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Gawgagrl

Gawgagrl

Member Since 2017
Hi all! I haven't been on in a couple years as 3 years ago 11/2017 my Delilah was diagnosed as a diabetic. After 6 months on lantus with 0.5 units twice a day she went into remission! She stayed in remission about 2 years until this past week 7/2 she started showing signs of diabetes again. Her back legs were very wobbly and she struggled to walk from the bedroom to the kitchen. I had to work that night (I'm a night shift critical care nurse) and the next morning her legs were doing the same thing. She has some neuropathy from previous but she's been able to walk steady and jump on everything still. I took her bgs 462! She's been 200 for the last 2 years. Took her to the vet and she was beginning of DKA. Kidney function good but potassium was 3.4 and slightly hypothermia. Stayed at the vet for 3 nights and I picked her up Friday afternoon. Her back legs are worse and she can barely stand for a few seconds before her back legs sprawl out under her. She's still eating and drinking. She's urinating but has not had a BM since Wed. She is not eating as much as she usually does just bites at a time. She is a little more alert and will meow at me now and her eyes are more focused. My biggest concern are her back legs. Last time she only had the plantar walking and couldn't jump but still walked steady. She is still not able to stand by for very short periods, however while I was out for groceries she managed to get on my bed somehow. Had anyone else had an issue with their cat not being able to walk and how long to recover? She seemed to recover faster last time but she was also 3 years younger. She has a follow up visit this Fri 7/10 and I'm hoping the legs will be better.
 
Your spreadsheet needs to have sharing turned on. So we can see her dose and numbers.

I’m sorry your kitty is having such trouble. I’m curious why she wasn’t getting insulin when her numbers were in the 200’s... that’s over normal esp if you are using a human meter. Are you using a human meter or pet meter? All you can really do is get the bg back under 120 and give b12 methylcobalamin supplements. (Zobaline is a popular choice found on Amazon). Make sure you are testing the ketones daily too. I find a blood ketone meter much easier than trying to catch her in the litterbox.
 
With DKA you need to make sure Delilah is eating plenty of food that is really important. DKA happens when there is not enough insulin, not enough food and an inflammation or infection. So make sure you are giving enough insulin and enough food ( up to 1 1/2 times as many calories as normal. Was there an infection?
You need to be testing for ketones twice a day at the moment. You can buy Ketostix from a pharmacy to test the UTI be. This is very important..

The neuropathy will improve over time when the BGs improve. You can also but Zobaline from lifelink.com which helps.
Getting her over the DKA completely is The most important thing at the moment.
 
JanetNJ said:
Your spreadsheet needs to have sharing turned on. So we can see her dose and numbers.

I’m sorry your kitty is having such trouble. I’m curious why she wasn’t getting insulin when her numbers were in the 200’s... that’s over normal esp if you are using a human meter. Are you using a human meter or pet meter? All you can really do is get the bg back under 120 and give b12 methylcobalamin supplements. (Zobaline is a popular choice found on Amazon). Make sure you are testing the ketones daily too. I find a blood ketone meter much easier than trying to catch her in the litterbox.
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I think I have sharing on now. Originally my vet wanted to keep her bergen 150-200 since below that she would become lethargic. If she was 200 and below I was not to give her insulin. I am using a human meter for glucose. Her urine is easy to test as I have the tidy cat breeze system so the urine drains to a pan below the pellet litter. I'll pick up some strips to test ketones.
 
She is eating about 1.5-2 cans of friskies pate/Gravy a day. I added the gravy to help with the calories as once she's stabilized she'll go back to pate and shreds/flaked only. Her appetite was not affected. She did have a UTI which they gave her an antibiotic treatment while at the vet/hospital.
 
Gawgagrl said:
She is eating about 1.5-2 cans of friskies pate/Gravy a day. I added the gravy to help with the calories as once she's stabilized she'll go back to pate and shreds/flaked only. Her appetite was not affected. She did have a UTI which they gave her an antibiotic treatment while at the vet/hospital.
Click to expand...
Ah the infection will certainly raise the numbers.

You are going to have a hard time stabilizing her on gravy food. Maybe try kitten pate foods to add extra calories. She may not have been used to the lower normal numbers and that's why she was Lethargic. Once she is used to being in normal range she will do better. I would aim for getting her in that 50-120 range eventually. Your vet is probably more used to pet meter numbers in which up to 150 (on lab reports they often say up to 170) is considered normal.
 
She's getting most pate...just a little of the gravy to keep her interested. Last time she responded very quickly to the lantus and after 2 doses became hypoglycemic. At her initial diagnosis her glucose was over 600. This time it was 462 so caught early. Her neuropathy was better after a couple of days last time. This time it's been nearly a week and they are worse. Tues she was jumping on chairs and the bed and wed could barely walk
 
Did you ever give her b12 methyl the first time for the neuropathy? That’s what everyone recommends here and it helped Minnie immensely. She had severe neuropathy too and now she’s perfectly fine. Once her diabetes was regulated, it took about 3 months on the b12 for her to recover about 80-90% and then slowly she recovered completely in another 2 months I’d say. I hate to say it, but I think your vet was wrong in having you drop insulin at 200. The 200’s is what we aim for at preshots to give insulin. If she developed neuropathy again, she likely had elevated levels for a while. Zobaline can get expensive because you should start with 2 a day at least. A lot of us buy the Vitacost brand that’s what Minnie had and she recovered fine.

hoping Delilah feels better soon! :cat:
 
Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
Did you ever give her b12 methyl the first time for the neuropathy? That’s what everyone recommends here and it helped Minnie immensely. She had severe neuropathy too and now she’s perfectly fine. Once her diabetes was regulated, it took about 3 months on the b12 for her to recover about 80-90% and then slowly she recovered completely in another 2 months I’d say. I hate to say it, but I think your vet was wrong in having you drop insulin at 200. The 200’s is what we aim for at preshots to give insulin. If she developed neuropathy again, she likely had elevated levels for a while. Zobaline can get expensive because you should start with 2 a day at least. A lot of us buy the Vitacost brand that’s what Minnie had and she recovered fine.

hoping Delilah feels better soon! :cat:
Click to expand...

Last time she mostly recovered in a couple of days. She still would walk on back legs flat but she was jumping and running everywhere again. I had not heard of the zobaline last time but I'm definitely looking at it for this time once her glucose is stabilized. She does take glucosamine for joint health.
 
Gawgagrl said:
Last time she mostly recovered in a couple of days. She still would walk on back legs flat but she was jumping and running everywhere again. I had not heard of the zobaline last time but I'm definitely looking at it for this time once her glucose is stabilized. She does take glucosamine for joint health.
Click to expand...
Zobaline comes in pill form so you have to give it to her that way or crush it and mix with food. I found the Vitacost easier because it comes in capsules and I’d just empty it in her food. I also recycled the empty capsules for her gabapentin. Zobaline is about $39 for 60 3mg I believe plus shipping and the Vitacost is $17.99 for 60 5mg with free shipping. It’s a matter rod preference and price because I can testify that the Vitacost worked great for Minnie!
 
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