We had noticed that our gray tabby was losing weight (she used to be the heaviest of our 3, at around 15 lbs), and we took her to the vet on Monday. Blood drawn, labs done, he called us back last night. She’s diabetic and is going to need to be put on an insulin regimen. I drove her back to the vet clinic last night so they can stabilize her with IV fluids and begin evaluating her insulin need.
So, my questions: I’m also diabetic, and I use insulin pens (Lantus and Humalog). I know that insulin regimens for cats use Lantus (which is a long-acting insulin). Is it feasible to use insulin pens for cats? Or is the standard pen needle too short to ensure that it’s gone into the skin past the fur? I’d PREFER not to have to handle syringes and vials (though of course if I have to I will). It would be nice to be able to just dial it up and jab her.
Is there some kind of “veterinary insulin” just for animals that is cheaper than human insulin? Especially since we don’t have pet health insurance and will be absorbing the costs of the insulin and special food ourselves.
How do we keep this cat from eating the dog’s food? We free-feed the dog, and we’ve noticed that the diabetic cat pretty much hovers around the bowl when the dog’s not actually eating. I’m sure her deviation from the high-protein cat food to the higher-carb dog food didn’t help check her slide into full-fledged diabetes. We’ve considered switching to time-feeding (fill the bowl, wait an hour, dump the bowl back into the bag) the dog, and that may be the only real thing we can do.
Kind of ironic that one of our feline companions turned out to be diabetic…it must be something in the water…
You may need to put the dog’s food somewhere that the cat can’t get to (yeah, I know, good luck with that).
When our old cat was diagnosed with diabetes, one vet indicated that we would need to give him insulin shots. We got a second opinion, and another vet said that some diabetic cats respond well to dietary changes (dry cat food has a lot more carbs than a cat’s “natural” diet). We started feeding that cat canned kitten food (which is even higher in protein than normal canned cat food), and that did the trick; he lived quite healthily for another several years.
I’ve got a Diabetic cat. He’s 11 years old, been Diabetic for almost three years.
He eats a prescription diet we get from the vet. It’s horribly expensive, but it works better for him.
He also uses “Vetsulin,” which we buy from the vet. Right now, he gets two units, twice a day, and one bottle lasts for three months or more. It costs between $80-$100 a bottle.
I’m also Diabetic, and I thought that we’d be able to monitor the cat’s BG. HA! We tried to draw the drop of blood from several places on his body (I really mangled his poor ear trying to access one of those tiny blood vessels you can see at the tip), and finally just gave up. He gets his BG tested at the vet’s every so often.
I really love the stupid cat, so we put up with the hassle.
~VOW
One of our cats was recently diagnosed as diabetic. He doesn’t need insulin now, and is doing well on a special diet. We have 2 other cats and a dog, so feeding has been a real pain since then. The dog food is not that much of a problem since the dog gobbles down his entire meal in a few minutes. But we have to keep the food for the other cats behind closed doors. So we are constantly having to deal with one or more cats demanding that a door be opened nooooowwww.
We were told by one vet that the diabetic cat will eventually need insulin unless he dies sooner of something else.
Since diagnosis, my Diabetic cat has been treated for two urinary tract infections, and one REALLY nasty abscess of several teeth. His teeth were so bad, after the surgery he was given uber antibiotics for two weeks, plus oral morphine.
When he was first seen for the tooth business, his BG tested at 200. High, yes, but since cats can’t be monitored as closely as humans so the diet and insulin can be fined tuned, plus the fact he was sick, 200 wasn’t bad.
If he would have tested at 400 or higher, the vet would have recommended euthanasia, because the out of control Diabetes plus the massive infection would have been too much for him to bear.
We do the food juggling, too. Diabetic cat gets fed in the bedroom, door closed. Other fat cat gets fed other canned cat food in the kitchen. What happens is that after a period of time, the Diabetic cat’s dish is checked to see if he’s eaten enough. If he’s eaten 2/3 or so, he gets his shot. He then zips into the kitchen to see what verboten food is left over, and he snarfs that up. The NON-Diabetic cat sneaks into the bedroom and cleans out the dish of the expensive prescription cat food.
~VOW
Absolutely not! You will probably be giving dosages anywhere from 1/2 U to 2U. It is WAY too easy to overdose a cat using a pen, and the pen will not be sterile after the first shot. A standard 10mL vial of insulin will give you 1000 1U dosages. At 2 doses a day, that’s a 16 month supply. Is your cat not worth the $10 or so cost per month for her own insulin and syringes?
I don’t think **jayjay **was worrying about the cost. (Maybe you didn’t mean to sound like you were scolding her/him, but you did.)
I had a diabetic cat that was treated only with diet and lived a happy healthy five years, then died of a respiratory infection (apparently). I’m sorry if you have to go the insulin route, OP, but at least you know how to cope with that from your own experience.
Just came back from the vet’s. Yes, insulin. We practiced with the syringe and it seems pretty easy. We’re going to be giving her 1/2 can of Diabetic Management wet food in the morning and evening, then injecting her after she finishes that, while keeping the regular food out for the other cats. The vet said grazing on regular food during the day shouldn’t be a problem, as long as we get the DM and the injection into her in the morning and evening.
Oh, and $400 for 2 1/2 days of IV fluids and insulin in-clinic, 10 cans of DM gooshy food and a sharps container for the syringes. That hurts a bit, but it could well be worse.
Please try switching your cat to a diet of only canned meat. No dry food for 3 weeks and see if his blood sugar returns to normal. It worked for my cat.
My cat was diagnosed with diabetes a few years ago, and after a couple of months of insulin, he was no longer insulin-dependent as long as we feed him prescription high-protein cat food. So your cat, even if insulin-dependent now, may not always be.