Diabetic Cat and Diarrhea

Hello, just reached out to see if anyone has issues with diabetic cats and very loose stool. My cat has been on Lantus since Sept 8th in which we did a food change 4 weeks prior to starting insulin to see if a diet change will help his BG. I started him on Friskie Pate Seafood blend with 1.5 tablespoon of Dr Etsey Clean Protein dry; he loves his crunches. At 1.5 units twice daily we have only had 1 solid week with BG readings and firm stool, then his BG went right back to the high 300s. So he is now on 2 units twice daily and so far still has high BG, a lot of urine and once daily very large amount of loose stool. I’ve used Probotics at the beginning and the week we had good BG stool was back to normal but now even with the Probotics it’s still very loose and very stinky. I changed to Fancy Feast yesterday and am currently giving him chicken pate so far today, very loose stool. Has anyone experienced this before with a diabetic cat? He also had to start 5mg Zyrtec twice daily due to seasonal allergies that is causing eyes, skin scratching and sneezing. Could the stress from the allergies be causing the high BG and loose stool. The minute I noticed the allergies is when his BG was higher. I’m just at a lose and don’t know what else to do. He’s been on 2 units for 9 days now and the vet wants me to do a curve at day 14. Any advise would be great!

 

Hi Alicia,

Sorry to hear that Tank's having problems in the poop department.

A lot of diabetic cats can have problems with pancreatitis and one of its hallmarks is really stinky poo/diarrhoea. I'd suggest speaking to your vet to ask about testing Tank to see whether he might have low grade pancreatitis. If you're getting blood tests run, I'd also suggest asking your vet to order tests to check B12 and folate levels because GI issues can sometimes lead to malabsorption of these vitamins. I'm not sure about all probiotics but apparently saccharomyces boulardii (supposed to be good for stopping diarrhoea) doesn't work if a kitty has a B12 deficiency. More information:

ibdkitties.net - Probiotics

ibdkitties.net - Importance of B12

TAMU Vitamin B12 Protocol

FWIW, my civvie, Lúnasa, had diarrhoea for a fortnight caused by the antibiotics she's on at the moment. I gave her a probiotic kaolin paste that worked in the past for her but this time it didn't really do anything to help. Because I thought her B12 might be affected I started giving her a B12 methylcobalamin oral supplement and it seems to be helping with the diarrhoea (gone from yellowish-tan liquipoo to firmish, brownish cowpats within the first few days, and also she's defaecating less frequently).

Note that this is just one possibility. Your vet should be able to give you fuller advice about possible causes and also on which supplements are/are not suitable for Tank.


Mogs
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At the rescue I was with, it seemed like new diabetic cats always had diarrhea until their blood glucose levels started stabilizing. Usually after a few months on Lantus, their stools would improve (hopefully this would happen faster in a home!).

I also agree checking for pancreatitis and other GI issues is a good idea.

 

I've had good success with both adding FortiFlora on the food, and a teaspoon of plain canned pumpkin.

 

Fortiflora works for us too.