Any IBD advice?

I'm wondering if this is the right place to post about cats with IBD and diabetes. My cat has been diabetic since March 2010, and his ultrasounds shows signs of IBD. I know it can only be diagnosed conclusively with biopsy, and I'm not willing to do that. Through the spring, my hope was that he would live through the summer with some quality of life and here we are at the fall and he is still slowly improving. He had quite bad hind-leg neuropathy and could only walk a few feet before sinking to the ground. He now trots behind me whenever I'm outside and loves to lie in the sun and groom his brother. He's an outdoor barn cat who gets shut in at night.

 

I would talk to your vet about using budeonide, it is a steroid but stays basically in the GI tract and seems to have little effect on BG. I have two diabetic's on it now.

 

Thanks - I'll ask. She was talking about chlorambucol (sp?) and had talked about the problem with steriods and diabetes. He isn't well regulated, and she is hoping that decreasing the inlammation will help with the bg.

 

Chlorambucil (one trade name Leukeran) is a chemo drug and is typically used for small cell intestinal lymphoma. It is also sometimes used for IBD. My Mario was on it for his small cell IL. My experience is th the budesonide has little effect on BG.

 

Sometimes just a change of diet can help tremendously with IBD cats. And since he is used to 'outdoor life' maybe a switch back to what he was previously used to in a raw diet would help?

Here are some testimonials from others who have found a raw diet beneficial for their IBD cats from the Feline's Pride website:

http://www.felinespride.com/products/testimonial.aspx

 

Can we help at all with regulation? That will improve his quality of life and his neuropathy. Using the protocol here of wet, lo carb food and insulin dosage determined by hometesting numbers, we have had great success.

What does he eat? What insulin and what dosage?

 

My cat is 13ish, 5.4 kg tabby. In early spring I noticed that he was drinking a lot of water and took him in, and diagnosis diabetes. We started on Glargine and after maybe 2 months (the details are fading...) with no regulation and continued deterioration esp back legs, the vet took him home for 'a few days' which turned into nearly 2 weeks. There was basically no response to the shots - subq or im. Anyway, she very reluctantly tried Caninulin (with all the warnings) and it works. He's had 2 ultrasounds and everything is inflamed, along with thickening of the bowel lining. He had a course of antibiotics for pancreatitis. He started at a low dose of insulin, and is now up to 14 u twice a day. He has just changed from DM to MD (1/2 can) because she thinks that it might be better for his IBD. He also gets 25 mls of id dry each meal. It appears that as his strength has returned he has been climbing up in the barn and supplementing his diet - I did not think it possible but I found him on the counter a few days ago. This would explain the weight gain and perhaps the increasing dose - scoundrel! Of course, the other cat is slim and has no upper teeth and so needs to graze all day. I'll have to change things around obviously to meet both their needs.

 

It might be tougher with a barn cat, but are you testing blood glucose levels at home? Unfortunately, without home testing it is really impossible to know whether you are giving too little insulin or not enough. Overdosing can produce a situation called rebound or somogi effect where the body compensates for too much insulin by boosting blood glucose levels. That is why testing and starting low and building slowly and methodically is the best way to go about achieving 'regulation'.

Secondly, if he really does need 14units twice a day of caninsulin, that it is an incredibly high dose and I'd be getting him tested for acromegaly and other high dose conditions - see http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/view ... f=12&t=375.

Hope this helps

Jen

 

It is my understanding that with acromegaly one wouldn't expect to see the kind of clinical improvement in general condition that I've seen with my cat. And for the cost of the tests, is there really any change in management?

 

And yes, I test at home. My vet encourages this, and calls every few days to check.