Hello all! Mr. Squee, my sweet little fuzzy nub bum (he's a Manx 
), was just diagnosed with diabetes this afternoon, and being the natural nurturer that I am, I'm quite freaked out by it, and was wondering if anyone else has had experience with the situation the two of us now find ourselves in.
Some background: I got him at 8 weeks old, and he has been with me for 17 (almost 18!) years now. He was mostly healthy for the first 2/3 of his life, though he did have a problem with urine crystals and blockage, for which he was catheterized once and put on Hill's Prescription Diet Feline s/d dry for a few years, then moved to HPD c/d dry for a more regular multicare diet. A few years ago he began occasionally vomiting after dinner and was put on HPD i/d dry, which is an easily digested diet.
He did very well on the i/d for a long time, but eventually the vomiting got out of control and, with the help of my awesome old vet (who sadly has moved to a new office faaar away), we had to take some drastic measures to keep from loosing him. Turns out he was producing abnormally large amounts of stomach acid, though multiple rounds of testing never provided an answer as to why. Through the use of Prednisone, B-12, sub-q fluids and force feeding, we were able to pull him out of 2 of these episodes. His bloodwork and urinalysis came back normal each time. He is now on no more than 10 mg of Famotidine acid reducer each day, usually 5mg in the morning and 5 at night, 1 hour - 30 min before a meal.
Fast forward a year to last October, he starts having runny stools and vomiting again. Blood work came back mostly normal, though it showed he was in the very early stages of renal failure. After more sub-q's, some anti-nausea medication, etc, (but this time NO steroids) he stabilized again. His diet now consists of half dry i/d, half wet i/d, the chicken & vegetable stew formulation (mostly because he will eat the stew version and not the pate). He eats this combination twice a day, with no free feeding between due to 2 other cats in the house who would eat themselves to death if allowed to.
A few days ago I started to notice the wobble. His front legs would wobble a bit when he sat down, and by the third day I began noticing it in his gate as well. He was restless but lethargic, eating well but drinking constantly, and flooding the little box as a result. So we made an appointment with our vet for today. After all the symptoms and the blood work results from October, I figured his kidneys were finally starting to shut down.
I know renal failure. I've had two CKD cats before. I was all prepared for renal failure... and then she said "He has diabetes."
That was my face. Out of all the things I've dealt with over the years when it comes to cats, I've never dealt with this. Ok, diabetes. Let's deal with it.
So now I have a Lantus solostar, with instructions for 1 unit twice a day 12 hours apart. I plan to give him his acid pill as I usually do, then a meal, followed by an injection a few minutes after he finishes eating, morning and evening, 12 hours apart. We are due back in the office in 2 weeks for a day of curve monitoring, though my vet IS one of the ones who said I could do home monitoring and send her the results, if I decided to. Once the bank account recovers from the beating it took today I will look into buying what I need to start doing home monitoring.
Now, my first question is this: What do I do about his food situation? He is on a prescription diet due to his high stomach acid, and I'm terrified to move him to anything else, due to the severity of his vomiting episodes. I know diet is a major part of treating diabetes, but the vet has advised we keep him on the i/d wet & dry combo for now. Has anyone else ever dealt with this before?
And my second question: Are there any specific things I need to keep an eye out for during the first few days of shots? Other than worsening of the symptoms he already has, of course. I've had cats go from perfectly fine to death's doorstep in less than 24 hours before, and staring any new medication is just so nerve wracking for me!
Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated! Sorry this was a bit winded. I'm a Virgo, so when I start typing, it's normally in great (and often unnecessary) detail. I find it oddly therapeutic
.
- B & her Squee
), was just diagnosed with diabetes this afternoon, and being the natural nurturer that I am, I'm quite freaked out by it, and was wondering if anyone else has had experience with the situation the two of us now find ourselves in.Some background: I got him at 8 weeks old, and he has been with me for 17 (almost 18!) years now. He was mostly healthy for the first 2/3 of his life, though he did have a problem with urine crystals and blockage, for which he was catheterized once and put on Hill's Prescription Diet Feline s/d dry for a few years, then moved to HPD c/d dry for a more regular multicare diet. A few years ago he began occasionally vomiting after dinner and was put on HPD i/d dry, which is an easily digested diet.
He did very well on the i/d for a long time, but eventually the vomiting got out of control and, with the help of my awesome old vet (who sadly has moved to a new office faaar away), we had to take some drastic measures to keep from loosing him. Turns out he was producing abnormally large amounts of stomach acid, though multiple rounds of testing never provided an answer as to why. Through the use of Prednisone, B-12, sub-q fluids and force feeding, we were able to pull him out of 2 of these episodes. His bloodwork and urinalysis came back normal each time. He is now on no more than 10 mg of Famotidine acid reducer each day, usually 5mg in the morning and 5 at night, 1 hour - 30 min before a meal.
Fast forward a year to last October, he starts having runny stools and vomiting again. Blood work came back mostly normal, though it showed he was in the very early stages of renal failure. After more sub-q's, some anti-nausea medication, etc, (but this time NO steroids) he stabilized again. His diet now consists of half dry i/d, half wet i/d, the chicken & vegetable stew formulation (mostly because he will eat the stew version and not the pate). He eats this combination twice a day, with no free feeding between due to 2 other cats in the house who would eat themselves to death if allowed to.
A few days ago I started to notice the wobble. His front legs would wobble a bit when he sat down, and by the third day I began noticing it in his gate as well. He was restless but lethargic, eating well but drinking constantly, and flooding the little box as a result. So we made an appointment with our vet for today. After all the symptoms and the blood work results from October, I figured his kidneys were finally starting to shut down.
I know renal failure. I've had two CKD cats before. I was all prepared for renal failure... and then she said "He has diabetes."
That was my face. Out of all the things I've dealt with over the years when it comes to cats, I've never dealt with this. Ok, diabetes. Let's deal with it.So now I have a Lantus solostar, with instructions for 1 unit twice a day 12 hours apart. I plan to give him his acid pill as I usually do, then a meal, followed by an injection a few minutes after he finishes eating, morning and evening, 12 hours apart. We are due back in the office in 2 weeks for a day of curve monitoring, though my vet IS one of the ones who said I could do home monitoring and send her the results, if I decided to. Once the bank account recovers from the beating it took today I will look into buying what I need to start doing home monitoring.
Now, my first question is this: What do I do about his food situation? He is on a prescription diet due to his high stomach acid, and I'm terrified to move him to anything else, due to the severity of his vomiting episodes. I know diet is a major part of treating diabetes, but the vet has advised we keep him on the i/d wet & dry combo for now. Has anyone else ever dealt with this before?
And my second question: Are there any specific things I need to keep an eye out for during the first few days of shots? Other than worsening of the symptoms he already has, of course. I've had cats go from perfectly fine to death's doorstep in less than 24 hours before, and staring any new medication is just so nerve wracking for me!
Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated! Sorry this was a bit winded. I'm a Virgo, so when I start typing, it's normally in great (and often unnecessary) detail. I find it oddly therapeutic
.- B & her Squee
.
