Feline diabetes is once again a non issue in our house, after a nightmarish struggle when Hamlet spun out of control, as you may be able to see from postings below. He is now 18 years of age, at least, according to our knowledge of his history. He can't be too much older than that as he is in great shape for an old guy!
Hamlet has been off insulin again, now, for nearly two months. His fructosamines are improving with the amount of time he is in remission, so we are at the point of once again dispensing with his insulin to someone who might benefit more than we would. We have also managed to very slowly reduce his phenobarbital now that night time hypos are not a danger, and from the 45mgs of phenobarbital he was using when the insulin was causing night time hypos without it, we are down to 7.5 per day, and will be dropping to half that this coming week. Three weeks beyond that we hope to stop safely with no ill effects to his body.
Hamlet has also lost about 1/2 a pound since his last yearly checkup, done again recently, and his Geri-panel numbers are improved in spite of the fact that he had been on the phenobarbital for months -- I will be so glad to be safely off that as he basically only has one kidney to care for his body.
Our progress was greatly helped by the dry summer we have had, as I am always aware of the need for physical exercise being a component of defeating feline diabetes. Our boys are all basically indoor cats with a run they use to bask in the sun. Cats don't voluntarily exercise, especially as they age. As Hamlet is not an active enough fellow to escape our supervision, we were able to walk him daily in the yard, ensuring at least 200' of flat/vertical surface was covered. We obviously weren't overdoing his routine as in the more recent days he has bounded up the front stairs to the door at the end of our 'quality' time.
Of course each daily walk has finished with Hamlet being brushed with his favorite wire brush, and you can't stop until he is ready -- or at least 15 minutes have passed. It is wonderful to be seeing our boy back again, and such a happy cat!
On our walks we also included Harley as lookout because Big Burrtha with two new cubs has been checking our corn for ripeness on a daily basis. Needless to say, shovelling 'scat' off the lawn also became a pre-excursion exercise for us on a number of occasions. Now that the rainy season is upon us I will have to conform more to what other owners have available for indoor cat exercise..........I wonder if cats can use treadmills? I will let you know.
One other note is that the ultrasound done in February of this year showed up what we believe to be the scar tissue on Hamlet's pancreas that led the original rescuing veterinarian to predict that he would develop diabetes. One or two of the veterinarians have commented that our difficulty in stabilizing Hamlet when he is on insulin may partly be to do with this in that the lump may become inflamed if Hamlet is showing symptoms of diabetes. There are rumblings out there in new study results suggesting inflammation may be a part of diabetes in general, and studies are showing cats to be very much the same as humans when it comes to the characteristics of this disease.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Saturday, August 9, 2008
The Mystery Deepens
After a wonderful couple of weeks with no insulin injections, and Hamlet looking so much better, it was quite a surprise to find that he had a high fructosamine again, when tested. This was very unexpected. His fructosamine was 563, and when his apex was tested it came in at 27.7 without insulin. We are now working our way back up to a suitable dose for him, and sincerely hope we haven't thrown him out by six months again as we did last year when dropping insulin for one day.
At this point there seem to be a number of options as he is developing slight dehydration issues, while feeling as though he may have fluid buildup on the inside that has been just slightly there for a couple of months, now, where we have noticed. There is a possibility of pancreatitis, or other internal disease, and we are likely to need an ultrasound for further choices to be made. The option of using glargine has been put forward, although I am not sure that regression back to needing insulin after such a short hiatus will categorize Hamlet as "newly diagnosed", so no decision has yet been made.
February 9, 2009
The past couple of months have been a roller coaster of emotion for us as Hamlet started exhibiting signs of seizures in mid December, (2008). Right before Christmas they turned into tonic-clonic seizures. After a number of trips with consultation with a variety of veterinarians, there has been no explanation for these seizures. We suspect it is possible Hamlet's glucose readings are going lower at night, (I have observed this in action), to the point that he may have gone into hypoglycemic episodes. A progression of these may have triggered the seizure activity.
