I adopted my Cat Miles about 3 years ago when he was 2 years old. He's always been prone to throwing up but usually not his food but instead hairballs. He's a big cat - big boned - big paws and has weighed as much as 19 pounds. He's an enigma because he's always been very food motivated but the throwing up hairballs started happening several times a week. He goes to the vet regularly. I've tried many diets - many he didn't like - the ones he liked gave him loose stools - these were dry food which he much prefers. The 2 times I got him converted over the canned food he had "pudding poo". About 3 months ago his vet prescribed budesonide which is a steroid to treat his vomiting. I noticed recently he had started drinking a ton of water and in hindsight he had stopped grooming except for his face. The vet took a urine sample and blood work. Miles' glucose was 526 - diabetes. All the other blood tests were normal. So the vet told me to taper his steroid over the course of about 10 days. I'm a wreck - I have anxiety, OCD and depression and this is making me more stressed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the diabetes goes into remission. I don't know if I'm up for treating a cat with diabetes because they need to have insulin injections twice a day and blood samples to check their glucose. I have to muzzle Miles to trim his nails because he once bit my finger badly. He's eating but he doesn't seem like he feels very well. I realized that he hasn't jumped up on my dresser in the wee hours of the morning to wake me up to feed him for the last 2 or 3 days. I feel bad for him and hope I can do right by him.
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Cat Being Treated for IBD Now has Diabetes
- Thread starter SwissMiss
- Start Date
Hi!
It's very likely the steroid caused the diabetes. We had this happen to our cat, or at least, this was what was suspected as it's a known factor. However, if it's of any hope to you, our cat did go into remission from the diabetes after about 9 months of being treated and it never returned. He wound up passing of totally unrelated illnesses years later.
We didn't find it too difficult to administer his injections. It was intimidating at first but became routine. We found that if we injected him just as he started to eat he didn't even notice. The needles is incredibly small and thin and slides easily into under the skin. And once he started getting the insulin his appetite perked up a lot and he stopped drinking the massive amount of water he'd been consuming.
I promise you'll get used to it faster than you think you will. My husband, who is really needle phobic and who swore he'd never be able to do it especially since this cat was his soul cat, managed just fine after only a few days of practice. Once you see how much better Miles feels, you'll gain the confidence you need.
It's very likely the steroid caused the diabetes. We had this happen to our cat, or at least, this was what was suspected as it's a known factor. However, if it's of any hope to you, our cat did go into remission from the diabetes after about 9 months of being treated and it never returned. He wound up passing of totally unrelated illnesses years later.
We didn't find it too difficult to administer his injections. It was intimidating at first but became routine. We found that if we injected him just as he started to eat he didn't even notice. The needles is incredibly small and thin and slides easily into under the skin. And once he started getting the insulin his appetite perked up a lot and he stopped drinking the massive amount of water he'd been consuming.
I promise you'll get used to it faster than you think you will. My husband, who is really needle phobic and who swore he'd never be able to do it especially since this cat was his soul cat, managed just fine after only a few days of practice. Once you see how much better Miles feels, you'll gain the confidence you need.
I don't think I can add much to
sivyaleah
's response...she pretty much has it covered. I will tell you that my dear friend's cat developed diabetes. Jane is 74 years old, had never administered a shot in her life, and is now a champ at this. It is quite simple, and not painful for the cat in the least. Do as suggested, and pop those shots in when he starts to eat, and is more interested in The Sacred Food Dish than anything else.
sivyaleah
's response...she pretty much has it covered. I will tell you that my dear friend's cat developed diabetes. Jane is 74 years old, had never administered a shot in her life, and is now a champ at this. It is quite simple, and not painful for the cat in the least. Do as suggested, and pop those shots in when he starts to eat, and is more interested in The Sacred Food Dish than anything else.
Steroid use can cause diabetes in cats. Usually, it's only temporary and tapering off the steroid use resolves the diabetes. My IBD cat developed diabetes-like symptoms while on pred but neither I nor the vet were too concerned since levels never above 230 mg/dl. I used to have a diabetic cat so was able to test my IBD cat's levels a few time daily just to monitor. Once the pred dose was tapered off, the diabtes-like symptoms went away.
Ask the vet about other medicines to use for the vomiting. Cerenia is helpful to many cats.
Novel protein limited ingredient diets are helpful to IBD cats. Many IBD cats are sensitive to chicken and other common ingredients which can cause a flare up, diarrhea, and other issues.
Here are two good web sites for IBD info:
www.ibdkitties.net
Insulin injections take a second to do and most cats eventually get used to them. Doing it while the cat is eating works most of the time. So does testing blood glucose levels. If the cat is distracted by food, they usually won't notice you messing with them. Blood glucose checks is done at a minimum twice a day, before each insulin injection. The whole process of testing and giving insulin can be done in less than a minute.
This forum has great info and support from other diabetic cat owners:
Ask the vet about other medicines to use for the vomiting. Cerenia is helpful to many cats.
Novel protein limited ingredient diets are helpful to IBD cats. Many IBD cats are sensitive to chicken and other common ingredients which can cause a flare up, diarrhea, and other issues.
Here are two good web sites for IBD info:
Feline IBD
Address the root cause of IBD in your cat. Treat inflammation and gut dysbiosis with proper tools to restore health, not just manage symptoms.
www.rawfeedingforibdcats.org
IBDKitties – Helping Save Lives…One Paw at a Time
www.ibdkitties.net
Insulin injections take a second to do and most cats eventually get used to them. Doing it while the cat is eating works most of the time. So does testing blood glucose levels. If the cat is distracted by food, they usually won't notice you messing with them. Blood glucose checks is done at a minimum twice a day, before each insulin injection. The whole process of testing and giving insulin can be done in less than a minute.
This forum has great info and support from other diabetic cat owners:
One of my stray cats also developed diabetes after predesolone use and I had to give him reducing doses of insulin over 3 months--
All I want to add is that if you have to give your cat insulin it is not as bad as you think.....as has been stated. Personally, although diabetes is a serious condition, I would rather give a cat insulin than pill them which reflects, of course, my experiences with my cats and their personalities. My first diabetic cat was a street rescue and unpredictable. No one believed that I would be able to give her insulin, but when the time came I just sat down behind her and gave her the shot, which takes like a second in the fold of the skin at the neck, and she never even reacted. I also want to add that I never checked this cat's glucose at home but took her to the vet regularly enough to make sure we were okay. My second diabetic cat is with me now and is still doing fine. Hopefully your cat will be fine once things are under control though.
This website referred me to the Feline Diabetes Message Boards and they are fantastic. Completely on top of all aspects of the condition.
This website referred me to the Feline Diabetes Message Boards and they are fantastic. Completely on top of all aspects of the condition.
