new to forum, definately have questions

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mickeycakes757

Member Since 2012
My 12 year old cat was diagnosed with diabetes about 6 months or so ago. He was first put on the Humlin insulin 1 unit 2x a day, but has now been put on the Pro Zinc insulin 3 units 2x a day.

If their blood sugar is out of whack, does it affect their digestion? The reason I am asking is that when I go out of town, the people I have taking care of him can only give him insulin once a day. He goes through a week of irregular bowel movements before he gets back on the regular insulin regime. I was looking for a way to supplement his insulin when I am out out town...this way I can still have my friends give him the dose of insulin once a day and whatever supplement, and his digestion will not be affected. If I cannot find an alternative, I will have to kennel him at the vet so they can administer the 2x a day doses...which is going to cost me a fortune!

Any help and incite is really appreciated.
 
No, diarreha. It isnt constant, but its enough to be concerning. The vet has run all kinds of tests and cant find what causes it, so I think it is when his blood sugar is out of whack. When he is having these episodes, he doesnt use the litter box....its almost like he is making sure I know he isnt feeling well. These episodes also only happen when he hasnt had his insulin regularly.
 
If friends cannot give insulin twice a day, its time to look for a pet sitter that can (may be less expense than boarding at vet). Penny-wise could result in pounds foolish - too high glucose may trigger diabetic ketoacidosis, a very expensive and potentially fatal complication of diabetes.

How are they giving the insulin? Just half the daily dose?

And what are you feeding and how often?
 
Giving insulin once a day is too hard on the cats body; the cat's on a roller coaster and definitely feels horrible.
Think of being very hot and sweating for half a day, then you go into an air conditioned place for about 10hrs, and then you have to go back out into the 100 degrees weather for 14hrs, and then inside to the cool for 10hrs, then back out into the heat for 14hrs.

Your cat will naturally have health issues when getting insulin once a day.
 
My friends were only giving one dose of insulin, so he only gets 3 units once a day....when I am out of town for a couple of days. He is currently free fed. He has always had a healthy appetite and was almost 18 pounds before he started losing weight because of the diabetes and went down to 8 pounds. He now weighs almost 10 pounds.

Do you know of anything that I could give him as a supplement for the insulin? If I could find something I can set up one of those automatic food things that open at a certain time to provide him the alternative to the insulin once a day. I know it sounds crazy but I am looking at all my options.

Thanks for the idea of the pet sitter. I will look into how much it will cost in comparison to the kenneling at the vet.
 
There are no alternatives to insulin. It is a hormone essential to life. Without enough of it, you die slowly of starvation because your body cannot use the energy from the food it digests.

You can spread out the feeding so the available insulin is used more steadily through the day.

You can feed low carb. moderate protein and fat, so carbohydrates don't exceed the available insulin. And just an fyi - the cat can break down both protein and fat to make carbohydrate if it is needed (as can the human).

Using something like metformin may seem like a good option - but it doesn't let the pancreas heal, so the cat remains on insulin forever,

They are researching a longer acting insulin in humans (see Think Tank section of Message Board), but it is still in research on humans, not cats.
 
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