New to diabetes and a possible cushings

Hi!
My big guy Cole has been diabetic for the last seven months. When he was initially diagnosed, he was in the hospital for 5 days with pancreatitus, and severe anemia. Luckily he had rallied from that but there were still signs of trouble that the vets could not pin down. Increased almost voracious appetite was the biggest symptom. His glucose was always stable and his blood work was fine so no one had a clue.

On New Year's day, after travelling for the holiday I got home to find that he lost a significant amount of weight and looked like he was in pain. I had to rush him to the hospital where he had kidney failure on top of pancreatitus. My vet was preparing me for the worst and the day we were going to have "the conversation" Cole's test came back as good, at least going in the right direction.He started to gain weight and went back to all his usual activities. With all his many issues, my vet thought he may have acromeglia so we tested for that and it came back negative. The other possibility was Cushings but that didn't seem likely until yesterday. I noticed a wound on his shoulder and found two other hot spots. This is just awful, although he doesn't seem to notice it at all, it breaks my heart.

His diabetes isn't out of control, yet, and he is still on prednasone but we are tapering off that so we can test for Cushings. Until that can happen, which will be in about two weeks, I would like some advice on how to care for his skin. I am also now afraid to take his glucose levels, knowing that the skin is fragile, I don't want to cause any more tearing or injury. confused_cat We are in conversation with the vet but he doesn't have a cat with these problems so I am searching for hand's on practical advice. It tough with cushings because there are many many dog forums but not a lot for cats. Any advice or links is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Lisa n' Cole

If Cole would cooperate - you could try having him wear a baby onesie or similar.

Hopefully some Cushings moms will be here soon. (Norton had acro)

i know nothing about cushings but how long was he on prednisone. I know in peeps when on a long time can cause thinning of skin

One of my civilians gets allergy hot spots -- he also gets steroids too often, but they are the most effective treatment -- so stuck between a rock and a hard place.

If the hot spot is open, I use an antibiotic ointment that has Pain Reliever in it. This helps calm down / numb the irritation.

i have heard about the side effects of steroids and skin. Cole was on prednasone for about 3 months late June thru early september. Then now he is back on since early Jan and will be off in about two more weeks. I have been keeping his skin clean but will try the suggestion. I also love the idea of him in a onesie! I often wished my cats were more like dogs in that they don't mind wearing clothes, however...

Hi Lisa,
There is a forum under Insulin Support Groups for Acromegaly/IAA/Cushings cats. there are some informational stickies over there. You could also post a thread over there, although that board is not as high traffic as this one is.

My Bear Man had Iatrogenic Cushings - he had the physical symptoms of Cushings due to long term steroid use for IBD. He did not undergo any testing or treatment, so I am not an expert on any of those. I know that you have been in contact with Cheryl/Whiskers who is using Trilostane.

Bear had fragile skin, but no open wounds from tearing. We did observe caution with his skin by not giving sub Q fluids (although his kidney disease would have benefitted from it), by being extremely cautious when brushing or combing him, and being very careful when lifting him. He never had any problems with skin not healing from blood glucose testing.

If you are weaning Cole off pred, his BG's may go down as a result. It would be a good idea to keep an eye on his BG's while his pred is being decreased.

Why has he been onthe pred? Was it for the pancreatitis, or for the hot spots?

How is his anemia doing? Bear Man was also severely anemic, again, due to his renal disease. Was the cause for Cole's anemia identified? How are his renal values now? What type and dose of insulin is he on?

Hi Lisa,

Do mind my asking what kind of insulin cole in on?