Diabetic Cat Help- Request for Kitty Dust

[bunnycat]

Many of you have seen Elmo. He has been having trouble the last few months with digestive problems and on and off loss of appetite. Yesterday he was perfectly fine after a short bout 3 weeks ago of not eating for a couple of days and another bout 3 months ago when they removed 5 teeth. He tanked again this morning and was clearly nauseous and in pain so I rushed him to the vet thinking he had eaten something bad in the yard.

The vet said he'd lost weight and so I asked her to run some bloodwork and he came back diabetic. Poor cat!!!! I don't know how long this has been going on, but his blood sugar was 400 today at the vet. We're going out to get his insulin now from the pharmacy, and he now has a special diet of canned food to eat and has to go back for blood tests to monitor things every 4 weeks for a while. There's no guarantees he'll stabilize, but nothing to say that he won't. The next couple of months could be touch and go and they warned of possible hospital stays in his future so I am asking for plenty of dust. I hope that doesn't happen.

Has anyone had a cat (or dog) they've had to give insulin to for diabetes? How did the treatment go? Did it stabilize and how fast? Did they ever end up staying in the vet?

The shots are easy to give and ELmo is an easy going cat, but if you have any tips I'd be grateful.

 

[missy]

Bastecat, I'm sorry about Elmo-poor sweetie. My dh and I had a diabetic cat and we gave him insulin twice a day for many years and while it took a number of months to get it under control once we did he did wonderfully. I was apprehensive when we first got the diagnosis because I was worried about being able to give Billy a good quality of life. My fears were unfounded and Billy lived a good and long life after his diabetes diagnosis.

Billy never had to stay at the vet hospital but we were vigilant about bringing him in and getting his blood sugar checked while we were still figuring out how much insulin was necessary to get his diabetes well controlled. After each shot I would give him a healthy treat so he would have something to look forward to and he was so good (sounds like your Elmo) that way. I would say Billy, time for your lifesaving insulin injection and he would come to us so we could administer it. He was smart and he knew it was for his own good. And the treat didn't hurt lol.

Don't worry Bastecat, I am confident you can get this under control and give Elmo a great quality of life. It might take a bit of time but it can be done. Sending you and Elmo big hugs and lots of dust for his good health!!!!!

 

[bunnycat]

Thanks Missy- he got his first shot right after his first special wet food meal. He didn't seem to notice the needle and it was done quickly and he is settled in for the evening now after a long and stressful day. We have another who has to have thyroid meds and she is used to it now so I am hoping he will get used to the routine soon. Hopefully it won't take too long to get his sugar under control. His dose is very low right now, only 1 unit to start.


I do have a question though. The insulin was crazy expensive (and the vet said it would not be) and the pharmacist said we are supposed to pitch it after 30 days. DH's parents (who also have a diabetic cat) say no, that's not true and she was just doing a CYA. It was almost $100 for the insulin. (I voted to try to get it on insurance.....)

 

[lulu]

Sorry, no experience with a diabetic cat. Just wanted to say I hope he's feeling better soon.

 

[Deactivated member 42515]

I'm sorry about Elmo! I don't know anything about diabetic cats or shots but I do want to send you dust that Elmo starts to feel better!

 

[bunnycat]

Thank you YT and lulu. Elmo and I both appreciate it!

I've been working with the vet again today on him. There's so much confusion still. Humulin-N is bad or good depending on who you talk to but is the most common prescription for cats and what I have for him. He doesn't like the food unless it's fresh but he MUST eat it to get the shot....I spent 45 minutes this morning with him until I got him to eat enough.

 

[Enerchi]

Hi Bastecat - we had a diabetic Mini schnauzer and we were giving insulin twice a day. It became very easy to give the injections - just pulled up some of the scruff of his neck and easy peesy. The tricky part was initially adjusting his dosage and then, as he sadly deteriorated, there were issues at the end as well. We also had him on special diabetic food, which he was NOT a fan of initially... but he did come around.

In our situation, he had a series of other health complications as well, but my understanding, from what we were told way back when, is that if it weren't for the other things, diabetic pets live very long lives! That was good news for us to hear and helped to ease the feeling of being overwhelmed with it all.

I hope your Elmo and his condition improve and stabilize! All the dust I can send your way - wishing you hope and Elmo health... DUST DUST DUST.... and a hug for good measure! {{{HUGS}}}

 

[bunnycat]

Thank you Enerchi!

He was up and about this evening. I think he does better in the evening than daytime. It's almost time for his next food and meds. I'm grateful it's easy to give and he doesn't even notice it the needle is so small.

 

[missy]

Thanks Missy- he got his first shot right after his first special wet food meal. He didn't seem to notice the needle and it was done quickly and he is settled in for the evening now after a long and stressful day. We have another who has to have thyroid meds and she is used to it now so I am hoping he will get used to the routine soon. Hopefully it won't take too long to get his sugar under control. His dose is very low right now, only 1 unit to start.


I do have a question though. The insulin was crazy expensive (and the vet said it would not be) and the pharmacist said we are supposed to pitch it after 30 days. DH's parents (who also have a diabetic cat) say no, that's not true and she was just doing a CYA. It was almost $100 for the insulin. (I voted to try to get it on insurance.....)

Hi bastetcat, it doesn't immediately lose its efficacy after 30 days and we kept it for longer than that. It was a while ago so I cannot remember how long we kept it though. But I would guess you are OK for probably 2 months. I will ask my sister when I speak with her.
Sending you and your sweet kitty big hugs! He is such a handsome boy!

