His.Bitterness414
Member Since 2021
Hi, I'm new to the life of a diabetic cat owner and have just had the most stressful week and a half possible. If anyone has time to read and provide support/advice/a similar background, I would appreciate it!
I've had my little Bitters for about 4 years now. Prior to that, he had been a stray, and we're estimating his age to be about 12. When he came to me, he had periodontal disease, was front-declawed, and was discovered to have Stage 2 Kidney disease. We immediately put him on a renal wet diet, and he has remained stable at Stage 2. Since then, we've realized he's deaf, has developed some arthritis (managed with a joint supplement and 1.5mg gabapentin), and has a benign mediastinal cyst in front of his heart that needs occasional draining.
About 1.5ish years ago, we switched him to a different renal wet food, and he pretty quickly developed chronic diarrhea and discomfort using the litterbox, which went away anytime we went through a period of feeding him non-renal wet food. I started bringing it up to the vet, and each time felt I was ignored for something else. After a year of begging for them to prescribe a new diet food, run tests, do SOMETHING, in May they finally offered a different food and prescribed prednisolone from acetate,4.6mg/day for IBD (despite never actually testing for IBD). Since we moved cross-country shortly thereafter, we held off starting the new food to avoid further digestive upset. We've just switched him over now. I felt uncomfortable putting him on steroids, but the vets insisted that IBD is the most likely cause and that this wouldn't be too harsh on him. The prednisolone seemed to make defecating less uncomfortable for him, but the diarrhea never fully went away.
Flash-forward 3 months later, and he started having issues using the litterbox. We took him to the ER to get tests done, and the vet found he was dehydrated despite drinking a lot (which we believed was a side-effect of his CKD), and had dropped over a pound since moving (despite having a strong appetite). He was also passing A LOT of stool. His test results came back and his Blood Glucose was at 443, his urine glucose at 3+, while his CKD had stayed stable. He was also frighteningly anemic, but the ER vet never actually brought that up to me, I learned it later. The last time he had tests done, in May before the move, his BG was slightly elevated (193, highest it had ever been) and there were trace amounts of glucose in the urine - something the vets chalked up to stress. So, in the 3 months since starting prednisolone, a drug given to him without completely ensuring he needed it, his BG SHOT UP. We immediately got an appointment set up with a primary vet to get him evaluated and started on insulin, but only a few days later his legs got really weak and he could barely walk. The primary vet allowed us to bring him in same day, as they were concerned he was in diabetic shock. Fortunately, his anemia had not progressed further and there were no ketones in his urine, but his BG had shot up so high that the vet couldn't even get a number (the machine just said "High"). His blood pressure was also high (something they didn't take at the ER).
They immediately started him on Prozinc (1u twice a day) and a probiotic, told us to start weening him off of the steroid, stop the Gabapentin, and prescribed him Amlopidine for his blood pressure and Metronidazole for his diarrhea. When he's in a more stable state, they then want to do a sonogram to confirm IBD. We're taking him back tomorrow to check his levels again and have a proper introductory checkup. He's still confined to one room, and he's still eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom, but he's obviously still urinating a lot and defecating on the floor, and his back legs are still extremely weak/he's still dizzy. We've resorted to laying out potty pads with a scattering of litter for him, because he can't navigate a litterbox right now. A friend is also arranging to get us a BG monitor from a friend of theirs.
This was very long, but what it comes down to is: I feel terrible. This came on so fast, and my kitty that only 2 weeks ago could confidently navigate the stairs to our bed now can barely stand up while eating his food. I'm grateful that we finally have a vet listening to me, but I'm frustrated that I feel like this all could've been avoided if the vets would've listened the first 20 times, instead of brushing it of and then throwing a drug at him without being clear about the potential side effects. I'm mad that, even when telling me about potential diabetes, the ER vet didn't even MENTION his anemia. I feel awful because he can't groom himself, and every time we clean him up he either soils himself in his carrier or by falling over while going to the bathroom, so we can't even keep him clean. He's still alert and bright-eyed and WANTS to be his normal self. Can anyone who has a cat with steroid-induced diabetes provide some words of wisdom or comfort? Have you experienced that sudden decline, and have you been able to pull him back? I feel like I failed him by letting this happen and just want my little man sleeping next to me like he used to.
