Diabetic Neuropathy

Dealing with a severe case of diabetic neuropathy after being on Prozinc about 3 months. The vet cannot draw blood because Allie acts out terribly.She did get some urine and she saw sugar in his urine. She got some blood initially and his glucose was 500. He is now on royal canin diabetic for cats.
His fur is shiny again and not urinating as much but the neuropathy is terrible and sad. He is on 4units of Prozinc twice a day. All suggestions needed!

 

I found some information that will be helpful to you: Feline Diabetic Neuropathy (weak back legs). Allie needs to be on low carb wet food, and the royal canin diabetic food is not low carb. This will of course contribute to higher BG readings. Are you home testing so that you know what the BG is before you inject insulin? It's never a good idea to shoot blind, not knowing what the blood sugar level is before injecting. Feeding a low carb wet diet is going to have an effect of lowering BG and home testing is of critical importance to prevent a hypo event. It appears to me that the only test you have is a BG at the vet, date unknown, hopefully not 3 months ago. Please post in the Prozinc forum regarding the 4 unit dose BID, that is a high dose and you can get better input there with Prozinc users. Nancy, please start exploring the board for very useful information that can certainly help Allie getting regulated, and treat that neuropathy. It will take time, and effort but I believe it is entirely possible.
There is a food chart at the top of the Main Forum with information about canned food. There are stickies at the top of the Prozinc forum that are informative and useful. There is a FAQs forum with and Index of essential information and info about hypos : FAQs

 

Thank you for all of the info. The problem is that Allie acts out so when the vet tries to take blood. I just purchased the home testing kit but I’m having trouble piercing his ear. The blood won’t seem to come but I’m not giving up. My husband will help me again tonight.

 

Having help is a good plan, my DH and I double team and it works well. There are home testing tips here: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
As you keep testing the ear area (sweet spot) develops more capillaries and bleeds more readily. It gets easier, a treat with every test, successful or not, maybe before and after to begin with. Lots of lovings and praise after. Pick a test station and always test in the same place. Try taking Allie to the test station and just rub his ears, give a treat, conditioning him to the place and the process. JanetNJ has a video of how she tests her kitty CC. There are tons of test videos on You Tube. What home test kit did you get? I recommend 28 gauge lancets to begin with, more effective for getting the drop of blood in the beginning. Warm the ears with a warmed rice bag (or use uncooked oatmeal), or a pill bottle of warm water.
Allie just may not like being at the vet, Idjit is labeled "mean and uncooperative" at the vet. He's not mean or uncooperative at home. It's scary there, strangers are doing stuff to him and it smells bad to him there probably.
Practice makes perfect, and home testing is so terribly important for Allie's well being.

 

I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home. Use thicker 26 or 28 gauge lancets

 

Nancy, I sure hope Allie is doing better. I have a cat with lameness in her front legs which I guess is not the usual neuropathy place for cats. If you have time, could you tell me how you know that's what's wrong with your kitty? My cat's front legs seem to fold over or twist at the ankle is the best way I can describe it. The vet at our last visit was way more concerned about blood sugar and UTI and altho she checked the legs, she suggested radiography, but the lameness wasn't as bad then (2.5 weeks ago). Thanks. --Nora and Kali

 

Do you have her labs? I'm curious about potassium levels

Have you started giving b12 methylcobalamin supplements?

Does she have arthritis?

 

Thanks for responding Janet! I don't have Kali's labs, but I can get them. She's not on b12. I'm pretty sure she does have arthritis in her right front leg (at the elbow) and probably in her back legs--she's had a funny little waddle for a while. My other cat, Savvy, her litter mate, has arthritis and has been on cosequin. The vet said I could put Kali on it, too, and I just started it about 2 weeks ago. Kali has a disease of the blood vessels which causes her ear tips to crisp and fall off (!) so I've never home tested her. I feed her the Fancy Feast suggested here and some (not much) dry vet Rx food. Lately, when her appetite has been down, I've given them Meow Mix tuna. I should say that I had to euthanize my beloved Sassafrass only 5 weeks ago due to pancreatic cancer. It was right about that time that Kali's symptoms worsened altho she wasn't exactly bonded with Sass. I never want to lose my pets (who does?) but having to euthanize another kitty in less than 2 months is pretty damned awful to consider. If there's any hope for Kali, I want to give it to her, maybe selfish on my part.

 

Janet, I just checked Kali's labs from May. Her potassium then was 4.6. There was more recent blood work, but that hasn't been e-mailed to me yet. I did start a thread today under the heading lameness on this subject. Thank you again.--Nora and Kali

 

Cosequine had no effect on my cat at all. All her legs are stiff but her front right leg is particularly troublesome. The only things that help her arthritis was the adequan and more recently Gabapentin for pain.

 

I'm sorry your kitty still hurts!! I will ask my vet about Gabapentin. Right now Kali is taking "Bupe" for pain, premeasured dose by mouth twice a day. It seems to help. The cosequin has helped my boy cat who is not diabetic. Kali and I have been skating along for a while, but clearly I have to keep a closer watch on her and try like crazy to get her sugar under control. Good luck with the ear sticks!

 

It is likely that your kitteh is not regulated. Leo had horrible neuropathy. We almost made "the decision". We stayed the course. The resolution to neuropathy was simple:
- blood glucose regulation
- B12 via Zobaline

Until you start testing BG and verifying that the dose is having an effect, it is unlikely you will achieve good regulation. Yes, this may be a challenging answer. But that is what it takes.

I initially got Leo used to testing by giving him a treat. He associated the treats as goodness, and testing became a lot easier.

 

My diabetic kitty had the rear leg neuropathy and I gave her Zobaline. Took a couple months but she no longer has it. I was absolutely amazed.

 

Thank you JeffJ and Jeanie! I saw the vet yesterday and Kali's blood glucose was 179!!! Surprised us all. I guess I am becoming more successful at injecting her. The vet determined that Kali's front leg problem was most likely a tendon issue not related to diabetes, but I asked for and received for Kali B12, some fluids, and gabapentin. I also asked for a kitty leg brace, but my vet said the ones she'd seen were cumbersome and awkward for a small kitty (Kali weighs only 6 lbs) and didn't recommend it. But I intend to learn to test at home to be sure things are going well with her sugar and to keep up with the B12 and pain med, because she also has a drug-resistant Uti and bad dental disease which we don't want to do surgery on now due to her heart murmur and other health issues. Yes, she has a list of them. :-(. I'm so glad both of your kitties are feeling better! Should Kali's foot issues continue, I will have another bit of valuable info to discuss with her--Zobaline. Thank you again everyone here who helped me!!