Hartford Cats Examiner: The Power of Love or How to Heal Your Cat with Love
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Monday, February 9, 2009
Thursday, October 16, 2008
In Memory of Mr. Mew
It was a long and hard struggle, but since my last post, Mr. Mew started to slowly decline. I think he had a stroke, which halted the progress he was making against neuropathy. I tried everything I could to get him better, including acupuncture, massage, medicines, alternative treatments, etc. But his body had other ideas. Through it all I kept up his blood tests and his insulin. The last three days of his life, his BG leveled out and he got no more insulin shots. I had kept him on his other meds but his back end became weaker until he could not move it at all. Nor could he go to the bathroom on his own.
He stayed in good spirits, however, purring and cuddling up to me at night. He was not in pain nor was he suffering. But today, after a night of exceptional cuddling, he started to appear uncomfortable. I have known for about a week that he wouldn't be getting better, but as long as he was comfortable and not suffering or in any pain, I let nature take its course, so to speak. I was hoping he would go at home, where he's most comfortable. But, when I saw him open-mouth breathing today, thougfh he was not struggling to breathe, I knew I had to do something... before he did start to suffer!
The vet put up a tranquilizer that I gave him to him an hour before bringing him in, so he would sleep and be relaxed and not stressed, as the vet hospital usually makes him so stressed out. He was pretty relaxed and slept most of the time. I stayed with him, held his head as he was cuddled still in his fleece blankets and kissed him good-bye.
He was a good cat, a true fighting spirit, and it will be hard and lonely without him.
He stayed in good spirits, however, purring and cuddling up to me at night. He was not in pain nor was he suffering. But today, after a night of exceptional cuddling, he started to appear uncomfortable. I have known for about a week that he wouldn't be getting better, but as long as he was comfortable and not suffering or in any pain, I let nature take its course, so to speak. I was hoping he would go at home, where he's most comfortable. But, when I saw him open-mouth breathing today, thougfh he was not struggling to breathe, I knew I had to do something... before he did start to suffer!
The vet put up a tranquilizer that I gave him to him an hour before bringing him in, so he would sleep and be relaxed and not stressed, as the vet hospital usually makes him so stressed out. He was pretty relaxed and slept most of the time. I stayed with him, held his head as he was cuddled still in his fleece blankets and kissed him good-bye.
He was a good cat, a true fighting spirit, and it will be hard and lonely without him.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Continuation of Mr. Mew's Therapy
Sept 26th. Around 3 AM I had to put Mr. Mew in the back room on the floor on his blankets because he kept meowing to go to the litter box, yet when I held him over it, he did not go. I tried a bit of pressure on his bladder, but only drops came out and he seemed a little painful, so I put a wee wee pad under him on his blankets, covered him up warm, and went back to bed. In the morning he had gone on the pad and was near the litter box. He really does try to get from place to place as best he can. His muscles were twitching today, especially in his hind legs.
Sept. 27th. Mew moved around most of the night. He was showing a bit of soreness, but moving more. No progress on the back legs. His left hind still moves a bit, but nothing on his right hind. He seems to be losing feeling in his spine as well. On Sept. 29th I gave Mew some good massage therapy for his muscles and physical therapy to see if I could loosen him up a bit and make him more comfortable. He seemed very sore today and won't eat much.
Sept. 30th. I had to bring Mew to the vet today because I realized he was not sore in his muscles, but in his abdomen. He had not been urinating well for the past 2 days even when I would gently squeeze. The vet put in a catheter and emptied his bladder, which made him feel much better, but she noticed some infection so he is on Clavamox. He's not painful now and purrs, but I am starting to wonder if he's ever going to get better. Several vets now have mentioned they think there's more going on than just neuropathy. He was getting better and then suddenly went downhill even though his blood sugar is fairly regulated. What is going on and what am I going to do? Katy thinks it might be he's throwing blood clots, so she has him on very tiny doses of baby aspirin every few days.
No better on October 1st. He did eat a tiny bit better and drank some from the water fountain, but he can no longer hold himself in a sitting position as before and he just lays there unless I prop him up. He can hold himself for short periods, but then flops over again. I have to make a decision! Katy and I agreed to give it until his next appointment, which is next Thursday. He's not suffering, but he also has no quality of life at this point. I will do all I can to sustain him, work with him, and keep him comfortable until our appointment, unless I see something that tells me he's suffering or I need to let him go. My insides are like Jell-O. We've worked so much, it's hard to think we have come this far only to fail. This is my last ditch attempt to see if I can get any progress, any sign he may have a chance... But I have to be honest, it's not looking good at this point. But, I will fight for that cat until I have exhausted all means. This is very hard!