I've had my little Bitters for about 4 years now. Prior to that, he had been a stray, and we're estimating his age to be about 12. When he came to me, he had periodontal disease, was front-declawed, and was discovered to have Stage 2 Kidney disease. We immediately put him on a renal wet diet, and he has remained stable at Stage 2. Since then, we've realized he's deaf, has developed some arthritis (managed with a joint supplement and 1.5mg gabapentin), and has a benign mediastinal cyst in front of his heart that needs occasional draining.
About 1.5ish years ago, we switched him to a different renal wet food, and he pretty quickly developed chronic diarrhea and discomfort using the litterbox, which went away anytime we went through a period of feeding him non-renal wet food. I started bringing it up to the vet, and each time felt I was ignored for something else. After a year of begging for them to prescribe a new diet food, run tests, do SOMETHING, in May they finally offered a different food and prescribed prednisolone from acetate,4.6mg/day for IBD (despite never actually testing for IBD). Since we moved cross-country shortly thereafter, we held off starting the new food to avoid further digestive upset. We've just switched him over now. I felt uncomfortable putting him on steroids, but the vets insisted that IBD is the most likely cause and that this wouldn't be too harsh on him. The prednisolone seemed to make defecating less uncomfortable for him, but the diarrhea never fully went away.
Flash-forward 3 months later, and he started having issues using the litterbox. We took him to the ER to get tests done, and the vet found he was dehydrated despite drinking a lot (which we believed was a side-effect of his CKD), and had dropped over a pound since moving (despite having a strong appetite). He was also passing A LOT of stool. His test results came back and his Blood Glucose was at 443, his urine glucose at 3+, while his CKD had stayed stable. He was also frighteningly anemic, but the ER vet never actually brought that up to me, I learned it later. The last time he had tests done, in May before the move, his BG was slightly elevated (193, highest it had ever been) and there were trace amounts of glucose in the urine - something the vets chalked up to stress. So, in the 3 months since starting prednisolone, a drug given to him without completely ensuring he needed it, his BG SHOT UP. We immediately got an appointment set up with a primary vet to get him evaluated and started on insulin, but only a few days later his legs got really weak and he could barely walk. The primary vet allowed us to bring him in same day, as they were concerned he was in diabetic shock. Fortunately, his anemia had not progressed further and there were no ketones in his urine, but his BG had shot up so high that the vet couldn't even get a number (the machine just said "High"). His blood pressure was also high (something they didn't take at the ER).
They immediately started him on Prozinc (1u twice a day) and a probiotic, told us to start weening him off of the steroid, stop the Gabapentin, and prescribed him Amlopidine for his blood pressure and Metronidazole for his diarrhea. When he's in a more stable state, they then want to do a sonogram to confirm IBD. We're taking him back tomorrow to check his levels again and have a proper introductory checkup. He's still confined to one room, and he's still eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom, but he's obviously still urinating a lot and defecating on the floor, and his back legs are still extremely weak/he's still dizzy. We've resorted to laying out potty pads with a scattering of litter for him, because he can't navigate a litterbox right now. A friend is also arranging to get us a BG monitor from a friend of theirs.
This was very long, but what it comes down to is: I feel terrible. This came on so fast, and my kitty that only 2 weeks ago could confidently navigate the stairs to our bed now can barely stand up while eating his food. I'm grateful that we finally have a vet listening to me, but I'm frustrated that I feel like this all could've been avoided if the vets would've listened the first 20 times, instead of brushing it of and then throwing a drug at him without being clear about the potential side effects. I'm mad that, even when telling me about potential diabetes, the ER vet didn't even MENTION his anemia. I feel awful because he can't groom himself, and every time we clean him up he either soils himself in his carrier or by falling over while going to the bathroom, so we can't even keep him clean. He's still alert and bright-eyed and WANTS to be his normal self. Can anyone who has a cat with steroid-induced diabetes provide some words of wisdom or comfort? Have you experienced that sudden decline, and have you been able to pull him back? I feel like I failed him by letting this happen and just want my little man sleeping next to me like he used to.
