Questions regarding my diabetic cat

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Alfred22

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Hi everyone i' am new to this forum. First of all sorry for my english, it's not my first language.

Short story:

My 12 years-old cat (his name is Tigre) got diagnosed with diabetes 2 days ago and i'm a bit lost, i've been reading this forum quite a lot these last few days and i have a lot of questions but right now my main concern is about insulin and dosage.

I took him to the vet on Thursday and they took a blood test, his blood sugar was about 520 and frucstosamine about 380 the rest of the parameters were fine. My cat is about 5.5kg ( don't know how much it is in lb) and vet prescribed caninsulin twice a day 2.5UI each shot. I use 0.5 ml syringe and the dose is about 5% of the total, between 0 and 5 unit.

The thing is he gets very very tired and lethargic between 1-4 hours after the shot and then he starts to return to normal. I'm concerned im giving him too much insulin or is this behaviour normal after insulin shots?

I've read about home testing and adapting dosage but i'm a bit scared since i dont have the knowledge and for now i'm trusting my vet.

I make sure he eats before his shots and then i leave a little bit of food in case he feels bad he can eat.

So my question is, is this normal? or is my cat in danger because of dosage?

Thank you for reading
 
Welcome to FDMB. We'll do our best to answer your questions!

First, Caninsulin is not a great insulin for managing feline diabetes. As the name would suggest, it was developed for canines (dogs). Cats have a much faster metabolism than dogs. As a result, the insulin doesn't last for the full 12-hour duration. Also, Caninsulin acts quickly and can drop blood glucose levels very fast and drop those numbers into a lower than desirable range. (This is one of the reasons that home testing is important.) The American Animal Hospital Association stopped recommending Caninsulin for treating feline diabetes in 2018. They currently recommend either Lantus (glargine) or Prozinc for the reasons I mentioned.

It's very likely that the lethargy you are seeing after giving an injection is a result of numbers being too low. A starting dose of 2.5u is a very large dose. We typically suggest that you start with a dose that is not greater than 1.0u. I would honestly be surprised if your cat wasn't responding with his numbers being lower than you want but I think you have the same thought from your questions. Also, with Caninsulin, you want to feed your cat then wait 30 minutes before giving an injection. It's important for your cat to have eaten given how quickly and harshly Caninsulin works. This is a link to our beginner's guide for Caninsulin. If you've not already seen it, it may be of help.

For now, I have a few thoughts. Get a glucometer and start home testing. We have lots of information on how to do this. Home testing is the best way to keep your cat safe. Another suggestion is to lower the dose. I would think that a starting dose of 0.5u would be far safer than 2.5u. Once you see how your cat is reacting, you can begin to increase the dose based on the home testing data you're collecting. You do not need your vet's permission to home test (or at least you don't in the US). You can also provide food in several smaller meals over those first 4 hours that you see. your cat's response to insulin isn't different than his normal behavior. We typically suggest a low carbohydrate diet but for the moment, I would not change your cat's food until you are home testing.

Please let us know how we can help.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Welcome to FDMB. We'll do our best to answer your questions!

First, Caninsulin is not a great insulin for managing feline diabetes. As the name would suggest, it was developed for canines (dogs). Cats have a much faster metabolism than dogs. As a result, the insulin doesn't last for the full 12-hour duration. Also, Caninsulin acts quickly and can drop blood glucose levels very fast and drop those numbers into a lower than desirable range. (This is one of the reasons that home testing is important.) The American Animal Hospital Association stopped recommending Caninsulin for treating feline diabetes in 2018. They currently recommend either Lantus (glargine) or Prozinc for the reasons I mentioned.

It's very likely that the lethargy you are seeing after giving an injection is a result of numbers being too low. A starting dose of 2.5u is a very large dose. We typically suggest that you start with a dose that is not greater than 1.0u. I would honestly be surprised if your cat wasn't responding with his numbers being lower than you want but I think you have the same thought from your questions. Also, with Caninsulin, you want to feed your cat then wait 30 minutes before giving an injection. It's important for your cat to have eaten given how quickly and harshly Caninsulin works. This is a link to our beginner's guide for Caninsulin. If you've not already seen it, it may be of help.

For now, I have a few thoughts. Get a glucometer and start home testing. We have lots of information on how to do this. Home testing is the best way to keep your cat safe. Another suggestion is to lower the dose. I would think that a starting dose of 0.5u would be far safer than 2.5u. Once you see how your cat is reacting, you can begin to increase the dose based on the home testing data you're collecting. You do not need your vet's permission to home test (or at least you don't in the US). You can also provide food in several smaller meals over those first 4 hours that you see. your cat's response to insulin isn't different than his normal behavior. We typically suggest a low carbohydrate diet but for the moment, I would not change your cat's food until you are home testing.

Please let us know how we can help.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for your response, i really appreciatte all the info you guys provide.

So i've been giving him the 2.5 dose as vet suggested for last 2 days, if i want to lower the dose from now on should i do it gradually or do i immediatly switch to 1?
Regarding home testing, im from Europe, Spain, which glucometers do you recommend that are good and reliable?

We also switched his usual food to a diabetic special dry food, ans also his food schedule, hes been always free feeding but now we are trying to restrict it a little bit, vet suggested 2 times a day but it seemed so radical to me so im trying to feed him smaller meals every few hours.

