Diabetic Cat pulling out tufts of hair

Hi everyone, my 10yr old FD Errol (OTJ since 24/12/13) started pulling out tufts of hair along his lower back before he was Dx with FD. It stopped for a bit, and then started again and he's pulling quite a bit now. He has no fleas, mites or skin conditions and is an indoor only kitty. I bathed him a few weeks ago with a non-soap shampoo hoping it would help which it didn't.
His BG is nice and stable and low and he doesn't seem stressed at all - doing the 3 P's :smile:
Anybody else experienced this and have any ideas?

 

Have you change his diet?
Have you asked your vet?
Other changes in environment? New furniture, rugs?

 

My non diabetic kitty Nomi licks her belly bald from time to time. Vet said flea allergy. I said she doesn't have fleas. Vet said one bite can trigger the whole reaction. Now when I see her over grooming, I use Advantage and she stops. I have to use Advantage about 3 times a year.

 

He's been on wet food only for 2 months now, but he had a short episode of hair pulling once about 1 year ago which I put down to a feral cat who would come and 'visit' outside at night, and he was also pulling his hair at least a week before he was Dx end November 2013 whilst on Hills Light.
He is now on Dr Pierson's diet and canned food. I was thinking it might be diet related but since he had it whilst still on the Hills Light, I am not sure. I did start him off on semi-raw beef as he doesn't much like chicken, but he's been on chicken only for the past month (and then also canned food).
If it is diet related (allergy) what apart from beef are cats usually allergic to? Nothing else new or changed in his environment.

 

I haven't ever had fleas on my cats, as I haven't had fleas in the house ever but right now I'm prepared to try anything to just see. From what I can see, hair pulling (not licking, but PULLING) seems to be stress-related, but i can't see he's stressed at all.

 

Beef and fish are two very common food allergies. Many canned foods contain fish in it, even if the label says chicken or beef - you need to examine the ingredients to be sure.

Stress can always cause them to pull fur.

Maui's skin issue was due to eating dry food (kibbles). I never explored what about the dry food caused it.

 

You can try some feliway diffusers and see if that helps with the stress.

 

Perhaps dry skin? Maybe adding some cocoanut oil or olive oil to the diet would help. Maybe some vitamin E added to the food, to help with the possible dry skin?

p.s. Great note on your SS. You said the weight loss was slow and that's the way you want it to be to keep Errol safe.

Took me a year for my civie Monet to lose 4.5 pounds.

 

Hello guys, sorry it's taken so long to reply and thanks so much for the ideas which I will explore. I think dry skin and stress of some sort may be the cause though what stress I cannot imagine. What bugs me is that on the dry RC and Hills, until about 2 months before his FD diagnosis, his coat was thick, plush, shiny and in perfect condition.
He is slowly getting used to eating the whole minced raw chicken with no beef added, but does prefer the tinned food.

His appetite has definitely decreased, as has his drinking water and I'm noticing the litter trays are less and less saturated, though he still urinates more than the other 2, he obviously would as he's getting more water in.

 

Any update on your kitty? My only (indoor) kitty (11 yrs old) Chloe, was diagnosed as diabetic just over a month ago and since the insulin injections have started (along with diabetic cat food, soft and dry, but she doesn't care for dry so that's fine) she's become very moody, lots of ups and downs and major fur pulling has started. Some on her legs, but mostly an area about the size of my hand on her left abdomen and the furless area of skin is becoming very dark/bruised. Quite scary looking. I don't know if it's from the pulling or if she's fur pulling because of something else bothering her physically. Vet initially thought anxiety, but all attempts including meds didn't help at all. She's now become very irritable quite often and fur tufts are everywhere. Our vet is stumped and going to refer to a specialist. Were at the vet non-stop with her and it's getting frustrating and expensive and she's still miserable. Really struggling with what to do to make her feel better and hoping someone else has figured out any solutions to the cause of the fur pulling with a newly diagnosed cat. She seemed happier before the insulin. Anyone ever hear if a cat could react adversely to the insulin? Thx!

 

Hello,

perhaps, trying the following might help:
1) purchase some Vetericyn spray for skin conditions. Have used it with good results on various skin irritations - safe, if licked.
2) change the brand of litter and change litter more frequently than previously.

Best wishes,
Sophie

 

I also second the Vetericyn. It's like magic water!

What insulin are you using? Lantus has a negative pH that doesn't agree with some cats (usually at higher doses). If you're using Lantus, you might want to look into switching to Levemir (or ProZinc/PZI) instead.

It might also be a food allergy. You can try an elimination diet and feed only one type of protein (I.e. Poultry only) for a week or two and see if the fur-pulling decreases. If not, try a different protein (only beef) or even try a "novel" protein like bison or rabbit.

 

Thank you for the recommendations. If the specialist has no clear answers tomorrow, that was my next step, either changing her food or changing the insulin. We were instructed to use Lantus but she sure seems grumpy after injection times, or maybe I'm reading more into it.

Any suggestions if I should change the food first or the insulin? Thank you for the quick responses!

 

After discovering that most of Mikey's problems for the last year and a half stemmed from the Lantus, I would personally suggest trying another insulin first (I went with Levemir with incredible results). But, also knowing how rare a reaction to Lantus is, if you don't have the budget for springing for new insulin, I would try the food elimination and litter change first. What dose are you giving currently and for how long?

 

We started with 2 units twice a day for 2 weeks and after the curve test, the vet recommended an increase to a total of 3 units twice a day. My gut is in line with what you are saying as well as the vet has said, that it is rare to have a reaction to Lantus, but she seems more miserable/moody since we increased the dose now that I think about it. Her blood sugar numbers are looking better at 3 units, but her irritability level/fur pulling has gotten worse.

