My cat is diabetic and going to start insulin, please see details?

Question

I am diabetic and have been for over 20 years. I am very familiar with it but does anyone else have a diabetic cat/pet that can help?
I was told to start with Humulin NPH 2 units a day. Then we will retest.
Please tell me if you have had good success with your diabetic pet, and what you do. I want to do all I can to help my pet. Thanks.

Answer 1

There is a Yahoo group for felinediabetes. Go to http://www.yahoogroups.com and put in a search for that group.

I belong to two feline cancer groups and created one of my own for felinebladdercancer (very rare). The members and owner/moderators of these groups are experience in helping their cats with the diabetes problem. They will support you in your journey with your cat, answer any questions you have about the shots, diet, prognosis, etc.

Good luck. I am sure you will be happy if you join.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Hi Mitchy,

Welcome! Yes, there are many of us treating diabetic kitties!

If you haven't found it yet, go to Feline Diabetes.com. They have a wealth of information, including a message board, and you can ask questions of other diabetic kitty caretakers. There is also a Yahoo diabetic cat group.

It is good that you are familiar with the illness since you are diabetic also. Do you use a BG meter with the sipping type strips? You can test kitty's BG levels by pricking her ear. There are links on the FD website to videos that will show you step by step how to do this. You can also use the reagent strips to test the glucose and ketones in the urine.

I have a 14 yo DLH female that was diagnosed in June 2002. She takes 3 units PZI once daily. She started on Humilin but does much better on the PZI. I use the BD Ultra-Fine II syringes (short tip). I inject in her lower side near her belly while she is eating and she never complains. I alternate sides. Some inject in the skin between the shoulder blades, but Kelley didn't like that. Keeping the stress down is important!

She is going strong, has a healthy appetite and keeps her weight in check. The only problem she is having is starting to loose her eyesight, but she can still get around just fine, finds her litter box and food dishes without any trouble. Kelley sleeps on my pillow with a paw stretched out to touch me. So if I am not facing her, she starts calling 'maa maaa' for me to turn over!

You want to watch for hypoglycemia, but with you starting at 2 units daily, you should be okay.

What was her BG level? My Kelley started at 605 and now we stay in the 150-200 range, which is where she feels the best. The normal BG range for a kitty is 70-170.

The next thing is to feed a good wet canned food diet. There are others posters here on Answers that are experts in that field and I am sure they will respond. The FD website has food comparison charts for both wet and dry foods. The main thing is that dry food has more grains/carbs than any kitty needs, especially a diabetic kitty..even the diabetic prescription diets.

Purrs to you and kitty.

Answer 4

my dog was diabetic - once we got her sugar levels under control, she lived for several more years quite comfortably (we lost her a few weeks ago to a different disorder but she had been treated successfully for diabetes for over 3 yrs). she didn't mind the needles, she did very well with controlled feedings (had been free-fed before that), it only took a month or two to tweak the insulin to what she needed. you have to be very careful to not go too high on the insulin because treating low sugar in animals is far harder to treat than high sugar. ask if they'll do an A1C after some time to check the average. and unlike other animals, sometimes, cats will "recover" from diabetes and no longer require insulin, so that's a possibility in the future too. good luck! it looks like fate gave the kitty to the right owner!

Answer 5

You can still get Humulin? I heard that was taken off the market and not available anymore.

Ours is on Lantus, he's doing fine and is virtually back to normal. Giving the shots is easy, we're doing 2 units in the morning and 2 in the evening.

There's at least two diabetic cat lists over on yahoogroups you might want to join, they can give you all sorts of information.

Answer 6

My cousin had a cat that was diabetic. Her cat Patty Ann
lived to be almost twenty yrs old. ( died two weeks before she would have turned twenty) She always gave her the injection in the loose part of the neck. I don't know how old your cat is. But it could still live to be quite old even with
diabetes. Good luck. Just remember the best person to ask for advice is your vet.

Answer 7

My parents used to have a diabetic cat. They would give the injections in the loose skin of her neck, then rub it to take the sting out. Afterwards, they would give her some of her favorite food. She didn't like the shots, but she was always there at the refrigerator when it was time.