It's a lot of information to process but i want to do the best i can to give him a good quality of life.
 
Alfred22 said:
Thank you very much for your response, i really appreciatte all the info you guys provide.

So i've been giving him the 2.5 dose as vet suggested for last 2 days, if i want to lower the dose from now on should i do it gradually or do i immediatly switch to 1?
Regarding home testing, im from Europe, Spain, which glucometers do you recommend that are good and reliable?

We also switched his usual food to a diabetic special dry food, ans also his food schedule, hes been always free feeding but now we are trying to restrict it a little bit, vet suggested 2 times a day but it seemed so radical to me so im trying to feed him smaller meals every few hours.

It's a lot of information to process but i want to do the best i can to give him a good quality of life.
Click to expand...
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
@Wendy&Neko
@Elizabeth and Bertie
@Gill & George

Also can you please read @Alfred22 introduce post
 
Last edited:
Hello sorry for the delay in replying I also live in Spain anything here I am here for your questions . We use in contour Next , which is for humans the strips are cheaper on Amazon. There are many more but this one worked for me. You know any questions write me
 
Hola Alfred and Corky, I'm in Granada.


Alfred22 said:
Regarding home testing, im from Europe, Spain, which glucometers do you recommend that are good and reliable?
Click to expand...


I used the freestyle freedom lite glucometer. The pharmacy in my town gave me the meter for free (with 10 strips) when I bought 50 test strips (tiritas)


I also use SD code free glucometer I bought it in line, it requires a little more blood to get a test, but I never had a problem, and the strips worked out cheaper.

These are both human meters.

https://diagnosticoencasa.com/produ...OhBDFTSUQKGPkmnvvPIq4cPe_id1iBbAaAtnaEALw_wcB
 
Alfred22 said:
diabetic special dry food, ans also his food schedule, hes been always free feeding but now we are trying to restrict it a little bit, vet suggested 2 times a day but it seemed so radical to me so im trying to feed him smaller meals every few hours
Click to expand...
The diabetic dry food, I can almost guarantee , will be high in carbohydrates, what is the name of the food, we can look it up for you.

My vet recommended a diabetic dry food too, (hills) and when I came here I realised it was 30% carbohydrate, with a diabetic cat we want to aim at under 10% carbohydrates.


Muy muy importante, aunque recomiendo que cambies a una dieta húmeda y baja en carbohidratos, si decides cambiar haz de primero empezar a medir su glucosa en sangre, y luego hacerle la trancision de forma muy lenta, ya que al reducir la carga de carbohidratos es posible que tengas que bajar la dosis. Hacer el cambio de golpe y sin adaptación puede resultar en una sobredosis peligrosa.

Very, very important, though I would recommend changing to a low carb wet food, you should not change anything until you start home testing, and then slowly start introducing the low carbohydrate food, and removing the dry slowly over a few days.
As you reduce the amount of carbohydrate, his insulin dose may need to be reduced. Making a sudden change can result in an insulin overdose.


Please feel free to ask more questions, there are many cat foods that are low in carbs available to us here in Spain, @xelo y sinver and I buy most of the food on line. (Zooplus)



How are you getting on with Corky?

Is he still feeling lethargic? Did you reduce the dose? Is he eating?
 
Gill & George said:
The diabetic dry food, I can almost guarantee , will be high in carbohydrates, what is the name of the food, we can look it up for you.

My vet recommended a diabetic dry food too, (hills) and when I came here I realised it was 30% carbohydrate, with a diabetic cat we want to aim at under 10% carbohydrates.


Muy muy importante, aunque recomiendo que cambies a una dieta húmeda y baja en carbohidratos, si decides cambiar haz de primero empezar a medir su glucosa en sangre, y luego hacerle la trancision de forma muy lenta, ya que al reducir la carga de carbohidratos es posible que tengas que bajar la dosis. Hacer el cambio de golpe y sin adaptación puede resultar en una sobredosis peligrosa.

Very, very important, though I would recommend changing to a low carb wet food, you should not change anything until you start home testing, and then slowly start introducing the low carbohydrate food, and removing the dry slowly over a few days.
As you reduce the amount of carbohydrate, his insulin dose may need to be reduced. Making a sudden change can result in an insulin overdose.


Please feel free to ask more questions, there are many cat foods that are low in carbs available to us here in Spain, @xelo y sinver and I buy most of the food on line. (Zooplus)



How are you getting on with Corky?

Is he still feeling lethargic? Did you reduce the dose? Is he eating?
Click to expand...

I'm a bit confused, who is Corky? hahaha My cat name is Tigre if thats waht you meant.

I'm still with the same dose as i'm not hometesting yet. I have an appointment with the vet on Friday and i will discuss all this topics with her with all the information you guys gave me.

He is not feeling that lethargic anymore as he was the first two days, but he is still drinking lots of water and peeing a lot.

I'll try to transition him to a wet food diet when i start hometesting, which brand and kinf of food do you recommend?. Now we are giving him Purina dry food for diabetics. Eating is no problem he eats all his meals and sometimes he even asks for more.


Thanks for asking :) really appreciate the support.
 
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