08/29/2021 New Member

[AnimalFarmer]

I'm Val, my sweet boy is Fuzzman (AKA Fuzz). He's 11 and was diagnosed back in February, when he was put on Vetsulin @1 unit two times per day and then raised to 2 units. He developed pancreatitis in March and was treated successfully but he lost about 4 pounds from his original healthy weight of 15 (+/-) pounds.

We've had a terrible time regulating this poor boy; due to demand, we weren't able to see his usual vet at the practice and the one we DID see had me playing around with foods and dosages. I have always fed premium foods, but she was adamant that I switch to Fancy Feast. Against my better judgement, I did so and he continued to lose weight, not liking any style or flavor, bottoming out the week before last at 4.6 pounds.

I ran into his usual vet at Sam's Club and told him what was going on. He asked me to send all info to his home e mail address. He was extremely upset. A couple of days later there was a mass e mail from the practice informing everyone of this vet's decision to return to her home town effective immediately. On that same day Fuzz began the process of getting bumped up to 3 units and allowed to go back to his beloved Tiki Cat & and Stella & Chewy's canned. He has gained nearly a half pound.

His numbers are still troubling...the insulin doesn't seem to last as long as it needs to. I have the last curve to send to his vet; hopefully he will have a better handle on this.

Hug your babies.

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Hi Val, welcome to FDMB.

Looks like you you have been through a lot! I am surprised (or maybe not?) that the new vet insisted on changing Fuzz to Fancy Feast. A diabetic cat needs to be on a low carb canned or raw diet. The brands don't matter. Depending on one's budget, people here feed different brands. We have a lot of members feeding Fancy Feast as well.

Vetsulin is more suited to dogs. With cats, it hits hard on onset and wears off long before the next shot is due. The current guidelines for the treatment of feline diabetes (FD) published by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) in 2018 no longer recommend N/NPH or Caninsulin/Vetsulin for the treatment of FD. These insulins continue to be recommended for dogs but the AAHA noted these types of insulin have insufficient duration to be recommended for the treatment of FD.

You may want to talk to your vet about switching Fuzz to a more cat-friendly insuline like Glargine (Lantus, Basaglar, Semglee) or Prozinc. These are gentle, long-acting insulins that provide better duration than Vetsulin for cats.

I am sharing our primer on Vetsulin - INTRODUCTION TO CANNISULIN/VETSULIN & N/NPH