Miracle recovery of back legs!

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Nancy and Pasha

Nancy and Pasha

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I posted separately about Pasha's upcoming dental cleaning/extractions but wanted to say how AMAZED we were when Pasha's diabetic neuropathy in his back legs improved UNBELIEVABLY once we got his sugar down at last.

In December we thought the poor guy was on the way out. We could NOT get his sugar regulated after 6 months of trying, he was walking almost flat on his haunches, couldn't jump to save his life, was losing weight, and the vet suspected he had a tumor on his right kidney because of a swelling there. He has FIV and an unknown myopathy in his back legs (which pre-dated the diabetes by a couple of years).

Well... I guess we finally hit on the right dose (we were on PZI by this time, having failed Lantus), and maybe the B-12 capsules helped (thanks to whoever suggested those!), because after a few weeks we noticed he was walking a little better... and pretty soon he was walking ONE HUNDRED PERCENT NORMALLY again and able to jump up on the high bed, RUN like lightning up the stairs, etc.

It was ASTOUNDING and wonderful!! And he eventually gained back some weight too. Seems to feel perfectly fine.

We have also, since December, been giving him twice-daily doses of buprenorphine (sp.?), a painkiller, on the assumption that something must hurt (the possible cancer, although that's just a supposition and seems less likely now), his teeth, something in his back legs... and the slight limp that he had on and off since 2008 has not returned even when he began walking with his legs in normal position again. Yay!!

Wish us luck with the dental on Thursday.

Nancy & Pasha
 
Great news on the legs, it's wonderful when they start to feel better and you can really see that difference.

So after the dental you'll be giving the Bupe for pain assuming there will be extractions, but after that, will you be stopping the Bupe?
 
yippee!!!

I had a kitty who was paralyzed temporarily - not related to diabetes. Her and I did our own physical therapy - we would practice every day, and then as she was improving she would do it on her own! I had a small, long cushion low to the ground that I slept on with her and I'll be darned if she wouldn't walk a few steps, fall over, walk a few more, fall over etc.......every day she improved and in 3 weeks she was back to walking normally! It was truly amazing to witness :smile:
 
Thanks for the replies, everyone! :)

Jennifer--re continuing the buprenorphine, I will talk to the vet, but the main reason she prescribed it back in December was her suspicion that he had cancer (we did not do the full ultrasound & biopsy to find out, because at that time he could barely walk and cancer-treatment options were limited given his diabetes and FIV). So she may want to continue it. He seems to be doing great on it. Since we have never again seen the limp he used to have (possibly related to the unknown muscle myopathy which preceded the diabetes), I am thinking perhaps the buprenorphine helped him with some pain issue there. Unless there is some reason to discontinue it, we might just keep it up on general principles, to make sure he is feeling okay.

Nancy
 
Thank you everyone! The dental went fine--he now has no teeth left, so no worries about that ever again!

We will continue the buprenorphine a few days and then see how he does without it!

And Dr. said that without the infected teeth, his BG might even improve as a result. I'm dreaming of no more insulin... but of course we'll see.

He was ravenous when he woke up and hasn't let the food bowl out of his sight since! He only had one unit in the morning and his BG was still only 172 tonight (after eating quite a bit), so not even any shot tonight.

Thank you everyone for all your comments! :)

nancy
 
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