Senvelgo has been wonderful for my kitty.

Megankitty

Megankitty

Member
Hello. My kitty age 12 is currently on Senvelgo for over a year now. Senvelgo - and has been successful for her. She has completely stable blood glucose and was just evaluated with her senior panel the other day. I mention her success because when I came here when first considering and starting Senvelgo, for feedback from anyone who USED it, instead I got a lot of advice and warnings and more…. (Well intended …maybe…) but the comments and feedback completely turned me away from coming back her as it felt more like being shamed for trying it instead of support and such, as I only seemed to hear from people who had not yet had negative things to say about it and tried to convert me to insulin from the get go. 20 years ago I already did the insulin route for our kitty Buggs - I’m no stranger to it, not overwhelmed by or or afraid of using insulin… needles, IV fluids- I’ve done it all. However in these times there are other options available that can work and may be less invasive. Please note: you CANNOT use senvelgo (or Bexcat) if you cat has ALREADY USED INSULIN, from the most recent information. So if you are interested in trying senvelgo or Bexcat at all, it has to be tried first.
So if you are interested in using senvelgo or Bexcat, it’s worth a try. life was extremely complicated when my Megan was diagnosed - my mom in hospice three hours away, my job an hour each way, two kids….house had major damage, and other additional factors that make me grateful for this drug and that she responded well as it was easy on her and easy on me as I didn’t have to worry about her crashing or other issues with administration of others had to step in. I’m grateful for the success she had with it. Had it not worked or were there issues, I would have switched to insulin and figured it out. We followed all the protocol of re-checking with vet and monitoring keytones at home ( urine test strips - simple). So if you have a cat newly diagnosed with diabetes and are considering. Senvelgo, I wanted to offer a SUPPORTIVE post for you - but yes, DO follow up with your vet always continue to check and keytones at home.

Also I switched her food to Friskies Pate variety after throughly reading all the carb/protein values in the amazing list on this site (thank you to who ever compiled all the data) Not using expensive prescription diets. At all. The scrip dry foods still have a TON of carbs….so not surr how that’s supposed to be therapeutic…

In any case just posting for a quick post that may be a relief and of use to anyone considering Senvelgo or Bexcat, and may not come back after posting as I don’t want to see the likely scolding I had before for using senvelgo. My best wishes and sincere love to you and your kitty as you face this new challenge. It’s manageable and there is a wonderful life ahead for you and your kitty as you adapt to this situating and learn to manage the BEST way that works FOR YOU, and your kitty. May you find comfort and love and peace in this new journey. You are an amazing pet parent already for caring so well for your kitty and providing the medicine - whatever it winds up being - for your kitty.

I hope this post was helpful.
 
Thank you for your post.

We always want to learn more and hear both good and bad stories. It helps us be better rounded, more factual, and improve our ability to help others.

To be honest, we have seen some horror stories with Bexacat and Senvelgo and some distraught owners whose cats died and have deep regrets regarding their choices. I think sometimes our warnings might read as negativity, when it’s intended (at least for me) as more of a “take heed, do your due diligence, and please, please know the risks, monitor closely, and have realistic expectations.” I absolutely think there’s a place for Bexacat/Senvelgo, but that there should be careful thought and consideration put into making the recommendation/decision, not just a “here’s an easy, maintenance-free solution.” One of my vets presented Senvelgo as a first choice to me, even pushed it, talking about how easy it was and low risk and so on, like it was a miracle drug. My cat was in DKA at presentation, so not only NOT a candidate for the oral meds, but a high-risk case at that. Thankfully *I* knew that, but had I been the typical rookie owner, I shudder at how easily I could have trustingly gone down the wrong path and had a bad outcome. I do wonder how often that happens and if it perhaps skews our opinions. Some vets are very well versed in the oral options, others not so much. Perhaps that’s part of the problem.

It sounds like you had background in diabetes, commitment to doing what’s best for your cat, took time to understand your options, made the decision based on logic and personal situation, and were willing to pivot immediately if something went wrong. Good for you.

A few questions that I’ve been hoping someone with real-life experience can help answer:
— how do you know when/if you can do a trial off of Senvelgo? Is that something that you and your vet have discussed? We know that many cats can and do go into remission on insulin, but does the same apply to Bexacat/Senvelgo? How would one know?

— Did you switch to low-carb food before or after starting Senvelgo? Switching to low-carb food can dramatically reduce BG, so does one see the BG impact of food with the orals as well? How do you know what impact was a result of Senvelgo vs from the low-carb food?

— What long-term testing is appropriate to ensure ongoing safety? For example, do you test BG at home periodically? Ketones?

Thank you for any additional information you can provide. I think insulin is tried and true so it’s easy to default to that, and that the oral meds are sometimes “oversold” as an easy solution. I’m personally not comfortable “cheerleading” the new meds because there are definite risks. However, I do believe in offering fair, unvarnished info. However you can fill in the blanks is definitely appreciated.
 
I appreciate this post, it's nice to see some positive results.
I'm currently in conversations with my vet about possibly starting one of these for another one of my cats. She's been on steroids, and it's starting to impact her glucose. 😔
I'm well versed in insulin, testing, curves, etc. but the vet thinks she would be a good candidate. We have another round of blood work just to make sure that's still true. If we do decide to start one of these two medications and need to switch to insulin, no issues there. We will be closely monitoring her to see how everything goes!
 
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