Diabetic Cat Looking Over Right Shoulder...Possible Neuropathy?

Discussion in 'Feline Health - (Welcome & Main Forum)' started by Meekee, Jul 5, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Meekee

    Meekee New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2018
    Hello,

    Miss Kitty was diagnosed with diabetes about three months ago. We tried managing her Bg with a simple diet change (Fancy Feast classic pate, Purina DM pate and Young Again dry) but ended up needing to go the route of treating with insulin. We started her on 1 unit of ProZinc a week and a half ago and are monitoring her Bg closely. Miss Kitty has started to develop mild cataracts and is displaying possible symptoms of neuropathy. As for the her level of vision, she tends to walk the perimeter of a room, along a wall or the sides of objects, and has a hard time finding her food bowl if we don't put it down directly in front of her. She can still see well enough to play with her toys and will track my finger with her eyes if I wave my hand side to side in front of her.

    Now to the possible neuropathy....Miss Kitty will intermittently have 'episodes' where she becomes alarmed and looks over her right shoulder towards her back end. She will walk in circles trying to get to whatever is hurting her on that side. Her back muscles sometimes twitch as if she has an itch when this is going on. It usually ends with her laying down against a wall and after a short rest, she is back to normal. I did accidentally open a door into her (I didn't realize she was patiently waiting on the other side of the bathroom door) about six months ago. I took her to the vet the next day as she was favoring her back leg on the side that the door hit. She healed quickly and went back to normal within a few days. In the past few months, we have noticed that she is no longer able to jump but maneuvers the stairs just fine. She actually ran up the stairs, some two at a time, during her most recent 'episode'. Could the 'episodes' be due to the old injury, arthritis, or neuropathy from the diabetes? I checked her Bg during her last ‘episode’ and it was 141 mg/dL which eliminates the possibility of her being Hypo.

    Here a link to a video of MK having an episode for reference: https://flic.kr/p/LHnW3N

    I'm not sure what I can do for her other than continue to treat her diabetes by regulating her Bg. We have made everything accessible to her so she has no need to jump. I appreciate anyone's input as to what could be causing her behavior and possible ways to help prevent/treat.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2018
    Reason for edit: Included link to video.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page