_Bobbie
Member Since 2020
Hello,
I am so grateful to have found this website and forum, though admit it feels a bit overwhelming. My 17yo sweet boy, Alex, was just diagnosed on Friday, and while my vet is trusted and helpful, I am trying to learn all I can beyond what information she has provided.
Alex has been dealing with some gastro issues along with worsening arthritis for a couple of years, and I think that caused me to miss some of the symptoms of the onset of his diabetes. He had bloodwork done at his last annual appointment in June 2019, and everything was normal. He has always consumed a lot of water, so any increase didn't really register with me. He started having difficulty with his hind legs a little over a month ago, but I unfortunately assumed it was related to worsening arthritis. I realize now that it was the onset of neuropathy. A couple of weeks ago I became more concerned about his staggering, and started googling. That is the first I saw anything about diabetes related neuropathy. When I saw videos of cats walking exactly the way Alex walked, I realized there might be something more significant going on, and finally took him to the vet. And sure enough, his GL was 450, so here we are.
So the vet has prescribed 2 units of ProZinc every 12 hours. She advised against doing home testing right now (to avoid additional stress for him), with the plan being 2 weeks of insulin injections to try to stabilize him, then putting him on a Freestyle Libre for a while to gather more data. But from the reading I'm doing here, it doesn't seem like a good idea to give insulin without testing first. I would love to get opinions about this.
Also, since he has a history of not responding well to changes in diet, even when done very gradually, she thinks it is best not to mess with his food too much. She did give me a couple of cans of Purina ProPlan DM to see how he responded to it, and he liked it well enough. I'm also looking at the food list (which is incredible by the way) for lower-cost options and will see if we can transition him to a LC wet food.
For his neuropathy, I am looking into Zobaline. My vet had not heard of it, but is going to do some research and let me know what she thinks. Does anyone here use it? Should I hold off on giving it to Alex until we see if it will improve once he is more stable from the insulin?
I'll also mention that he is taking Tylan powder for his gastro issue and gabapentin for arthritis. And he is a big boy and weighs about 17 pounds (7.7kg), though his ideal weight would be closer to 20 lbs.
I will do a lot more reading around the forms, but appreciate any thoughts anyone cares to share with me here. Thank you so much!
I am so grateful to have found this website and forum, though admit it feels a bit overwhelming. My 17yo sweet boy, Alex, was just diagnosed on Friday, and while my vet is trusted and helpful, I am trying to learn all I can beyond what information she has provided.
Alex has been dealing with some gastro issues along with worsening arthritis for a couple of years, and I think that caused me to miss some of the symptoms of the onset of his diabetes. He had bloodwork done at his last annual appointment in June 2019, and everything was normal. He has always consumed a lot of water, so any increase didn't really register with me. He started having difficulty with his hind legs a little over a month ago, but I unfortunately assumed it was related to worsening arthritis. I realize now that it was the onset of neuropathy. A couple of weeks ago I became more concerned about his staggering, and started googling. That is the first I saw anything about diabetes related neuropathy. When I saw videos of cats walking exactly the way Alex walked, I realized there might be something more significant going on, and finally took him to the vet. And sure enough, his GL was 450, so here we are.
So the vet has prescribed 2 units of ProZinc every 12 hours. She advised against doing home testing right now (to avoid additional stress for him), with the plan being 2 weeks of insulin injections to try to stabilize him, then putting him on a Freestyle Libre for a while to gather more data. But from the reading I'm doing here, it doesn't seem like a good idea to give insulin without testing first. I would love to get opinions about this.
Also, since he has a history of not responding well to changes in diet, even when done very gradually, she thinks it is best not to mess with his food too much. She did give me a couple of cans of Purina ProPlan DM to see how he responded to it, and he liked it well enough. I'm also looking at the food list (which is incredible by the way) for lower-cost options and will see if we can transition him to a LC wet food.
For his neuropathy, I am looking into Zobaline. My vet had not heard of it, but is going to do some research and let me know what she thinks. Does anyone here use it? Should I hold off on giving it to Alex until we see if it will improve once he is more stable from the insulin?
I'll also mention that he is taking Tylan powder for his gastro issue and gabapentin for arthritis. And he is a big boy and weighs about 17 pounds (7.7kg), though his ideal weight would be closer to 20 lbs.
I will do a lot more reading around the forms, but appreciate any thoughts anyone cares to share with me here. Thank you so much!
!