However, we also found an explanation for the unstable glucose readings as Hamlet has a benign growth on his pancreas that will probably be changing size, and possibly becoming inflamed at times, thereby changing the pressures on the pancreas and influencing glucose levels. It would explain the erratic readings, and we are just relieved that the growth is, so far, benign, as our poor dear fellow is aging enough without major surgery again.
To control his seizures, Hamlet is being given phenobarbital which, of course, has turned him into a very mellow fellow. We are being far more cautious about the amount of insulin he is receiving, and the latest fructosamine has come in at a low enough number, (518), that we have decided to leave him there for the time being. The nadir of Hamlet's curve can vary from 27.7, (very odd time), to 6.1 as the lowest I have captured lately. I find the high numbers, (27.7) unnerving as it appears to indicate the insulin is having no effect. We have changed bottles of insulin and I am hoping it is just a problem with the last bottle not mixing properly.*
*Just a note here that changing bottles did not make a difference. The eventual explanation is that the lump on Hamlet's pancreas was acting up, as he eventually settled down with time. I was so glad the ultrasound was done to confirm information and make choices so much easier.
At this point there seem to be a number of options as he is developing slight dehydration issues, while feeling as though he may have fluid buildup on the inside that has been just slightly there for a couple of months, now, where we have noticed. There is a possibility of pancreatitis, or other internal disease, and we are likely to need an ultrasound for further choices to be made. The option of using glargine has been put forward, although I am not sure that regression back to needing insulin after such a short hiatus will categorize Hamlet as "newly diagnosed", so no decision has yet been made.
February 9, 2009
The past couple of months have been a roller coaster of emotion for us as Hamlet started exhibiting signs of seizures in mid December, (2008). Right before Christmas they turned into tonic-clonic seizures. After a number of trips with consultation with a variety of veterinarians, there has been no explanation for these seizures. We suspect it is possible Hamlet's glucose readings are going lower at night, (I have observed this in action), to the point that he may have gone into hypoglycemic episodes. A progression of these may have triggered the seizure activity.
However, we also found an explanation for the unstable glucose readings as Hamlet has a benign growth on his pancreas that will probably be changing size, and possibly becoming inflamed at times, thereby changing the pressures on the pancreas and influencing glucose levels. It would explain the erratic readings, and we are just relieved that the growth is, so far, benign, as our poor dear fellow is aging enough without major surgery again.
To control his seizures, Hamlet is being given phenobarbital which, of course, has turned him into a very mellow fellow. We are being far more cautious about the amount of insulin he is receiving, and the latest fructosamine has come in at a low enough number, (518), that we have decided to leave him there for the time being. The nadir of Hamlet's curve can vary from 27.7, (very odd time), to 6.1 as the lowest I have captured lately. I find the high numbers, (27.7) unnerving as it appears to indicate the insulin is having no effect. We have changed bottles of insulin and I am hoping it is just a problem with the last bottle not mixing properly.*
*Just a note here that changing bottles did not make a difference. The eventual explanation is that the lump on Hamlet's pancreas was acting up, as he eventually settled down with time. I was so glad the ultrasound was done to confirm information and make choices so much easier.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Hamlet's History
Hamlet has the physical characteristics of a Classic "seal bicolor" Ragdoll but was either a runt of the litter with genetic flaws, or his mommy got around, if you know what I mean. His eyes are not the classic blue and his legs are shorter that those I have seen in photos of purebreds. Ragdolls are described in technical books as having a "plate of fat" on their bellies, so while Hamlet is only 13 pounds, 4 ounces where other male purebreds range from 12-20 pounds, he still tends to look like an old man with a belly at the same time we are feeling his ribs and vertebrae. He was fully grown when we first saw him 'patrolling' the open concept housing complex we lived in at the time, and according to his physical health after all the walking, he was judged to be about three years old. As he should have been less mature when we first saw him if the estimate was accurate, we are now believing, according to normal aging signs, that he is probably between 15 and 18 years old.
