New Diagnosis and Neuropathy. Please help!

This forum is a lifesaver. My baby Romeo (ok, he's 10, but he's my baby) was diagnosed less than 12 hours ago with diabetes and I am already completely panicked.
I took him to the vet thinking he had a UTI because he appeared to be uncomfortable sitting. It was so mild and only for a day or so before I had him seen. I am pretty sure now that it is neuropathy. The vet did the appopriate (expensive!) labs and confirmed that he has high glucose.
I am seeing the vet tomorrow to start insulin, so obviously we're getting him treatment immediately. Tomorrow, he'll start getting 2ccs (terminology?!) of insulin twice a day.

Please tell me:
1) Neuropathy, especially in a currently unregulated cat,can be reversed with starting insulin tomorrow, right? How long can it take? Meaning, it's not necessarily permanent? He just really started showing true neuropathy symptoms today.
2) He's peed on himself. He definitely has been drinking a ton of water. I think he can't get up to go pee. It's breaking my heart into a million pieces.
3) This all happened in the last 2 days. It is really, really overwhelming. I am worried sick for him. I am sure some of you understand, I see no difference between him and most people with their children. He is my best friend and my kid. I know I'm likely needlessly freaking out, but I am seriously hurting seeing him like this.
4) Can I use any glucometer? I see many of you posting about using the ones for people, but my vet recommended one that costs $160 - by Alphatrek. Anyone have any suggestions?
5) Please talk me off this proverbial cliff. I am sure I'm making myself crazy over what will be regulated and fine within a few days or weeks.

Thank you all for your thoughts. I REALLY appreciate your listening.

 

> I am seeing the vet tomorrow to start insulin, so obviously we're getting him treatment immediately.
> Tomorrow, he'll start getting 2ccs (terminology?!) of insulin twice a day.

Once you know what type of insulin you'll be putting Romeo on, and how often, please post that information here. Also, your vet has his starting at 2 units (*not* cc's), which is probably too high a starting dose, but we'll get into that later.


> 1) Neuropathy, especially in a currently unregulated cat,can be reversed with starting insulin tomorrow,
> right? How long can it take? Meaning, it's not necessarily permanent? He just really started showing true
> neuropathy symptoms today.

Neuropathy can be reversed in cats. The primary thing in reversing neuropathy is to get the diabetes under control, which will take time. Once it's under control, the neuropathy can start healing. In the meantime, methylcobalamin can help slow the advance of neuropathy while Romeo is still an uncontrolled diabetic and, once he's controlled, it may help speed the healing.

May I ask what symptoms you're seeing that has you convinced that this is neuropathy and not a UTI? Neuropathy is a problem that's slow-onset and slow development, and there are a couple of other possibilities that spring to mind. First off, UTI's can be quite painful, which may explain his reluctance to move, and in which case, you'll definitely want to talk with your vet about painkillers. And I know you said he's pee'd, but please keep an eye on him. Male cats can have a complication of a UTI called a urethral blockage as a side effect of the UTI. If he does have a urethral blockage, you want to take him to the vet Real Soon.

Another alternative in an unregulated / under-regulated diabetic is ketones / diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). When you go back to the vet today, make sure you ask about monitoring for ketones (and you'll want to stop by the diabetes section of your local pharmacy and pick up some ketostix for that).


> 2) He's peed on himself. He definitely has been drinking a ton of water. I think he can't get up to go pee.
> It's breaking my heart into a million pieces.

Again, neuropathy is slow-onset. If he hasn't been having problems getting around 'til now, it's unlikely this is neuropathy. Sudden-onset being unable to get up is a reason to take your cat to the vet as soon as you can. It could be something like pain from the UTI, the aforementioned blockage (which can also be extremely painful), ketones / DKA, or even something entirely unrelated to diabetes, like a stroke.


> 3) This all happened in the last 2 days. It is really, really overwhelming. I am worried sick for him. I am
> sure some of you understand, I see no difference between him and most people with their children. He
> is my best friend and my kid. I know I'm likely needlessly freaking out, but I am seriously hurting seeing
> him like this.

Nope, we understand, really. If the problems getting around have been a problem for a while and the "this" that happened in the last two days is 'just' the diabetes diagnosis, then you can relax a bit. If the problems getting around are sudden-onset and recent, then I'd definitely bring Romeo back to the vet for another look; the sudden onset of not being able to get around is something that needs to be looked at by a professional.


> 4) Can I use any glucometer? I see many of you posting about using the ones for people, but my vet recommended
> one that costs $160 - by Alphatrek. Anyone have any suggestions?

You can use any human glucometer; the AlphaTrak is mostly a marketing ploy. My first glucometer was WalMart's ReliOn (not available in Canada, though they have something similar). Roughly, the meter was $10, the lancets were $4 per 100, and the test strips were $22 per 50. In getting a glucometer, your main expense is going to be test strips, so definitely price those out when you go into the store.

Also, some human diabetics have insurance that pays them to get lots of test strips, and they'll often sell their excess on places like eBay. So pick up a bunch to start off with, then look around and see if you can find cheaper pricing elsewhere.

HTH --

Jean and her Gwyn

 

Think JJ has covered most of your questions.

One thing I'd like to say is avoid Vetsulin. There is a manufacturers warning on-they are telling vets to use other insulins because it has problems but a lot of vets still seem to be prescribing it.

Two excellent ones are Lantus and Levemir-a lot of success.
Also a relatively new insulin Prozinc seems to be getting good results from what I've read here.
Overall the longer acting insulins seem to have the best results in cats.

Let us know how you get on.

ps-wet food is definitely the way forward and the ethos of this board is start low go slow, so the majority actually start their cats on 1u of whichever insulin is prescribed and increase/decrease as the numbers dictate.

Definitely not go with alpha track unless you have an excellent income!!

I used one touch and accuchek aviva-both good price strips on ebay and not expensive glucometers to buy.