New here with questions

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dakiddo311

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Hi there,

I am Julie and my cat is Scooby. He is a 13 year old orange tabby who was diagnosed with diabetes about 7 months ago. He's been on a new diet of wet food only, one shot in the morning and and one in the evening. Saturday was a rough morning. He came to get his food and shot, but he acted drunk. He had no function with his hind legs and was falling all over the place. It was so weird. I had remembered the vet saying if he ever acted that way it could be hypoglycemia. So my husband held Scooby and I rubbed Karo syrup on his gums. We called the vet and she said what we did was good. He hid the rest of the morning. I went to see how he was under the bed and he was all sticky due to the Karo syrup. We got him out and cleaned him off ......and noticed he was still not functioning normally. My husband called the vet again and she wanted to see him. She told us he could have neuropathy which is caused from his diabetes not being regulated. At the time, I didn't really think anything of it, but now I am wondering what she meant by that. We do exactly what we are supposed to do regarding his diet and his shots. Was she nicely accusing us of not giving his shots when we're supposed to? Maybe she wasn't, just kind of got that feeling though. She did mention a vitamin b12 to help with the neuropathy, but Scooby isn't even eating as it is. He's very anti social now, when he does eat he will only be spoon fed and will only eat a few bites. He hides all day behind the couch or under the bed. He just isn't acting like himself. I noticed last night that his jaw looked crooked. My husband went to look at it and touched him in that area. Scooby jolted back and turned his head so that he wasn't even looking at us. It almost looked like it was pussing. Just very strange. He uses the liter box once a day ..........which is not like him. The vet said not to be very concerned by his neuropathy, but it's hard not to when Scooby is normally very social and always out by us, begs us for food regularly. Just been a very sad couple of days. I know people probably deal with neuropathy in their cats for longer than we have, but it's just hard seeing him so confused and falling over himself. Any advice would be appreciated. We will be speaking with the vet again tomorrow. :cry:
 
dakiddo311 said:
Hi there,

I am Julie and my cat is Scooby. He is a 13 year old orange tabby who was diagnosed with diabetes about 7 months ago. He's been on a new diet of wet food only, one shot in the morning and and one in the evening. Saturday was a rough morning. He came to get his food and shot, but he acted drunk. He had no function with his hind legs and was falling all over the place. It was so weird. I had remembered the vet saying if he ever acted that way it could be hypoglycemia. So my husband held Scooby and I rubbed Karo syrup on his gums. We called the vet and she said what we did was good. He hid the rest of the morning. I went to see how he was under the bed and he was all sticky due to the Karo syrup. We got him out and cleaned him off ......and noticed he was still not functioning normally. My husband called the vet again and she wanted to see him. She told us he could have neuropathy which is caused from his diabetes not being regulated. At the time, I didn't really think anything of it, but now I am wondering what she meant by that. We do exactly what we are supposed to do regarding his diet and his shots. Was she nicely accusing us of not giving his shots when we're supposed to? Maybe she wasn't, just kind of got that feeling though. She did mention a vitamin b12 to help with the neuropathy, but Scooby isn't even eating as it is. He's very anti social now, when he does eat he will only be spoon fed and will only eat a few bites. He hides all day behind the couch or under the bed. He just isn't acting like himself. I noticed last night that his jaw looked crooked. My husband went to look at it and touched him in that area. Scooby jolted back and turned his head so that he wasn't even looking at us. It almost looked like it was pussing. Just very strange. He uses the liter box once a day ..........which is not like him. The vet said not to be very concerned by his neuropathy, but it's hard not to when Scooby is normally very social and always out by us, begs us for food regularly. Just been a very sad couple of days. I know people probably deal with neuropathy in their cats for longer than we have, but it's just hard seeing him so confused and falling over himself. Any advice would be appreciated. We will be speaking with the vet again tomorrow. :cry:
Click to expand...

First, welcome to the site.

