New to Feline Diabetes - Dx today

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nftater

nftater

Member Since 2014
Hi, my boy - Mick - has just been diagnosed with Diabetes today and I have to admit I am feeling a little overwhelmed and scared. Because we caught it very early the Vet wants to start him slow and has prescribed him Apo-Glyburide 2.5mg - I give him half a table every 12 hours. Is anyone here familiar with this drug? What should I watch for? Is there the same risk of low blood sugar with the oral medication as there is with insulin? I asked the vet about monitoring his blood sugars and he said I could if I wanted - but he did not make it sound as urgent as he would have if I was giving him injections. I don't know if that means I should worry less or if the dose is not high enough to need constant monitoring, or if I am just reading too much into everything and making myself crazy :?

I live alone, I have no family near and, like myself, my friends work during the day. I am scared to leave him alone, but I have to work..

I have so many questions and emotions right now. Any help would be very much appreciated.
 
Lorna,

I have never heard of that medicine unless its the same thing as Glipizide which is generally not used in cats. It tend to overwork the pancreas.
Most people here use the injectable insulins such as Levemir, Lantus or Prozinc. I would not give him that pill yet wait and see what the others here say as I said I have been on this board for several years and its not anything I have ever heard of.
So please do not give that to him yet.

Terri
 
Welcome Mick and Mick's Owner! :YMHUG: You've found the best place you never wanted to be. :lol:

Glyburide is a longer-duration pill than glipizide and is still not recommended for the same reasons; namely, it causes further damage to the pancreas and can cause some nasty side-effects (vomiting, increased chance of hypo, liver damage, etc...).

A few questions for you to help us help you better: Do you have any blood glucose numbers from the vet? Did he run a fructosamine test? What were the signs/symptoms that had you bring Mick into the vet in the first place?

My first suggestion is to start home-testing Mick and switch out his food to a low carb, wet food
 
Hi KPassa,

I do not think a fructosamine test was done. Blood test was done yesterday and Urinalysis was done today confirming diabetes.

The Vet did mention that his blood sugar today was showing 20 (I live in Canada for measurement reference).

In the summer of 2013 Mick suffered from severe constipation. This lead to him being taken off his wet food and put on a high fiber dry food. It was then I found out he was allergic to fiber. This lead him to being put on an Allergy injection in November of 2013. Earlier this month was his 2nd allergy shot and this is when it all began - excessive eating, excessive drinking, excessive peeing. I knew that excessive drinking is the symptom of a few major illnesses so I booked an appointment "to be sure". That was yesterday and today the urinalysis confirmed diabetes. Now I know steroids have an effect on insulin and where his allergy show was only 2 weeks ago the Vet was concerned with starting him on injections. He said the pills would be better until the steroids are out of his system and then we can progress from there. He said it will take a couple of months to get the steroids gone, and then I have to bring him in for more tests to see how bad the diabetes really is and the best treatment.

Sorry to write so much, but I figured the more information I can provide you the better you can help me. Thank you for replying
 
Hi Lorna and extra sweet kitty Mick and welcome to the message board.

Glyburide
Glyburide is a second-generation sulfonylurea drug with a longer duration of action than glipizide. It has
been evaluated in normal cats and resulted in the release of insulin. Both sulfonylureas may result in
progression of diabetes due to increased production of IAPP and its subsequent conversion to amyloid in the
pancreatic islets.
Click to expand...
In other words, this drug can make the diabetes worse.

What food are you feeding Mick now?

One of the best things you can do for your kitty, is to switch him to a low carb diet. Many of us here feed the Fancy Feast classic pates, Friskies pates or Wellness grain free canned food.

You have a good chance for remission, since it looks like the diabetes was caused by the steroids. The best results are seen in the first few months, up to the six month point. After that, it gets much more unlikely to achieve remission for your cat.

Yes, it can take time for the steroids to work them selves out of your cats system. In the meantime, some good support with a low carb canned food and some long lasting insulin could benefit him immensely.
 
Hello and welcome to the board from another Canadian!

