Struggling with diagnosis

My 14-year-old cat, Lilly, was diagnosed as diabetic this week. I am unclear as to whether there is any involvement with her kidneys and other systems. We have a follow up with my regular vet tomorrow. Lilly has the neuropathy that makes her walk weird, and she's constantly starving. The loss of regular movement and weakness in her hind legs makes it difficult for her to walk, jump, stand for extended periods of time (she often lays on her side on cool, hard surfaces). She cannot clean her hind quarters at all (although she did for the first time in several weeks last night), and she doesn't cover up her business in the litter box.

I took her to the vet last Saturday, because I thought she had a stroke, and I was prepared to have her put to sleep, but the vet said that her heart and lungs sounded good, and that there could be any number of reasons for the symptoms she was having. Lilly was running a fever, so they gave her a high dose antibiotic, and a fluid injection under the skin (I can never remember what it's called). The fluid didn't last long, but the antibiotic kicked in within an hour or so, and no fever ever since. I'm concerned that she could have had a UTI or something, which I understand is a common affliction for diabetic kitties.

I am completely overwhelmed with this diagnosis - I love this girl so much, but I'm not sure I can afford the ongoing treatments for this. I have my own set of medical issues that I need to take care of, so I just don't know what I can do for her. I've already changed her diet over the last couple of weeks, and I'm seeing some slight signs of improvement, before putting her on any type of insulin, but I'm afraid she may already be too far gone.

Thanks.
Kacy

 

Hi Kacy welcome to you and Lilly. The diagnosis is overwhelming I know, but I promise it will get easier. We have lots of money saving tips and ideas to help you along. My cat has neuropathy too. Getting Lilly on a good insulin and a Methyl B12 supplement such as Zobaline will help. What have you changed her diet to?

 

Lately, she's been quite spoiled, mostly because I thought I was going to lose her. She's been getting plain boiled chicken, which she just inhales. She loves her chicken. At night time, I give her and my other cat, Sierra, some wet food, which seems to stay with her until morning. She's been a lot more alert and has started to clean herself again, which I am taking as a positive sign.

 

Hi Kacy,
Firstly, huge ((((hugs)))) to you, honey...
Secondly, just 'breathe'..... Take a really deep breath. .....And another one..... And another one.....

The good news is that feline diabetes is really treatable! Many cats here have lived for years in good health with diabetes. (My own cat has been diabetic for over 9 years..)

Let's take things one step at a time.
It sounds like Lilly has had other issues going on? Has the vet diagnosed any other current health issues in addition to her diabetes? And, if so, what exactly?

Please know that neuropathy is treatable and can, in most cases, be completely reversed.

So, Lilly isn't on insulin at the moment? Do you have any idea what her blood glucose levels are?
And what are you feeding her at the moment?

Hugs to you,

Eliz

 

Absolutely! Boiled chicken is fine, but doesn't contain all the essentials our kitties need such as Taurine, that why it's important to feed a low carb wet food. Make sure the wet food you give is low in carbs, these are usually Pate types no gravy. Some that are fine to feed are Fancy Feast Classic, Friskies Pate and Sheba Pates and 9 Lives. Here's a chart with others
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf
Look for under 10% calories from carbs

 

Hi Eliz,

Thanks. I had her at the vet last weekend, which is when they ran her labs. The doctor who was on duty couldn't be bothered to call me with the diagnosis - she had a tech do it. Luckily, I'll be seeing my regular vet, who is a close friend, tomorrow. I don't know if Lilly has any other health issues - that information wasn't relayed to me at this point. I should have more information tomorrow. She is not on insulin yet.

 

I saw this list and have printed one out. I'll be heading to PetSmart tonight. I figure it's probably a good idea to get both my girls on the same diet. They are about 2 months apart in age, and so far, Sierra hasn't developed any issues, other than being toothless.

 

Dear Kacy and Lilly, welcome!
Please like Elizabeth said take a couple off deep breaths and relax!
You came to the right place for advice and tips on how to handle this diagnose. We all get the fact that you are overwhelmed and a little scared but we are here for you Kacy!

 

Thank you! I appreciate it very much.

 

Hi Kacy,

Welcome to the forums. I completely empathise with you. Having health issues of my own that have a huge impact on my life. So please don't feel alone there.

My kitty was diagnosed and started insulin just over a week ago, like you I was worried about how I was going to cope with all this especially not being well myself.

So far (with lots of help and support from these forums) we are doing ok, things are starting to fall into place and routine helps a lot with managing Tempest and my own health, certainly I won't deny this first week has been tough on my body and mind but I can see some light at the end of the tunnel and it seems in time I will be able to manage this with less and less impact on my health.

You really couldn't be in a better place surrounded with knowledgeable people and help.

 

Your Tempest looks so much like my Lilly! Thanks for the encouragement.

