Update: was my cat just really lucky?

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TanyaK

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Hi all,

My previous posts are: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=14997&p=149742#p149742 and
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=15555&p=155458#p155458

First of all I want to thank all of you, the info on this forum has been really helpful. I really do think that all of you encouraging me to hometest has avoided a hypo incident in my cat. Also, Janet and Binky's food chart was extremely helpful!

Quick recap: my cat, Kot, 10.5 year old male, was diagnosed with diabetes on May 18th, had BG 480 at vets, and fructosomine 616. The vet prescribed 1.5 units of Lantus twice daily, Hill's m/d, and to only check urine for glucose.

The next week and a half was grueling, I started off with 1 unit twice a day, moved up to 1.5 units, as per vet's advice. I did this for a week, and his appetite was very poor, I could at most get him to eat 45-50 calories a day. Since he was eating so poorly, vomited clear liquid, and urine tested negative for 4 days in row, I stopped with the insulin, and for two days straight he barely ate all. Thats when I bought a blood glucose testing kit, Bayer Contour, and his BG was 58mg/dl.

After these two days, on May 26th, I took him to another vet, recommended by a friend. He gave him an antibiotic shot, an anti-nausea shot, and an appetite stimulant Mirzapaine (sp?). This vet was also concerned with the elevated liver enzymes on his first test, and ordered a pancreatitus fPLI test. He also sent him home with Hills w/d food. His BG at the vet's was 220mg/dl, but Kot was extremely stressed! Scared off the vet techs, the vet himself drew blood.

His appetite increased, I fed him the w/d food, I knew its high carb, but he was eating it, and I was too scared of him developing hepatic lipidosis. So the next day his BG was around 400. On May 29th, I started Lantus 1 unit again, AMPS 470, +6 440, PMPS 330. Also his fPLI came back negative, and the rest of his blood work was fine.

Then that night, I think something "clicked". At 3 AM he got very active, looked hungry (he started to lick plastic bags, his usual sign of hunger), refused w/d food dry or wet. So I gave him a low carb FF can, which he gobbled up. In the morning his BG was 80mg/dl, so I didn't give him insulin.

Since then, he has been eating low carb FF cans almost exclusively, except for a few high carb treats at testing. I am now testing once a day, in the morning, and his BG is 50-70 mg/dl for the past 10 days, without insulin!

Could my cat and me really be this lucky? Is he in remission this fast? I cross my fingers every time before I hometest, expecting something high to come up, and "for the other shoe to drop". Did this happen to anyone else? How often should I continue to test his BG?

Another question: Kot weighs 14 lbs, and with the FF cans he eats about 110-150 calories a day. By all the calorie recommendations I read, this is still low, but on this calorie dose, he has kept this weight for two weeks. Should I try to get him to eat more?

Thanks to all of you again!

TanyaK
 
Maybe not so much luck as much as having a smart mom who changed his diet :)

I would recommend that you continue to hometest, maybe not every day, but every other day for a while, then every week, then less and less. If you see symptoms start to return, increased drinking or urine or acting hungry, test again.

A diet controlled FD is awesome, but there may come a time when he may have his sugars go up again, sometimes if a dental is needed or if there is an infection brewing.

My boy Tucker was off insulin for a year and stress or something caused his pancreatitis to flare and he's back on insulin.

I hope that your little man is "off the juice" for good, but just be mindful of the signs and take good care of him.

Regarding how much food to feed, I have two FDs recently in remission and at this point they've been getting a little over two cans each, divided by four times per day. I don't know the calorie intake, but I do give these two a little extra, I have no idea why, in my own mind I think maybe it's making them just a bit stronger, but hopefully others with more nutrition knowledge can answer your question.

Congratulations to you and your little man.
 
Thats wonderful!!!

You are not alone. I think the count is in the 120-something kitties in Lantus Land that have made it to diet controlled with the help of the boards. I think many of us made it there with the help of FF :-D Have you had a vet check since? Normally we discount vet #s because they are stress elevated, but that large of a drop with no up-swings, I'd maybe want to make sure my meter wasn't being wonky.

Diet is a BIG key and Lantus has shown great results in getting newly diagnosed kitties to remission with diet change. Man I wish more vets would research the trends instead of getting their food recommendations from the vendors that come to their door.

Regarding food - as long as Kot isn't appearing hungry or losing weight, I wouldn't try to force more food. Our kitties first started out being little piggies when we switched to wet food, but now thats its normal to them they are all settled into a much healthier weight that they were at on the diet hard food they've grown up on. We feed 6-8 3oz cans a day for the 3 cats.
 
There is something called transient diabetic. It's possible this is your situation. Either way, you have the tools, information and know what to do to keep your cat safe and healthy.

The bag licking reminded me of what my Jake used to do. I was told that there is a chemical in the plastic bags that some cats are attracted to and it's like an addiction.

Congrats.
 
About the amount of food: My Megan (a transient diabetic) gains weight on any more than about 100 calories a day. Recently we were at the vet about something else and I asked him about this. He said she is getting plenty of nutrition from her 100 calories - body condition, fur, everything observable were fine. Her heart rate was a bit low during the examination (but obviously not low enough that he was worried). He said she probably just had a lower metabolic rate than most kitties and I shouldn't worry at all.
 
Thanks for the replies!

What exactly is a transient diabetic? Where can I read more about it?

Also, Jean, how much does Megan weigh now?

Thanks,

TanyaK
 
He gave him an antibiotic shot, an anti-nausea shot, and an appetite stimulant Mirzapaine (sp?).
Click to expand...

What your 2nd vet did may have helped as much as anything else. Kot's initial BGs may have been elevated by an unidentified infection. Although it is not prudent to blast away with antibiotics, I suspect that that shot, in combo with the meds to calm his stomach and increase his appetite may have placed him close enough to "healthy" that the low-carb diet could deal with the rest.

Are you lucky? Yes. And smart too, for reaching out for help and for taking the advice.
 
Congratulations!

Just a note, though: even if Kot is a transient diabetic, he's having some problems with his pancreas at the moment. It's entirely possible that he'll never have another problem with it in his life, but it's also possible that he'll experience either another temporary attack or even (eventually) develop full-blown diabetes.

Your best bets for reducing the risks of that happening are to keep Kot on a low-carbohydrate diet; to test his blood sugar levels once a month (if they increase, it could be an early warning of some other health issue) or any time he appears to be acting 'off'; and to take care of any health issues that might arise as quickly as possible (that includes things like dental cleanings -- tartar build-up can cause inflammation which can increase BG levels). Congratulations again!
 
TanyaK said:
What exactly is a transient diabetic? Where can I read more about it?

Also, Jean, how much does Megan weigh now?
Click to expand...

A transient diabetic is one that has diabetic numbers for a short while (maybe while there is an infection, though there can be a lot of reasons) but then, perhaps without treatment or perhaps with only a short course of treatment, starts having consistent non-diabetic numbers. You can search Google for "transient diabetes in cats" (without the quotes). One article that explains it well is http://www.manhattancats.com/Articles/T ... betes.html . Scroll down to the section titled "Transient Diabetes."

Tonight Megan weighed 9 pounds 9 1/2 oz. A few days ago she weighed 9 pounds 13 oz. (That was when the vet saw her. Right now she is being treated for a spot of dermatitis, and the treatment may be responsible for the loss of a few ounces. Before this recent problem, she was weighing pretty consistently 9 pounds 11-13 oz.)
 
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