Team Bubba/NJ

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CJJH

Member Since 2013
Hi all,

My 13 year old, 18.5 lbs., male cat was just diagnosed with diabetes. He initially presented with hindquarter weakness (which I now know is likely peripheral neuropathy) two weeks ago and we took him to our general vet who didn't know what to make of it. We then took him to see a specialist veterinary group in central NJ and after seeing a cardiologist, neurologist, orthopeadist, and two other emergency vets they made the diagnosis of diabetes.

Since I received the call yesterday afternoon, I've been pouring over all information I can find and I eagerly became a member here because this board has loads of very vital information. I have so many questions about what we're doing and how to do it but I just wanted to say that having this resource available is both delightful and mindnumbing. LOL. There is so much information, I feel like if I don't know it all NOW, I could jeopardize Bubba's care. Panic!

So, I have a couple of questions for the community as we're just starting out.

1. While Bubba already has been seen by many vets recently, I wanted to see if anyone here had any recommendations for vets they've worked with while caring for a diabetic cat in northern NJ. Our regular vet in failed to make the initial diagnosis, which I find concerning, and the emergency vet is an hour and a half away. Three hours in the car for Bubba is really tough.

2. For the past week we'd been feeding Bubba a small can of wet food (either Wellness Grain Free or Royal Canan Urinary SO, or a box of both) twice a day. (He was diagnosed with bladder crystals at age six and the condition has been managed without incident since diagnosis so that's why he gets the SO food but he loves his sister's Wellness food so he's been routinely getting that as well for the past three years.) I've seen that Wellness Grain Free seems to be a good choice for diabetic cats so I feel good about that but what about the amount? We've been working on getting his weight down so that's why we limit his food to the two small cans but he seems to be a ravenous beast. He's literally always hungry and thirsty.

3. The vets said to make an appointment and bring Bubba back in but we can't get back into our vet until Saturday morning. That's three days away. Though Bubba "seems stable" and his neuropathy seems to be getting better, I'm concerned about this timeframe but don't want to schlep him around to too many doctors if it can be helped. I also don't know how much experience this vet has with treating feline diabetes so I've left him a voicemail to discuss his comfortability with the treatment.

We've been focused on Bubba eating a high protein diet and trying to get him to exercise a little more over the last day but I don't know what else to do at this point. I am going to buy lancets and testing supplies this evening in order to start testing his blood sugar at home. Bubba's such a doll and really will tolerate a lot without complaint so I think we'll both get the hang of testing his blood pretty quickly.

I do truly apologize, I'm sure there are 1,000s of answers to all of my questions here on the board and I just haven't discovered them yet. Needless to say we're stressed about old Bubs' health and are just trying to ensure we can give him the best possible veterinary and home care possible.

Thanks,

JJ
 
Hello JJ and Bubba, and welcome to FDMB!

A diagnosis of feline diabetes can be pretty overwhelming at first. We all understand because we've all been where you are now. But take a really deep breath, and another one, and relax a little...because you don't need to 'do' or 'know' everything all at once. Just take it in little steps... :smile:

Is your cat actually on insulin at the moment? If so, which insulin and what dose?

Oh, and to help the neuropathy you can give Bubba a supplement called methyl B12 (methyl cobalamin). You can buy it online under a brand name 'Zobaline', or some folks here buy it in capsules. But it really does help enormously with healing neuropathy.

Best wishes,

Elizabeth in UK
 
Thanks Elizabeth for your kind words! I am trying to remember to breathe, so hopefully I can get that under control soon as well. HA!

Bubba is not yet on insulin. I believe that the vet will prescribe it at Saturday's appointment. I'm going to also try to get Bubs started right away on a methylcobalamin supplement as soon as possible. He has already made a 50% improvement already with his back legs but he could definiately use some additional assistance.

I just can't believe I let this happen to him.
 
CJJH said:
I just can't believe I let this happen to him.
Click to expand...

JJ, there's an awful lot of us here who felt just like you do now. Please don't beat yourself up about it. At the time of my cat's diagnosis he was in a very sorry state indeed, and somehow I just didn't see it.... But that was six years ago and right now he's a really happy and healthy cat!
 
Hi JJ,

I am also just dealing with a newly diagnosed diabetic cat in Northern NJ. I had a bad experience with a vet in South Orange but have since then found what has, so far, been a great practice for my little man. It's Katz & Dogs Animal Hospital in Montclair, NJ. Don't know if that is close enough for you. I don't want to jinx it because I've just started with them but all of their vets, especially Dr. Nancy Katz have been compassionate, helpful, and very knowledgeable about feline diabetes. Not cheap by any means, but I do feel comfortable there and my cat Ricey still hates vet visits but at least I know I'm doing all I can for him. The vet along with this board have been a huge help in what has been a very stressful month.

Best of luck to you and Bubba!
Kim
 
Hello there

What I like about waiting is you can start testing now so you know his baseline before he goes on insulin. Because you are feeding canned food his blood sugar could be dropping already which is good to know.

