Has anyone used glipizide for their diabetic cat?

[merlinmarshall]

Hi all,

We are trying to control Memphis' steroid induced diabetes with steroid reduction and low carb food.

I am keeping my fingers crossed because we will not be able to give him injections.

Has anyone tried glipizide? It is a pill. It has a low response rate, it works for 1 out of 8 cats, and the cat has to be monitored for liver problems.

Merlin

 

[jayla-n-Drevon]

bump

 

[Larry and Kitties]

My vet tried it first on my first diabetic cat. It did not work. Oral meds works on few cats.

 

[Critter Mom]

Is there anything we can do to help you with difficulties relating to injections?

 

[Melanie and Smokey]

Glipizide works differently than insulin. Instead of supporting the pancreas by providing insulin needed it just makes the pancreas work harder to produce the insulin. That will only tax an already insufficient pancreas and over time cause more damage to it. If shots are just absolutely not a possibility then it is better than not treating, but insulin support is the best treatment.

Sometimes steroid induced diabetics can be off of insulin in short period of time if the steroid is reduced/discontinued and the diet is cleaned up.

 

[Lisa and Witn (GA)]

When I adopted Spot, she was on glipizide and had been on it for almost a year. Her diabetes was uncontrolled and she had a severe case of neuropathy. She barely could walk. I immediately started her on insulin (Lantus) and Methyl B12. Within a couple weeks, I saw significant improvements in her health. I would not recommend Glipizide to anyone for a diabetic cat. The insulins that work best are Lantus, Levemir, PZI and ProZinc. All of these are long acting insulins that cats respond well to.

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

I agree, glipizide is not good for diabetic cats and is usually only recommended as an alternative to euthanasia.

Some cats with steroid induced diabetes will go right into remission if they're on low carb (less than 10%), canned food once the steroids are done, but most will need a short course of insulin before they go into remission. When Bandit needed steroids this year, I started him on insulin so that I had good control over his blood glucose during the course of the steroid treatment, and he went right into remission a week or two after the steroids were done. The good news is that most cats with steroid induced diabetes don't need to be on insulin for very long, if they do need it. But the key to remission is starting insulin therapy as soon as possible and getting good control over their blood sugar.

Are you currently home testing now? If so, what do his numbers look like with the food change? What food are you feeding?

I'm wondering why won't you be able to give the injections? Is it the timing, or is there some other limitation? Maybe other people here with similar issues might be able to give advice on how to manage them?