My cat walking on her hocks...

Hobbes was diagnosed back in January 2018 with feline diabetes. We have been giving her ProZinc, 2.5 units. she started with 0.5 units on January 19th. We have seen improvement in her but she is still walking on her hocks with her back legs. Will this go away? Is there something we are not doing enough of to help her? After reading this message board I feel that I need to stop feeding her Hills MD dry food and go with only fancy feast classic. Anything else recommended? I have been reluctant to home test her and have been taking her to the vet for testing about every three weeks. Any help is appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

It will improve once regulated. In the meantime, give her Zobaline b12.

 

Hi. Definitely start home testing. There is no other way to really know what is going on with her glucose levels. It may seem 'scary' at first, but it becomes easy more quickly than you would think. It is so routine for us that Mia jumps up in her testing spot in her tower and holds her ear toward me for me to prick it. Then, she eats her treat. Hills m/d dry food is pretty high in carbs, so it is not the best for regular feeding. I have some on hand from when Mia was first diagnosed (the vet sent it with us then I started researching and found out that I did not want to feed her that food.. or any dry food as a meal.. ever again). I have used it on occasions when Mia's glucose level has gotten too low. The fact that I can use it to bring her levels up tells me that I definitely do not want to be giving it to her on a regular basis. (Definitely start testing before you take the dry food out of her diet. Doing this could cause her glucose level to drop.)

Regarding walking on hocks. I have not had to deal with that, but I have seen on here that Zobaline is very good to give.

 

Thanks for the responses. Can I sprinkle the Zobaline on her food or does it have to be administered orally?

Regarding home testing...after testing your cat do you decide whether to up the dosage of insulin you give to the cat? I am trying to understand this part of the treatment. Thanks!

 

Welcome! You've come to the best place for help and support.

You've had many dose increases in a short time. Two months is a very short time in the world of feline diabetes. I assume you mean your vet has been doing a full BG curve every three weeks? Or was it only a single BG test a certain number of hours after an injection? Either way, the stress of a vet visit can raise BG levels and dosing decisions made on that can result in too high a dose. Without at home test data it's hard to say if that's the case.

The key is to get good control of BG levels. That's a long term undertaking. It can't be done quickly. Many people add in a vitamin B12 supplement. A popular one available online is Zobaline. After many moths of giving it and working on better BG control these symptoms of diabetic neuropathy can be reversed to a large degree, if not completely.

Yes, we recommend feeding only low carb wet food. Many people feed Fancy Feast or Friskies pates. There are premium brands that are good to feed as well. It's best to keep carb level under 10%. Here's a link to a good food list compiled by a vet who's an expert on nutrition:
http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

 

Here's my new member's handout. It covers a bunch of things including home testing. Read it over and ask a lot of questions.
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It would help us if you set up your signature (light grey text under a post). Here's how:

• click on your name in the upper right corner of this page
• click on "signature" in the men that drops down
• type the following in the box that opens: kitty's name/age/date of diabetes diagnosis/insulin you're using /glucose meter you're using/what he eats/any other meds or health issues he has.

Another thing that will help us help you now that you've started BG testing at home is to set up a spreadsheet like the one we use here. We can all see it and look at it before offering advice: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

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Here's the basic testing routine we recommend:

1. test every day AM and PM before feeding and injecting (no food at least 2 hours before) to see if the planned dose is safe
2. test at least once near mid cycle or at bedtime daily to see how low the BG goes
3. do extra tests on days off to fill in the response picture
4. if indicated by consistently high numbers on your spreadsheet, increase the dose by no more than 0.25 u at a time so you don't accidentally go right past a good dose
5. post here for advice whenever you're confused or unsure of what to do.

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Here's an explanation of what we call "bouncing". It explains why a kitty's BG can go from low to sky high:

1. BG goes low OR lower than usual OR drops too quickly.
2. Kitty's body panics and thinks there's danger (OMG! My BG is too low!).
3. Complex physiologic processes take glycogen stored in the liver (I think of it as "bounce fuel"), convert it to glucose and dump it into the bloodstream to counteract the perceived dangerously low BG.
4. These processes go into overdrive in kitties who are bounce prone and keep the BG propped up varying lengths of time (AKA bouncing).
5. Bounce prone kitty repeats this until his body learns that healthy low numbers are safe. Some kitties are slow learners.
6. Too high a dose of insulin can keep them bouncing over and over until the " bounce fuel" runs out and they crash - ie., have a hypo episode. That's why we worry so much about kitties that have had too high a starting dose prescribed by the vet and the owner isn't home testing.

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Here are some tips on how to do urine ketone testing (VERY important if BG is high and kitty isn't eating well!):

• put the end of the test strip right in his urine stream as he's peeing
• slip a shallow, long handled spoon under his backside to catch a little pee - you don't need much
• put a double layer of plastic wrap over his favourite part of the litter box and poke some depressions in it too catch pee.

Most test strips have to be dipped and allowed to develop for 15 seconds before viewing the colour change in very good light.

 

You can crush it and add it to food. Sometimes I do that, or sometimes give it orally.

 

I crush it with my fingers (crumbles easily) and mix it in the food.

 

Methylcobalamin can also be given by injection. You do not want the cyanocobalamin as that does not help with the diabetic neuropathy.

The best way to help the neuropathy, walking on the hocks, is for your cats BG (blood glucose) levels to get more controlled and as normal as possible.

My diabetic Wink went from walking entirely on his hocks, only being able to walk 3-4 steps, not able to jump up on anything to being an almost normal kitty. He kept eyeing the 6 foot jump from the floor to the top of the bookshelves, but never did get there. He did however get his walking and jumping ability back enough to easily tackle the stairs and jumping up on the kitchen counters. He even learned to run again! Took a couple of months.

Hoping your kitty gets better soon too.

 

B-12

 

Diamond has neuropathy in all 4 paws. He doesn’t get around well. I have a bed, litter box and food set up in the kitchen all pretty close together so he can get what he needs. Diamond was getting litter caked on his back feet. I switched to the Blue Buffalo clumping walnut based litter. Helps a ton! Just thought I’d mention that in case your kitty had that problem too.
The last few weeks his BG has gone down and he has made improvements regarding the neuropathy. Be patient, it will get better. I give him Zobaline. You can buy it on Amazon or I just got my last bottle at Walmart.com and the shipping was free!

 

You have already received great advice so I will not repeat it. However, I want to give you some words of encouragement.

Several years ago I adopted a cat named Spot who had uncontrolled diabetes. She walked on her hocks could barely walk. Within a couple months of being on insulin, methyl B12, home testing, and a low-carb diet, she was able to walk with a limp. Within the next few months she went from walking with the limp to running and jumping. Within a few months after that you would have never known she had neuropathy. All it takes is to be persistent with home testing, maintaining your optimal dose of insulin and a low-carb diet. There are no guarantees that your cat would fully recover like Spot did, however, you should see significant improvement.