Also maybe take a read of this for meter recommendations etc https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rd6sMfsrNB41yQVEqpyjlHrJsDIbGEhbRIWR4QAwu3c/pub

The Royal Canin SO is very high carb, you may want to ask the vet for a recommendation thats lower carb as its going to make it more difficult to regulate him. His hunger will come to normal levels once you get him on a good insulin dose.

For the insulin I would ask about Lantus, Levemir or Prozinc. Those are the best insulins for cats.


Wendy
 
Thank you, Kim and Wendy, for your responses. I already feel an incredible amount of relief from reading the information on this site. What a fabulous place.

We've gotten the B12 supplement so we're starting Bubs on that with his dinner tonight. He's also on Cosequin- I didn't see any issues with him taking both.
 
where in NJ are you located? I'm in woodbridge....and which specialty place did you go to - you mentioned central nj so I'm wondering if it was garden state or red bank? or more north?
 
Hi! We're from Cranford originally so pretty close to you in Woodbridge. We currently live in Basking Ridge now though and we went to Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls. We had a fabulous experience there, especially with Dr. Goodwin. Our vet in Summit originally thought Bubba's issue was vascular in nature so that's why we went down to see Dr. Goodwin because he is a cardiologist.
 
ok, I know where you are - my specialty place of choice is red bank - I have used Garden State, but it hs been several years, since I discovered red bank.

the vet I use is in Edison - not far from 287, if you are willing to travel there - it is Raritan Animal Hospital -www.raritananimalhospital.com/

it is a fairly large practice and I have seen several of the vets there. the vet who helped me with Maui's diabetes treatment is no longer there, but they do have several good ones, including the owners - whom I have only done phone consults with. and they have saturday hours - but only take appts for saturdays in the morning.

with any place, some vets are better than others.

the vet was open to home testing, taught me how to inject insulin, wrote the scrips for insulin and syringes and was a support - the one thing we disagreed on was food - they wanted to go with prescription food and I said no, they didn't push and I just didn't discuss it further with them.

If my cats ever have to stay at the vets (raritan or red bank) I bring their own food and again avoid any issue or concern regarding that.

I hope this helps and if I can be of further assistance, please let me know.
 
I live in the next county over from you, and just recently went to Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in Tinton Falls, per Hillary's recommendation :), as J.D. had a dental there. I thought that hospital was competing for The Best Veterinary Hospital In The World Award. I thought it was really really really really nice, but we weren't there for diabetes.
Where I live, I tried out several vets, trying and searching and hoping to find a vet that knew a lot about diabetes in cats, and never found one. My local vet can do check ups and blood tests and write prescriptions and give vaccines. I use this board to find most of the information I need about FD.
 
Bubba's first vet appointment since diagnosis is this morning. I'm actually excited. Is that weird? He has been on a high protein diet all week (including treats) and his gait is much better. I think the Cosequin and the B12 are helping the neuropathy. Bubba also doesn't seem to be as ravenous as he previously displayed- yet he still has a very healthy appetite.

I spoke to his regular vet on the phone on Thursday and he was very very positive about treatment. This vet is a very no nonsense person so I was very happy that his demeanor was nice. So now that I've had very reassuring and optimistic phone calls with both the regular vet and the emergency vet, I'm quite pleased.

BTW- I thought it would be worth mentioning that my husband has also been doing a vast amount of research and he may sometimes post on here as well. (He's the CJ of our screen name whereas I'm the JH.)

Bubba says thank you for all the help you've provided his wackadoo mother this week. HA!
 
Good news indeed. What is important is that you have a vet that will work or as I like to say partner with you, and discuss their reasons for what they are suggesting and support your decisions.

I so understand how alone you can feel if you don't have a vet you can count on.
 
Bubba has amazing news to share. His sugar dropped from 527 last Saturday to 298 today! Holy Snizzle! We are beyond thrilled. The vet was so so happy. He said that we should wait on insulin and recheck him in two weeks to see if he's still on the right track.

Happy day!!
 
Honestly, he really needs to have insulin now. Because if he stays too high and yes 298 is too high, it can cause other problems, like renal shutdown. I'm not as conversant on all the dangers of staying too high, but I know this is not good.

Are you home testing? As that is a very important part to really see how he is doing. And While yes dropping from 500 to 300 is good, which means that the food change is helping, he does need insulin and the longer you wait, the harder it may be to get him regulated and potentially off insulin for good.

If this were my cat, I would be home testing and starting insulin immediately. And by insulin, I mean Lantus, Levimer or Prozinc.
 
Great! Then you've got the biggest hurdle accomplished. Now, you need to start insulin.

And remember start low, go slow - 1 unit or even 1/2 unit is a safe starting dose - twice a day....think you can convince the vet to write the scrip ask for either Lantus or Levimer in pen form not vial. Also will need scrip for syringes - ask vet to write U100 with 1/2 unit markings. It will make it that much easier for you.

If you decide to use Prozinc, the vet may be able to sell it, or you can purchase it online via a pet pharmacy (scrip needed). And while the syringes are U40, ask for U100 with 1/2 unit markings - as U40 syringes do not come with the 1/2 unit. We have a conversion chart that you can tape to the fridge, so you give the correct dose - ie. 1/2 unit, 1 unit.

Make sense?
 
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