His diabetes means that we must take special care to keep him at his optimal weight for health, partly because he had been a stray scrounging for food for several years, and developed very bad eating habits. He came to us with the diabetes, a slight heart murmur, and he has a problem with asthma. The diabetes has been in remission for a major portion of his time with us, and only came out of remission when he was dealing with severe emotional stress. His heart murmur is not showing up in his very regular checkups, and we have managed to avoid any accumulation of steroids in his system by keeping his asthma under control with Moducare and 1/4 tablet of periactin when he gets a bit wheezy. We are assuming that because the neighbours, (and us too), had been leaving out cheap high carb dry foods to keep him from looking too thin, we probably brought on the diabetic state, and weakened the rest of his health because he had been starved for wholesome nutrition for full body health............and we have had to pay for this since rescuing him when he was near death.
While I am often attacked by fanatics for feeding dry food to Hamlet, we DO NOT feed high carb food. I can't repeat often enough that he is maintained on 119.5 calories per day of low carb/high protein dry food as that allows for frequent grazing that keeps his stomach, and appetite, small. This attention to nutrition for his whole body to have the tools to make up for our early mistakes has also ensured good, well rounded health to combat the threats caused by diabetes, which are the same as those found in the human world of diabetes.
For those who would like to be leaving comments on my diabetes related sites, I am sorry but the rude comments from fanatics who don't have the education in nutrition, (glycemic control, food safety, etc.) that I do, or the up to date technical books back by scientific study that I use as reference material, have caused me to feel a need to block comments from people who don't know what they are talking about.
Anyone else who has managed to keep a healthy diabetic going for ten years or longer, we would love to compare notes, and share information, (backed by scientific references like those on our website please). We can be reached at the email address that will show up with a little detective work in the information attached to the email icon.
His diabetes means that we must take special care to keep him at his optimal weight for health, partly because he had been a stray scrounging for food for several years, and developed very bad eating habits. He came to us with the diabetes, a slight heart murmur, and he has a problem with asthma. The diabetes has been in remission for a major portion of his time with us, and only came out of remission when he was dealing with severe emotional stress. His heart murmur is not showing up in his very regular checkups, and we have managed to avoid any accumulation of steroids in his system by keeping his asthma under control with Moducare and 1/4 tablet of periactin when he gets a bit wheezy. We are assuming that because the neighbours, (and us too), had been leaving out cheap high carb dry foods to keep him from looking too thin, we probably brought on the diabetic state, and weakened the rest of his health because he had been starved for wholesome nutrition for full body health............and we have had to pay for this since rescuing him when he was near death.
While I am often attacked by fanatics for feeding dry food to Hamlet, we DO NOT feed high carb food. I can't repeat often enough that he is maintained on 119.5 calories per day of low carb/high protein dry food as that allows for frequent grazing that keeps his stomach, and appetite, small. This attention to nutrition for his whole body to have the tools to make up for our early mistakes has also ensured good, well rounded health to combat the threats caused by diabetes, which are the same as those found in the human world of diabetes.
For those who would like to be leaving comments on my diabetes related sites, I am sorry but the rude comments from fanatics who don't have the education in nutrition, (glycemic control, food safety, etc.) that I do, or the up to date technical books back by scientific study that I use as reference material, have caused me to feel a need to block comments from people who don't know what they are talking about.
Anyone else who has managed to keep a healthy diabetic going for ten years or longer, we would love to compare notes, and share information, (backed by scientific references like those on our website please). We can be reached at the email address that will show up with a little detective work in the information attached to the email icon.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Hamlet Update
Since the last posting lower on the page, when Hamlet had dropped to needing only 2 units of insulin bid, he has stabilized at 2.5 units bid, for the past three months. His apex numbers are still fairly high, but his nadir can not be reduced with the use of more insulin, so we are working on lowering weight slightly, and increasing protein content of his daily diet with snacks of cheese, poultry, and any other entertainments we can find for this fellow who needs to come and tell us when he has emptied his latest dish.........even though there may still be three full ones, with lids opening for the next six hours!
