Our cat was diagnosed with diabetes

[iPappy]

I'm very familiar with Vetsulin, it's a preferred insulin for dogs. Nico was on it for a few months and it was volatile for him. He would hover in the low 200's, then with one unit he would drop in 4 hours to 80. It's an ideal BG reading but was just too huge of a drop that it presented as hypoglycemia. We eventually switched him to prozinc which is one of the preferred depot insulins for cats. Some cats do well on Vetsulin though, it just depends on the cat. Just a word of caution if your not home testing and see signs of a dip in his BG (looks almost like they are drunk.) You can buy some clear karo syrup and or honey to use as an emergency glucose boost if he seems low.

We keep a cat that takes prozinc, and his diabetes is incredibly well controlled. They don't monitor glucose on him, but he is at the vets every few months for some tests.
One time for about a week, I had a dog on vetsulin and this cat on prozinc. I actually kept the insulin bottles in separate refrigerators so I wouldn't be able to accidentally mix them up.

 

[silent meowlook]

I’ve seen cats go into remission fairly quickly on the Lantau Glargine. It is a human insulin and you can get it from any pharmacy. You can buy what they call a pen which is a smaller amount that the bottle and not as expensive. When I worked at the cat hospital, that is all we used and cats do well on it.

Honestly, it sounds like you may want to get a second opinion at a vet that is more knowledgeable about cats and will take your concerns more seriously. Just my opinion.

Are you in the US? If so, you can look for a feline friendly Find a Veterinarian and Practice | The Cat Community

The other thing that concerns me is they haven’t set you up to monitor his glucose at home. It is far less stressful on the cat and also more economical. There is a device that can be placed on the cat and you just scan it to get a reading. Or, there is a glucometer you can purchase and the blood sample is just a quick needle stick on the edge of the ear. It uses a tiny amount of blood. It is easy to do.

I would ask them for something for nausea. When cats are interested in food, then walk away, it can be due to nausea.

 

[silent meowlook]

I meant ask for something additional to the Cerenia for nausea. I know you said Dean is on Cerenia. There is a product called Odansetron. It might help.

 

[yomamab]

Dean has been eating much better, and now we have to try to make sure that he doesn't eat too much. Well, we pretty much have to give him measured amounts of food. If it's really important for us to give him diabetic cat food, we'll be ordering it from our veterinarian, but for now he and his brother are eating the same Beyond dry food that they've been eating for the past several years.

We have been giving him 1-1/2 units of insulin twice a day, twelve hours apart, but after having him into the vet for his appointment today for a "Glucose Curve" (we took him in in the morning and picked him up in the late afternoon). I remember the vet tech giving his number and it sounded pretty high to me, something like 550. I feel like we're getting nowhere because I think that's about what it was two weeks ago when we were in there. So now we were told to give him 2-1/2 units and we have to take him back in in another two weeks for another "Glucose Curve". I'm wondering how many return visits this is going to turn out to be till all is said and done. They sure don't increase his insulin by much at a time, but they explained that they don't want to overdo the dosage and have Dean "tank" (if he ends up with too much insulin in his body to take care of the sugar).

They told us that he could even go into remission, but I'm wondering if such a thing could happen when it seems to me like his glucose is pretty high. I'd love if that would happen, but I don't want to get my hopes up.

Also, now we're considering pet insurance (probably a little too late because nobody that I can see online covers pre-existing conditions). All of the companies I've looked at seem pretty expensive for what they offer. I see some pay 80%, some 90%. I know they won't pay for things connected with Dean's diabetes and so I was thinking, "Well, at least his wellness checks would be covered but in at least one case the only way that stuff would be covered is if we'd buy a rider specifically for those things, which is of course more money on top of the money for the regular insurance. It's all so confusing and my head is swimming. I don't understand all of what I'm reading. I think they intentionally make it confusion. If their goal is to discourage me from buying pet insurance, it's working. Part of me just wants to say heck with it and give up. Right now I'm seeing more disadvantages than advantages. If anyone could give me some guidance with this, I sure would appreciate it. I appreciate the help I've gotten on here so far.

 

[Morpheus1967]

Dean has been eating much better, and now we have to try to make sure that he doesn't eat too much. Well, we pretty much have to give him measured amounts of food. If it's really important for us to give him diabetic cat food, we'll be ordering it from our veterinarian, but for now he and his brother are eating the same Beyond dry food that they've been eating for the past several years.

We have been giving him 1-1/2 units of insulin twice a day, twelve hours apart, but after having him into the vet for his appointment today for a "Glucose Curve" (we took him in in the morning and picked him up in the late afternoon). I remember the vet tech giving his number and it sounded pretty high to me, something like 550. I feel like we're getting nowhere because I think that's about what it was two weeks ago when we were in there. So now we were told to give him 2-1/2 units and we have to take him back in in another two weeks for another "Glucose Curve". I'm wondering how many return visits this is going to turn out to be till all is said and done. They sure don't increase his insulin by much at a time, but they explained that they don't want to overdo the dosage and have Dean "tank" (if he ends up with too much insulin in his body to take care of the sugar).

They told us that he could even go into remission, but I'm wondering if such a thing could happen when it seems to me like his glucose is pretty high. I'd love if that would happen, but I don't want to get my hopes up.