Sept. 27th. Mew moved around most of the night. He was showing a bit of soreness, but moving more. No progress on the back legs. His left hind still moves a bit, but nothing on his right hind. He seems to be losing feeling in his spine as well. On Sept. 29th I gave Mew some good massage therapy for his muscles and physical therapy to see if I could loosen him up a bit and make him more comfortable. He seemed very sore today and won't eat much.
Sept. 30th. I had to bring Mew to the vet today because I realized he was not sore in his muscles, but in his abdomen. He had not been urinating well for the past 2 days even when I would gently squeeze. The vet put in a catheter and emptied his bladder, which made him feel much better, but she noticed some infection so he is on Clavamox. He's not painful now and purrs, but I am starting to wonder if he's ever going to get better. Several vets now have mentioned they think there's more going on than just neuropathy. He was getting better and then suddenly went downhill even though his blood sugar is fairly regulated. What is going on and what am I going to do? Katy thinks it might be he's throwing blood clots, so she has him on very tiny doses of baby aspirin every few days.
No better on October 1st. He did eat a tiny bit better and drank some from the water fountain, but he can no longer hold himself in a sitting position as before and he just lays there unless I prop him up. He can hold himself for short periods, but then flops over again. I have to make a decision! Katy and I agreed to give it until his next appointment, which is next Thursday. He's not suffering, but he also has no quality of life at this point. I will do all I can to sustain him, work with him, and keep him comfortable until our appointment, unless I see something that tells me he's suffering or I need to let him go. My insides are like Jell-O. We've worked so much, it's hard to think we have come this far only to fail. This is my last ditch attempt to see if I can get any progress, any sign he may have a chance... But I have to be honest, it's not looking good at this point. But, I will fight for that cat until I have exhausted all means. This is very hard!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Acupuncture. Will it Work?
Mr. Mew went in for his first acupuncture session today. The vet (Cassandra; I've known her for years) palpated him, especially along his spine to assess nerve function. Obviously, every case is different, though it's natural that most people want to know if their pet will be cured or not. The only answer is "it depends." In Mr. Mew's case, it is definitely a shot in the dark, so to speak. He has almost no motor function, except in his front legs and even those are limited. His back left works slightly and the base of his tail and spine are sore to the touch. His right hind does not seem to work at all and his tail from 1/4 down to the tip doesn't work.
Cassandra was able to put many needles into Mew because he was extremely cooperative. She even placed one at the very tip of his tail. The room was not one of the sterile, bright exam rooms, but a small room far in the back of the hospital with natural lighting, a padded table, and a carpeted floor. More like "home" to a nervous cat. All he wanted to do was get down off the table and explore. His eyes were bright and he was very alert. I had to pet him to keep him from trying to crawl with his front legs as she placed the needles.
I am guessing she placed about 20 needles, from the top of his head to the tip of his tail, in very strategic locations. She spoke to us while the needles stayed in for about 20 minutes. She explained the procedures, the reason for the needle placement and answered our questions. She gave us both the "eastern" and "western" explanations for how acupuncture works and told us about a client of hers; a cat with a brain tumor that was paralyzed and can now walk thanks to accupuncture. I personally have seen how well acupuncture can work, hence why I wanted to try this with Mew.
So, while we wait for the treatments to "kick in" (acupuncture rarely has immediate results, even the first treatment can take a few days if any improvement is going to show up), I will continue as I have been doing. I have him on a neuropathy support vitamin formula (Benfotiamine 150mg Multi -B Neuropathy Support Formula), made for people (B vitamins are very safe in high doses). Since I started Mew on it, I have seen some improvement in his feelings and function. I still have him on the Methyl-B12 too.
And tonight, he moved his right hind for the first time in a long while. His BG has been very good. Though it's often in the upper 200s in the morning, many times only 1 - 1.5 units insulin will hold his numbers down until the next morning. Not bad for a cat who started out on 6 units/day.
Cassandra was able to put many needles into Mew because he was extremely cooperative. She even placed one at the very tip of his tail. The room was not one of the sterile, bright exam rooms, but a small room far in the back of the hospital with natural lighting, a padded table, and a carpeted floor. More like "home" to a nervous cat. All he wanted to do was get down off the table and explore. His eyes were bright and he was very alert. I had to pet him to keep him from trying to crawl with his front legs as she placed the needles.