02.05.08
Hamlet has been extremely stable since October of 2007, and we have just had a fructosamine test come out with perfect results which disappointed me a bit, as I wanted to be able to reduce his insulin dose slightly. His nadir is lower than I would like at 1.3 and 1.4 most of the time. His apex is reduced from the posting above to staying within normal range. He is using 2.5 units of Caninsulin, a type of insulin that helped him go into remission for over five years, and has kept him very healthy, and steady when using it. Over this whole period of his treatment, he has had no other nutritional issues develop, although, with the higher protein intake his BUN did increase slightly, as it should do with high muscle meat protein.
Hamlet still 'sees' insulin very easily. His delta is swift, with his nadir coming in about four hours of the insulin injection at this point in time, and he stays low for a good length of time. Caninsulin is the best product for him to remain stable, and possible come off insulin once again because of this sensitivity. Of course, as he is advancing in years to the point that we can feel his vertebrae, remission may no longer be possible, partly as his body went through a lot over this past year. He has reduced weight to 13 pounds, 5 ounces, and yet looks heavier than he did at 16 pounds, probably because of his age, and lack of cardiovascular exercise.........we must work on that.
07.21.08 Well surprise, surprise! After finding that Hamlet had a "lesion" below the surface of a tooth that wasn't showing much problem at all other than a slight red pimple at the gum, the amputation has caused a very sudden reversal in Hamlet's need for insulin. It has been a week now and he looks and feels fine in this lovely warm sunny weather that he loves so much.
The actual drop in insulin was very sudden, in that it happened all in one afternoon, starting about an hour after the nadir of his curve. He had been fine at nadir, climbing up onto the deck swing, and navigating well to get off again, and eat, showing he was completely fine and normal. I had been watching because I had read that antibiotics can lower the need for insulin so was keeping an eye out for trouble. In that next hour he started to stagger and walk into walls. We have been lucky in that he heads for his dish at any sign of discomfort, and did so this time. I tested him and he showed "LO" so I gave him a couple of doses to bring him back up to 1.2 and we took him to the vet to double check with their meter, as well as get some fluids into him as he had been dehydrating himself in the hot sun. We refer to him as "baking his brains out".
By the time we got Hamlet back home from the vet he was again staggering and reading "LO", so I gave him another .5cc of corn syrup to bring him back up, and we haven't given him insulin since that time. It has been a week, and so far his readings are staying normal, but from today on I will be watching closely as the antibiotic influence has been stopped, and I want to ensure he stays healthy.
02.05.08
Hamlet has been extremely stable since October of 2007, and we have just had a fructosamine test come out with perfect results which disappointed me a bit, as I wanted to be able to reduce his insulin dose slightly. His nadir is lower than I would like at 1.3 and 1.4 most of the time. His apex is reduced from the posting above to staying within normal range. He is using 2.5 units of Caninsulin, a type of insulin that helped him go into remission for over five years, and has kept him very healthy, and steady when using it. Over this whole period of his treatment, he has had no other nutritional issues develop, although, with the higher protein intake his BUN did increase slightly, as it should do with high muscle meat protein.
Hamlet still 'sees' insulin very easily. His delta is swift, with his nadir coming in about four hours of the insulin injection at this point in time, and he stays low for a good length of time. Caninsulin is the best product for him to remain stable, and possible come off insulin once again because of this sensitivity. Of course, as he is advancing in years to the point that we can feel his vertebrae, remission may no longer be possible, partly as his body went through a lot over this past year. He has reduced weight to 13 pounds, 5 ounces, and yet looks heavier than he did at 16 pounds, probably because of his age, and lack of cardiovascular exercise.........we must work on that.
07.21.08 Well surprise, surprise! After finding that Hamlet had a "lesion" below the surface of a tooth that wasn't showing much problem at all other than a slight red pimple at the gum, the amputation has caused a very sudden reversal in Hamlet's need for insulin. It has been a week now and he looks and feels fine in this lovely warm sunny weather that he loves so much.