Insulin pills work by encouraging the pancreas to product insulin which stresses the pancreas and makes the issue worse. It also prevents the chance of remission which is likely in cats.. Some studies say up to 84% of cats can go into remission if you have three factors at play

1. A good insulin like lantus, levemir or prozinc.
2. A low carb canned food like fancy feast pâtés, wellness grain free or friskies pâtés
3. Home blood testing to keep your cat safe and to help advise dose.. This is critical if you change food as blood sugar will drop and the cat can go into remission fast or you could overdose. We can advise.

I would call your vet and discuss this. Your remission window is short few months and you don't want to lose his best chance.

Steroids can cause diabetes but again when they wear off, and with the three factors above, mick may go into remission. The only caveat is that while they are in his system he may require more insulin which may need adjusted as it wears off but home blood testing can watch for that.

I would push strongly for home testing and a diet change and no pills for a week, then if he is high still start in a good insulin. What province are you in and nearest city? We may be able to advise on another vet for a second opinion.

Wendy
 
Thank you all for your help. I live in St. John's Newfoundland. I currently feed him Blue pates as they have no grain and high in protein (due to his allergy to fibre). I will be going to the local pet stores and Markets today to see if I can find fancy feast pates, wellness grain free or friskies pates. I will also pick up a meter. Is there one you would recommend? You all have some wonderful resources here so I have found a good tracking spreadsheet that I will use. How often should I test - I know it should be before eating and within 2 hours of eating. But should I do it more than that?

I have looked at the guides to using his ear to do the testing, while still nervous, I feel less so having gone through all of that. Last night I went through the motions - finding the vein and the proper way to hold him.

I am scared to use the pills I was given but I don't want him to be not getting what he needs.

Thank you again
 
Here is a food list., you want to look at column c( %calories from carbs) and choose a food under 10%. http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

I like the bayer contour as I can get cheap strips from the us through eBay. The "lite" meters with butterfly strips aren't accurate so avoid them. You can also get strips in shoppers which is good if you collect points. Here's a shopping list
1. Meter
2. Matching strips
3. Lancets - little sticks to poke the ear to get blood . new members usually start with a larger gauge lancet such as 28g or 29g until the ear learns to bleed. Optional - lancing tool.
4. Cotton balls to stem the blood
5. Neosporin or Polysporin ointment with pain relief to heal the wound
6. Mini flashlight (optional) - useful to help see the ear veins in dark cats, and to press against
7. Ketone urine test strips ie ketodiastix - Important to check ketones when blood is high
8. Sharps container - to dispose of waste syringes and lancets.
9. Treats for the cat - like freeze dried chicken
10. Karo syrup/corn syrup or honey if you dont have it at home - for hypo emergencies to bring blood sugar up fast
11. A couple of cans of fancy feast gravy lovers or other high carb gravy food- for hypo emergencies to bring blood sugar up fast

Here are testing tips.. Cats get used to it fast and it's not painful as they have less nerve endings in their ears than we do in our fingers.. Always give a treat after a test. You don't want to normally aim for the vein but instead the area between the vein and the ear edge. There is a diagram in the tips here https://docs.google.com/document/d/13c_CPZVKz27fD_6aVbsguadJKvjSrSAkD7flgPPhEag/pub
Get him used to testing first., spend a couple of days just stroking his ears every few hours and giving a treat without testing.

Give your vet a call and ask about lantus.

Wendy
 
Keep in mind that "no grain" is not the same as low carbohydrate. Peas, beans, lentils, carrots, potatos, beets, and fruits are all sources of carbohydrate.
 
nftater said:
I am scared to use the pills I was given but I don't want him to be not getting what he needs.
Click to expand...

If you guys really "caught it very early," he might not even need insulin and just simply needs a diet change. If he's not in any danger of a DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis), then we usually advise to go with the food change first before starting insulin because otherwise, you would have to home-test extensively and drop the dose in conjunction with the drop in numbers from the lower carb food. And when you're first starting out learning how to test, this is not always feasible.

You will want to be testing for ketones as well (to catch any potential DKA early).
 
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