I am guessing she placed about 20 needles, from the top of his head to the tip of his tail, in very strategic locations. She spoke to us while the needles stayed in for about 20 minutes. She explained the procedures, the reason for the needle placement and answered our questions. She gave us both the "eastern" and "western" explanations for how acupuncture works and told us about a client of hers; a cat with a brain tumor that was paralyzed and can now walk thanks to accupuncture. I personally have seen how well acupuncture can work, hence why I wanted to try this with Mew.
So, while we wait for the treatments to "kick in" (acupuncture rarely has immediate results, even the first treatment can take a few days if any improvement is going to show up), I will continue as I have been doing. I have him on a neuropathy support vitamin formula (Benfotiamine 150mg Multi -B Neuropathy Support Formula), made for people (B vitamins are very safe in high doses). Since I started Mew on it, I have seen some improvement in his feelings and function. I still have him on the Methyl-B12 too.
And tonight, he moved his right hind for the first time in a long while. His BG has been very good. Though it's often in the upper 200s in the morning, many times only 1 - 1.5 units insulin will hold his numbers down until the next morning. Not bad for a cat who started out on 6 units/day.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Continued Diary of Mr. Mew's Diabetic Neuropathy
On Aug. 18th, Mew crawled to the litter box by himself and attempted to get in. He managed to get his front legs in, but not his hind, and "went" on the floor. But, at least he tried. This was actually great progress, since at this point in time his front legs were worse than his back.
By Aug. 22nd, Mew was very mobile (relatively speaking). He was easily crawling to the water by himself, moving around a lot on the bed, turning over and around by himself and was fighting against his meds. Things were looking very up!
On Aug. 26th we brought him to my vet to get an opinion on his eye. The inner eyelid was still half way over his eye most of the time and no medications were proving useful. Katy felt the problem was due in part to his neuropathy, that somehow it was affecting the nerves in the eye, as there were no other signs of anything wrong and it was not feasible at this point (nor affordable to us) to do a CT scan. Despite all his movements he still needed occasional enemas as he didn't always deficate on his own. However, he was doing better in this respect and the eneams were few and far between. The more he moved around, the more his bowels moved on their own. I kept him on the medications for bowel motion (and by now I had switched him from Lactulose syrup to Mialax for a laxative. The Miralax worked MUCH better).
His BG numbers throughout August were generally quite good. Most of the time they would be in the 200s in the AM and at night I often did not have to give him another shot. It seemed his body was starting to get back to normal. By the very end of the month, he was going to the bathroom on his own (no enemas in awhile) and often near the litter box (I had made a makeshift box for him out of a big cardboard box, with one side cut down so he could crawl in). He eventually learned to "back" to the edge of the litter box and go as close as he could to the litter and newspapers I had there. On September 1st, he was at his very best! He lifted himself on his hind legs and lifted his tail to pee. He crawled from one side of the room to the next and then made it to my bedroom and I found him by my bedside wanting to come up to bed! It seemed he was well on his way to recovery and I was ecstatically happy.
However, only about 4 days later, something happened. In his moving around as he slept, he fell off the bed. Fortunately, I had had the foresight to stack pillows on the floor for just such a possibility. I found him lying on the floor next to the pillows, meowing to come out (the door to the back room was open and is right next to my bed so he could not get past it). That same day I did notice a slight reduction in movement in his left hind leg. I don't recall if the fall came before or after the movement issue, but I seriously doubt he could have gotten too seriously injured falling on pillows. Besides, he kept on crawling and, by the 9th of Sept, he was showing the first signs of lifting his front end a bit as he crawled, instead of staying on his elbows. Hope grew!
Sometime in the first weeks of September, he fell off the bed twice more. ONce was on the pillows again. The second time, however, was as I slept. He attempted to crawl over me; I barely remember feeling him and thought it was my cat Sammy as he tends to like to sleep on or new my legs. It wasn't until I heard a THUD that I realized what had happened. At the same time, I felt wrm moisture on my PJ bottoms and the bed. I turned on the light and Mew was on the floor beside my side of the bed; no pillows there, just a carpet. He had apparently had to pee really bad and started to climb over me to get to the litter box or in hopes I would wake him and take him myself. Why he didn't meow and wake me I do not know (he usually meows loud enough to wake someone in a coma when he needs to pee). He didn't make it, peed on me as he crawled over me, and then rolled over me and onto the floor. He seemed to be fine.
However, on September 16th I noticed he was having a lot of pain near the base of his spine. I had to give him an enema that day, but he seemed much better afterwards. He wasn't crawling as much, but his movement didn't seem too bad. I wasn't sure if the pain was due to the fall several nights before, or if he was regressing somehow. I read about peripheral neuropathy, which can cause pain and bad sensations, even to light touch. I assumed the neuropathy was getting worse.
