Harry diabetic cat with intestinal issues

Hi there,

My cat is not newly diagnosed, but the vets cannot figure out what is going on with him. His diabetes has never really been successfully regulated for any length of time it appears. We adopted him from a humane society and are slowly learning his issues. We have him on Lantus and do the blood glucose curves at home. He has sudden drops in blood glucose meaning going from 29.2 to 22.1 to 16.1 in 4 hours as an example.
another day he was 16.1 at 8 p.m. , ate ½ can of veterinarian prescribed diabetic cat food and was injected with 3 units of lantus. He was 1.9 at 9 am the next day. These are not once in a lifetime occurrences for Harry. We cannot figure out why he is dropping suddenly sometimes and not other times. On top of this he has inflammation of the intestine and suspected bowel disease. He has diarrhea, but not the really watery kind - around level 3-4 on the stool consistency chart. It is really smelly. We thought this might have something to do with the failure to control his diabetes and his weight loss. We have tried a few foods and his stool clears up for about a week and then it is back to diarrhea. I can post more, but wanted to introduce Harry the cat and myself. I'll probably just start a new thread.

 

It looks like be is on too high a dose of insulin. I would try to lower it. You might post questions in the Lantus sob forum. People there would e better at recommending dose changes.

Also, prescription cat food is not good for diabetic cats, even if it is supposed to be for diabetic cats. They are too high in carbs. Most of us feed Fancy feast classic or Friskies pate. A change in diet might help the digestive problems.

 

Hi there, thank you for responding. Yes, and we did lower the dose in the past, but the numbers became high - in the 20s (metric) so it was eventually increased. I will certainly post over there. It seems like something else is going on and he has the specialist stumped as well. We tried changing diet but the diarrhea
resolves for a few days and then comes back. He also just stops eating it - no doubt because he doesn't feel well. We tried FF, but it might have not been the right ones as I understand the manufacturer changed the formulation on some that were on Binky's list. We also tried a few that were limited ingredient, gluten free, etc. to see if we could eliminate the intestinal issue which is stopping nutrient absorption. There seem to be so many issues that I wonder if it is not something else.

 

Welcome! You can post on the main health forum for help with his intestinal/food issues and the Lantus forum for insulin dosing help. The L forum folks can likely help with the intestinal problems too. Lots of experience with every variety of cat issue here.

 

Has he been tested for Giardia? It's an intestinal parasite (unicellular) that can give these kinds of symptoms. It is not dealt with by regular worming pills and requires a course of metronidazole.

What you describe re Lantus and numbers reminds me of the early days with Quintus (just a few weeks ago) when he was also on 3ui, which was too high for him. Have a peek at the spreadsheet. ECID (Every Cat Is Different) but you might see a pattern.

 

Are you giving probiotics at all? Try it if you haven't.

 

Welcome Dee and Harry! God bless you for rescuing him! You'll get a ton of great support here to help you both feel better.