Diabetic cat, please help!!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Linds2225

Linds2225

Member Since 2014
Hi everyone, I'm so glad I found this board, it's nice to know there are other people out there with diabetic cats. My 12 year old male cat just got diagnosed with diabetes end of last week and it's been a learning curve for my husband and I ever since. We just have a bunch of questions, for instance we have him on hills prescription diet w/d wet food and our vet wants us to give him half a can in the morning before insulin and half a can at night before his insulin. Are we supposed to make sure he eats all of his food before his insulin shot and if he doesn't eat it all can we give it to him after the insulin? Also are we supposed to wait a certain amount of time after he eats to give him his insulin shot? Our vet has also put him on humulin, has anybody had any good success with this one? Or would glargine be a better insulin to go with? And one last question :) the at home glucose kits, where is the best place on the cat to stick to get the blood from? Thanks and I really appreciate any help I could get.
 
Hi everyone, I'm so glad I found this board, it's nice to know there are other people out there with diabetic cats. My 12 year old male cat just got diagnosed with diabetes end of last week and it's been a learning curve for my husband and I ever since. We just have a bunch of questions, for instance we have him on hills prescription diet w/d wet food and our vet wants us to give him half a can in the morning before insulin and half a can at night before his insulin. Are we supposed to make sure he eats all of his food before his insulin shot and if he doesn't eat it all can we give it to him after the insulin? Also are we supposed to wait a certain amount of time after he eats to give him his insulin shot? Our vet has also put him on humulin, has anybody had any good success with this one? Or would glargine be a better insulin to go with? And one last question :) the at home glucose kits, where is the best place on the cat to stick to get the blood from? Thanks and I really appreciate any help I could get.
Click to expand...

With Humulin you do want to be sure he has food in his tummy as that insulin can have a fast and harsh onset. That's one of the reasons it is not popular here. The other is that it usually does not last a full cycle which leads to a roller coaster of low and high numbers. So, I'd make sure he eats something before the shot and then he can get the rest later. Food in the next few hours after the shot can slow that fast onset. Yes, Glargine (Lantus) would be much better.

We poke the kitty on his ear. Here is a thread with lots of info on Hometesting.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=287
 
Yes, it is one of the three milder, longer lasting insulins we like. (Lantus, Levemir and ProZinc)

In my signature in blue, there is a link to the PZI protocol we have developed.
 
We have had our cat on humulin insulin for six days now at 1cc twice a day, but we are wanting to switch him to lantus. Our vet is wanting us to stick to the same amount of insulin daily 1cc twice a day of lantus. Does anyone know if it is bad to switch insulin the next day, should I give him awhile to let the humulin get out of his system? Also is the alpha trak glucometer a good one to use? Thanks!
 
It should be okay to start the new insulin. Humulin is in and out so should be gone 12 hours after the shot. Also Lantus takes a while to build up its depot. (read about Lantus on the forum for that insulin. It is very different from Humulin)

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=150

The Alpha Trak is a glucometer that vets like to use; human meters tend to read lower than it does but since we are looking for patterns/trends, most of us use human meters. The issue with the AlphaTrak is the cost. The meter is more expensive and the strips are very expensive. And since they are only available through vets or the internet, you can't run down to the drug store for some when you need them in an emergency.

BTW, you are giving a unit of Humulin and will be giving a unit of Lantus, A cc is a large amount and would be dangerous to give.
 
Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem with their diabetic cat...
Ever since we have put him on insulin his front legs started off very shaky when he was walking, and slowly over the past four or so weeks he has gotten better, but his legs still shake a little when he walks. He's eating before insulin and were still giving him one one unit and he's drinking water. Just wondering if I should be worried or if it is his body just adjusting to the insulin. We just switched him to Lantus and he has been on it for a week, he was on Humulin.
 
I have a guy here that his legs shake a little when he is walking or getting ready to jump on something but with him it is a neurological condition caused by a skull fracture as he was a hurricane Katrina rescue before becoming diabetic and my husband and I adopting him. He's also been in remission for 4+ years so I can definitely say it isn't caused by the insulin in his case and my two that are on insulin don't shake.

Assuming that your baby never got hit on the head by something being tossed around in a hurricane, he could either have low potassium which your vet can check for, or he could have a very light bit of neuropathy just from being an unregulated diabetic at the moment, which will normally resolve itself as you get him more and more regulated.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
Thanks so much for the reply :)
My vet just did a full blood work up about 5 weeks ago which is how we found the diabetes. And with his shaking she wants to do another blood work up again, which I can't decide if it's really neccesary or not. My only thought is he didn't start shaking until we started giving him insulin, if he has been diabetic and unregulated for awhile before we found out, wouldn't he have been shaky before? This is what's confusing to me... Or is it that he's on the insulin now which is making him shaky by regulating him? I don't know if I'm just at the beginning part of this and just need to give it time or if I should worry, he's still eating drinking and loving on me but he just doesn't seem to be completely himself.
 
Are you testing his glucose at home? If you do that, you'll know if the insulin is taking him too low, which may cause shaking ... and can be fatal if he goes too low for long.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top