Maresydotes
Active Member
This is a sort of strange question, but.......I am trying my best to find an answer to my girls relapse and subsequent numbers.
Background: Missy was dx'd in March 2011 and started on Lantus. She was OTJ in April. Missy is very overweight, but once on canned food, lost regularily. The beginning of August 2011, she started to ask for more food. I hadn't tested her for a couple weeks and so checked her BG. Sure enough, she was back up. So, after talking to the vet, we started her bak on Lantus and put her on Clavamox to try to clear up her chin acne. (which is FINALLY responding to Betadyne after trying multiple treatments) Missy has had diarrhea (quite smelly) since around this time. I don't know if she had it when she relapsed (she prefers the outdoors to the litter box). I didn't notice it until she was put on the Clavamox, but I was looking for it then. I have tried yoghurt, FortiFlora, probiotics, DiaGel, different OTC kitty anti-diarrheal's, the vet put her on metronidazole for it..... FortiFlora and yoghurt did nothing. The rest of the treatments worked, but only transiently.
Oh, and she had blood work done and fecal samples examined for parasites, including Giardia, at the same time she was on the metronidazole.
Fast forward to the end of December 2011 and she is still having problems with diarrhea. I researched a bit on Giardia, because we have raccoons and possums in the back yard and Missy loves to lick water off anything, so it is a definite possibility. Apparently, it is difficult to diagnose because they have to be shedding the cysts at the time the stool is checked......and Giardia is becoming resistant to metronidazole. I brought this to my vet's attention. So she put her on a course of Panacur. That worked great....no smelly stools, no diarrhea. Whew! Then a few days later, back to loose stools. So, back on Panacur for and extended course, in case she had a resistant strain. She did very well while on Panacur. But, once off it, back to the loose stools.
At the same time she relapsed and had the loose stools, she stopped losing weight. These all may not be connected, but I tend to think they are. I also think I see a relationship to her BG levels and diarrhea.
Also....and this is where it gets a bit odd, Missy gets NO contraband. She is in a 6 ft. chain link fence and does not get out. The only thing she eats besides freeze dried chicken and her EVO cat food is the dragonflies she catches. (yes, my fat cat catches dragonflies) They are particularly abundant starting around July in my part of the world. I think it is far fetched, but feasible that maybe she got some kind of 'bug' from the bug. :lol: I have tried to do some research on what diseases dragonflies might carry, but since they don't bite humans, I haven't really found anything. The most was a thought that since they eat mosquitos, she maybe could have a mosquito borne disease.
What I am wondering is if anyone has any idea of how I might research more on 'dragonfly-born' diseases? I am sort of at a loss as to where to look other than the little I saw on the internet. Any thoughts would be welcome.
And, if you don't have any thoughts on dragonfly research, any thoughts on other causes of diarrhea I might explore.....I doubt she has IBD, as she has no other symptoms.....no biting at her belly, no tenderness, no vomiting. I know that EVO is high in fat, but she ate it for 4-5 months with no problems. I have not tried changing foods yet, as my vet wants me to stick to one change at a time, so we can narrow down what does work, if we can find it. That might be my next step after I hear back from the vet.
Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to be sure I had all the information included. Thanks to anyone who has any input in to this! I really appreciate it!!
PS. We are still on Lantus insulin, but I haven't posted her numbers recently, as I have been trying a different dosing schedule. We were on 10 hour dosing until my vet convinced me to try TID dosing.
Background: Missy was dx'd in March 2011 and started on Lantus. She was OTJ in April. Missy is very overweight, but once on canned food, lost regularily. The beginning of August 2011, she started to ask for more food. I hadn't tested her for a couple weeks and so checked her BG. Sure enough, she was back up. So, after talking to the vet, we started her bak on Lantus and put her on Clavamox to try to clear up her chin acne. (which is FINALLY responding to Betadyne after trying multiple treatments) Missy has had diarrhea (quite smelly) since around this time. I don't know if she had it when she relapsed (she prefers the outdoors to the litter box). I didn't notice it until she was put on the Clavamox, but I was looking for it then. I have tried yoghurt, FortiFlora, probiotics, DiaGel, different OTC kitty anti-diarrheal's, the vet put her on metronidazole for it..... FortiFlora and yoghurt did nothing. The rest of the treatments worked, but only transiently.
Oh, and she had blood work done and fecal samples examined for parasites, including Giardia, at the same time she was on the metronidazole.
Fast forward to the end of December 2011 and she is still having problems with diarrhea. I researched a bit on Giardia, because we have raccoons and possums in the back yard and Missy loves to lick water off anything, so it is a definite possibility. Apparently, it is difficult to diagnose because they have to be shedding the cysts at the time the stool is checked......and Giardia is becoming resistant to metronidazole. I brought this to my vet's attention. So she put her on a course of Panacur. That worked great....no smelly stools, no diarrhea. Whew! Then a few days later, back to loose stools. So, back on Panacur for and extended course, in case she had a resistant strain. She did very well while on Panacur. But, once off it, back to the loose stools.
At the same time she relapsed and had the loose stools, she stopped losing weight. These all may not be connected, but I tend to think they are. I also think I see a relationship to her BG levels and diarrhea.
Also....and this is where it gets a bit odd, Missy gets NO contraband. She is in a 6 ft. chain link fence and does not get out. The only thing she eats besides freeze dried chicken and her EVO cat food is the dragonflies she catches. (yes, my fat cat catches dragonflies) They are particularly abundant starting around July in my part of the world. I think it is far fetched, but feasible that maybe she got some kind of 'bug' from the bug. :lol: I have tried to do some research on what diseases dragonflies might carry, but since they don't bite humans, I haven't really found anything. The most was a thought that since they eat mosquitos, she maybe could have a mosquito borne disease.
What I am wondering is if anyone has any idea of how I might research more on 'dragonfly-born' diseases? I am sort of at a loss as to where to look other than the little I saw on the internet. Any thoughts would be welcome.
And, if you don't have any thoughts on dragonfly research, any thoughts on other causes of diarrhea I might explore.....I doubt she has IBD, as she has no other symptoms.....no biting at her belly, no tenderness, no vomiting. I know that EVO is high in fat, but she ate it for 4-5 months with no problems. I have not tried changing foods yet, as my vet wants me to stick to one change at a time, so we can narrow down what does work, if we can find it. That might be my next step after I hear back from the vet.
Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to be sure I had all the information included. Thanks to anyone who has any input in to this! I really appreciate it!!
PS. We are still on Lantus insulin, but I haven't posted her numbers recently, as I have been trying a different dosing schedule. We were on 10 hour dosing until my vet convinced me to try TID dosing.
and, of course his sister had some, too! :shock: :shock: She was high all day. :cry: Thank God she is coming down, now. Little carb kitty!! So, I thought I would let her belly settle down a bit from that change before I introduce the rabbit.