diabetic neuropathy in cats

[daffed]

Does anyone have links, information or opinions on diabetic neuropathy in cats? A friend of mine has a female cat - 14 y.o. who was having trouble with her hind legs. She was diagnosed with diabetes 3 months ago, and is currently being treated with two shots of insulin a day. She's been at the vet's for a couple of days now getting tested, etc. The cat is back home and happy to be there, and is resting comfortably.
Do you think the cat is too far gone with this? Is there a chance for the cat? My friend is very upset.

TYIA

[kk]

Bless you for helping out your friend. Good news..diabetes can be succesfully treated in cats, but your friend has much to learn. There is a lot of support out there. On the left of this page, there are 'favorites' links. Go to Debbie's Feline Health under "D" and you will find several links on diabetes information. When I was going through this with one of my babies, I got some great information from www.felinediabetes.com. I would highly recommend this site, and for your friend to learn to do home testing. Please do not give up hope. Let us know how things turn out. kk

[Daffed]

Thank you so much for the info kk. I will pass it on.

[Traci]

This condition is a sign of poor glucose control (high glucose), so I would suggest the vet either restest curves or take a closer look at the insulin units given in the event the insulin needs to be adjusted. Dietary approach (type, and time of feeding) should also be given consideration as well as owner compliance (is the owner totally compliant with vet's explicit treatment?)

I've heard of some owners giving methylcobalamin for diabetic neuropathy, which is a form of B-12 supplement, don't think it's approved by the FDA, but your friend may want to discuss this with her vet (do NOT use this product unless under strict supervision of vet)