The actual drop in insulin was very sudden, in that it happened all in one afternoon, starting about an hour after the nadir of his curve. He had been fine at nadir, climbing up onto the deck swing, and navigating well to get off again, and eat, showing he was completely fine and normal. I had been watching because I had read that antibiotics can lower the need for insulin so was keeping an eye out for trouble. In that next hour he started to stagger and walk into walls. We have been lucky in that he heads for his dish at any sign of discomfort, and did so this time. I tested him and he showed "LO" so I gave him a couple of doses to bring him back up to 1.2 and we took him to the vet to double check with their meter, as well as get some fluids into him as he had been dehydrating himself in the hot sun. We refer to him as "baking his brains out".
By the time we got Hamlet back home from the vet he was again staggering and reading "LO", so I gave him another .5cc of corn syrup to bring him back up, and we haven't given him insulin since that time. It has been a week, and so far his readings are staying normal, but from today on I will be watching closely as the antibiotic influence has been stopped, and I want to ensure he stays healthy.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Hamlet - Another Life Used Up!
Last fall, when Max started to deteriorate quite rapidly, Hamlet was noticing the small changes, and along with the move we had made the previous fall which meant he had to learn to walk on slippery hardwood floors with his slight neuropathy, and the year of backhoes, dump trucks, jack hammers, chain saws, and other renovation noises, he regressed back to needing insulin. We had a slight reprieve from that during the months of October and November where we had a slight hypoglycemic episode, (the only one he has had), but after Max died in mid December, Hamlet went into the most grievous decline a cat could, with an extremely high fructosamine at 659.
Hamlet's numbers were not improving with insulin, and as we didn't want him to have the added stress of hanging around dogs, we made the choice to ask Margie Scherk for some pointers on feline diabetes. She has a less stressful 'cat only' practice.
During the initial period we did a number of glucose curves to establish how the Caninsulin was, or wasn't working for Hamlet, and, had periferal issues to address as his appetite had also becom poorly. He was placed on a small dose of periactin, (aka cyproheptidine), which also reduced his asthma that develops late winter/early spring, every year. Slowly we increased the insulin dosage until it was around seven units, b.i.d., when the fructosamine reduced slightly. It appeared that Hamlet's body takes time to adjust to each new dosage of insulin, as the improvements we first saw didn't happen for about a month on the high dose of insulin, and then we had to start reducing it at a fairly regular rate, until I made a very serious judgement error.
From the start, the curve of Hamlet's delta, (glucose curve), went deeper as we gained control, but the apex of his curve, at shot time, was remaining high. His numbers remained quite extreme for most of this past year, once we started managing to pull down the nadir of his curve. In fact, one morning when I was about to start a curve, Hamlet was reading 3.5 before his shot, so I panicked. In previous tests, he had dropped so low at nadir that the glucometer was reading "LO", and we had given him Karo Syrop to prevent hypoglycemic episodes, just as a precaution. On this day, I didn't give him his insulin at all, and was having trouble contacting any vet, (it was a holiday weekend), so I held back until the next morning when his apex was again very high.
Previous to this, my understanding of hypoglycemia in humans had led me to believe that recovery from this was simple in that one just went back to a more appropriate dose of insulin, and everything would be fine. When one is dealing with an unstable feline diabetic, this is not the case, and we regressed right back to Hamlet having a fructosamine of 639, with apeces that read too high for the glucometer, and yet he was 'seeing' the insulin well enough to spend part of each day in normal range. It took another three months to give the pancreas time to heal enough that we could bring the apex of the curve back down to more reasonable numbers, without also taking him too low, as he has been having such deep deltas throughout the process, once the insulin was starting to have good effect on his system.
We went through one more time with a low apex again, that made me extremely nervous as I 'bit the bullet' and gave Hamlet a lower dose of insulin, but didn't drop it completely. That worked.
During all the above, Hamlet had been free fed, as all cats are naturally intended to be, and when the temperature became warm, I often had to rouse Hamlet and encourage him to eat just a little, every once in a while, as this was found to be the reason his glucose numbers would go so low at times, and we had the added complication in that it seemed, according to the patterns of the curves, that the Caninsulin would sometimes be effective for longer than the twelve hours between shots, and so was overlapping, particularly if he hadn't eaten recently.