On the 18th I ordered a new kind of B supplement I read about. I plan to mix this with his B12 (Katy says this is good, as B vitamins are completely safe). We don't know why this has happened or what is causing the regression. On the 19th I made an appointment to have acupuncture done on him (the appt is the 25th, this Thursday). Hot towels and heating pads helped alleviate the pain. By the 20th he was not in pain any longer, but his hind legs and tail can now no longer move. His front end is fine, actually getting slowly better. Though he still cannot lift himself up on only his front end, especially now that his back end stopped working again. Someone mentioned spondylosis of the spine, and so I plan to ask about that on Thursday, though I have my doubts since it seems that would have started showing much earlier than this, and in a different way. It seems to me this would be either an injury from the fall or a regression in the neuropathy.
Today, the 21st, his BG numbers are still good. I gave him a small enema to help him pass a bit of stool he's been having trouble with and it passed with no problems. He is perky, but not purring like he was when he was able to move better. I am starting to fear what will happen. What if the acupuncture doesn't work? What if the paralysis is permanent? Could I have done something to prevent this? He was doing so very well! Why now? Why this?
By Aug. 22nd, Mew was very mobile (relatively speaking). He was easily crawling to the water by himself, moving around a lot on the bed, turning over and around by himself and was fighting against his meds. Things were looking very up!
On Aug. 26th we brought him to my vet to get an opinion on his eye. The inner eyelid was still half way over his eye most of the time and no medications were proving useful. Katy felt the problem was due in part to his neuropathy, that somehow it was affecting the nerves in the eye, as there were no other signs of anything wrong and it was not feasible at this point (nor affordable to us) to do a CT scan. Despite all his movements he still needed occasional enemas as he didn't always deficate on his own. However, he was doing better in this respect and the eneams were few and far between. The more he moved around, the more his bowels moved on their own. I kept him on the medications for bowel motion (and by now I had switched him from Lactulose syrup to Mialax for a laxative. The Miralax worked MUCH better).
His BG numbers throughout August were generally quite good. Most of the time they would be in the 200s in the AM and at night I often did not have to give him another shot. It seemed his body was starting to get back to normal. By the very end of the month, he was going to the bathroom on his own (no enemas in awhile) and often near the litter box (I had made a makeshift box for him out of a big cardboard box, with one side cut down so he could crawl in). He eventually learned to "back" to the edge of the litter box and go as close as he could to the litter and newspapers I had there. On September 1st, he was at his very best! He lifted himself on his hind legs and lifted his tail to pee. He crawled from one side of the room to the next and then made it to my bedroom and I found him by my bedside wanting to come up to bed! It seemed he was well on his way to recovery and I was ecstatically happy.
However, only about 4 days later, something happened. In his moving around as he slept, he fell off the bed. Fortunately, I had had the foresight to stack pillows on the floor for just such a possibility. I found him lying on the floor next to the pillows, meowing to come out (the door to the back room was open and is right next to my bed so he could not get past it). That same day I did notice a slight reduction in movement in his left hind leg. I don't recall if the fall came before or after the movement issue, but I seriously doubt he could have gotten too seriously injured falling on pillows. Besides, he kept on crawling and, by the 9th of Sept, he was showing the first signs of lifting his front end a bit as he crawled, instead of staying on his elbows. Hope grew!
Sometime in the first weeks of September, he fell off the bed twice more. ONce was on the pillows again. The second time, however, was as I slept. He attempted to crawl over me; I barely remember feeling him and thought it was my cat Sammy as he tends to like to sleep on or new my legs. It wasn't until I heard a THUD that I realized what had happened. At the same time, I felt wrm moisture on my PJ bottoms and the bed. I turned on the light and Mew was on the floor beside my side of the bed; no pillows there, just a carpet. He had apparently had to pee really bad and started to climb over me to get to the litter box or in hopes I would wake him and take him myself. Why he didn't meow and wake me I do not know (he usually meows loud enough to wake someone in a coma when he needs to pee). He didn't make it, peed on me as he crawled over me, and then rolled over me and onto the floor. He seemed to be fine.
However, on September 16th I noticed he was having a lot of pain near the base of his spine. I had to give him an enema that day, but he seemed much better afterwards. He wasn't crawling as much, but his movement didn't seem too bad. I wasn't sure if the pain was due to the fall several nights before, or if he was regressing somehow. I read about peripheral neuropathy, which can cause pain and bad sensations, even to light touch. I assumed the neuropathy was getting worse.
