Abby 12

Hi, my name is Markie and I'm Abby's mom. She's 12 and was diagnosed with diabetes in late July. She's on lantus. We started with 1 1/2 units twice a day and we are now up to 4 units twice a day. Her numbers are all over the place. Anywhere from the low 200's up to 512 (once) mostly she's in the high 200's/ low 300's. She has never been in the 100's or lower since I've been testing her. I wouldn't say that she's drinking as much water as she did when I realized something was wrong with her but she still hovers around her water bowl. In fact, she likes to just rest her chin on the bowl. She isn't urinating as much as she was before her diagnosis. She's ravenously hungry all the time. Even when she has food available, she begs for my food and she was never interested in human food before her diagnosis. She has neuropathy in her two front paws, so bad that her knuckle bones have come through the pads on several of her little toes. My Vet wants to either do plastic surgery to try and pull the pad back over the bone or they may have to be apputated. He says she will still be able to walk. Either way, he doesn't want to do surgery until she is stable. I'm really so sad for Abby. She's not the cat she was a year ago. She was a snuggler. She couldn't get enough attention. You only had to look at her and she would start to purr. None of those things are true anymore. I just want my Abby back. Most the time now she just seems to be walking very slowly from water bowl to water bowl (I have 3 other cats) to food bowl. Like she's in a fog. I swear in the last 5 months I could count on one hand the amount of times I've seen her just sleeping alone or curled up with one of the other cats. It doesn't happen anymore. When she sleeps (she's gotta sleep, right?) it's under a bed. So I guess my questions are: anyone else have a cat with any of these same issues? It's been 5 months, since her diagnosis. Will Abby ever get stable? Anyone else ever have a cat with neuropathy in the front paws? Abby walks a bit funny from the back paws as well. My Vet said he's never seen anything like her paws before but he hasn't dealt with that many diabetic cats. I don't want to give up on her. I love to the moon and back but I also don't want to do anything to cause her more pain. Her quaility of life right just so not what she deserves. She is such a sweet good girl!!

 

1. Ok some questions.... What kind of food are you feeding and how often

2. So sorry she's having such trouble with her feet! Poor girl!!!! I never heard of the knuckle bones doing that. Is she getting vitamin b 12 methylcobalamin supplements for the neuropathy? If not start that immediately. You can order zobaline from Amazon Zobaline™ (for Diabetic Cats) 3 mg x 60 tabs https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008G3LI2M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0SnsAb3Y2P62T

3. How quickly is her dose being raised? Whole units? Half units? I ask because sometimes raising a dose too quickly can cause you to skip the ideal dose and too much insulin can look like not enough. There are folks here very good at dosing advice for lantus that will help you figure out out.

 

Can you set up a signature? It will prevent up from asking basic questions over and over .... Click on your name at the top right corner and choose signature. Add info such as your pets name, date diagnosed, insulin type and dose, food you're feeding, other supplements and medications and any other health concerns school as the neuropathy. Then hit save

 

I forgot to mention that Abby eats Fancy Feast Classic pate meats only and Iams high protien dry food. I know there are better foods out there. I'm on fixed income and I have 3 other cats living in my home. I have friends who are vets who live a few states away from me and they along with my Vet are OK with the fancy feast. The dry I know is not so good for them but they are literally addicted to it. At first I took it away and for weeks I couldn't go near the kitchen without them all following me. One of my cats knows how to open the cabinet where the dry is kept and she would just bang the cabinet door. So I bought the best dry I could afford.

 

The fancy feast classic is a perfect choice. The iams dry has to go immediately. It's somewhere around 25%-30% carb.... It's like feeding her donuts!!! Cutting that out may help drop the bg! If you must feed a dry there is a dry food called Young Again Zero carb which is available at Youngagainpetfood.com. You can write them and ask for a free sample of the food. It's pricy to buy a bag but because it's nutrient dense and high in calories they eat less of it. A daily serving is about 1/3 cup. An 8 lb bag will last you a few months.

 

I have lots of cats, some are kibble addicted. It took awhile, but I now have it where everyone gets wet and the kibble addicts (after eating a little wet) are fed some kibble while shut in the bedroom a few times a day. I give Friskies and 9 Lives to the others because it’s cheaper, while my sugar cat gets a little better quality food due to other issues he has.

 

Please ditch that dry food. It is working directly against what you are trying to accomplish.

 

Thanks JanetNJ. I ordered the Zorbaline. I'll see what I can do about getting the better dry for Abby. I live in an apartment so it's hard to segregate the others from her or visa versa. They all eat each other's food. I'll talk to my Vet about the insulin. Maybe we went up too high too fast. Thanks for listening. I was pretty upset a few hours ago and I'm feeling a bit better now.

 

I have six cats so I know how they share. Best thing you can do is only use food they all can eat. Getting them off the high carb dry will reduce the chance of any of your non diabetic cats from developing it.

You have found a very supportive place here. We are all here for each other and I know we can help you. Unfortunately we have found that the vast majority of vets are pretty clueless when dealing with diabetic cats. Most don't get a whole lot of training in it and don't know how to dose properly and don't give the best advice about what to feed. The folks her have a collective knowledge and experience base, and since there's many of us it's a system of checks and balances so it's not info from just one source, ya know?

So glad you ordered the zobaline. Many have found it very helpful, along with better bg control, in reversing the signs of neuropathy. And you don't have to worry about overdose as cats pee out any extra b12.

Since you are using lantus, I encourage you to go to the lantus forum, read the yellow stickies at the top of the forum list. There is info about two dosing protocols.... SLGS (shoot low go slow) and TR (tight regulation). See which one is a better fit for you. Write on that forum and the lantus users (there's lots of them) will guide you further about finding a dose that works for your cat.

Good job getting the signature up and going!

 

Hi Markie,

You've already had some great input from other members. I've nothing to add here but after reading your introduction and hearing how worried you are about your dear little Abby I wanted to send you some and to share a video showing a kitty who was successfully treated for neuropathy so that you can see what's possible in the hope it might lift your spirits a little:




Mogs
.

 

Thanks so much for posting the video!! That's amazing!! Abby's back paws aren't quite as bad as Tootie's but her front paws are a mess. I actually misspoke when I said Abby has neuropathy in all for of her paws. She has it in her back paws but the Vet said he believes its necrosis in the front paws.