A month ago, we had managed to bring Hamlet's fructosamine in at 405, even though his apex was still going quite high, and while I agree with Margie, and all those who have more education than I do in this area, that cats should free feed, Hamlet's performance, along with a weight gain of a pound within a couple of months, persuaded her that possibly, in this case, he needed a timed feeder.
This past month or so, Hamlet has been getting 18 Royal Canin Diabetic DS 44 every two hours, night and day, and his nadir has consistantly been between 1.6 and 2.3 throughout, at 3.5-4 hours after his shot. Over the past couple of weeks I have gradually introduced five Wellness CORE into each serving, and reduced the Royal Canin portion by six crunchies, so he is now getting 17 crunchies per serving, total. I do not think we have managed weight reduction with this, however, the glucose readings are most important for long term pancreatic health, as is a healthy appetite in his case, which we are achieving. The peracitin/cyproheptidine has been reduced to 1/4 tablet once per day.
It has been great to be able to allow Hamlet to have a little more variety with the Wellness CORE, but I don't know if this will be a long term possibility.........we are hoping, for his enjoyment of life. His urine deposits have reduced from being enough to fill a grocery store bread bag per day, to about two cups, (maximum), and stickiness of those lumps have receded dramatically. In the past couple of months we have also noted more and more interaction between Hamlet and Thumper, (who doesn't know how to play but is learning), with Hamlet being the initiator. His activity level has been increasing, and I expect that to continue with the colder weather causing less need for long naps in the sun or shade.
.............and, this household is very much looking forward to the fructosamine being done next week to see if we managed to reduce it to even lower numbers......wish us luck!
Hamlet dosing on the garden swing - who could blame him for not wanting to go out on the hot deck to get to his food, when slumber had him in its grasp?
Hamlet had just had a lion cut before this photo, and the weather went cold right after this, for at least a month. This is not too much of an issue for Hamlet as he has a collection of polar fleece blankets, of varying colors and sizes to fit his mood.
There is an example of the type of interaction we hope to see develop between Thumper and Hamlet, about two thirds of the way down the page where Hamlet and Max were 'getting into it'.
The above shows us, in our own experience, that there are a lot of variables governing the wellbeing of our diabetic felines, even without the fact that causes of the onset of disease can vary.
- How stable and frequent is the eating pattern for steady glucose levels? (We are feeding every two hours.)
- Type of food being served. (I agree with veterinary professionals that Royal Canin Diabetic DS 44, with its low caloric content, and lack of 'trendy' additives is best for cats that may develop kidney issues when useless ingredients tax the digestive system.)
- What type of insulin is being used? (Here we are lucky enough to have access to Caninsulin, which is a long acting, dependable insulin for pets.)
- How well is the cat's body seeing the insulin being used? (Hamlet's delta is fairly fast and deep, meaning he is seeing the insulin well at this point in time.)
- Emotional stress of the cat. (Moving, fear, loss, hidden simple carbohydrates are a number of possible contributors to the emotional side of the scale that balances feline diabetes control.)
- Physical activity, pollution, and weather conditions. (All these affect how Hamlet is treated, or monitored as he has weight issues, and tendancies toward asthma.)
The method of therapy that we are trying to follow, as is happening with more aggressive treatments in humans is found here.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Hamlet, Prince of Strays
This photo, (right showing stitches in his side), was taken after Hamlet's two surgeries, shortly after his rescue in the summer of 1998. He was previously known as "Furball" as are all scruffy strays, however, the veterinarian who saved him also told us that he was a definite biker cat, which is why, although he is the smallest in our home, he rules the roost by regularly flossing his teeth when the others pass too closely at the wrong time. When we took him in, everyone assumed he had been declawed because his nails were warn down to nothing. When his food is not good, his nails split, so we assume they were very weak at the time, and as he spent his days and nights continually walking around the complex, they had no chance to grow. Note the big 'jowls' as we had just had him neutered, and physical changes had not taken effect.