On the 18th I ordered a new kind of B supplement I read about. I plan to mix this with his B12 (Katy says this is good, as B vitamins are completely safe). We don't know why this has happened or what is causing the regression. On the 19th I made an appointment to have acupuncture done on him (the appt is the 25th, this Thursday). Hot towels and heating pads helped alleviate the pain. By the 20th he was not in pain any longer, but his hind legs and tail can now no longer move. His front end is fine, actually getting slowly better. Though he still cannot lift himself up on only his front end, especially now that his back end stopped working again. Someone mentioned spondylosis of the spine, and so I plan to ask about that on Thursday, though I have my doubts since it seems that would have started showing much earlier than this, and in a different way. It seems to me this would be either an injury from the fall or a regression in the neuropathy.
Today, the 21st, his BG numbers are still good. I gave him a small enema to help him pass a bit of stool he's been having trouble with and it passed with no problems. He is perky, but not purring like he was when he was able to move better. I am starting to fear what will happen. What if the acupuncture doesn't work? What if the paralysis is permanent? Could I have done something to prevent this? He was doing so very well! Why now? Why this?
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Mr. Mew and His Diabetic Neuropathy, Continued
July 10th 2008, At 9:00 AM, Mew's BG was 440. He didn't eat much, and usually it's not recommended to give a cat insulin when they have not eaten, but his numbers were high so I gave him his insulin. That day, we switched him over to Wellness ( we had given him some for the past few days before). Wellness was said to be a better food than Friskies for diabetic cats. Katie (my vet) said Mew's diabetes might eventually reverse since he got it from steroids.
On July 11th I did another curve.
1:00 AM 144
9:15 AM 468
3 units of Vetsulin given
11:45 AM 187
1:45 PM 63
3:00 PM 42
7:00 PM 136
9:15 PM 235
2.5 units Vetsulin given
1:15 AM 54
At this point I was still learning how to curve and how much insulin to give. I read an interesting article by a vet familiar with diabetes in cats, that mentioned doing a tight regulation schedule, which basically means giving smaller doses more often, which essentially helps the body re-learn to regulate itself. This took me quite a bit of experimentation to get Mew's numbers and units correct. There was a chart in the article as an example of insulin to BG numbers, but I found it was too high for Mew. So, I developed my own chart based on his numbers.
While I was working on this, Mr. Mew developed a new problem: constipation. Because of his lack of movement, his bowels did not move well. I had him on several medications for this problem, but it just wasn't enough.
July 12th. Per the vet's recommendation I gave him fiber and pumpkin to help his bowels move along. His BG numbers were all over the place, but I had yet to start the tight regulation I read about for fear of doing something wrong. On July 13th, he was perky and even produced one small stool. The next day, the 14th of July, he was down. I did another curve to see what was going on:
5:30 AM 136
10:00 AM 134
12:30 PM 140
3:30 PM 129
6:30 PM 295
10:00 PM 401
2.5 units Vetsulin given
1:30 AM 274
As you can see by the above numbers, he stayed pretty good all day without insulin and his number rose in the PM. So, his BG was not the cause of his being down.
He saw the vet (my regular vet, Katy) on the 15th July. She taught me how to give Mr. Mew an enema at home so he wouldn't have to be brought in every time he got blocked or was not passing enough stool. To this day that has proven successful.
On the 16th is about when I started to notice the first signs of a more regular, lower BG. I had discussed tight regulation with Katy and she agreed. She let me work out the details based on the experiences I had had thus far. At 10:45 AM that day he was at 257, was given 2 units Vetsulin. He was 109 at 4:30 PM (+5.5, which means 5 and a half hours after his shot). That's VERY good. He remained in the 100's all day and needed no more insulin that day.
At 10:30 AM on the 17th, he was at 399. I gave him 2.5 units. At 10:30 PM, 12 hours later, he was only at 186. He didn't get any more insulin until 1 AM when his numbers showed 266, so I gave only 1 unit. This was the beginning of his regulation and not going above 2 units at any given time (except on occasion his numbers have spiked up, but it's rare).
By near the end of July he was perkier more often and using his legs more. I had him mostly on Fancy Feast canned cat food by this time, which I found is one of the few commercial foods that has all carnivorous ingredients and little or no unnecessaries like corn of any kind, carrots, potatoes or any of the other stuff cats do NOT need. Those ingredients are put there for the sake of the owners, so they will see what is percived by humans as a "complete and balanced" diet and buy the food. The fact is, cats need MEAT and taurine to survive, not carrots and potatoes. Dogs are omnivores, but cats are true carnivores. Even meat by-products are better for a cat than those fillers! And since Mew LOVES Fancy Feast, that became his sole food (until recently, I discovered Newman's Organic cat food, which had great ingredients in it, but it is expensive and he doesn't like it as much as he likes Fancy Feast).
