Tumil K Gel for Diabetic Cats?
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tuckers mom
Very Active Member
Re: Tumil K for Diabetic Cats?
Has your kitty been diagnosed with low potassium? If so you need to give the potassium. Tumil-K did not affect Tucker's blood sugar but he was on several meds at the time so I really can't say much about that.
If your kitty has low potassium then the body can't utilize the insulin well, it needs potassium and insulin in order to get nutrients into the cells. A hypokalemic kitty will lose muscle mass, just like an unregulated diabetic kitty.
I'm not a vet or an expert, my experience is only with Tucker who had a couple of potassium crashes even while taking three Tumil-K pills every day.
Has your kitty been diagnosed with low potassium? If so you need to give the potassium. Tumil-K did not affect Tucker's blood sugar but he was on several meds at the time so I really can't say much about that.
If your kitty has low potassium then the body can't utilize the insulin well, it needs potassium and insulin in order to get nutrients into the cells. A hypokalemic kitty will lose muscle mass, just like an unregulated diabetic kitty.
I'm not a vet or an expert, my experience is only with Tucker who had a couple of potassium crashes even while taking three Tumil-K pills every day.
C
Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)
Guest
Re: Tumil K for Diabetic Cats?
Kim
as long as it's pills and not the paste or some other form, it won't affect the bg. Apparently the pills taste crappy so they make it more pallateable by sweetening it up. My vet recommended it for Bob too. When I tried to.order it online it said I needed a scrip....
carl
Kim
as long as it's pills and not the paste or some other form, it won't affect the bg. Apparently the pills taste crappy so they make it more pallateable by sweetening it up. My vet recommended it for Bob too. When I tried to.order it online it said I needed a scrip....
carl
kse
Very Active Member
Re: Tumil K for Diabetic Cats?
Okay, let me give a little more information and see if you can give me further advice.
Jennifer, Kitty has been diagnosed with CRF. Her potassium level was 3.9--the VERY low side of normal. I have read that in CRF cats, if the potassium is lower than 4, that supplements should be started. She is also anemic--18.6 and we started epogen today. She is very wobbly in her back legs and both the low potassium or anemia could be the culprit. The vet gave me Tumil K--but, it is in the paste form and smells very sweet! How low was Tucker's Potassium?
Carl, do you think the paste is going to mess with the numbers. I don't have a lot of choice, but I can pill her if necessary or is there a better option.
For the last couple of weeks, her BGs have been all over the board. I had her blood work done 5 weeks ago and her kidneys were stable, though a little high --2.3 crt and 52 BUN (constant for 12 months)....now they are creeping up 3.4 crt. and 102 BUN. I am giving sub qs daily. She is receiving B12 shots once a week and injectable iron. Her Phosphorus was also elevated 10.5-- she is now on binders.
Any help? Thanks!
Okay, let me give a little more information and see if you can give me further advice.
Jennifer, Kitty has been diagnosed with CRF. Her potassium level was 3.9--the VERY low side of normal. I have read that in CRF cats, if the potassium is lower than 4, that supplements should be started. She is also anemic--18.6 and we started epogen today. She is very wobbly in her back legs and both the low potassium or anemia could be the culprit. The vet gave me Tumil K--but, it is in the paste form and smells very sweet! How low was Tucker's Potassium?
Carl, do you think the paste is going to mess with the numbers. I don't have a lot of choice, but I can pill her if necessary or is there a better option.
For the last couple of weeks, her BGs have been all over the board. I had her blood work done 5 weeks ago and her kidneys were stable, though a little high --2.3 crt and 52 BUN (constant for 12 months)....now they are creeping up 3.4 crt. and 102 BUN. I am giving sub qs daily. She is receiving B12 shots once a week and injectable iron. Her Phosphorus was also elevated 10.5-- she is now on binders.
Any help? Thanks!
Larry and Kitties
Very Active Member
It should have little effect. The ingredients are:
Active Ingredient(s)
Each 0.65 g (1/4 level teaspoonful) of powder contains: Potassium gluconate 2 mEq (468 mg) in a palatable protein base.