 

[hippi_pixi]

hope your furbaby gets better! all i can contribute is that a good friend of mine had a diabetic cat and although I don't know the initial history of how he was diagnosed and how his medication as adjusted, I do know that for many many years he had 1 insulin injection a day and he was a happy healthy cat with no major health problems. i think it was once a day but i could be wrong.

so hopefully once your vet gets his treatment and dosage correct its possible for a happy healthy and normal life

 

[missy]

hope your furbaby gets better! all i can contribute is that a good friend of mine had a diabetic cat and although I don't know the initial history of how he was diagnosed and how his medication as adjusted, I do know that for many many years he had 1 insulin injection a day and he was a happy healthy cat with no major health problems. i think it was once a day but i could be wrong.

so hopefully once your vet gets his treatment and dosage correct its possible for a happy healthy and normal life

Hmm, that's interesting because it is supposed to be twice a day. It doesn't work on the blood sugar for a full 24 hours as I understand it so it is supposed to be 12 hours apart as exactly as you can do it. That's my understanding anyway and how we did it with Billy.

 

[bunnycat]

hope your furbaby gets better! all i can contribute is that a good friend of mine had a diabetic cat and although I don't know the initial history of how he was diagnosed and how his medication as adjusted, I do know that for many many years he had 1 insulin injection a day and he was a happy healthy cat with no major health problems. i think it was once a day but i could be wrong.

so hopefully once your vet gets his treatment and dosage correct its possible for a happy healthy and normal life

Hmm, that's interesting because it is supposed to be twice a day. It doesn't work on the blood sugar for a full 24 hours as I understand it so it is supposed to be 12 hours apart as exactly as you can do it. That's my understanding anyway and how we did it with Billy.

It is twice a day, as close to 12 hours as you can make it. The wet food issue is going to be bigger than I thought. He doesn't like it unless it is a fresh can because I just spent another 20 minutes hand feeding it to him with a fork so I am going to have to mix it with the not so ideal dry food counterpart of the wet food that he DOES like when the can is not fresh or find another type of wet food to mix in. I've heard Fancy Feast classic is ok.

Thank y'all for the well wishes. I am hoping we get him on track sooner rather than later.

 

[susiegrneyes]

Hello Bastetcat,

I had a diabetic kitty named Mappy. She was very healthy until my DH went away on a business trip for 2 months beginning in February 2011. Mappy came down with a sinus infection that didn't want to go away. While they were doing bloodwork on her to try to figure out the infection they determined she was diabetic. With DH half way around the world, I didn't think twice about doing whatever it took to take care of her. She got Humalin injections twice a day and science diet DM wet cat food. Mappy really didn't seem to mind the shots. She never struggled or cried. In fact, I think it was more stressful for me giving the shots because I was so worried about hurting her. Unfortunately, in Mappy's case, we couldn't get her sugar stable. She had panceratitis (inflammation of the pancreas which produces insulin) of unknown cause. We even had an ultrasound done to see if there was a tumor or something else that may be causing her issues. Mappy lost interest in even her favorite toy, was going outside the litter box, and had lost 2 lbs (she was only 8 lbs to begin with). So after 6 months of shots and many diagnostic tests, we made the difficult decision to euthanize her. She was only 9 years old.

Although Mappy's story doesn't have a happy ending, most cats respond well to insulin. In fact, I have a good friend whose diabetic cat lived to be 15. How old is Elmo now?

 

[Ashleigh]

*** Dust *** Dust *** Dust for your kitty. Hope it recovers soon.

 

[bunnycat]

Susie- He's about to turn 10.

Thanks for the dust everyone. I'll keep y'all posted.

 

[NOYFB]

I will keep Elmo (and you) in my thoughts. He's beautiful! I've never had a diabetic kitty, but I know people who do, and they seem to be fine. I've given insulin injections to a friend's kitty and it was pretty easy.

Sending you truckloads of dust!

 

[bunnycat]

Ok- now I'm feeling ditzy. I misread the insulin bottle label. It thought it said 100 units...but it ACTUALLY says 100 unit per ml, and 10ml per bottle....so it really will last for a bit depending on his eventual dose (which is currently a very tiny starter dose). I may check in to some of the other kinds of insulin also that are supposed to have better luck with the cat going in to remission after using it. Keeping him on the special diet while being able to get him off shots would be my eventual ideal, not because they are difficult to give (though he was a bit fussy today), but because they are dangerous (but necessary right now).

Thank you so much for all your dust and kind words. I appreciate it very much!

 

[Meezermom]

Hi - We have a diabetic dog, Mickey. He was diagnosed about 2.5 years ago. Mickey is on Novolin N, 4 units 2x a day - it took about a month or so until the Vet found the right dosage for him. We started out with a very low dosage, and little by little he's been increased by testing. He's also on special food. (Science Diet Prescription W/D - bland and very low in fat to prevent pancreatitis - which he did get once). No problem getting him to eat because he was a rescue who was abused and not regularly fed, so anything we put in front of him, he eats, and then he gets his shot. We get our Novolin N from Sam's Club (no prescription needed) and it's $25.00 per bottle. You need to read the manufacturer's insert because it will tell you when to discard the insulin. It does lose it's potency beyond a certain point. Mickey gets a curve test every 3 months or so to see if we need to adjust his insulin, but so far, he's been consistent at the 4 units 2x per day. Not sure if cats can be on the same insulin as dogs (Novolin N is human insulin), or something made especially for cats, but Diabetes is a very manageable disease, there is just a little adjustment after the diagnosis. Also, one more thing - the syringes we use are BD 3/10 ml cc (holds 30 units), is 8 mm (5/16" in length - short needle), and 31 gauge (very thin - so it should be less painful). We feel that the short needle gives a more comfortable injection. My understanding is that cats can go into remission, but unfortunately, dogs cannot. Hope this info helps.