Around this time he also started to use his hind legs more. That is odd, because neuropic cats can generally use their fronts but the back end is weak. He actually grew stronger in the back and not in the front. I was still giving regular enemas and subcu fluids along with all his regular meds, but his numbers were getting better, and there were days here and there where he got no insulin at all... On the 23rd July his numbers stayed in the 100's with no insulin all day. On the 25th he took his first couple steps with his back legs on his own before flopping over again. This was great progress at this point.
On July 27th he was doing fantastic, but I noticed something wrong with his left eye. The inner, or third, eyelid was half closed, covering half his eye. He was put on antibiotics. To this day, his eye is still half covered by that eyelid; some days worse than others, so it has been demed part of the neuropathy (or a tumor in the brain, but no tests have been done to verify). Many meds and antibiotic eye ointments all proved fruitless.
On August 3rd he "walked" for the first time. I held one hand under his body to keep him off the floor, but he propelled himself alone with his hind legs. Food became a very good motivator to get him moving. By August 8th, he was crawling around so much on his own that he actually fell off the bed.I worried about injury, but he fell off the side of the bed near the wall and I had pillows stored over there so he landed on them. Around August 10th his numbers started to rise into the 400s again, I have no idea why, so I upped his insulin temporarily.
On August 11th we had another improvement. He began to use his front paws to wash his own face. He also began to prop himself up on his front elbows so he could "sit up" and look around, instead of always laying on his side. By August 12th his BG numbers were back down to the 200s and 100s regularly. By lte in August he was crawling all over the place and I never knew where I would find him each time I got home. His progress had me ecstatically happy at this point in time.
On July 11th I did another curve.
1:00 AM 144
9:15 AM 468
3 units of Vetsulin given
11:45 AM 187
1:45 PM 63
3:00 PM 42
7:00 PM 136
9:15 PM 235
2.5 units Vetsulin given
1:15 AM 54
At this point I was still learning how to curve and how much insulin to give. I read an interesting article by a vet familiar with diabetes in cats, that mentioned doing a tight regulation schedule, which basically means giving smaller doses more often, which essentially helps the body re-learn to regulate itself. This took me quite a bit of experimentation to get Mew's numbers and units correct. There was a chart in the article as an example of insulin to BG numbers, but I found it was too high for Mew. So, I developed my own chart based on his numbers.
While I was working on this, Mr. Mew developed a new problem: constipation. Because of his lack of movement, his bowels did not move well. I had him on several medications for this problem, but it just wasn't enough.
July 12th. Per the vet's recommendation I gave him fiber and pumpkin to help his bowels move along. His BG numbers were all over the place, but I had yet to start the tight regulation I read about for fear of doing something wrong. On July 13th, he was perky and even produced one small stool. The next day, the 14th of July, he was down. I did another curve to see what was going on:
5:30 AM 136
10:00 AM 134
12:30 PM 140
3:30 PM 129
6:30 PM 295
10:00 PM 401
2.5 units Vetsulin given
1:30 AM 274
As you can see by the above numbers, he stayed pretty good all day without insulin and his number rose in the PM. So, his BG was not the cause of his being down.
He saw the vet (my regular vet, Katy) on the 15th July. She taught me how to give Mr. Mew an enema at home so he wouldn't have to be brought in every time he got blocked or was not passing enough stool. To this day that has proven successful.
On the 16th is about when I started to notice the first signs of a more regular, lower BG. I had discussed tight regulation with Katy and she agreed. She let me work out the details based on the experiences I had had thus far. At 10:45 AM that day he was at 257, was given 2 units Vetsulin. He was 109 at 4:30 PM (+5.5, which means 5 and a half hours after his shot). That's VERY good. He remained in the 100's all day and needed no more insulin that day.
At 10:30 AM on the 17th, he was at 399. I gave him 2.5 units. At 10:30 PM, 12 hours later, he was only at 186. He didn't get any more insulin until 1 AM when his numbers showed 266, so I gave only 1 unit. This was the beginning of his regulation and not going above 2 units at any given time (except on occasion his numbers have spiked up, but it's rare).
By near the end of July he was perkier more often and using his legs more. I had him mostly on Fancy Feast canned cat food by this time, which I found is one of the few commercial foods that has all carnivorous ingredients and little or no unnecessaries like corn of any kind, carrots, potatoes or any of the other stuff cats do NOT need. Those ingredients are put there for the sake of the owners, so they will see what is percived by humans as a "complete and balanced" diet and buy the food. The fact is, cats need MEAT and taurine to survive, not carrots and potatoes. Dogs are omnivores, but cats are true carnivores. Even meat by-products are better for a cat than those fillers! And since Mew LOVES Fancy Feast, that became his sole food (until recently, I discovered Newman's Organic cat food, which had great ingredients in it, but it is expensive and he doesn't like it as much as he likes Fancy Feast).