Each tablet contains:
Potassium gluconate
2 mEq (468 mg)
Above from:
http://www.drugs.com/vet/tumil-k.html
Active Ingredient(s)
Each 0.65 g (1/4 level teaspoonful) of powder contains: Potassium gluconate 2 mEq (468 mg) in a palatable protein base.
Each tablet contains:
Potassium gluconate
2 mEq (468 mg)
Above from:
http://www.drugs.com/vet/tumil-k.html
tuckers mom
Very Active Member
When Tucker crashed his potassium got as low as 2.3, we were never able to get it above 3.2 - 3.4, we tried, but it just didn't happen. He took the pill form, we crushed it and put it in Soulistic canned gravy food, the tuna kind from Petco. It's gluten free so it was good for his IBD and didn't raise his BGs. But Tucker was different from other cats, he also started prednisolone for a brain tumor at the same time and his BGs still went down. I believe for him the pain relief, pred making his tumor shrink equaled less pain, therefore lower BGs.
CRF kitties, hypert and even FDs can become hypokalemic due to the amount of water intake and output.
Perhaps you could talk to the vet about adding the K straight to the fluids. Since you're giving subqs anyway, why add more stress with another pill? When Tucker needed fluids for pancreatitis flares, our vet added K to the bag but he took that in addition to his pills because his hypokalemia was so bad.
CRF kitties, hypert and even FDs can become hypokalemic due to the amount of water intake and output.
Perhaps you could talk to the vet about adding the K straight to the fluids. Since you're giving subqs anyway, why add more stress with another pill? When Tucker needed fluids for pancreatitis flares, our vet added K to the bag but he took that in addition to his pills because his hypokalemia was so bad.
C
Carl & Polly & Bob (GA)
Guest
Kim,
What Jennifer said about K in the fluids....that's how I got the K into Bob. I just detested giving him fluids. It bothered me more than it did him, but I just never got past jabbing that big old harpoon in his back. If Kitty tolerates the sub-q fluids well, that would be the easiest way to get the potassium into her system.
Larry posted the info about the powder, but are the ingredients listed on the tube of paste? There's got to be some kind of "sugar" in it to make it tasty. If so, I don't get how it wouldn't raise the BG some. My vet said to do what Jenn did with Tucker....crush the pills and mix them in the food.
Bob was lower than 3.9 as well. Pre-diabetes he was 4.3, but he was tested multiple times at 3.2 - 3.4.
One thing I have noticed in the months I've been reading about it is that there seems to be various ranges that are considered "normal". My vet wanted Bob to be above 3.5, but I've seen "3.5 to 5.0" stated as normal, and also seen "4.5 to 5.3", and "3.5 to 5.5" all listed as "normal". I'm not quite sure what to believe as far as what is normal. The other concern I've always had is that "hyper" is just as bad as "hypo". So it's something that has to be tested for frequently when you are using a supplement. I guess it depends on where your vet wants Kitty's level, especially given the CRF issue.
Carl
What Jennifer said about K in the fluids....that's how I got the K into Bob. I just detested giving him fluids. It bothered me more than it did him, but I just never got past jabbing that big old harpoon in his back. If Kitty tolerates the sub-q fluids well, that would be the easiest way to get the potassium into her system.
Larry posted the info about the powder, but are the ingredients listed on the tube of paste? There's got to be some kind of "sugar" in it to make it tasty. If so, I don't get how it wouldn't raise the BG some. My vet said to do what Jenn did with Tucker....crush the pills and mix them in the food.
Bob was lower than 3.9 as well. Pre-diabetes he was 4.3, but he was tested multiple times at 3.2 - 3.4.
One thing I have noticed in the months I've been reading about it is that there seems to be various ranges that are considered "normal". My vet wanted Bob to be above 3.5, but I've seen "3.5 to 5.0" stated as normal, and also seen "4.5 to 5.3", and "3.5 to 5.5" all listed as "normal". I'm not quite sure what to believe as far as what is normal. The other concern I've always had is that "hyper" is just as bad as "hypo". So it's something that has to be tested for frequently when you are using a supplement. I guess it depends on where your vet wants Kitty's level, especially given the CRF issue.
Carl
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