Newcomer,”HanSolo” just diagnosed today

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Nancy Freeman

Nancy Freeman

Member Since 2023
Hello all…grateful to have found this group. My 10 year old kitty, HanSolo, was just diagnosed today. Waiting on the Rx and “instructions” at the vet’s office tomorrow on how to give him insulin. It’s all quite overwhelming but will do my best to get thru this with him. My initial question: is anyone using the “clip pen” method to inoculate? My vet suggested this method over needles and syringes. Just wondering how easy it is to use? Any issues?
Thank you in advance for responding.
 
Hi and welcome to the group. You are right it is all very overwhelming!! Most people do not use the pen to administer insulin, no. For a couple reasons -- most of the pens require priming which wastes insulin, and secondly using syringes allows for much finer dosing. In other words, with the right syringes, ones with half-unit markings, you can adjust a kitty's insulin dose by smaller amounts which has been proven to be a better approach than whole unit dose changes.

This place is amazing. Like you, I was so grateful to find it!! They saved me and saved my boy.
 
Do you know what type of insulin is being prescribed? And just so you know, if you get the pen that is fine you can still draw doses out of it with a syringe, that is what I did. Many people do it that way.

What food are you feeding, how much and how often? When my boy Hendrick was diagnosed, the vet said to ONLY feed the Purina DM and to ONLY feed 2 times a day with the insulin shots. But this is actually outdated thinking, today we know that diabetic cats most often do the best getting fed several times a day. Yes, two main meals with the shots but also a couple other smaller meals. This is easier on the pancreas and is more like how a feline would eat in a natural setting -- multiple smaller meals throughout the day.

Were there any indications of pancreatitis or anything else? Were ketones checked? Ketones can be deadly, they can build up in a newly diagnosed diabetic cat that is not yet on insulin. A lot of people use ketostix to check for the presence of ketones, you can stick one in a urine spot in the little box.

Please add some information to your signature and get a spreadsheet setup. Have you looked into testing your cat's blood sugar at home with a meter? I highly recommend it, it lets you know it is safe to give the insulin, just like in a human child where people always check first, then give the insulin once they know it is safe to do so.

Here is a useful link on how to get started here at the FDMB:

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you.216696/
 
Since you have not yet received insulin ask for either lantus (biosimilars are fine) or Prozinc. Do nit get Vetsulin as it’s not a good insulin for cats. For lantus you need U 100 insulin syringes.
 
Hi, I got a Vetpen for caninsulin. I know that is not the recommended insulin but it is what it is (the only insulin authorize for cats in caninsulin.
Regarding to the pen, it is very easy. For me, the puncture is easier with syringes (you have the feedback when you puncture on skin and don't have to wait 5 seconds) but pen is easier to get exact dosage.
Regards.
 
Drashiel said:
Hi, I got a Vetpen for caninsulin. I know that is not the recommended insulin but it is what it is (the only insulin authorize for cats in caninsulin.
Regarding to the pen, it is very easy. For me, the puncture is easier with syringes (you have the feedback when you puncture on skin and don't have to wait 5 seconds) but pen is easier to get exact dosage.
Regards.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by the only insulin authorized for cats? That’s actually not true hence canine is the first part of the name. It is too harsh for cats and does not last a full 12 hours. In some countries I believe they make you start with it and I guess it works for some cats but not most. I’m glad it works for you.
 
tiffmaxee said:
What do you mean by the only insulin authorized for cats? That’s actually not true hence canine is the first part of the name. It is too harsh for cats and does not last a full 12 hours. In some countries I believe they make you start with it and I guess it works for some cats but not most. I’m glad it works for you.
Click to expand...
I found various articles saying that the only insulin authorize for cats and dogs in Spain is Caninsulin.
Try with syringes and if you don't feel confortable try with pen.

Regards.
 
@Nancy Freeman and HanSolo - Welcome to FDMB! This is quite literally the best place you never wanted to be.

You are also correct. The first few weeks of learning how to manage your cat's diabetes are overwhelming. That's the bad news. The good news is that we're here to help. The board has members from all over the world so there's usually someone around 24/7 if you have a question. Some of us have been here for many years paying what we learned forward and we have access to veterinary and medical libraries. There's a wealth of knowledge and support for you to draw upon.

We are strong proponents of home testing. It is the best way to keep your kitty safe. This is a link to information on home testing. Many people here use the Walmart Relion brand meter. The cost for strips is very reasonable. Your met may suggest a pet meter. The strips for the pet meters run about $1.00 each. The cost for the Relion strips is about $0.17 each.

I'm not entirely sure what you're referring to as a Clip Pen. Do you mean a Kwik Pen? If so, that's one way that Novolin N is sold. Novolin is not a great insulin for cats. Since 2018, the American Animal Hospital Assn has been recommending either Prozinc or Lantus (or a biosimilar/ generic form of glargine) for the treatment of feline diabetes. I've linked their guidelines. The information on treatment for cats begins on page 3. Kyle also gave you the reasons that we encourage you to use a syringe to administer insulin. We encourage dose changes in small increments (0.25 to 0.5u) and the pens dispense only in whole units.

