alison
Member
My cat is a 13 year old Siamese that was diagnosed as diabetic about 7 weeks ago.
He has been hospitalised twice, first when he was very high when he was first diagnosed, and a second time a couple of weeks ago when he went high again with ketones etc.
He was started out on 2 units of glargine morning and night, but was still drinking a lot of water and losing weight. The vet then increased his insulin to 3 in the morning and 2 at night. Still very thirsty and his breath smelt of ketones sometimes.
After getting blood glucose readings of 23, 22 and 19 on this dose, the vet increased the insulin to 4 in the morning and 2 at night. Still got high readings, so dose was increased again and is now 4 in the morning and 3 units at night. He appears to be suiting this level of insulin. Eating well, though he only snacks on small amounts at a time, but they are regular – maybe around 8 snacks a day. He has never eaten a lot at once. Little and often is what he likes.
At first I used a Novo Pen to inject my cat. My husband is also diabetic and he had a spare pen and it seemed easier to use. However, I noticed a drop would always be left on the end of the needle after I had injected him, and sometimes another drop would ooze out before I could get the cap on the pen. The vet said I was the only person who used a pen on their cat and was I sure he was getting the correct dose etc. My son also wondered whether a syringe would give a more accurate dose. I was a little nervous about switching to a syringe as I had found the pen easy to dial up the dose and inject, but in the last couple of days I have used a syringe and I now think the syringe gives a more accurate dose and no drop is left on the end of the needle after I have injected him. Being a small animal on a small dose of insulin every drop is important as this could be a significant part of his dose.
My cats eyes look better (his third eyelid was showing a lot when he was on a lower dose and probably high most of the time. He is going outside more and seems to have a little more energy. So I am going to only use a syringe from now on. Soon I will test him in the morning and if he is still a little high we may increase his evening dose to 4 units as well, but not yet, and only ever on the advice from our vet. We want to give him time to adjust to a 4 in the am and a 3 in the pm. We have managed to get a drop of blood from him only twice, once from the back of the ear and once from the pad of his back foot. The readings were 8 and 9, so we were very pleased with those, having only ever had a 19 or in the low twenties before. This was hard to do but I think it is worth persevering because you then know for sure if he is high or low without constant visits to the vet. We use the same blood testing meter as my husband but of course you could buy one from your vet. Get him to show you how to get a drop of blood for testing. They must not get too low, like a three. This is very dangerous and can be fatal. Better to be a little high than get readings too low.
I have found the last few weeks since my cat was diagnosed as diabetic as one of the most difficult times of my life. He has had many vet visits, blood tests, hospitalised twice, and caused me so much worry. It was very difficult seeing him quite weak, not eating sometimes, and he has lost almost a kilo in weight, At his heaviest he was 6 kgs, but when was mainly around 5.7. He also looked good. He is now 5 kgs but as he is eating well on his new higher dose I think he will now start to gain some weight.
Hopefully he will continue to improve or at least stay as he is as he is now pretty good but it has only been a few days.
I wish all you people with diabetic cats the very best for your cat, and wish you the strength and perseverance to care for your cat and get his dose right. Their life is in your hands and they are completely at your mercy. Good luck to you all.
He has been hospitalised twice, first when he was very high when he was first diagnosed, and a second time a couple of weeks ago when he went high again with ketones etc.
He was started out on 2 units of glargine morning and night, but was still drinking a lot of water and losing weight. The vet then increased his insulin to 3 in the morning and 2 at night. Still very thirsty and his breath smelt of ketones sometimes.
After getting blood glucose readings of 23, 22 and 19 on this dose, the vet increased the insulin to 4 in the morning and 2 at night. Still got high readings, so dose was increased again and is now 4 in the morning and 3 units at night. He appears to be suiting this level of insulin. Eating well, though he only snacks on small amounts at a time, but they are regular – maybe around 8 snacks a day. He has never eaten a lot at once. Little and often is what he likes.
At first I used a Novo Pen to inject my cat. My husband is also diabetic and he had a spare pen and it seemed easier to use. However, I noticed a drop would always be left on the end of the needle after I had injected him, and sometimes another drop would ooze out before I could get the cap on the pen. The vet said I was the only person who used a pen on their cat and was I sure he was getting the correct dose etc. My son also wondered whether a syringe would give a more accurate dose. I was a little nervous about switching to a syringe as I had found the pen easy to dial up the dose and inject, but in the last couple of days I have used a syringe and I now think the syringe gives a more accurate dose and no drop is left on the end of the needle after I have injected him. Being a small animal on a small dose of insulin every drop is important as this could be a significant part of his dose.
My cats eyes look better (his third eyelid was showing a lot when he was on a lower dose and probably high most of the time. He is going outside more and seems to have a little more energy. So I am going to only use a syringe from now on. Soon I will test him in the morning and if he is still a little high we may increase his evening dose to 4 units as well, but not yet, and only ever on the advice from our vet. We want to give him time to adjust to a 4 in the am and a 3 in the pm. We have managed to get a drop of blood from him only twice, once from the back of the ear and once from the pad of his back foot. The readings were 8 and 9, so we were very pleased with those, having only ever had a 19 or in the low twenties before. This was hard to do but I think it is worth persevering because you then know for sure if he is high or low without constant visits to the vet. We use the same blood testing meter as my husband but of course you could buy one from your vet. Get him to show you how to get a drop of blood for testing. They must not get too low, like a three. This is very dangerous and can be fatal. Better to be a little high than get readings too low.
I have found the last few weeks since my cat was diagnosed as diabetic as one of the most difficult times of my life. He has had many vet visits, blood tests, hospitalised twice, and caused me so much worry. It was very difficult seeing him quite weak, not eating sometimes, and he has lost almost a kilo in weight, At his heaviest he was 6 kgs, but when was mainly around 5.7. He also looked good. He is now 5 kgs but as he is eating well on his new higher dose I think he will now start to gain some weight.
Hopefully he will continue to improve or at least stay as he is as he is now pretty good but it has only been a few days.
I wish all you people with diabetic cats the very best for your cat, and wish you the strength and perseverance to care for your cat and get his dose right. Their life is in your hands and they are completely at your mercy. Good luck to you all.
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