My 9 y/o cat Oliver was recently diagnosed with diabetes, it’s been stressful. We’ve decided to try Bexacat instead of the insulin route. Second week testing his labs and his fructosamine levels were slightly high. He is eating Dr. Elsey’s dry food a tiny bit and tiki cat mostly. The dry food is there because he has been having gastrointestinal intestinal upset and can’t always eat wet. So I’m wondering if his diet is a factor for slightly elevated labs. I plan on getting a ketone monitor to check his BHA levels once he is stable. And a glucose monitor as well. For now, his doctor is doing this. Have you any experiences to share? I’m very concerned about the DKA side effects.
Bexacat-Anyone have kitties on this med?
- Thread starter Sandra29
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There have only been one or two people who have used Bexacat. Currently, Kendra uses Bexacat with her cat @Hercules. Hopefully, she'll see the tag and respond. This is her initial post regarding her cat. There's a search bar at the top right side on this page, if you search "bexacact" you'll find several other posts.
Angus13
Member Since 2023
Hi Sandra, my cat is on Bexacat too. It took him some time to adjust also, not sure if this might be a thing with the med. He's 13 years old and FIV+, so we have the added bonus of dealing with that too. He also eats a small amount of dry along with his wet food, we started on Dr. Elseys but had to switch to Wysong Epigen when the price of Dr. Elsey's went up last month. They are very similar foods. Angus switched over with no issues.
One thing that has developed in the last few weeks is a problem with constipation. It got to the point that he has to have a dose of laxative daily to keep him from getting backed up. Our vet prescribed lactulose.
I never bought any of the monitors to keep track of his numbers daily. His vet did the checks as directed by the maker of Bexacat. It was about 6 weeks till his glucose numbers came down below 200. (I started the pills on April 24, 2023.) Again, part of this could have been due to his immune issues, we don't know for certain. He is not a totally healthy cat to begin with, so we knew that doing the bexacat may or may not work. But at this point he has continued to do pretty well overall.
I hope some of this helps, and that your Oliver is able to stay on the med. I have no regrets in using it, and for a cat that insulin isn't an option, it is absolutely worth a try.
Heather and Angus
NC
One thing that has developed in the last few weeks is a problem with constipation. It got to the point that he has to have a dose of laxative daily to keep him from getting backed up. Our vet prescribed lactulose.
I never bought any of the monitors to keep track of his numbers daily. His vet did the checks as directed by the maker of Bexacat. It was about 6 weeks till his glucose numbers came down below 200. (I started the pills on April 24, 2023.) Again, part of this could have been due to his immune issues, we don't know for certain. He is not a totally healthy cat to begin with, so we knew that doing the bexacat may or may not work. But at this point he has continued to do pretty well overall.
I hope some of this helps, and that your Oliver is able to stay on the med. I have no regrets in using it, and for a cat that insulin isn't an option, it is absolutely worth a try.
Heather and Angus
NC
Erica Unger
Member Since 2023
Hi Sandra. We've been giving Bexacat to our cat Schrodinger for about 3 months now. After 2 weeks of Bexacat, his blood glucose was slightly under 200 (we started at about 350). I believe it took ~5 weeks for his glucose to be consistently under 120, and fortunately, his ketones have not been high since starting Bexacat. We now home test both blood glucose and ketones. We also feed Dr. Elsey's dry food once a day, and that hasn't been a problem for him.
I'm very hopeful that Bexacat works for Oliver as well as it has worked for Schrodinger the past 3 months.
I'm very hopeful that Bexacat works for Oliver as well as it has worked for Schrodinger the past 3 months.
Elizabeth and Bertie
Member Since 2010
Hi, there have been a number of reports online of some adverse affects of Bexacat.
There seems to be increased risk of DKA, even when blood glucose is not high.
My understanding is that Bexacat increases the excretion of glucose via the urine. But it does not increase the uptake of glucose from the blood into the body's cells (as insulin does). So, presumably, the body is still at risk of breaking down fat to produce energy (hence ketone production). I've also seen reports of increase in urinary tract infections, 'possibly' (I'm guessing) due to the increase of sugar in the urine.
The 'Freedom of Information Summary' re Bexacat may be of interest.
FOI Summary for the Original Approval of NADA 141-566 December 8, 2022 (fda.gov)
Eliz
There seems to be increased risk of DKA, even when blood glucose is not high.
My understanding is that Bexacat increases the excretion of glucose via the urine. But it does not increase the uptake of glucose from the blood into the body's cells (as insulin does). So, presumably, the body is still at risk of breaking down fat to produce energy (hence ketone production). I've also seen reports of increase in urinary tract infections, 'possibly' (I'm guessing) due to the increase of sugar in the urine.
The 'Freedom of Information Summary' re Bexacat may be of interest.
FOI Summary for the Original Approval of NADA 141-566 December 8, 2022 (fda.gov)
Eliz
Hercules
Member Since 2023
Hello,
I am unfortunately, just seeing this, as I have had a lot going on in my life lately.
Hercules was first diagnosed on August 15 of this year. We immediately started him on bexacat. It was all such a blur and because cats who try insulin first cannot try bexacat after, we decided to see if it would work. On the date of his diagnosis his glucose was 524. On August 18 we came in for his first follow up and his glucose was down to 220. I do want to mention that I did make the decision to change his diet from dry food that had high carbs, too low carb wet food immediately (and the vet did not tell me to do this). At the next visit on August 27 BG was 120. On 9/30 his BG was 80 and continued to stay in the 80-99 range pretty consistently. his Ketone levels have consistently went down with every vet visit. On Sunday I had my most recent vet visit and the vet did a test that he said indicated that if he were on insulin we would stop giving it at this point and said everything is looking good. Apart from the labs however, I have struggled a bit with giving this medication since there truly is only so much information out there, and some of the information is scary. There have been multiple occasions where I asked myself if I made the right choice giving this medication, rather than giving insulin because it is a more tried and true diabetes treatment. I have noticed some bouts of constipation with Hercules as well. I think at the end of the day you have to educate yourself as much as possible and make the best decision for yourself and your cat that you can. I am sending you positive vibes, and I wish nothing but the best for yourself and your kitty.
I am unfortunately, just seeing this, as I have had a lot going on in my life lately.
Hercules was first diagnosed on August 15 of this year. We immediately started him on bexacat. It was all such a blur and because cats who try insulin first cannot try bexacat after, we decided to see if it would work. On the date of his diagnosis his glucose was 524. On August 18 we came in for his first follow up and his glucose was down to 220. I do want to mention that I did make the decision to change his diet from dry food that had high carbs, too low carb wet food immediately (and the vet did not tell me to do this). At the next visit on August 27 BG was 120. On 9/30 his BG was 80 and continued to stay in the 80-99 range pretty consistently. his Ketone levels have consistently went down with every vet visit. On Sunday I had my most recent vet visit and the vet did a test that he said indicated that if he were on insulin we would stop giving it at this point and said everything is looking good. Apart from the labs however, I have struggled a bit with giving this medication since there truly is only so much information out there, and some of the information is scary. There have been multiple occasions where I asked myself if I made the right choice giving this medication, rather than giving insulin because it is a more tried and true diabetes treatment. I have noticed some bouts of constipation with Hercules as well. I think at the end of the day you have to educate yourself as much as possible and make the best decision for yourself and your cat that you can. I am sending you positive vibes, and I wish nothing but the best for yourself and your kitty.
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