Hamlet, (left), back when he was on insulin, battling feline diabetes for the first time after being diagnosed a month after we lost Snuffles. We had assumed, at first, that he was in mourning as he missed her company. He has since conquered the need for insulin, twice, and is the inspiration for a group on Yahoo that works to help put others into remission, and hopefully, like he has managed, to eventually become resolved when the pancreas has time to heal. In Volume II of the Iams Symposium papers, they do report that cats can spontaneously return to a need for insulin with no explainable reason behind this, so anyone who has this happen does not need to feel they have failed in some way.Since the original posting, here, the stress of a move and the new addition of rosemary extract to the dry grazing food he eats, possibly caused Hamlet to return to a diabetic state the first time he regressed. Rosemary extract inhibits insulin uptake in diabetics:....."Essential oils of rosemary have demonstrated antimicrobial, hyperglycemic, and insulin-inhibiting properties. 98,99" We had been warned of this by the owner of CATWELL on Yahoo, but did not expect the effects to be so immediate, (within three months of dietary change). Other than the change in diabetic status, Hamlet has remained a healthy cuddly fellow, although he is starting to show symptoms in his regular checkups that he has a leaning toward kidney weakness, which is not unexpected with his 'wild' background.
March 23,2006: Recently we started providing a supplement that is meant to improve insulin uptake, called "Diabetex", in Canada. After observing Hamlet having difficulties that are sometimes attached to hypoglycemic episodes, we shoved some food under his face, which he inhaled voraciously, and then we took him to the vet to have proper observed testing done to decide course of action. This was actually the second occasion we encountered this, and reduced his insulin by about a third a month ago. Now we are reducing it even further and expecting to eventually eliminate the need for insulin again, according to the results of the fructosamine test we had done, as the lab is concerned and thinks he should not be on insulin. The only factor that has changed has been the Diabetex, so we are assuming that with time it heals the body and reduces the need for insulin, in spite of the rosemary extract found in all feline diabetic formulas.
November, 2006: Hamlet seems to be bouncing back and forth between a need for insulin, and not needing it, so we have to watch him carefully at this point in time. We are remarking on his changed physique that suggests he is much older than our first estimates, when adopted.
For those who are interested, Hamlet has always used Caninsulin and U40 syringes. We also give him Moducare, Renal Essentials, and ascorbic acid, along with the Diabetex mentioned above.
Hamlet is determined to own Mom's chair, or anything else he wishes to own, no matter who tries to push him out of #1 position. He is an expert at 'slashing' with both feet as a victim passes below his chair, or floss his teeth when the occasion presents itself. He has been lucky enough to accumulate quite a family in the time that he has been ruling our household. Here he is seen with Max, and quite often they are found back to back, providing protection for each other, as both had stories to tell about survival when they came to stay with us.
Many of our diabetic felines were treated with a steroid prior to developing diabetes, and steroids are listed as a known trigger for diabetes to occur. Steroids are strictly a bandaid approach to illness. They are not cures, and human doctors are developing enough sense not to use them unless the situation is urgent enough. Hopefully, veterinarians will start to use more discretion when prescribing steroids, too. The following is copied from our cancer patient's site as it is as much a concern here under the subject of diabetes.
Prednisone Concerns:
The following sites clarify why I do not like using prednisone, which is good for short term prevention of inflamation, but has its side effects:
For patients on oral corticosteroids, another serious potential side effect is suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which can lead to adrenal insufficiency, said Serge A. Jabbour, M.D., of the Thomas Jefferson University here.
and at the same site:
The portion of the inhaled drug that does not make it into the lung but is instead swallowed, and the ensuing systemic effect interferes with the growth process.
Evidence that prednisone-induced myopathy is reversed by physical training.
The following sites clarify why I do not like using prednisone, which is good for short term prevention of inflamation, but has its side effects:
For patients on oral corticosteroids, another serious potential side effect is suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which can lead to adrenal insufficiency, said Serge A. Jabbour, M.D., of the Thomas Jefferson University here.
and at the same site:
The portion of the inhaled drug that does not make it into the lung but is instead swallowed, and the ensuing systemic effect interferes with the growth process.
Evidence that prednisone-induced myopathy is reversed by physical training.
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