New member- senior cat with triaditis and high blood sugar

[Krysta]

Hello everyone, my baby is 14/15 years old. A little unsure because he was a rescue. I have had him since 2009. In the last few years he has become pretty sick. He has ibd and has bouts of pancreatitis and cholangitis. The vet termed it triaditis. He has also had uti's and bladder stones. I have tried foods, different medications and I have spent a lot at the vets. He is a tricky baby and absolutely hates the vets so he has to be sedated to even be seen which makes care that much harder. He has recently been stable for a few months on a high dose of Prednisolone. At this point I'm just keeping him comfortable and overall his quality of life is still amazing. If I didn't know him I wouldn't even know he was sick. However now due to the high steroid dose he is beginning to have high blood sugar which I knew could happen. It started in the 200/300 range and now is in the 400 range. I know insulin isn't an option and neither is coming off the steroid as when I try he has a relapse in the ibd symptoms. I came across this fourm and I just thought I'd see if anyone else has been in this position. At what point do I say his sugar is too high to be manageable? I don't want him to suffer but it's hard to reconcile saying goodbye when he still seems to be doing okay. Any advice or support would be great, he's my first baby and this has been really tough. Thanks <3

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Why is insulin not an option? We've had lots of IBD kitties here on insuiln, and some with triaditis. 400's is too high blood sugar to not treat.

What food is he getting now? What is his prednisolone dose?

Some IBD cats do fine on budesonide instead of prednisolone. My girl had no impact on her blood sugar with budesonide, she could not have pred due to her heart condition.

 

[Krysta]

Thank you I really appreciate your reply. The biggest reason is unfortunately money. I live alone and have already spent as much as I can. It kills me to think that is what it comes down to but it is. I can't afford the continued vet trips especially when he has to be sedated. He will turn feral and won't let anyone touch him, they have tried but he ends up having to be sedated, and this has occurred over the three different vets he has seen over the years. So that adds an extra expense to the visit itself, then the expense of insulin. I can look into the budesonide but if I'm not mistaken the vet has discussed that one with me and it is more expensive than the prednisolone and I'm struggling to even afford that at the moment. It breaks my heart that I can't afford to do more for him right now. I also have another cat who is my other baby and is 12 and has had some health things as well so it's just come to a point I have nothing left.

 

[Krysta]

He is on natural balance duck and green pea dry food and on purina pro plan urinary tract health wet food. I have tried prescription diets but again between feeding two cats and the expense I couldn't keep up with it. He is on 10mg of pred a day. It was high and I worked with my vet to wean back down but thats the lowest dose I can get before symptoms such as diarrhea returns. I have made calls on in home euthanasia as much as it breaks my heart to do I don't want him to suffer but part of me feels like I'm giving up to early and the other part knows I financially can't do anything else other than treat symptoms.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Depending on his weight, 10 mg a day of prednisolone is not a high dose.

I think one of the issues might be the food he's eating. Most of us here do not feed prescriptions diets, but rather low carb wet or raw food. Ideally diabetics you'd feed less than 10% carb food. That dry food is quite high carbs, but the wet food seems reasonable to feed. Can you do without feeding him the dry food?

Once the original vet trip is over to diagnose diabetes and possibly get prescriptions, we don't really need to visit the vet, other than for regular visits or if something else goes wrong. Most of us home test blood sugars, and use dosing methods here to adjust the dose. We can also help with cheaper supplies, including insulin.

This post might help Financial Help Links plus one of our members here is active in Diabetic Cats In Need @Chris & China (GA)