Back here again

Eddie is no longer in remission, restarted insulin on Feb 15.

I did feel like a bad mama as I hadn't checked his blood sugar for quite a while and ended up taking Eddie to the vet because he has lost weight, been vomiting entire meals on occasion and howling more than usual. I thought he might be hyperthyroid but thankfully not. His blood sugar was over 24 on the lab test so I restarted his insulin.

Eddie is a 14 yo ginger who was a whopping 21 pounds at the beginning of this journey and now after dieting and being untreated in his diabetes for several months now weighs in around 10 pounds. He lost 3 pounds in the past year. He likes Merrick's foods especially the turkey pate.... And anything else he can chow down on when no one is looking.

 

Continued vigilance is needed with an OTJ cat because so many things can cause a reversion to an insulin-dependant state.

Could you edit your signature to include what insulin and food?

Any other problems such as dental infection, bladder infection, allergies, etc?

If you can be super diligent testing and monitoring, you might get him back in remission, but it is less likely with every relapse.

 

Yes, I'm guilty enough without that reminder. Life is busy with work and family and sometimes things don't get done.

Eddie is relatively healthy, he came to us at age 3 from a shelter. He has some issues with his dental health and had his teeth cleaned and a few extractions last year, only one fang left. He isn't the most cleaver cat but my DD loves him and he puts up with her abuse, her has let her dress him. He has a little brother, Oliver, who is 10 and asthmatic. He is also a bit annoying with his night time behaviour, howling and litter tracking all over the house.

 

Howling may be due to the elevated glucose, or another problem. Keep tabs on it and if it doesn't calm down, check with your vet to rule out hyperthyroidism and cognitive dysfunction syndrome. (Maybe put a reminder note a couple weeks out on your calendar. (I know what you mean about things getting away from you - if I didn't put things in my phone calendar, I'd completely forget a lot of them!)

 

Eddie has been howling for about 5 years. He was just checked for hyperthyroid. He is 14 and I put to down to old age and habit. He does it after eating if he is alone and will stop mid howl if you make eye contact with him. He is also has become deaf. I can vacuum him. I'm sure that the deafness is also a factor. His other annoying behaviour is waking us up at about 3 am by meowing quietly, pacing or rubbing things in our room. If we shut him out, he howls. Would love it if he stops and hope that controlling his sugar will help but I won't hold out hope. Our other cat usually settles once he has what he needs, but not Eddie. If Ed is fed and I go back to bed, he eats, then returns and continues carrying on. The whole family is a little sleep deprived.

 

You might try some active play in the early evening, to see if maybe you can tire him out a bit.

 

Don't feel too guilty. My Rocky was in remission and I became very lax, even "cheating" on his food. Now he is back on insulin and I am back to monitoring him. I didn't know it is harder to get one back in remission after the first time. No one ever mentioned this to me before. That is sad, because I really want to see him off the insulin again. It is hard to find someone to take care of him in order for us to go on a vacation etc. and I don't want to leave him at the vet's for boarding. He hates being in a cage!

Keep posting about your kitty. I will be curious to see how he does.

 

Thanks, Eddie is doing well, I don't have a lot of hope that he will go into remission again and yes, it is hard to find a cat sitter. I have a neighbour who has volunteered and I will probably switch him over to a once a day injection before I go away. He doesn't need a lot of insulin. Currently trying to get his weight up as he is very thin right now.

I am a nurse and recently have had contact with a newly diagnosed type 1 diabetic under 2 years old. It's amazing how quickly she turned around with insulin and currently is on a bit of a honeymoon and only needing insulin once a day until her remaining islet cells stop working. I suspect our cats were much the same, had their honeymoon and now need that insulin again.

 

Remission isn't totally out of the question second time round but you will need to be more vigilant on food - try perhaps to go even lower carb.. and be more aggressive with dose. And go get him checked at the vet if you haven't already - there could be an infection (dental, ear whatever) that threw him out of remission.

Don't hold a dose too long if its not working - follow the tight regulation protocol as tightly as you can.

I would suggest you re-read all the stickys and join the TR board and let them advise you on dosing.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581

Wendy