New to the site. My cat Buddy was 2, declawed and wandering outside for months, starving to death, when we got him. Has only ever eaten dry food. Now, sudden weight loss and a trip to the vet diagnosed with diabetes (approx. 3 mos. ago). On Vetsulin 5 units for last 5 weeks. My 2 big problems are: 1. that now that he has lost so much weight (6 lbs.), he doesn't have fat and skin (for shots) is not thick enough to grab enough skin and sometimes goes through it instead of in it. 2. He's drinking so much water and urinating all late night long (after shot at 9 pm). Going back to have blood tested on Tuesday. He's better but with the weight loss he also lost muscle mass too. I'm so new to this I could sure use some help/information. Up until now he won't eat wet food and absolutely won't eat chicken anything (eats tuna/salmon). I did find a Hill's prescription wet food that the vet said to try and he actually likes it but only eats very small amounts. I'm really at my wit's end with all of this. Any help will be so appreciated.
8 year old male Buddy drinking so much water
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Larry and Kitties
Member Since 2009
5 units, especially of Vetsulin, is very high. What was the starting dose and how was it increased to get to 5. 5 units may be too high. Most of us here test out cat BG using a human BG meter from Walmart.
Welcome to FDMB.
It sounds like you're aware that your cat needs to be eating differently. I would not make a drastic change to his food since I suspect what he's eating is high in carbohydrates and may be off-setting the amount of Vetsulin. Most of the prescription foods are high is carbohydrates, many cats end up not liking them over time, and the ingredients are such that you're not getting what you're paying for. The other issue with prescription foods is that there is nothing in them that requires a prescription. The pet food manufacturers lost a class action suit for calling their pet foods "prescription". For the cost of the Hill's food, you could be getting a much higher quality food. You also have a lot of options for low carb foods.
This is a chart that contains nutritional information on most of the canned foods available in the US. We consider low carb to be under 10% carbs. However, most members feed their cats a diet that is in the neighborhood of 5%. There are only a limited number of dry foods that are low carb -- Young Again Zero Carb and Dr. Elseys Clean Protein. ZiwiPeak has an air dried raw formula that is low in carbs, as well.
If you're not already doing so, I would also encourage you to start home testing. If you are planning on changing to a lower carb diet, with the dose of Vetsulin, there's a very good chance your Buddy's blood glucose numbers will drop. The only way to be sure he's in safe numbers and not becoming hypoglycemic is to home test. Many of the members here use the Walmart Relion meter to home test. The test strips for the Relion meter are among the least expensive available. The cost for strips for any human meter will be far less than the cost of strips for a pet meter. We are huge advocates of home testing. Many vets overlook recommending home testing or they have had little luck in convincing their clients to home test. That said, the veterinary professional organizations encourage pet owners to home test.
The other concern that I have (and I'm sorry to be voicing all of these issues) is the insulin Buddy's been prescribed. The American Animal Hospital Association stopped recommending Vetsulin for the treatment of feline diabetes in 2018. Its duration of action is far too short for a cat's fast metabolism. They recommend either Prozinc or Lantus (which is now available as a generic/biosimilar -- glargine). In the meantime, I'm providing the link to our forum that has information on Vetsulin. You may find the sticky notes at the top of the board helpful.
Please let us know if you have questions. The members here are very generous with their time and knowledge. We're here to help.
It sounds like you're aware that your cat needs to be eating differently. I would not make a drastic change to his food since I suspect what he's eating is high in carbohydrates and may be off-setting the amount of Vetsulin. Most of the prescription foods are high is carbohydrates, many cats end up not liking them over time, and the ingredients are such that you're not getting what you're paying for. The other issue with prescription foods is that there is nothing in them that requires a prescription. The pet food manufacturers lost a class action suit for calling their pet foods "prescription". For the cost of the Hill's food, you could be getting a much higher quality food. You also have a lot of options for low carb foods.
