Do I give insulin after diarrhea/no eating??

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honeyb0000

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Hi,

I've been lurking here for a while. My cat, Sparky was diagnosed two years ago. He gets 8 units of PZI VET (for now) twice a day. He free feeds during the day on dry food and gets a little spoon of wet food each time we dose him.

Today, he's had some really stinky loose stools and is not eating much at all. We gave him his dose this morning (before I knew we were having problems), but now I'm afraid to give him the second one in another hour or so.

We do not home test, so I really don't know what to do. It's safer to not give him the insulin, right? Until we figure out what's going on?

Thanks for any help!
 
Has he had diarrhea before?

How did you get to the 8 units and what were his numbers at the vets the last time you were there?

As you may know, 8 units twice a day is a lot of insulin. It is much more (by almost 4 times) than most cats require unless they have additional conditions. Has Sparky been diagnosed with a condition that makes him insulin resistant?

Are you able to get to a pharmacy to purchase a meter and strips in order to start home testing? Really, whatever happens today and tomorrow, it would be a good idea to learn how to do it and we can help. That will also help you know what is going on right now.

Has Sparky ever been diagnosed with ketones? Do you know how to check for those? They are a side effect of not enough insulin, which likely isn't a problem now, but could be if you simply drop the dose... Having said that, the worry of developing ketones doesn't trump keeping a cat safe from an overdose. So, at this time, I would not give the insulin until you get some more people talking to you and some answers.

Maybe if you answer some of these questions, we'll be able to help you a bit better.
 
My Thomas has suffered from IBD, and I have found that when he has diarhhea his BG's are lowish, so without actually knowing what his levels are, I would recomend not giving any insulin. My belief is that not enough nutrients are being absorbed to raise the glucose levels. As well with the diarhhea, you are running the risk of dehydration, so please give him some wet food.
Dana
 
Thanks to you both for responding so quickly.

I know it's a very big dose. It's what we came up with when we went through the 3 months of glucose curves. He's a big cat..Maine coon.

My vet has been pretty encouraging of just sticking with the same dose and watching for physical signs of problems. Honestly, we haven't checked his blood in a while. Most days Sparky seems fine and we haven't had any real issues in 2 years.

I just gave him some wet food, which he ate. But, I'm going to hold off on the shot until we can get him to the vet. I was really scared I'd make him more sick with a dose he cannot process.

Thanks again for your help!
 
honeyb0000 said:
Thanks to you both for responding so quickly.

I know it's a very big dose. It's what we came up with when we went through the 3 months of glucose curves. He's a big cat..Maine coon.

My vet has been pretty encouraging of just sticking with the same dose and watching for physical signs of problems. Honestly, we haven't checked his blood in a while. Most days Sparky seems fine and we haven't had any real issues in 2 years.

I just gave him some wet food, which he ate. But, I'm going to hold off on the shot until we can get him to the vet. I was really scared I'd make him more sick with a dose he cannot process.

Thanks again for your help!
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watching for signs even at 2 in the morning? I'm very sorry, but you need to be home testing.
Whatever your dose is, doesn't matter, you need to be home testing.
it is for the safety of ur cat and piece of mind for u.
 
Of course, loose stools can be a number of things. Any changes to food recently?

The problem with curves at the vet, and getting blood glucose levels at the vet is that they are very often inaccurate. If your cat is at all stressed there, his numbers will be higher than at home. If doses are based on those numbers, then the dosage can be too high when you get home.

Doses are not based on weight. We also had a Maine Coon. Our vet started him at 4 units twice a day. We started hometesting as soon as we found this site. Immediately, it was clear that the dose was too high. We were able to get his levels down with lo carb food, and the right amounts of insulins. Every cat is different, but there is a real possibility here that his dose is too high.

The dry food can be keeping his glucose levels high, when you then treat with high doses of insulin. If you have been lurking, you know the best plan is wet, lo carb food, hometesting and insulin.

Any chance we could teach you how to hometest? It is the safest way to deal with a diabetic kitty.
 
The other thing about checking the blood at the vet is that if it's a spot check or a curve, it's still going to be affected by vet stress.... meaning the BG is higher at the vet's office than it would be at home, prompting the vet to give a higher dose... In addition, any fructosamine test will show an average... not the highs and the lows.

The size of the cat does not really matter - though it can indicate in some cases that there is a growth hormone issue, like acromegaly, which would require higher doses of insulin. But if that is suspected, the kitty should be tested for it. Otherwise, this kitty could be, like many we see, living in a state of constant rebound.

Skipping the dose and testing in the morning or tomorrow through the day (without giving the full 8 units in the morning) would be a great way to determine that. So if you can get that test kit from a pharmacy today, I recommend it.
 
Hi you are getting great advice - home testing is vital, removing dry food is important - BUT DO NOT DO THIS UNTIL YOU REDUCE THE INSULIN AND START HOME TESTING -

May I suggest that you remove the 911 from your post and instead use the star or fire icon. As the 911 post is to be used for true emergencies such as hypo episodes, etc.

While your situation is important and needs attention, the star or fire icon will alert people without creating an emergency 911 panic response.

Thanks.
 
Insulin is required at all times in the body, though at a lower level when there's no food in the gut. Lack of insulin means no tissues in the body can absorb nourishment, and a risk for Diabetic Ketoacidosis.

If you were sure your dose was correct, I'd give 1/3 to 1/2 a regular dose.

The very high dose you're giving makes me nervous, but even so I wouldn't stop insulin altogether, especially if he's not regulated -- it will just make him sicker. Small bits regularly is better.
 
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