Insulin & steroids

[Taylor & jelani]

Hello all, my girl was diagnosed with diabetes around two years ago. She did go into remission a year later, in October we had a major scare and she had to get a blood transfusion & we found out she has a autoimmune disease. She’s been on steroids since October & unfortunately her diabetes have come back so she’s also taking insulin. She’s taking 2.5 mg of prednisolone once a day & 3 units of insulin twice a day. I know these are not a good mix to have on long term. Our vet recently wanted us to try a new medication cyclosporine. She absolutely refuses to take this medication. We were about to give it to her one time and she had a very upset stomach and was having diarrhea multiple times the next day. Has anyone else’s kitty had to be on steroids & insulin long term? She goes biweekly for bloodwork and seems to be doing as good as she can be. Has anyone else tried putting their kitty on cyclosporine & been successful? I’m not really sure what to do here.

 

[Red & Rover (GA)]

@Taylor & jelani
Welcome. I'm sorry no one has responded to you post.
I know very little about steroids. If you post in the Health Forum, more eyes will see it.

 

[Fuzzy’s journey]

Hello all, my girl was diagnosed with diabetes around two years ago. She did go into remission a year later, in October we had a major scare and she had to get a blood transfusion & we found out she has an autoimmune disease. She’s been on steroids since October & unfortunately her diabetes have come back so she’s also taking insulin. She’s taking 2.5 mg of prednisolone once a day & 3 units of insulin twice a day. I know these are not a good mix to have on long term. Our vet recently wanted us to try a new medication cyclosporine. She absolutely refuses to take this medication. We were about to give it to her one time and she had a very upset stomach and was having diarrhea multiple times the next day. Has anyone else’s kitty had to be on steroids & insulin long term? She goes biweekly for bloodwork and seems to be doing as good as she can be. Has anyone else tried putting their kitty on cyclosporine & been successful? I’m not really sure what to do here.

My gal is in same position. Asthma, autoimmune disorder & steroids led to diabetes. 2.5mg Pred daily is her maintenance dose. We tried discontinuing the Pred but asthma and autoimmune flared back up. It’s a cycle and I have found a sliding scale for her insulin works best

 

[BellaBlue82]

I know this is an older post, but wanted to share a little bit of my journey with Sadie in case this post is revisited.

I joined years ago for our GA cat Nico, and this was such a blessing. Sadie was his buddy. Sadie was diagnosed with primary IMHA at 1.5 years old, the same type of scare. She was in remission almost 6 years, then had a horrible relapse all because of a stupid UTI. First and only one on record.
We of course had to raise the prednisolone drastically, and had her down to 1mg a day. She was still unresponsive, so we added in cyclosporine. This along with zofran was the key to bring her around. I will note we had to adjust her cyclo dosage at a few points as it was too much for her, until we found the "sweet spot." And a few times had to withhold a day or two while administering some S. Boulardii to bring the BMs back into check.
Unfortunately as soon as she went into remission again, the steroids trashed her ability to regulate glucose, despite weaning the prednisolone back down again.

So, now we're on the steroids induced diabetes journey for our princess. It's all been a balancing act, and there have been ups as well as scary downs. But having a vet who is a good resource, and works with me to adjust or change medications has been the best. Educating yourself on medications, medical conditions, tests/results, and having a vet with an open mind/willingness to work with you, only makes you a stronger advocate for your furry family member. Sadie has been one lucky girl to make it through all she has; I hope I can keep her moving in a healthy direction.