Diabetes and peeing

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Moira Harrington

Member Since 2020
Can anyone help 3 months ago my cat was diagnosed with diabetes. She is 15 and on 2 injections a day of 3 units morning and night however she is peeing all the time cant pick her up pee flows out peeing and laying in it. Am at my wits end any advice
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Hi Moira,

I'm sorry to hear your little one is having a bit of an issue with incontinence. One potential cause could be diabetic neuropathy. The nerves are affected and it can reduce a cat's ability to control the bladder. Also it can cause limb weakness. Clinical signs include disinclination/not being able to jump as much, or walking on the hocks in more severe cases. When the kitty is also drinking and peeing a lot due to not-yet-regulated diabetes then it can be a bit of a perfect storm. :(

If neuropathy is the issue then it can be greatly helped by improving the cat's blood glucose regulation and oral supplementation with the methylcobalamin form of vitamin B12.

Could you let us know which insulin your kitty (name?) is receiving, please? Also, would I be correct to infer that you're not currently testing your little one's blood glucose levels at home?


Mogs
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I went thru this and this is how i solved it with Simba. I purchased a large see thru storage container at Walmart for about $5.00 and cut a step into door for him. Now he goes all the way in rather than peeing off the side and making a big mess. Fortunately we found remission about 18 months ago until yesterday when while he is still in remission he has gone on for reasons unknown just now for having a head and leg tremors... Good luck with your issues.. We have all had to deal with them when having a furbaby on Diabetes. It will get better.
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Can you tell us some more info. It may be that your cats glucose levels are not yet under control. We can help you get her regulated.

What insulin are you using? Has the dose been changed since she started and if so when and by how much?

Are you home testing? Would you be interested in doing it?

What are you feeding her?

Diet, a good insulin, home testing and the optimal dose for you cat will help you get the glucose levels under control. We can help you learn everything you need to know.
 
Hi everyone, polly my cat is on insulin called Caninsulin. Started on half and slowly been increased after vet doing 3 or four curves. I am not testing they did ask if I could do this but I have to buy machine etc. So far she has cost me a fortune on curves blood test eater infection. Today she is peeing laying down and laying in the pee. I am at wits end with cleaning and she is soaking wet and as I was wiping her to get the pee off her she was peeing at same time. Its as if her bladder is constantly full. Help seriously thing its coming to the end if I can't control this peeing, which is something I don't really want to do. I love her but am at wits end.
 
Sorry forgot to say insulin level has been increased every time I've been to vets from half to 1 to 1.5 to 2 now 3. She was great for a week on 3 but now back to worse than ever. Seem the more insulin I give the more she needs. Thanks.
 
You do not need to buy the pet glucose meter for home testing. A human glucose meter works also and most members use them. They are less expensive to use and you can buy the test strips at your pharmacy. Any brand meter will work and if you are in the US, many of us use the Walmart Relion brand meters. You want to test before every shot and you can also do your own glucose curves.

It is possible that the reason the higher dose does not seem to be working is because it is too much insulin. If the dose is too high, the body tries to prevent hypoglycemia by producing extra glucose to keep the glucose levels from dropping too low. Hypoglycemia is very dangerous. This is one reason we recommend home testing. By testing before every shot you will know if it is safe to give the dose Doing your own curves will help you see how well the dose is working and if the dose needs to be adjusted. This is something we can help you learn to do.
 
FYI, Walmart Relion Prime meter is c. $9, and 100 test strips for it are just under $18 (less than 18 cents/strip). (Strips for the Alphatrak pet meter are about $1/strip.)

If you're outside the US, let us know which country and we might be able to recommend different meters.


Mogs
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I'd also suggest talking to your vet about a different insulin. Caninsulin was developed for use with dogs. At present, there are better insulins for cats -- notably Prozinc and Lantus are the two insulins that are recommended by the American Animal Hospital Assn for the treatment of feline diabetes. They are both longer acting than Caninsulin which has a shorter duration.

The other concern is what you are feeding. your cat. You cat should be on a low carbohydrate diet. As Lisa suggested, diet is important since if you're using a food that's high in carbs, it may defeat the effects of the insulin.
 
Critter Mom said:
If you're outside the US, let us know which country and we might be able to recommend different meters.
Click to expand...
The OP is not in the USA since she said she is using Caninsulin.
Moira Harrington said:
i everyone, polly my cat is on insulin called Caninsulin.
Click to expand...

If in USA she would be using Vetsulin since although both are the insulin they have different names in different countries.
 
Minnie had severe neuropathy too and she’d only pee laying down because her back legs couldn’t take the effort. I got pee pads and put them under all the spots she was peeing at. I also got a few cheap dog beds so she could lay on them and I could wash them after she peed. I’d place the pee pads under the beds so the pee wouldn’t go through to the floor. The neuropathy is reversible once the diabetes is regulated. Minnie has recovered completely with the help of b12 methyl. She not only uses the litter boxes now but she can jump on everything once again. The best way to get the diabetes regulated is to home test because relying only on the vet tests takes too long and it doesn’t give you the full picture that daily tests do. Cats are always stressed out at the vet and those numbers are never truly accurate. I’d also second looking into a better insulin for cats. I understand it’s not as easy in Europe, but Lantus and prozync are much better
 
You don't need to take your kitty to the vet to do a glucose curve. We can help you do them at home and save you a ton of money - plus the results will be more accurate since cats are typically stressed at the vets - most have higher numbers at the vet (of course my kitty is a rarity and her numbers actually drop when she goes to the vet).
 
I would look into getting an affordable human meter, I’m not sure what’s available there, and supplies and start practicing testing at home. We can give you lots of tips to make the process less stressful for both you and your cat. You’ll save a lot of money by testing and doing the curves at home. I was really grateful that my veg suggested that from the get go. I’ve never done at curve at the vet. I do it at home and email her the results. Now I don’t even do that since I’m way more knowledgeable and don’t need my vet’s input when it comes to Minnie’s insulin dosage.
 
Hi Moira,

Some UK members use the Gluco Navii meter. The test strips are quite reasonably priced. You can get them on Amazon (and probably eBay).

To run a 12-hour curve:

* Withhold all food for 2 hours prior to the preshot test (unless dealing with low numbers, in which case you keep feeding to keep numbers up and run the curve another day).
* Do preshot BG test.
* Assuming preshot BG test is high enough to give the dose (>200 on a human meter), give Polly her main feed and wait 30 minutes.
* Administer the insulin dose.
* Test BG every 2 hours up to and including the next preshot BG test.

If you give Polly small snacks between doses, feed her as you normally would while running the curve. Remember to also lift food 2 hours before the preshot test at the end of the curve.


Mogs
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