Lila - An Intro

I am glad to have found this forum. I can personally relate to the raw emotions felt by those who care for a hard-to-manage diabetic cat.

My cat, Lila, is 10 years old. She was diagnosed with diabetes just after she turned 8 years old. She was never fat, has been kept indoors and has always been provided with high quality food. Her vet believes she is more of a genetic diabetic than a Type 2. Consequently, she's been super hard to manage. She has had six hospital stays -- 4 of which she was officially is DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis). While she has never shown signs, we have been told she also has IBD. Plus, suffers from bouts of pancreatitis (though the enzymes never show in her bloodwork).

This said, she went nearly 20 months without a hospital stay and actually was in a relatively good place during that time. In fact, she was doing so well last summer, we opted to have some of her teeth extracted in September '15. Since that time, she has been very up and down -- starting with spiking a fever in October '15 and going into DKA. Her protocol has been:
* Lantus (5 units twice per day)
* Budeconide (.025 units once per day)

I've just added:
* Pepcid (1/4 tab once per day)
* Potassium supplement, as needed
* Mertazapine, when she is not eating well -- though she didn't have much in those 20 months she did well

My suspicion is that the budeconide is creating some negative side effects. But I cannot tell for sure and am told she needs it because of the IBD. Has anyone used budeconide but ultimately had to stop or swap? Also, has anyone found that cutting back on insulin over time had a positive effect? As a side, Lila will absolutely not eat a high protein diet -- and now prefers tiny little snacks of treats and wet food. If not provided in this fashion, she entirely stops eating.

My house cleaner said to me this morning, Lila is not going to live much longer. That was difficult to hear -- vet said she was in relatively good shape last Saturday. But it's been a tough week including one overnight hospital stay on Tuesday -- stopped eating and started burning ketones.

 

Welcome.

Most of us here test or cats blood glucose at home using a human meter. We test before each shot and periodically between shots. We record our reading and other info in a spreadsheet. See:http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/...te-a-ss-and-link-it-in-your-signature.130337/
What are you feeding? A low-carb canned is best. No reason for a prescription food. Here is a list of commercial low-carb canned. However, the IBD complicates feeding.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/shortcut-shopping-list-all-8-or-less-updated.117688/

Here is a link to home testing blood sugarshttp://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

How was the 5 units of Lantus arrived at?

You also said "Budeconide (.025 units once per day)" I am confused since I am not aware of any "Budeconide". There is budesonide which is frequenlty used for IBD. However, the standard doe is 1 mg/day.

For detailes about health problems please post in the Health forum
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/

 

Welcome Amy and Lila. Lila is beautiful! Sorry you had such a rough week, but It sounds like you are taking very good care of your girl. I don't have any experience with Budeconide, but many here have used it. Try posting on the Health forum with your question, there are many more eyes there. As far as cutting back on the insulin, only home testing her glucose numbers will tell you if you should increase or decrease her dose.

 

Hi Amy and welcome to FDMB. Lila is one gorgeous girl! I can well understand your frustrations but unfortunately I don't have any experience with Budesonide either. I have taken the liberty of starting a thread for you over in the Health Forum to get the attention of some folks I know have used that medication. Here is a link to your new thread.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/question-re-budesonide-history-of-dka.152605/

 

If your cat is underweight from poor appetite and IBS, then DKA is going to be more likely to occur. In my opinion, although the steroids can raise blood sugar, they sometimes make it LESS likely to have a DKA episode because they are allowing and IBS cat to eat and digest more normally. Steriods DO cause increased fat breakdown, however, and possibly could increase DKA risk, so it all really depends on how much you feel its helping her eat. The cats more similar to Type I diabetics have more of a change of being unstable "brittle" diabetics if they are underweight.

Regarding the frequent DKA episodes, I have a couple questions:

1. What food are you feeding and how much per day?
2. Do you test BS at home?
3. Do you have ketones strips at home?