Greetings!
I'm new here. My poor Goofy cat is sick, and nobody's sure what's actually involved. I need some feeback and ideas here, and I'm asking if anyone has seen something similar. Here's the tale.
My Goofy Cat is 14 years old. A neutered, all black male.
Around January he developed an infection on his lower jaw. It seemed to be an infection in the soft tissues, lip and jaw, rather than the bone. We took him to the Vet and he got a shot and was put on an anti-biotic. It was delivered in liquid form (he's not much for pills). It was white, and I can't remember the name. The drug had cortisone in it (which, due to its bad taste, can make the kitty foam at the mouth a bit). Not fun, but he was infected. He was on for 10 days.
The infection was beaten back, but resurfaced 2 weeks later, and he was put on anti-biotics again. Because of the nasty taste I asked for amoxillan, since we had used that before with good results. Again, it was delivered in liquid form and the brand was Pfizer's "amoxi-drop." However, this stuff had cortisone too, and it tasted bad, so I got the same stuff without cortisone. But during this time he started to act like he was getting run down. The switch was partly prompted for his acting run down, and wanting to use something less bad tasting until the regimine was completed.
Suddenly he started to appear more ragged and less groomed. His water consumption went through the roof (it was early April by this time). The jaw infection was beaten back, but the anti-biotics were discontinued after 8, rather than 10 days.
He was exibiting all the classic signs of diabetes. His water consumption was terrific and he urinated very frequently (no litter box use problems). He seemed "off" and "not himself," but he was still very affectionate and his appetite reamined good.
A blood test revealed slightly elevated blood sugar, and a good deal of fat in his blood. The vet said the elevated blood sugar was consistant to a reaction to the cortisone in the anti-biotics since it was known to elevate the blood sugar in some cats, but not high enough to consider it a problem. He mentioned that cortisone could actually create diabetes-like symptoms in a cat that could take several weeks to clear up. The fat could indicate liver failure, but there was really no way of knowing for sure.
It is now Almost July. His drinking is still very excessive. He looks a bit scruffy and doesn't seem to keep himself groomed and sleak like he did. But he does not smell, and doesn't have problems with matting or foreign objects being stuck to his hair ( he's a short hair). In other words, he is clean, but his hair doesn't have that sleak, glossy appearance that he used to have, and seems kind of frazzled. His appetite is very good, and he is affectionate and attentive. He even still hunts and has had some successes.
However, he has lost a startling amount of weight. He is gaunt and boney. He lacks the energy he once had, and has good days and bad days. He went from a 13 pound cat to one that feels closer to 5.
That seems to be all the classic symptoms of diabetes, but his breath does not have an acetone odor.
My vet is not sure what the problem is, and he said a detailed diagnosis would be extremely expensive and so stressful on the kitty that would likely do more harm than good.
OK, that's the information. Now the questions. I have asked my vet these questions, but he is not a cat specialist and we have none in this area.
1. Can diabetes start so suddenly? The symptoms appeared in less than a week. 1 week he was healthy, and the next week he had the symptoms.
2. Can anti-biotics trigger diabetes?
3. Can the cortisone in an antibiotic trigger diabetes?
4. Can liver failure show these same symptoms?
5. Could the anti-biotics have triggered the liver failure?
6. Is there some disease or condition out there that can create these symptoms (and hopefully is treatable)?
7. Is it possible, if the symptoms are induced by the anti-biotics, that this could slowly clear up?
8. What should I do?
Anything you've got to tell me I want to hear. Goofy is a wonderful cat, and is my wife's special buddy (the other two are my buddys, but Goofy pays attention to both of us), and it would break our hearts to lose him like this. He's only 14. He's obviously in distress, and if I have an idea of an approach to take maybe we can do something.
Mogadeet
I'm new here. My poor Goofy cat is sick, and nobody's sure what's actually involved. I need some feeback and ideas here, and I'm asking if anyone has seen something similar. Here's the tale.
My Goofy Cat is 14 years old. A neutered, all black male.
Around January he developed an infection on his lower jaw. It seemed to be an infection in the soft tissues, lip and jaw, rather than the bone. We took him to the Vet and he got a shot and was put on an anti-biotic. It was delivered in liquid form (he's not much for pills). It was white, and I can't remember the name. The drug had cortisone in it (which, due to its bad taste, can make the kitty foam at the mouth a bit). Not fun, but he was infected. He was on for 10 days.
The infection was beaten back, but resurfaced 2 weeks later, and he was put on anti-biotics again. Because of the nasty taste I asked for amoxillan, since we had used that before with good results. Again, it was delivered in liquid form and the brand was Pfizer's "amoxi-drop." However, this stuff had cortisone too, and it tasted bad, so I got the same stuff without cortisone. But during this time he started to act like he was getting run down. The switch was partly prompted for his acting run down, and wanting to use something less bad tasting until the regimine was completed.
Suddenly he started to appear more ragged and less groomed. His water consumption went through the roof (it was early April by this time). The jaw infection was beaten back, but the anti-biotics were discontinued after 8, rather than 10 days.
He was exibiting all the classic signs of diabetes. His water consumption was terrific and he urinated very frequently (no litter box use problems). He seemed "off" and "not himself," but he was still very affectionate and his appetite reamined good.
A blood test revealed slightly elevated blood sugar, and a good deal of fat in his blood. The vet said the elevated blood sugar was consistant to a reaction to the cortisone in the anti-biotics since it was known to elevate the blood sugar in some cats, but not high enough to consider it a problem. He mentioned that cortisone could actually create diabetes-like symptoms in a cat that could take several weeks to clear up. The fat could indicate liver failure, but there was really no way of knowing for sure.
It is now Almost July. His drinking is still very excessive. He looks a bit scruffy and doesn't seem to keep himself groomed and sleak like he did. But he does not smell, and doesn't have problems with matting or foreign objects being stuck to his hair ( he's a short hair). In other words, he is clean, but his hair doesn't have that sleak, glossy appearance that he used to have, and seems kind of frazzled. His appetite is very good, and he is affectionate and attentive. He even still hunts and has had some successes.
However, he has lost a startling amount of weight. He is gaunt and boney. He lacks the energy he once had, and has good days and bad days. He went from a 13 pound cat to one that feels closer to 5.
That seems to be all the classic symptoms of diabetes, but his breath does not have an acetone odor.
My vet is not sure what the problem is, and he said a detailed diagnosis would be extremely expensive and so stressful on the kitty that would likely do more harm than good.
OK, that's the information. Now the questions. I have asked my vet these questions, but he is not a cat specialist and we have none in this area.
1. Can diabetes start so suddenly? The symptoms appeared in less than a week. 1 week he was healthy, and the next week he had the symptoms.
2. Can anti-biotics trigger diabetes?
3. Can the cortisone in an antibiotic trigger diabetes?
4. Can liver failure show these same symptoms?
5. Could the anti-biotics have triggered the liver failure?
6. Is there some disease or condition out there that can create these symptoms (and hopefully is treatable)?
7. Is it possible, if the symptoms are induced by the anti-biotics, that this could slowly clear up?
8. What should I do?
Anything you've got to tell me I want to hear. Goofy is a wonderful cat, and is my wife's special buddy (the other two are my buddys, but Goofy pays attention to both of us), and it would break our hearts to lose him like this. He's only 14. He's obviously in distress, and if I have an idea of an approach to take maybe we can do something.
Mogadeet
