New Member. Mysterious Open Wound

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Jennifer Stocker

Jennifer Stocker

Member Since 2020
Hi all,

My 16 year old female feline is newly diabetic, 6 weeks on insulin (Lantus, 1 unit twice a day). So far the insulin treatment has been going well. About two days ago, I noticed her licking her backside (a patch on the left hand side of her bottom) a lot. I took a closer look and saw that a dime size open wound was there. I have no idea how it happened. I started to look online for wounds and diabetes and came across this forum, however, didn't come across any info on my search topic.
I'm concerned that her diabetes caused this wound.
She has licked off a lot of her fur around it, which is hard to believe happened in such a short period of time. I have since put a cone on her so she can't get to it and we have a vet apt on Tuesday.

I'm wondering if there is a connection between diabetes and wound formation. Any insight is much appreciated.

Thank you,
Jennifer
 
Diabetes doesn't cause wounds, but it does delay them healing.

There is a condition called Cushing's that makes the skin very fragile, but it's pretty rare in cats so if she hasn't had a history of wounds, I wouldn't worry about it now.

Putting the cone on to keep her from aggravating it was a good decision. Hopefully your vet can figure out what's going on when you see them on Tuesday.
 
First of all, welcome. :) I'm headed off to bed, so I have to make this quick unfortunately... the only time I've heard about wounds or sores with diabetic cats is with a condition called Cushings Syndrome. It's very rare, so it's highly unlikely that this is what's going on. Here's some info on Cushings if you'd like to read about it:

https://www.dvm360.com/view/feline-facets-cushings-disease

Anyway other than that, I haven't really heard about diabetes causing wounds, so most likely it's unrelated. With Cushings, cats are often difficult to regulate, and end up on high insulin doses. Are you testing her levels at home?

I'll check back in tomorrow, but hopefully someone else will see your post too and be able to offer some insight. Goodnight :)

edit: hehe, sorry @Chris & China (GA) -- didn't see your post first. ^.^
 
Thank you so much Chris & China and Keskat & Rocket.
I'm so grateful I came across this resource.
I'm not testing at home yet, but am now realizing that I should be. I had a slow start to this new reality and unfortunately my vet hasn't been as forthcoming with information on this.
I started doing some research on testing at home, what monitor to get and such. There's so much info on here that I got overwhelmed.
Have a lovely Monday.

Jennifer and Kitton
 
Jennifer Stocker said:
I'll for sure let you all know what the vet says.
Any suggestions on a what meter to get?
Click to expand...
I got the Relion premier classic from Walmart the meter was around $9 and 100 test strips around $17.88. You really will go through the test strips.I struggled with testing at first, it took me a month to get my first successful test. I also need to add Teal'c is very food motivated and now when he hears his testing kit zipper open he comes running and sits in his chair for testing just for that treat. That part does get easier for sure.
 
Good news all,

The wound is an impacted anal gland and will be fine, not related to diabetes.
But.....
Even better news is her blood sugar level is at 60 without any food or insulin this morning (last food and insulin was 10pm last night). Her first reading 6 weeks ago was 400 with sugars in her urine. They are keeping her for the day to do a blood glucose curve without insulin. Fingers crossed that my girl has gone into remission so quickly! It's amazing what diet can do. I feed her raw food, Northwest Naturals chicken or turkey formula. (The vet isn't a fan of raw food and suggested one of the Rx diets of which I'm not a fan of the crappy ingredients) What are your thoughts on the raw food diet?

Jennifer and Kitton
 
Hi all,

We've just returned home from a day at the vet. Our BC readings for the day (no insulin, she ate just a little -Northwest Naturals Raw Chicken-):
8:04 am 60mg/dl
10:02 am- 89
12:07 pm- 121
1:52 pm- 120
3:48 pm- 142

Remission! I can't believe it. It's only been 7 weeks on insulin and diet change.
I'm so happy.

Jennifer & Kitton
 
That's awesome and you are soooo fortunate. Just a reminder though that once a diabetic kitty, always a diabetic kitty. They don't actually go in remission but are DIET CONTROLLED. Keep very vigilant with Kitton's diet so she doesn't fall out of 'remission'!
 
I would do the 14 day OTJ trial if I where you to make sure that your kitty is ready to go OTJ.
You will get a stronger remission this way.
To do the trial, all you need to do is test your kitty as you would morning and night before food and record the BG.
If the number is above 100, test again 3 hours later.
What sort of meter are you using?
 
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Congratulations!! Don't forget to keep checking the blood glucose, daily for a month, twice weekly for a month, then once a week. Others may have other suggestions on how frequently to check; the point is, of course, not to miss a relapse.
 
Those 120's and 140's are a bit high to be considered remission.

I would follow the OTJ Trial suggestion that Bron & Sheba made.
 
Jennifer, I am glad that the sore was just an impacted anal glad. I hope the OTJ trial goes well for you.

For others reading, a few comments on Cushings. First, I have seen a slideshow that quoted Dr. Bruyette as saying Cushing is not "very rare". Dr. Bruyette is the vet quoted in the article that @Keskat&Rocket linked. These cats also do not necessarily get to high doses. We had one here (Frosty) who was on about 3+ units per shot. The thin skin or skin tears can also be a later stage symptom.
 
I'm not familiar with all the shorthand, what's OTJ?
I don't have a meter yet, just ordered one, she was tested at her vet yesterday with a AlphaTrack. I'll be testing her at home and sticking to her diet on Raw food.
 
OTJ means off-the-juice, insulin being the "Juice".

It means a cat is diet controlled and the blood glucose (BG) numbers are back in the normal range, under 100 md/dL (5.5 mmoL) with most of those BG readings being below 80 md/dL (4.4 mmoL). Normal range for a non-diabetic cat. Not simply "regulated."

Numbers run a bit higher on the pet meters like the Alphatrak 2. So under 110-120 mg/dL or so?

What is Regulation?
Normalized - 60-120 (3.3-6.7) except perhaps directly after meals -- usually not receiving insulin.

FDMB Glossary
 
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