Around this time he also started to use his hind legs more. That is odd, because neuropic cats can generally use their fronts but the back end is weak. He actually grew stronger in the back and not in the front. I was still giving regular enemas and subcu fluids along with all his regular meds, but his numbers were getting better, and there were days here and there where he got no insulin at all... On the 23rd July his numbers stayed in the 100's with no insulin all day. On the 25th he took his first couple steps with his back legs on his own before flopping over again. This was great progress at this point.
On July 27th he was doing fantastic, but I noticed something wrong with his left eye. The inner, or third, eyelid was half closed, covering half his eye. He was put on antibiotics. To this day, his eye is still half covered by that eyelid; some days worse than others, so it has been demed part of the neuropathy (or a tumor in the brain, but no tests have been done to verify). Many meds and antibiotic eye ointments all proved fruitless.
On August 3rd he "walked" for the first time. I held one hand under his body to keep him off the floor, but he propelled himself alone with his hind legs. Food became a very good motivator to get him moving. By August 8th, he was crawling around so much on his own that he actually fell off the bed.I worried about injury, but he fell off the side of the bed near the wall and I had pillows stored over there so he landed on them. Around August 10th his numbers started to rise into the 400s again, I have no idea why, so I upped his insulin temporarily.
On August 11th we had another improvement. He began to use his front paws to wash his own face. He also began to prop himself up on his front elbows so he could "sit up" and look around, instead of always laying on his side. By August 12th his BG numbers were back down to the 200s and 100s regularly. By lte in August he was crawling all over the place and I never knew where I would find him each time I got home. His progress had me ecstatically happy at this point in time.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Mr. Mew and Diabetic Neuropathy
It all started the beginning of June, 2008. My mother's cat, Sebastian (or Mr. Mew as we have always called him), started to show signs of weakness in his hind end. He was walking on his hocks rather than his toes, as is proper for a cat. We brought him to the vet and discovered he was diabetic. He had apparently been diabetic for a long time with hardly any symptoms until he became weak in the back end, which prompted the visit.
Mr. Mew stayed at the vet hospital for several days to get on insulin and regulate his sugar levels (Blood Glucose, or BG). His levels were well over 500. Normal levels should be around the 80-100 mark. For a diabetic cat, BG levels under 250 are reasonable, though the closer to 100 you can keep them the better.
Several days later, we picked Mr. Mew up and brought him home. It wasn't until I took him out of the carrier and put him in the area I had set up for him that I noticed something odd... He couldn't walk at all! I called the vet (not my usual vet as she was on vacation during this time) and was told that I should give him B-12 shots. She set up several injections of cyanocobolamin (one form of B12) for me to give him once a week.
I started doing internet research on Feline Diabetic Neuropathy and discovered that Methylcobolamin (another form of B12) is much better at treating Neuropathy. I could only find it online and the vet had never heard of it. So, basically I was on my own. Being the professional writer of 4 cat care books, researching cat facts came easy... Or should have. Yes, I was able to find quite a bit of information on Methylcobolamin (or Methyl B12 as it's known), but only to a certain extent and to this day, I have yet to find a case of neuropathy as severe as Mr. Mew's.
I ordered the B12 and Mr. Mew started his regime. In the meantime, on July 2, 2008 I got a home BG meter and started testing Mr. Mew's BG levels at home. I was unable to get a good blood drop from his ear, as per instructions so at the time I was using his paw pad. Eventually I learned how to do the test on his ear, but I use his insulin needles to get the blood drop rather than the usual lancets that others use, because the insulin needles are very thin and cause no pain.
On July 4th I did my first "curve." This is where I test him every few hours to get an idea of how well the insulin is working. He was very down, so the vet thought maybe it was due to his numbers going too low instead of high, so she had me do this curve. Here are the numbers as I got them that day:
8:00 AM 455 (very high)
3 units of insulin at 8:30 AM
9:00 AM 515
11:00 AM 402
1:30 PM 393
5:00 PM 207
9:00 PM Over 600 (it is normal in the beginning for numbers to jump around)
12:30 AM 282
I started him on the Methyl B12 July 7th. His BG tested at 176 (very good) at 1:10 AM. A new problem arose however; since he was basically paralyzed, he was not passing stool on his own. I had him on Lactulose Syrup and Cisapride, plus subcutaneous fluids to help his system keep working properly. Yet, still he was not passing stool. I started Mew on 6 mg of Methyl B12 July 8th hoping the higher doses would help him. B vitamins are very soluable by the body and so it's highly unlikely (or impossible) to overdose on B vitamins. His PM BG was 153.
