Ollie

[Enajyram1$]

Our baby is 15 years old( 90 in our age) with a recent diagnosis of ( mellitus) diabetes. First glucose reading by vet was a 20! Ollie went on 3 units of ( caninsulin) for the first 14 days, administered once daily in the a.m. We went back to the vet after those 14 days, with a second reading of 8.8! Now the vet wants us to administer another 3 units of insulin in the p.m. The vet was very surprised at the low glucose reading , and was frankly a little dumb-founded. The thing is we accidently at the very beginning of administering the insulin on day1 , had given Ollie 3 units in the p.m, for 4 days, before realizing the mistake! And we're back on track on day 5 of 14, administering only 3 units of insulin a day!!! Anyone have any suggestions. Ollie seems to be ok, except for his one back leg, that works so so, and then not so well either at times!

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Welcome to FDMB.

I'm honestly not sure what your vet is thinking. Cats have a fast metabolism. Diabetic cats need to be on twice a day (every 12 hour) insulin dosing. In addition, Caninsulin is a less than wonderful insulin for cats. It's harsh and it can drop numbers quickly. As such, you need to be sure to check your cat's blood glucose, feed your cat, wait 20 - 30 min, and then give an injection. You need to have food on board to buffer the effect of the insulin so it doesn't drop your cat's numbers too much. Either Prozinc or Lantus (glargine) are far better insulins for managing feline diabetes.

We also strongly encourage home testing. It's the only way to ensure that your cat is in safe blood glucose numbers.

What are your feeding your cat? Just like human diabetics, cats need to be on a low carbohydrate diet. We consider low carb as under 10% carbs although most members here feed their cat a diet that's in the neighborhood of 5% carb. I'm assuming you're outside of the US given the test numbers you've provided. We can provide you with food lists depending on where you're located.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Hello and welcome.

That second reading of 8.8 (158 dg/mL) the vet got, how long after the shot was that?

3 units is a large initial dose for Caninsulin. My girl, whose initial lab work showed much higher blood glucose, started at 1 unit twice a day. We did later switch to Lantus, which was much better for her, as it lasted longer. I'm worried that if the 3 units once a day got him down to 8.8, what would shooting twice a day do? If you are up for learning to home test the blood sugars, we'd be better able to help you.