New Member, Salem newly diagnosed

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Goblincatgrotto

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Hello all!!

My name is Louise but I picked the username Goblin cat Grotto because, I do live amongst goblin cats. Four, to be precise. I also foster bottle baby kittens from time to time - I'm that crazy cat lady. But enough about me.

My favorite little guy of the bunch is Salem, neutered male, approx 11.5 year old. This is his "saga" so sorry for the long story. We adopted Salem back in 2018, when he was estimated to be 7-8 years old (he was at the shelter for 4 months so this next part is CRAZY to me that it happened so soon after I adopted him, I'm so glad he was with me crazy coincidence or not). It was 2 days later that I walked into the room and he was falling over, feverish, head tilting, and his eyes were showing a third eyelid. I thought he was having a seizure and rushed him to the ER. After lots of testing, fluids, etc, they guessed he may have Toxoplasmosis.

We were referred to a specialty clinic that set him on a course of clindamycin and prednisolone for 3 wks, and cerenia transdermal gel for appetite issues. He got better from the illness, and panels confirmed (as best as they can) that he had Toxoplasmosis, and likely that is what made him sick.

He did continue to have on and off issues with appetite and his liver enzymes remained elevated. His liver has also remained enlarged, though aspirate did not lead the vet to feel that anesthesia was worth the risk of the biopsy when she didn't see anything alarming via ultrasound/aspirate. We still has nausea and though maybe he had a motility disorder, went on metoclopramide since he would regurgitate sometimes but I fixed this with very limited ingredient diet like Stella and Chewy and for a time I mixed my own raw cat food when I had the energy and a good source. Came off the metoclopramide but still needed something to solve the nausea issue, and the vet didn't want to do mirataz long term.

We ran more tests and determined that he is B-12 deficient so we completed a course that now has him on (I believe?) .25 ml once monthly. We determined, through trials, blood tests, ultrasounds, etc. that Salem is an IBD kitty. He gets nausea, whether this is from the liver issues or some other sort of damage isn't clear.

So the specialist recommended a long term dose of prednisolone, which we had compounded (he hates pills) at 3mg/ml and have been giving .4ml once per day, which is the lowest we've been able to get it to. We have tried taking him off of it previously, but he stops eating. He has been on the pred since August of 2020.

I honestly hadn't been worried about the hunger because I had brought it up to his specialist, his blood work was still good, and we attributed it to steroid hunger. I was happy he was finally willingly eating, even if he sassed me when I told him he'd had enough!! I did bring up the extra drinking/peeing to his vet but he has always loved his water fountain so we thought it may be normal.

Salem was sick with a URI on Halloween and received an antibiotic injection, convenia, and eye drops. He started to do better but I took him back on 11/17 because I was noticing rear leg weakness, lack of appetite, and lethargy. He was officially diagnosed diabetic and went on 1 unit of PZI twice daily (started 11/18 PM), and vet is okay with frequent meals. His Fructosamine came back @ 614 and I was called with that info today.

I found this site over the weekend and got a relion classic meter today to test him more accurately.

Since Salem eats primarily a very hydrated Stella and Chewy's freeze dried turkey (and ocassionally I and love and you chicken de lish stew which his 3 fellow cats eat) I don't necessarily think his diet is the issue just based off of protein/carb content, but I am definitely open to suggestions. I am very overwhelmed and I just want my little soul cat to feel better!!
 
Hello and welcome to FDMB. Salem looks like a cutie.

Good for you on doing your research and getting a meter to start testing. Some tips and videos here may help: Hometesting Links and Tips As long as his diet is low carb (which it should be), then that is not the issue.

In no particular order, you might want to ask your vet if you could get a prescription for ondansetron. It's a human med, but the vet has to write a prescription for it. I find it's much better for nausea than Cerenia.

You are right that excessive hunger is one of the symptoms of diabetes. Prednisolone can also raise the blood sugar numbers. Some of the kitties with GI issues like IBD or SCL (small cell lymphoma) get moved over to budesonide instead. It's also a steroid, but locally acting on the GI system and doesn't have as much impact on the GI system. My girl Neko was on budesonide, mainly because her heart could not handle pred, and it didn't impact her blood sugars.

One other thing that can help IBD kitties is a good probiotic. More details on that and more on this site: https://www.ibdkitties.net/

And finally, since I don't want to overload you to start, a post for new members:
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
 
Hi and welcome to the forum Louise, Salem and the rest of the crew! We have lots of crazy cat ladies and a few men as well so you will feel right at home!
We are happy to answer any questions.:)
 
Welcome and we love cat ladies here being one myself!! :bighug::bighug::bighug:

I strongly second what Wendy said about ondansetron and budesonide having 2 kitties with IBD. Minnie had diabetes and budesonide is a much better option and rarely affects their Bg levels. Cerenia also didn’t do much for her but ondansetron was a life saver and kept her nausea at bay
 
Welcome Louise and Salem
If you can fill out what we call our signature that will be helpful,it's at the end of everyone's post in gray

To set up your signature which you will see is at the end of everyone's post in gray, click on your name up top and then tap on the word signature and add this information
  • Add info we need to help you:
    • Caregiver & kitty's name
    • DX: Date
    • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
    • Name of your meter
    • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
    • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
    • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
    • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
    • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
    • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.
Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.