 

Bless I'd love to see a picture sometime! You are very welcome - being so new to this myself I completely understand your worries!

 

Hearing the news is completely devastating... I know. That first night I spent hours in tears... but three months later and things are SO much better. If the dr. puts her on Lantus, there is a pharmacy in Canada that many of the folks on this board use that will ship at a FRACTION of the cost we pay here in the USA. Vetsulin is a cheaper insulin (I use it) which some people have limited success with just because it isn't long acting in a lot of cats, but my cat has been doing very well on it. Prozinc is somewhere in between in price.

The home test strips aren't too expensive if you get a human meter... many on here use the Relion Micro from walmart.

The food doesn't have to be expensive... don't bother with the perscription one the vet sells... just look at the list and pick something. I feed Fancy Feast Classics and Friskies Pate's.

It seems like an overwhelming undertaking at first, but it really does get better! You've got this!

 

Hi Kacy,

We understand how you feel. All of us have probably felt the same way when our cat was first diagnosed. However, feline diabetes is something that can be managed with a low carb/high protein diet, a good insulin and hometesting. Once you find the routine that works best for you, it will get much easier.

If your vet prescribes Lantus or Levemir, ask for the prescription for the pens instead of the vial. When it is in the vial, it will become ineffective long before you can use all of it, so you will end up throwing away a lot of money. With the pens, you should be able to use almost every drop. A package will contain 5 pens and depending on your dose, the package could be enough insulin for 9 months or more. The other long acting insulins are ProZinc and PZI. Both of these come in vials and have a longer shelf life. If your vet prescribes PZI, they can order your first vial for free at BCP. There is a link at the bottom of this page so she can order it. http://bcpvetpharm.com/bcp-pzi-bovine-insulin/

It sounds like Lilly has neuropathy. The good thing about it is once you have her glucose levels under control, you will see a significant improvement. The Methyl B12 also helps. When I adopted Spot, she was not being treated for diabetes and her neuropathy was so bad, that she could barely walk. Within a few weeks of starting her on insulin, I could see significant improvement with her walking. Within a few months, you would have never guessed that she ever had neuropathy. She was running and jumping on everything.

 

May I inquire what you all pay per month to maintain the insulin and other things?

 

Hi Kacy it depends on which insulin you are on - if you go to the main health forums here and ask im sure s few people can give you an idea, as I'm in N.Ireland it's different for me.

 

Tara is right, cost of insulin will depend on the type, and the dose. Most cats end up on 1-2 units/day and some even get completely off insulin after a time. Did your vet tell you what type he would put Lilly on? If you use Lantus, a single pen contains 300 units, so would last 150 days at 1u 2x/day. Lantus is much cheaper in Canada and easy to order from there
https://rxcanada4less.com/search.php
Or you can sometimes find a local pharmacy that will sell a single pen, and there are often great deals in the Supply Closet Forum on this site. Also check out the PZI insulin Lisa linked above.
U100 Syringes at Walmart are 100 for $13 or so, if you need u40 syringes you can order them online at about the same price, much cheaper than from your vet.
Zobaline, for the neuropathy
https://www.ilifelink.com/zobaline-for_diabetic_cats-3_mg_x_60_tablets.html
Though some use other sources such as this
http://ca.iherb.com/Doctor-s-Best-Best-Fully-Active-B12-1500-mcg-60-Veggie-Caps/46876 Much cheaper, but you should add some Folic acid to help with absorption.
Testing supplies, if you go with a Relion meter from Walmart, are very affordable. The biggest cost there is the test strips, so you may want to choose the Relion Prime. $9 for 50 strips. This is your biggest savings, because by testing at home not only are you keeping your cat safe, you are saving money not taking him to the vet for testing curves. You'll need lancets which are a couple dollars for a box.
Other than that, just some low carb grocery store wet food such as Friskies Pate.

 

I can only speak for myself. My insulin, Vetsulin, is inexpensive... about $50 and lasts about 2 1/2 months, so I use about $20 worth of insulin a month. Sharon above gave you great info if you have a more expensive perscription... The canadian pharmacies will sell a Lantus pen for around $100, which depending on your dose could last several months, so it's not too bad other than the upfront cost. The needles are also inexpensive about $7 dollars worth a month (the ones I buy are about 12-$13/100). I can buy a box of 100 Lancets for $2. The most expensive part of it for me is the test strips because I use an AlphaTrak glucometer which are about $1 per strip, and I test about 4 times a day.... so $4/day x 30 = $120 HOWEVER, it is NOT NECESSARY to use such an expensive meter... Using a human meter's strips are much less expensive... so figure maybe $60-70 per month if you used the less expensive strips, of course depending on how often you test (more often in the beginning is better).

so MY cost is: 20+7+2+120=$149 per month. Not including food, but they've gotta eat anyway, so that doesn't count. haha And again if I was using cheaper test strips it would probably cost me less than $100 per month.