I personally would love to switch the insulin first, but exactly as you mention, not cheap and we just purchased a package of 5 vials (stressed out newbies to this whole thing and didn't know we could get individual vials until it was too late) so if we can't use it, that will be a lot if money wasted, but the vet visits are adding up much more than the insulin. Whatever is the quickest route to getting her feeling better is the priority this far in the hole! I will do some reading on Levimer, thank you for the suggestion and glad to hear you found your way through your struggles with Mikey. A year and a half seems like an awful long time! Good to hear there's hope in these situations.

 

Are you home-testing yet? It might be the 3u is not enough or is too much insulin and is also causing some of the problems.

You might also want to start your own new post on the Main Health Board so more eyes will see it instead of it at the end of this post from February.

 

You may be able to sell a vial in Supply Closet, if you can ship it with refrigerated packs,

 

HI Michelle & Errol

I'm new to the forum and this is my first post here.

I have the same fur pulling problem with my cat, Saoirse. The fur pulling started before she was diagnosed. I was told by the first vet I consulted that it was probably stress or irritation from something in her environment, but just in case she gave her a steroid jab and told me to come back if the problem persisted (completely dismissing all the signs of diabetes I had reported to her. I'm not good in conflict situations and it took me a couple of weeks to summon up the courage to go back to the practice and demand that Saoirse be tested for diabetes.)

I am disabled (chronic PTSD), so I'm at home all day. I've noticed a direct correlation between Saoirse's fur pulling and feeding time. She tends to worry at her sides in the half-hour before she is due a feed. You can practically set your clock by her, the pattern is so consistent. (She can only go a maximum of 4 hours between feeds. Any longer and she risks vomiting up white foam.) Saoirse has been diagnosed with pancreatitis and slight enlargement of the liver. The areas she pulls fur from are on the sides of her abdomen, slightly more towards her tail than her head. I saw a comment on one vet's website that a cat overgrooming on the right-hand side prompted her to check for pancreatitis and her preliminary suspicion was confirmed.

Saoirse's a very quiet and gentle cat and is very sensitive to stress. My (new) vet also thinks the fur pulling could be stress-related but I think any stress she may be experiencing is down to internal discomfort. (Historically, the only other time she ever overgroomed like this in the past was when she had bladder stones (pulled fur from a different area). Once the stones were removed, the behaviour stopped.)

I saw a cat guardian's comment on another site about her pusscat pulling fur. She supplemented her cat's diet with salmon oil and that seemed to help. I have some on order to try with Saoirse. I will let you know how we get on.

In the meantime, if she seems to be worrying at her side, I sometimes give her a toy rubbed with some Yeoww! organic catnip for a few minutes. This seems to soothe and relax her a bit. I have a Feliway diffuser on the go, too, but I don't think that makes a blind bit of difference to her.

 

Thanks for asking this question as I was wondering about it too. Calley did this for a while about a month back. I would find tuffs of white fur all around the DR and LR where she hangs out and I didn't know what to think. I never noticed any bare spots on her and believe me, I looked. For awhile I thought it was from my second cat.

I still find a lot of fur....but it has improved greatly.

Kristin and Calley

 

Hi Jen
Sorry, should have updated. The hair pulling lasted a few weeks and then stopped, as did the copious shedding.
I did read somewhere that sometimes the Lantus can cause stinging but i'm not sure if it would be bad enough to cause hair pulling.
The other thing I always associate with hair pulling, which is a form of self-mutilation - is pain. Has she had a sonar to check inside for growths or anything? If not, you might want to do that, and I also believe there is a blood test to check for cancer / tumours. I'm sure someone here will be able to advise better than I can, or your vet. If your current vet is at a loss, then perhaps a board-certified specialist might be an idea? All the best x

 

Hi Áine & Saoirse, Welcome! and i'm so sorry that she's having a bad time. I see she is on Caninsulin which isn't the best insulin for felines. However,
if she has been diagnosed with Pancreatitis etc then she is in a lot of discomfort, even a lot of pain and that would most definitely account for her hair pulling. Cats are masters at disguising pain and therefore you may not notice anything much apart from hairpulling. She absolutely HAS to be on correct painkillers so that she is not stressed or it will make her diabetes even worse. I am speaking from experience, my one kitty died 6 weeks ago on Tuesday morning because the vet messed up so badly. Diagnosed Pancreatitis but failed to treat properly and it was all over in a very short space of time :cry:
She might even have other health issues such as CKD which need to be addressed too.
Be very careful of steroid injections, i bet the vet didn't bother to tell you that there is a chance of a reaction to it ie. heart failure. I would seriously take her to a vet who knows how to treat Pancreatitis and other feline diseases, many of which seem to rear their ugly heads simultaneously :sad:
I know of IBD, CKD groups which are extremely knowledgeable and helpful, but not one for Pancreatitis. I've asked for a link to one which i'll post here as soon as i get an answer.
Remember, as Dr Pierson says 'diet is the cornerstone of feline health' - so she absolutely has to be on the correct food as well, in order to heal the Pancreatitis and keep the FD in control. The best diet for any cat is a raw diet. No dry food, and very very few tinned foods are suitable. They are all manufactured from waste products and the proteins are mostly plant-based which are incorrect for an Obligate Carnivore.
Vomiting white foam is also a sign of Chronic Kidney Disease, as well as Pancreatitis, here is a link to a CKD group which is very helpful and knowledgeable:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/felinecrf/?fref=ts
Here are some links :
http://feline-nutrition.org/
http://www.catinfo.org/
All the best
Michele

 

Here is a link to the IBD group - many cats have multiple health issues and the people in this group are really knowledgeable and helpful. They have suggested I send you the link to join. Hope to see you there :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/RawFedI ... up_comment