Take a look at mine


We also use a spreadsheet to track our cats BG so we know how the insulin is working and how low they are dropping so we know when to either increase or decrease the dose
We adjust the dose by 0.25 units at a time . We don't adjust the dose by going by the Pre Shots

About the spreadsheet
AMPS - means AM Pre Shot the first test you take in the AM ,you need to withhold food 2 hours before testing so it's not food influenced

Units is where you would put how much insulin you gave
+1 is one hour after giving insulin if you were to test then that's where you enter his _BG number
+2 two hours after giving insulin. ditto
+3 and so on until you get to PMPS - PM pre shot withhold food 2 hours before testing

+1 same as you do for AM cycle

We don't give times because we are all in different time zones that's why we use the + numbers
I'll give you the link to set it up , if you have trouble just ask and we have a member who will gladly do it for you


You can look at any members spreadsheet to see what it looks like, it's at the end of everyone's signature just tap on it
 
Is Salem walking like a rabbit? Flatfooted ? If so it's most likely diabetic neuropathy
Once his BG is regulated it should get better, plus you can start giving him
Methyl B-12 capsules. They are tasteless , Open the capsule and mix it in Feathers wet food , add water and stir it up. You should also add water to Feathers wet food anyway
Give one per day
https://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-vitamin-b-12-methylcobalamin-5000-mcg-100-capsules-6
14.49 for 100 capsules
Once you start to get Salem's BG regulated and starting the Methyl B-12 you should start seeing an improvement
Tyler had neuropathy and he's back to walking and jumping
Took about less than 2 months, but every couple of weeks I saw improvement
 
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Home testing
About testing
Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up
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6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand
I find it better to see where I'm aiming

A video one of our members posted, she is using a pet meter ,strips too expensive plus you have to code it
A human meter is just fine, most of us use human meters ,that's what our numbers are based on


VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar
 
Welcome to the group! I may not be a crazy cat lady, but I married one! And she married a crazy cat dude :smuggrin:


Salem is magnificent! What a beautiful cat. The people here like Diane are amazing, if you listen to them, good things can happen. Best group of people on the planet imo, giving so much of their time and energy to strangers and their cats! I'm no expert, just a guy who has been through it and now my kitty is a diet-controlled diabetic feline in diabetic remission! Thanks to the good folks at the FDMB. :otj:
 
Thank you everyone!! I will work on the signature, spreadsheet, etc. We tried testing yesterday... Did not go the best :arghh: I definitely cried a lot afterward once I had a moment alone! But we will keep working at it with lots of positive reinforcement (cuddles are his fav) and he still is my Velcro kitty so must not be too mad at me.
 
Thank you everyone!! I will work on the signature, spreadsheet, etc. We tried testing yesterday... Did not go the best :arghh: I definitely cried a lot afterward once I had a moment alone! But we will keep working at it with lots of positive reinforcement (cuddles are his fav) and he still is my Velcro kitty so must not be too mad at me.
Don’t worry if you don’t succeed with the BG testing every time. It takes time for the ears to learn to bleed and for you to get it down pat. I was hopeless in the beginning! But one thing is for sure…you will become very good at it!
 
Thank you everyone!! I will work on the signature, spreadsheet, etc. We tried testing yesterday... Did not go the best :arghh: I definitely cried a lot afterward once I had a moment alone! But we will keep working at it with lots of positive reinforcement (cuddles are his fav) and he still is my Velcro kitty so must not be too mad at me.
What was the difficult part? Maybe we can help. Did you warm up the ear first? That’s really key to getting enough blood out. As Bron said the ears learn to bleed and it gets easier. What size lancets are you using? It’s best to start with 26 or 28 till you get good at it then you can go down to 30. Let us know how we can help!
 
I think the hardest part is that he's so wiggly, but I'm going to recruit my husband to help and we'll try warming up his ear a bit more. I think the most difficult thing is getting a good sample because I go to put it on the test strip and get an error of not enough blood.

I was able to get a good sample from his paw, but he made the worst grumble, and boy did I feel bad about it. I may need to go to the 26 g...thanks for the advice!!
 
I think the hardest part is that he's so wiggly, but I'm going to recruit my husband to help and we'll try warming up his ear a bit more. I think the most difficult thing is getting a good sample because I go to put it on the test strip and get an error of not enough blood.

I was able to get a good sample from his paw, but he made the worst grumble, and boy did I feel bad about it. I may need to go to the 26 g...thanks for the advice!!
Give him a small low carb snack or treat to eat while you test…if he has his head down eating it’s much easier.
 
I was just about to say that and Sienne beat me to it! I started collecting the blood droplet with my nail whenever I could so that if Minnie flicked her ear, which sometimes she would do, it didn’t matter because I had already scooped up the blood. You will be able to tell just by looking at it whether or not you have enough blood. It comes with practice. Sometimes I’d get too much and I’d feel horrible because it wouldn’t stop bleeding and I had to put pressure on it to make it stop. It happens but she never acted like it bothered her or like she was in pain. Just stick with it. It gets easier. Are you using a light source to see the spot well? I used to Hola a flashlight in my mouth and aim it at her ear so I could see the blood droplet well
 
Okay, I have actually been able to get some readings off of my little fella! So, here's a question - is it totally okay to do foot/ paw pad testing the majority of the time instead of ears? He has been very unwilling for me to touch his ears (tried feeding him during, he loathes something warm against them, and his wiggly nature once I am trying to hold him still makes it hard to see where I need to poke his ear w/o getting the marginal vein). On the other hand, he's been very docile for a rear foot pad stick.

I'll also say, my hiking headlamp came in handy last night when I was trying to see to test him! I told my husband I was mining for good numbers:D
 
It’s totally okay to test the paw pad instead of the ear. Same blood so it’s just a matter of what your cat prefers. I always held a flashlight in my mouth I suppose I was trying to unlock good numbers :p
 
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