Excessive drinking

[Galaxy (GA)]

Hello all,

Galaxy was diagnosed last November, his Caninsulin has been gradually increased since then from 2x2 units a day to 2x6 units a day, and with it, his drinking has increased, alarmingly. He started at 200 ml overnight and about 700 by the end of day, now we're looking at 300 ml overnight, 100-150 ml in one go several times a day, so it's nearly a liter by the end of the day! His insulin was last increased last Thursday 25/04/2019 to 6 units twice a day, and that's when he started drinking a liter a day too, so the connection is obvious, the more insulin he gets, the more he drinks. I told the vet, also my concerns about kidney failure etc. Puss was tested for everything, full blood count, kidneys were OK, no thyroid problem either. Vet wants another curve, otherwise he doesn't know either without further tests.
I am really puzzled - and alarmed - at how much he drinks. Of course he goes straight to the box after drinking, and almost without exception pees out of the box too.

Has anyone had this and what did you do?
Many thanks for your comments.

Edit

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

It looks like he may be bouncing. What happens is when too much insulin is given the body produces extra glucose to avoid becoming hypoglycemic. He may also benefit from a longer acting insulin such as Lantus or levemir. The insulin you were using is short-acting and wears out of the body quickly.

Also diet does affect the glucose levels. What are you feeding him?

My suggestion is to ask your vet to switch over to a longer acting insulin. Good ones that work well in cats are Lantus, levemir, BCP PZI, and ProZinc. You will want to start back at a low dose such as one unit and then gradually increase it over time to find the optimal dose. It probably would be better to start back at one unit twice a day a stay at that does for at least a week. After a week if it looks like an increases needed, but only increase it by one half unit. Stay at that dose again for another week. Continue that process until you find the dose that works best for your cat. The goal is to find the optimal dose that works best to keep your cat's glucose under control and this is why it is increasing slowly by small increments at a time. The reason I suggest the week between those changes is it gives your cat's body time to adjust to the new dose.

If your vet does prescribe Lantus or levemir, ask for the prescription for the pens instead of a vial. The reason is that both have a shorter shelf life before they become ineffective and if you buy a vial, you end up throwing away a lot of insulin. With the pens you will use them as if they were miniature vials and we'll be able to use almost every drop of insulin. Depending on your dose one package of pens could provide enough insulin for 9 months or more.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Hi and welcome.
6 units twice a day is a very large dose of insulin for a cat. Please don’t increase the dose before he is being tested regularly. Too much insulin can look like not enough insulin.
There are several things you can do.
I think the most important thing you could do is to go out and buy a human glucose meter and start testing the blood sugars. Sounds scary but we have all learnt to do it and it becomes routine very quickly. If you live in the US you can get a ReliOn meter at Walmart for a reasonable cost. You will also need to buy the appropriate test strips to go with the meter and some lancets to prick the ear. Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets. Also buy some cotton balls to hold behind the ear when you prick it and to hold over the prick after you get the blood.
Here is a link to home testing. We can help you with it
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

Test before every shot to see the BSL ( blood sugar level) is not too low to shoot. We would recommmend not shooting anything under200 in the beginnning. Then try and get a few tests in during the cycle around the +4 or +5 mark ( 4 to 5 hours after the insulin is given.

If I were you I would be asking your vet to swap you over to a longer lasting insulin such as Lantus, Levemir or Prozinc. They are much more suitable for cats..caninsulin is an insulin which was meant for dogs and it has a harsher onset and a shorter duration and your kitty will be spending several hours in high numbers each cycle.
Your kitty will be drinking a lot because of the high numbers he is in. Don't stop him drinking as he needs the fluids as the glucose is spilling over into his urine and it make him pee more....therefore the need to drink more. He will pee less and drink less once the BSLs come down.

Can you tell us what sort of diet you are feeding Galaxy?
Diabetic cats need a low carbohydrate canned food diet of 10% or less.. but if you are feeding a dry or a high carb diet at the moment DO NOT change it to a low carb diet until you are home testing the BSLs as the BSLs can drop 100 points with the change over to low carb food and you could risk a hypo. So you need to be testing the BSLs first. We can help you there too.
Dry cat food is very high in carbs and is most unsuitable for diabetic cats. And prescription foods from the vet are also not necessary and are often too high in carbs as well.
Here is a link to some food charts. Look for foods that are 10% or less.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/links-to-food-charts.174182/
Do you think you could set up your signature for us so we can know a bit about Galaxy please. It will appear at the bottom of your posts and we won't have to keep asking you questions. To set it up, go to the top right of the page and click onto your user name. Choose signature and tell us yours and Galaxy's name, date of diagnosis, type of insulin, type of meter ( when you get one) type of food, any other illnesses or medications, weight....then save.

Also if you could set up the spreadsheet so that you can enter all the BSLs that would be a wonderful help as we look at the SS whenever we help you with dosing to other problems. If you have any trouble setting it up tell us and someone will do it for you.
Here is the link
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
We have a large number of very experienced people here who are very happy to help you and I am sure we can help you get Galaxy sorted.
Keep asking lots of questions as there is a lot to learn..
Bron

 

[Galaxy (GA)]

thank you so much for all the information and your helpful responses, I will delve into them after work and will consider my options. Will also post more info in my signature like you guys do, for later posts.