? Vit B

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apple

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Next question for the evening:

I asked my vet about starting Vit B as my cat is starting to walk a little lower on his back leg/s and his gait is a smidge off.

Just got an email back from my vet saying:
vit b only works in humans
doesn't work in cats, he's tried it and researched it-


I see people on here that have a form of vit b in their signature. Do you feel/ see it working in your personal cat? If so, what are you giving and when did you think you saw anecdotal evidence that the vit b was working for your cat?

Thank you
 
apple said:
I see people on here that have a form of vit b in their signature. Do you feel/ see it working in your personal cat? If so, what are you giving and when did you think you saw anecdotal evidence that the vit b was working for your cat?
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Most of us give a methylcobalamin (methyl-B12) for neuropathy such as Zobaline.

I think you'll find the answers to a lot of your questions here:
Jasper The Big Orange Goodness, A Story of Recovery, Hope, and Resources for Diabetic Pet Care

Topics include:
  • What is Diabetic Neuropathy?
  • Does Your cat have neuropathy?
  • Is there treatment?
  • What's the prognosis?
  • What research is being done?
  • Dosage Info
  • Other uses for Methylcobalamin
 
Zobaline (methyl-B12) has done wonders for Shenandoah. She had bad neuropathy and a lot of trouble getting around. Now she walks with just a hint of wobbliness (some of that is from the arthritis).
A couple times I have tried to pull her off of it. Within a few days she is hiding in dark corners, her coat is dull, she is stumbling more. I put her back on it and she goes to normal. I've done this a couple times (just because I don't want to keep giving her something that isn't necessary, so wanted to know). But her response was so consistent, now I am convinced she has to stay on B-12 for life, and that it makes a huge difference for her.
 
Many who use it say it helps. There's really nothing to lose in trying it. You can get zobaline on amazon
 
When we received Lucky into foster he drug his back half completely or thumped his back feet along in an awkward fashion that is likely why he came with the nickname "Padfoot". We started him on one Zobaline a day for a few to make sure he had no adverse effects, then went to 2 a day. By the time he moved into a foster-to-adopt a month later he walked fine and could run with just a bit of a butt wobble. To-date, his new mom keeps him on a few Zoboline a week and he runs, jumps, plays with the younger cat in the house.
Some vets use the wrong B12 on neuropathy, just give the shot, then say it doesn't work. Get the correct kind and get BGs under control and usually you will see improvement. In older non-diabetic cats, I have seen the B12 shots do wonders, we called it Sophia's Go-Go juice.
 
Zobaline is methylcobalamin, which is neurologically active - so it helps with neuropathy from diabetes.
Injections are cyanocobalamin, which is less bioavailable, and generally less effective for neurologic issues.

They are both B-12, just different forms, and processed differently by the body (although cyanocobalamin does get converted into methylcobalamin, along with other products - but the metabolism is different. Plus patients with livers that aren't functioning completely normally will have trouble making the conversion).

methylcobalamin is more painful to inject, so it's generally not offered in injectable form.

B-12 is actually quite complicated, and few formal studies have been done about it's affects on cats. Unfortunately, a lot of people (including some vets) confuse the two forms and just refer to both as B-12 without any distinction, so even reported success (or lack thereof) rates are questionable. Anecdotal is about the best you can do.
 
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