Reaction to Lantus

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I am dealing with diarrhea after the Lantus switch too. I was wondering if Lantus caused the problem, but the vet so far thinks it's actually diet. I switched to FF when I switched to Lantus, so what the vet said made sense. My cat also got a UTI shortly after the switch and was treated with antibiotics (the vet said it wouldn't cause diarrhea :-| ) so that could have been part of the problem too. Either way, it's been ~20 days of diarrhea and we are currently treating with nutritional clay, probiotics and a diet change. The diet change is mixing 50/50 plain boiled chicken and the FF canned food. I don't know if this will work for your cat, or if your cat is having diarrhea for the same reasons but this is what we are trying. Another note is, I refused to try the I/D diet the vet suggested because of it's hi carb content.
 
My cat had some constipation and then loose stool after switching to FF. Got him some cat grass (wheat grass) to chew on and it stabilized his stool. :-|
 
Hmmm, cat grass. I hadn't thought of that. I always think of that as a hair all remedy. Maybe I will give that a try too. :smile:
 
The insulin shouldn't be the cause. Diet can certainly be the culprit. AB's can cause diarrhea, or any type of parasite or virus in the digestive tract. Basically, it's most likely that something going in the front end is causing things to come out "wrong" at the back end.

The other thing you would want to keep an eye on, especially if the diarrhea goes on for any length of time, is dehydration. Although it might sound illogical, you want to make sure the kitty is getting enough water to make up for the excess of fluids leaving the body as diarrhea.

Carl
 
One other thing to check is the protein used in the foods. It could be a food allergy you are now just discovering due to whatever you might have been feeding before vs. now. Common food allergies are seafood, beef (this is what Mikey is allergic to), or even poultry. I would suggest doing an elimination test and feeding only one type of protein (like chicken) for a while to see if that clears things up. If not, switch to another protein type (like beef) and try that for a while. Some cats even do better on unique proteins like rabbit or venison.
 
You may find it helps to use a probiotic if you're not already trying that.
It can sometimes be really beneficial in countering 'dire rear'....

Incidentally, I've seen it reported on human diabetes forums that Lantus can have a laxative effect. (Some people have changed their insulin because of this.) So maybe this is possible problem with kitties too....?

Eliz
 
Ingerbod, my diabetic cat, has been on FF since her treatment began about 3 months ago. Vet started her on Novolin N and after 2 months I made him change her to Lantus based on internet research. The change was the right thing to do as I am beginning to see stabilization on 2 units of Lantus bid. Only issue is the loose stool.
 
any weight loss? How much is she eating per day? What colour is the stool? I am wondering about exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.
 
Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Incidentally, I've seen it reported on human diabetes forums that Lantus can have a laxative effect. (Some people have changed their insulin because of this.) So maybe this is possible problem with kitties too....?

Eliz
Click to expand...

I did some further research on this and found one study that showed about 10.7% of human diabetics reported having diarrhea on Lantus. 10.7% is small, but it is a possibility. I am considering switching to Levemir (which is what some people did) and seeing if it clears up my cat's diarrhea like it did for the people. It may work, it may not; it's just an idea.
 
I posted this in another thread, but seems this potential answer was missed here too:
We've had similar problems as other people on this old topic, with some rapid breathing, vomiting and diarrhea, plus stubborn BG numbers. In fact, when we've temporarily reduced the dose, Sammy, our 14yo male, numbers improved temporarily.

It's been a relentless quest to improve his BG numbers over the past 18 months, and we stuck with Lantus, believing any vomiting etc, was due to some GI issues, and so treated him with Pepcid, Cerenia etc. It seems we might have been mistaken...

We have just requested a prescription of PZI/Ventsulin from our vet, and I'll let you know how it goes. Meanwhile, it might be worth your while to read this academic article on this 2016 Glargine hypersensitivity.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5362920/
 
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