? Diabetes and pretty sure hyperesthesia. Med question

My boy Gouda has been diabetic for some time now. Around January excessive overgrooming started. Allergy meds were tried, switching foods was tried. He's now back to his FF food and we've added in Prozac. He's about to week 3 of Prozac although I know it takes a bit longer to fully kick in. He still grooms the "hot spots" but not quite as long. I had heard in an FHS group that gabapentin can help them but none of them have diabetic cats with it. I was wondering if gabapentin effects their BG? I'd like to talk to the vet about it once he's been on Prozac longer. I'm about ready to pull out my own hair over this!!!! Anyone have a cat that deals with both diabetes and FHS??? Please I need help

 

From what I've read gabapentin is ok for diabetic cats because a lot of people use it for neuropathy pain. I was close to giving it a try for my cat but just like any medication comes side effects and I wanted to first try to get her BG under control and hopefully that will help her the most.

 

Here is sometime I found when I googled Gabapentin.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/gabapentin-question-side-effects.52567/

 

Hyperestesia is kind of a 2 step approach. First you try eliminate all triggers to the behaviors. Then if it continues or is very severe (self injury, constant, or progressing into seizures) medication is appropriate. Some thought was that it's an OCD or anxiety behavior, but this is controversial. It is more likely a seizure activity or neurological issue, so drugs like prozac don't really help. The first line medication for any seizure behaviors in pets is phenobarbitol in the lowest dose possible to control behaviors. This has been used for a long time in pets. Gabapentin alone is not really a great anti-seizure med, it usually works best in combination with other meds like phenobarb or atavan. It's a little bit of a newer med in pets, and it's also processed by the kidneys.


As for triggers, pretty much anything that can cause skin irritation can trigger the episodes - fleas, dry skin, stud tail, feline acne, allergies. What insulin are you using as well? Lantus stings really bad and made my cat's episodes much worse when he was on a higher dose. We switched to levemir and smaller needles and have seen a lot of improvement.

 

My cat JJ had hyperesthesia for 5 y, it seems to have completely disappeared since I started feeding him Nature's Variety Raw Instinct. I started given him that because he lost all the hair on his belly and was diagnosed with IBD. The raw for one month completely cured his IBD and his hair grew back. Now I only give him raw with morning canned meal once a day. I didn't expect thehyperesthesia but pretty sure it cured it.

 

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He is on levemir. At first I thought it was lantus so I switched. He's been on lev now for a little over a month. But he's always been a very anxious cat. And I'm kinda just guessing on the FHS. I've seen improvements so far on Prozac but it's still a bit too early in treatment for the pill to hit full effect. I've heard mixed things about the pheno in diabetics. And I haven't even gone over this with my vet so who knows. I'm giving the Prozac first ample time then I wanna talk with the vet. I've heard so many mixed things. I've heard gaba is life changing in some with Prozac combo. But ECID always applies. Going to continue with Prozac and Aldo trying to fight the beast that is diabetes.

 

Thanks I'll have to look into that. It's a good food for their BG too?

 

What canned food do you feed? Is natures variety raw the stuff that comes in those little bites frozen? I think I have that but I was worried cuz it has some veggies and fruit in it

 

If you are considering going raw, I would go to a local butcher and get raw without AB or steroids and adding supplements like EZ Complete by Foodfurlife. That is what I do.

 

Absolutely great for BG. You really don't need to worry about the veggies in it, it's not a lot and since they are not processed/cooked, their calorie value is low--i.e. the amount of carbs they contribute would be minimal (I have a PhD in nutrition, by the way.) And it IS grain free. DEF. try it.

 

It's also great for diarrhea, I had a diabetic cat, Sebastian, who had chronic diarrhea, giving him the raw was the ONLY thing that stopped it. And as long as he got some raw in his day, he never got diarrhea. Also, I had him completely controlled on 0.25 U of Lantus only 1 shot a day.

The raw also, I believe, has cured my cat's JJ's hyperesthesia. And it absolutely cured his IBD--he lost all the hair on his belly nd lost about 3.5 lbs. Gained the weight back in one month on the raw and hair has grown back in about 2m.

Only thing to possibly watch out for is constipation. I believe the bones can cause that, so just give small amounts. I had another cat, Henry, who had rectal prolapse, I believe from constipation and I believe it was from the raw. Once I stopped giving him raw it never happened again.

 

Actually, let me clarify--my cat JJ with the hyperesthesia ALSO just started Prozac as of January (he attacked me when I accidentally stepped on another cat's tail. He has always been aggressive, an abused rescue, but for 5y has improved upon that, but he had been on edge since I brought cat no. 7 home.) SO, actually, I didn't really think about this...is COULD be the Prozac that has affected the hyperesthesia. Perhaps that makes more sense. Not sure,

 

Phoebes is on gabapentin 2x daily, I don't believe it affects her bg. We open a 100ml capsule and give her a 1/3 2× a day. She becomes a little calm and ten feet tall and bullet proof but it does help her. They can compound it, but need to make sure it's sugar free. It's an oil, we put in her food but when she went for 5 days without food, she developed an aversion to it. She was under vet care at the time.