We also encourage feeding your cat a low carbohydrate, canned food diet. Many people here use Friskies or Fancy Feast pate style food. We consider low carb to be under 10% although most people here feed their cats in the vicinity of 5% carb. This is a chart that contains information on carbs and other nutritional values for most of the canned foods available in the US. You have lots of choices!

Just to overwhelm you a bit more, if I've not done so already with all of the links, this is a link to our helping us to help you post. It gives instructions for how to begin -- setting up your signature, spreadsheet, and other helpful information.

@Drashiel - please be more specific in your comments. As Elise noted, you made a sweeping generalization that is not accurate. In some countries, Caninsulin/Vetsulin is the first line choice for insulin that vets are required to prescribe. This was true in the UK and has changed and it sounds like it's the case in Spain. It is NOT the case in the US and, in fact, one of the major veterinary associations does not recommend Vetsulin for cats at all due to it being harsh, fast acting, and of insufficient duration for a cat's metabolic needs. The pens are also not useful for pets. You cannot calibrate the dose in small enough increments.
 
Drashiel said:
Hi, I got a Vetpen for caninsulin. I know that is not the recommended insulin but it is what it is (the only insulin authorize for cats in caninsulin.
Regarding to the pen, it is very easy. For me, the puncture is easier with syringes (you have the feedback when you puncture on skin and don't have to wait 5 seconds) but pen is easier to get exact dosage.
Regards.
Click to expand...
Thank you!
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
@Nancy Freeman and HanSolo - Welcome to FDMB! This is quite literally the best place you never wanted to be.

You are also correct. The first few weeks of learning how to manage your cat's diabetes are overwhelming. That's the bad news. The good news is that we're here to help. The board has members from all over the world so there's usually someone around 24/7 if you have a question. Some of us have been here for many years paying what we learned forward and we have access to veterinary and medical libraries. There's a wealth of knowledge and support for you to draw upon.

We are strong proponents of home testing. It is the best way to keep your kitty safe. This is a link to information on home testing. Many people here use the Walmart Relion brand meter. The cost for strips is very reasonable. Your met may suggest a pet meter. The strips for the pet meters run about $1.00 each. The cost for the Relion strips is about $0.17 each.

I'm not entirely sure what you're referring to as a Clip Pen. Do you mean a Kwik Pen? If so, that's one way that Novolin N is sold. Novolin is not a great insulin for cats. Since 2018, the American Animal Hospital Assn has been recommending either Prozinc or Lantus (or a biosimilar/ generic form of glargine) for the treatment of feline diabetes. I've linked their guidelines. The information on treatment for cats begins on page 3. Kyle also gave you the reasons that we encourage you to use a syringe to administer insulin. We encourage dose changes in small increments (0.25 to 0.5u) and the pens dispense only in whole units.

We also encourage feeding your cat a low carbohydrate, canned food diet. Many people here use Friskies or Fancy Feast pate style food. We consider low carb to be under 10% although most people here feed their cats in the vicinity of 5% carb. This is a chart that contains information on carbs and other nutritional values for most of the canned foods available in the US. You have lots of choices!

Just to overwhelm you a bit more, if I've not done so already with all of the links, this is a link to our helping us to help you post. It gives instructions for how to begin -- setting up your signature, spreadsheet, and other helpful information.

@Drashiel - please be more specific in your comments. As Elise noted, you made a sweeping generalization that is not accurate. In some countries, Caninsulin/Vetsulin is the first line choice for insulin that vets are required to prescribe. This was true in the UK and has changed and it sounds like it's the case in Spain. It is NOT the case in the US and, in fact, one of the major veterinary associations does not recommend Vetsulin for cats at all due to it being harsh, fast acting, and of insufficient duration for a cat's metabolic needs. The pens are also not useful for pets. You cannot calibrate the dose in small enough increments.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I was able to sit and talk with my vet yesterday and now understand all of this much better. We are using a click pen for exactly the right dosage of the insulin prescribed and the method seems simple enough. I was relieved, greatly relieved!, to see how very tiny the needles are !
A lot of fear and trepidation has been alleviated now.
 
The problem with this is you can only increase and decrease in whole units. I used to do test with .25 increments and sometimes less. You can miss a good dose and give too much with whole units. It’s not at all hard to measure small doses. I even used digital calipers are times. Calipers are not necessary. I just wanted to ge as exact as possible. I’m going to link a sticky for you to see what I mean about fine dosing.
 
tiffmaxee said:
The problem with this is you can only increase and decrease in whole units. I used to do test with .25 increments and sometimes less. You can miss a good dose and give too much with whole units. It’s not at all hard to measure small doses. I even used digital calipers are times. Calipers are not necessary. I just wanted to ge as exact as possible. I’m going to link a sticky for you to see what I mean about fine dosing.
Click to expand...
Thank you
 
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