This is a chart that contains nutritional information on most of the canned foods available in the US. We consider low carb to be under 10% carbs. However, most members feed their cats a diet that is in the neighborhood of 5%. There are only a limited number of dry foods that are low carb -- Young Again Zero Carb and Dr. Elseys Clean Protein. ZiwiPeak has an air dried raw formula that is low in carbs, as well.
If you're not already doing so, I would also encourage you to start home testing. If you are planning on changing to a lower carb diet, with the dose of Vetsulin, there's a very good chance your Buddy's blood glucose numbers will drop. The only way to be sure he's in safe numbers and not becoming hypoglycemic is to home test. Many of the members here use the Walmart Relion meter to home test. The test strips for the Relion meter are among the least expensive available. The cost for strips for any human meter will be far less than the cost of strips for a pet meter. We are huge advocates of home testing. Many vets overlook recommending home testing or they have had little luck in convincing their clients to home test. That said, the veterinary professional organizations encourage pet owners to home test.
The other concern that I have (and I'm sorry to be voicing all of these issues) is the insulin Buddy's been prescribed. The American Animal Hospital Association stopped recommending Vetsulin for the treatment of feline diabetes in 2018. Its duration of action is far too short for a cat's fast metabolism. They recommend either Prozinc or Lantus (which is now available as a generic/biosimilar -- glargine). In the meantime, I'm providing the link to our forum that has information on Vetsulin. You may find the sticky notes at the top of the board helpful.
Please let us know if you have questions. The members here are very generous with their time and knowledge. We're here to help.
Originally dosed at 3 units for about 4 weeks. Then 4 units for about 5 weeks. Now 5 weeks later at 5 units. I'm sorry but all of this is very confusing to me and after reading the moderator's response, very frightened. We have a vet appt on Jan 2. Buddy was feral (and declawed) for at least 2 months before we got him. Has only ever eaten dry food. I don't know how to transition him from dry food to wet food. He will not eat chicken unless it's in tuna or salmon. Frankly, I've been trying so many brands and he won't eat most of them. One of the Hill's small canned wet food has tuna and rice and he seems to really like it but actually I don't think I'm getting all of the info I need from the vet (I like him tho). Thx for your input but I'm a lot more confused than I was. I will definitely check into your suggestions regarding wet cat foods (I absolutely cannot decipher cat foods....I've really tried) or dry foods for that matter. Again many thx and I'll be back.
Hello and welcome. My kitty got up to 5 units of Caninsulin - which is what Vetsulin is called in the rest of the world. But we started at 1 unit, and increased 1 unit at a time. That's still faster than what we'd recommend to someone starting out, much less starting at 3 units. Even the Caninsulin website says no higher than 2 units to start. A 6 lb cat wouldn't even get 1 unit. I was following my vet's instructions too. I learned a lot from here, and eventually got my girl switched over to Lantus. Once the blood sugar numbers are better, he'll stop peeing as much, and will start to put weight on again.
How would you feel about learning to test Buddy's blood sugars at home? It's the best way to keep them safe, plus it saves a ton of money in vet bills. We've had people with feral and semi feral cats learn to home test their cats. My Neko's partner in crime was a semi feral - boy was he surprised the first time I poked him instead of her!! But by that time he knew that poking was associating with food, cause he hung around for his share of treats too.
Here's a couple other posts that might help you: Hometesting Links and Tips - includes numerous links, instructions, pictures, & videos, including how to test a fractious cat.
And some tips for later if you want to try again to switch what he eats: Transitioning your cat from dry to wet food
How would you feel about learning to test Buddy's blood sugars at home? It's the best way to keep them safe, plus it saves a ton of money in vet bills. We've had people with feral and semi feral cats learn to home test their cats. My Neko's partner in crime was a semi feral - boy was he surprised the first time I poked him instead of her!! But by that time he knew that poking was associating with food, cause he hung around for his share of treats too.
Here's a couple other posts that might help you: Hometesting Links and Tips - includes numerous links, instructions, pictures, & videos, including how to test a fractious cat.
And some tips for later if you want to try again to switch what he eats: Transitioning your cat from dry to wet food
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