I was glad to hear you are feeding him a wet only diet, but now want to mention that you would do well to start home testing so that you know how the insulin you are giving is working. You could be giving not enough, and you could be giving too much, but without testing and knowing his BG numbers, you can't know.

OK what insulin are you using and what dose are you giving in the morn and at nite? There are short, intermediate and long lasting insulins that act differently.

For neuropathy, you can give B12 - many people give B12 to their cats for other good reasons, so that's one good suggestion. Some put pills into their cat's food, and you can also give B12 shots yourself at home. Many give the tablets you can pick up at the pharmacy, and I gave my cats B12 shots weekly for pancreatitis inflammation issues and other reason, but not neuropathy.

I think your picking up a BG meter at the pharmacy would be a good starting point for you, so you know how Scooby is handling the insulin... for all you know, he doesn't need insulin now that you made the food change.
Do NOT get any of the meters with TRUE in the name and do not get any of the FreeStyle meters because the
butterfly strips for these meters give false readings.

Testing on cat’s ear
 
It sounds like there could be several things going on. If his jaw really tender? I wonder if there is a tooth issue.

You need him to eat. What seems to be the problem? Does he not like the wet food? Or could it be mouth problems? Some ideas to get him to eat: Warm the food in the microwave until nice and stinky. Add enough water to make it soupy. Add tuna juice or Parmesan cheese.

B12 helps neuropathy but needs to be combined with lower blood glucose levels.

You will find this whole disease so much easier if you test at home. No guessing about whether he is too low. Knowing that the dose you are planning to give is safe every am and pm. And feeling like you have some control over this thing. We have taught hundreds of people how to test, over the Internet. We'd be glad to teach you.
 
If this is neuropathy, you want to be giving methyl B-12. There is a formulation that is specifically for diabetic cats - Zobaline. It contains no sugar or flavorings. It's also available through Amazon.

I'd also suggest that you test for ketones. You can purchase Ketostix at any pharmacy. These are strips that you dip into your cat's urine. Some of the symptoms you're describing could be attributable to ketones. These are a risk with diabetes and are serious.

I may be overreacting, but with the numerous issues you're describing, I'd consider getting Scooby to the vet. Not eating well, hiding, and a possible infection can all contribute to the development of ketones. A vet can easily do a blood test to see if there are ketones as well as an infection present. It's certainly possible that Scooby is having trouble eating due to a dental issue.
 
Thank you for the replies!! I do feel better knowing that this b12 could help and monitoring his glucose at home. His insulin is prozinc and he takes 1 ml in the am and 1ml in the evening and has since Aug of 2011. Two weeks ago we took him to the vet just for a check up and there was glucose in his urine... reading at 400 so she told us to up his insulin to two ml in the am and two at night. He seemed fine for the two weeks and then BAM Saturday he acted all loopy ...so per the vet, start back with the 1 ml two times a day. I think his mouth is really bothering him which is why he doesn't want to eat. I have a feeling we'll be back at the vet tomorrow to figure out if there is an infection. Also, he does like his wet food, usually begs us for it ;-) . Just weird dealing with a cat that doesn't want to be around us. Hopefully if he does have an infection we can get him on some antibiotics and start the b12. Thank you so much for the advice!!!
 
dakiddo311 said:
His insulin is prozinc and he takes 1 ml in the am and 1ml in the evening and has since Aug of 2011.
Click to expand...

ProZinc is a good insulin. I don't have any experience with it but there are many people here who do.

Your cat's dose is hopefully not 1 ml :shock: 1 ml is the same as one completely full 1 ml (100 unit) insulin syringe, which is an OD for most cats. Insulin is measured in units. I hope you meant your cat's dose is 1 unit (aka 0.01 ml but few people refer to insulin doses in ml). Are you using U40 insulin syringes?
 
Oh my gosh! Yes 1 unit twice a day, I am totally new to all this as you can tell. I asked my husband last night when I was typing my response and we both though ml was right. Sorry for the confusion. We do use the u40 syringes. Thanks for letting me know it's units not ml.
 
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