose, how much are you giving him now?
ETA You may want to read this thread to see if you think a switch to Levemir will help
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/attention-lantus-to-levemir-users.122941/
 
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s.sallaz87 said:
My question here is- is it possible for a diabetic cat to be resistant to insulin and unable to be regulated ever?
Click to expand...
Sarah, the answer to your question is yes and no. A cat can have auto antibodies for insulin and therefore be insulin resistant. The condition however usually is self limiting with time and the cat can eventually be regulated. There is a test that can be done to determine if the cat has the auto antibodies however it is generally thought to be pretty rare condition and unless your kitty is on more than 6-8u of insulin twice daily, vets wouldn't even consider this as a possibility. I have an IAA positive cat and she has just started to break the resistance after about a year of steadily increasing her insulin dosage with little change in her BG readings until recently.

I'm so sorry to hear what you and Snuggy have and continue to go through. It is indeed rare for a 9 month old kitten to be diagnosed with diabetes. My cat was only 4yr. old when she was diagnosed and that is considered young. If you could update your spreadsheet, it would give folks here some data to try to help you puzzle this out.
 
After reading your post one thing sort of strikes me:
with the symptoms you describe and the fact that pancreatitis and other things have been excluded there is one thing I would consider and that is adrenal problem like Cushings.
It is notoriously difficult to diagnose and you need to push for the right testing if you ever going to consider that possibility.
Just yesterday I was reading about it on the FDMB and there was an excellent article explaining what tests to run.
If you have time please try to find it, if not I can try to find it later.
Best of luck and please let us know how this poor little kitty is doing.
Marlena:cat::cat::cat:
 
And another thing Sarah,
the vet's referral to neurology is a little puzzling as Snuggles scans of abdominals (intestines, liver, kidneys) were abnormal. Did the vet looked at the adrenal glands?
If it was my cat I would like him to be seen by gastroenterologist or endocrinologist or both but maybe I'm not right here as I'm sure I don't know all the details of your Snuggles investigation.
But it is interesting to know why your vets is referring Snuggles to a neurologist.
Marlena:rolleyes:
 
Have they checked him for allergies? All of the Symptoms you listed could be allergy related.

I know it's a feline, but my first thought was that the symptoms you described sounded like my good friend before her son was DXed with gluten allergies. Took them forever to pin point it. Over a year. The whole time the doctors were saying "We don't think anything is wrong. He's not sick ALL the time." But she's Momma and her gut said otherwise.

Even the lack of coordination could be an allergy symptom. A lot of atuo-immune disorders have a recognized symptom called "(insert illness) Fog." Like MS Fog, Lupus Fog, Fibro Fog, ect. The severity, as usual, varies from case to case, but some people just can't do anything when the fog hits.

If it is allergic and his little guts are torn up, that could go a long way toward explaining the lack of insulin response. Like in gluten intolerance, the intestinal lining literally sloughs off. Without all of those cillia and grooves, the food passes through without proper absorption.

Plus, an allergy could explain randomly high WBC counts. His body is fighting itself.

You may have throughly checked this avenue of thought, but that was my first impression. And even if it was checked, finding allergies and their triggers are notoriously tricksey and sneaky.
 
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