On July 9th, he spent the day in the hospital because he was so uncomfortable from not having passed any stool for so long. He had to have a day of enemas. He came home at 8 PM. His BG numbers were:
9:00 PM 250
10:30 PM 220
12:30 AM 87
2:00 AM 77 (a bit low)
3:00 AM 102
At this time he was on 3 units of Vetsulin. At the time I was feeding him Friskies canned, which I found out later is not the best, but ok.... It took a lot of time and experience and research to learn all the right moves in Mew's case. I had never done any of this before. I tried him on the special diabetic foods the vet prescribed, but he tired of it fast. I eventually discovered that just because a cat food syays it is for dabetic cats does not mean it is good for them. I will continue this blog, discussing each aspect of diabeties and more on Mew's progress each day.
Thank you for reading and keep your markers on this page, as there is a LOT more to come.
Mr. Mew stayed at the vet hospital for several days to get on insulin and regulate his sugar levels (Blood Glucose, or BG). His levels were well over 500. Normal levels should be around the 80-100 mark. For a diabetic cat, BG levels under 250 are reasonable, though the closer to 100 you can keep them the better.
Several days later, we picked Mr. Mew up and brought him home. It wasn't until I took him out of the carrier and put him in the area I had set up for him that I noticed something odd... He couldn't walk at all! I called the vet (not my usual vet as she was on vacation during this time) and was told that I should give him B-12 shots. She set up several injections of cyanocobolamin (one form of B12) for me to give him once a week.
I started doing internet research on Feline Diabetic Neuropathy and discovered that Methylcobolamin (another form of B12) is much better at treating Neuropathy. I could only find it online and the vet had never heard of it. So, basically I was on my own. Being the professional writer of 4 cat care books, researching cat facts came easy... Or should have. Yes, I was able to find quite a bit of information on Methylcobolamin (or Methyl B12 as it's known), but only to a certain extent and to this day, I have yet to find a case of neuropathy as severe as Mr. Mew's.
I ordered the B12 and Mr. Mew started his regime. In the meantime, on July 2, 2008 I got a home BG meter and started testing Mr. Mew's BG levels at home. I was unable to get a good blood drop from his ear, as per instructions so at the time I was using his paw pad. Eventually I learned how to do the test on his ear, but I use his insulin needles to get the blood drop rather than the usual lancets that others use, because the insulin needles are very thin and cause no pain.
On July 4th I did my first "curve." This is where I test him every few hours to get an idea of how well the insulin is working. He was very down, so the vet thought maybe it was due to his numbers going too low instead of high, so she had me do this curve. Here are the numbers as I got them that day:
8:00 AM 455 (very high)
3 units of insulin at 8:30 AM
9:00 AM 515
11:00 AM 402
1:30 PM 393
5:00 PM 207
9:00 PM Over 600 (it is normal in the beginning for numbers to jump around)
12:30 AM 282
I started him on the Methyl B12 July 7th. His BG tested at 176 (very good) at 1:10 AM. A new problem arose however; since he was basically paralyzed, he was not passing stool on his own. I had him on Lactulose Syrup and Cisapride, plus subcutaneous fluids to help his system keep working properly. Yet, still he was not passing stool. I started Mew on 6 mg of Methyl B12 July 8th hoping the higher doses would help him. B vitamins are very soluable by the body and so it's highly unlikely (or impossible) to overdose on B vitamins. His PM BG was 153.
On July 9th, he spent the day in the hospital because he was so uncomfortable from not having passed any stool for so long. He had to have a day of enemas. He came home at 8 PM. His BG numbers were:
9:00 PM 250
10:30 PM 220
12:30 AM 87
2:00 AM 77 (a bit low)
3:00 AM 102
At this time he was on 3 units of Vetsulin. At the time I was feeding him Friskies canned, which I found out later is not the best, but ok.... It took a lot of time and experience and research to learn all the right moves in Mew's case. I had never done any of this before. I tried him on the special diabetic foods the vet prescribed, but he tired of it fast. I eventually discovered that just because a cat food syays it is for dabetic cats does not mean it is good for them. I will continue this blog, discussing each aspect of diabeties and more on Mew's progress each day.
Thank you for reading and keep your markers on this page, as there is a LOT more to come.
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