Also, now we're considering pet insurance (probably a little too late because nobody that I can see online covers pre-existing conditions). All of the companies I've looked at seem pretty expensive for what they offer. I see some pay 80%, some 90%. I know they won't pay for things connected with Dean's diabetes and so I was thinking, "Well, at least his wellness checks would be covered but in at least one case the only way that stuff would be covered is if we'd buy a rider specifically for those things, which is of course more money on top of the money for the regular insurance. It's all so confusing and my head is swimming. I don't understand all of what I'm reading. I think they intentionally make it confusion. If their goal is to discourage me from buying pet insurance, it's working. Part of me just wants to say heck with it and give up. Right now I'm seeing more disadvantages than advantages. If anyone could give me some guidance with this, I sure would appreciate it. I appreciate the help I've gotten on here so far.

I know it's difficult, but you really need to try and get him switched over to wet food. Dry food is too carbohydrate rich for a diabetic cat. If he insists on only eating dry, definitely switch to a diabetic friendly food. I personalyy use a combination of about 60% glycobalance and 40% Orijen. But he only gets 1/4 cup of this daily. The rest of his diet is wet. Fed twice daily, right before his shot.

550 is still very high, and I am not surprised they raised his dose. We had the same thing happen with our cat. Started him at one unit. Went in for his curve, and didn't even make it the full day of testing, his levels were so off. So they raised it to two units. Two months later, his curve tests were in the acceptable range, so that is where we stayed.

Someone earlier stated you can't give your cats treats. This is simply not true. Our Miller has been living with diabetes since last June, and he still gets a treat daily. However, you need to find a diabetic friendly treat. We like the freeze dried variety, but more importantly Miller does.

 

[fionasmom]

It is true that insulin cannot be radically increased at one time, so your vet is doing the right thing on that account. My suspicion is that while this may require a few more trips to the vet, it will eventually balance out and come to an acceptable level. The same thing can happen with people who use diabetic medications.

As for insurance, I am sure that an ongoing condition like diabetes will be excluded no matter how many companies you check. American Kennel Club does, but that is only for dogs. You can take out an insurance policy which will guard against other illnesses that Dean has not presented with; you don't have to just take wellness. Some companies have a waiting period for non-chronic conditions. For example, if Dean had a UTI two months ago, it would not be an exclusion but might only result in a 6 month waiting period.

Depending on the relationship that your family has to Dean and what you would do if he had another condition, insurance is not a bad idea. My biggest mistake was not insuring my dog once he was excluded from being covered for one chronic condition, only to have him develop another illness that would have been covered.

 

[yomamab]

I know it's difficult, but you really need to try and get him switched over to wet food. Dry food is too carbohydrate rich for a diabetic cat. If he insists on only eating dry, definitely switch to a diabetic friendly food. I personalyy use a combination of about 60% glycobalance and 40% Orijen. But he only gets 1/4 cup of this daily. The rest of his diet is wet. Fed twice daily, right before his shot.

550 is still very high, and I am not surprised they raised his dose. We had the same thing happen with our cat. Started him at one unit. Went in for his curve, and didn't even make it the full day of testing, his levels were so off. So they raised it to two units. Two months later, his curve tests were in the acceptable range, so that is where we stayed.

Someone earlier stated you can't give your cats treats. This is simply not true. Our Miller has been living with diabetes since last June, and he still gets a treat daily. However, you need to find a diabetic friendly treat. We like the freeze dried variety, but more importantly Miller does.

I wonder why the veterinarian seems to be okay with us feeding him dry food and wet food. They didn't mention that the dry food is bad for Dean. We were planning on feeding both. They can order both for him, diabetic food, of course. Our daughter (lives with us) already ordered both.

Yes, I was disappointed that his count was pretty high. I really hope that it doesn't take an extremely long time to get this straightened out. We really aren't rich and after this, we probably shouldn't get any more pets. The bills lately are really keeping us hopping.

We will still give both of our cats treats. They look forward to it so much. It's just to know not to go overboard, even though, they'd probably eat four times the amount that they're given. Both of them really are hogs.

 

[yomamab]

It is true that insulin cannot be radically increased at one time, so your vet is doing the right thing on that account. My suspicion is that while this may require a few more trips to the vet, it will eventually balance out and come to an acceptable level. The same thing can happen with people who use diabetic medications.

As for insurance, I am sure that an ongoing condition like diabetes will be excluded no matter how many companies you check. American Kennel Club does, but that is only for dogs. You can take out an insurance policy which will guard against other illnesses that Dean has not presented with; you don't have to just take wellness. Some companies have a waiting period for non-chronic conditions. For example, if Dean had a UTI two months ago, it would not be an exclusion but might only result in a 6 month waiting period.

Depending on the relationship that your family has to Dean and what you would do if he had another condition, insurance is not a bad idea. My biggest mistake was not insuring my dog once he was excluded from being covered for one chronic condition, only to have him develop another illness that would have been covered.

Yeah, that's what I've been finding about all these insurance companies, that they won't cover Dean's diabetes. If only we had looked into insurance sooner...shoulda coulda woulda!

That's too bad about not insuring your dog and he'd have been covered with his second illness, but here our cats are seven years old and we still don't know what to get. I kind of doubt if most people have pet insurance. Right now it's one big headache with us trying to figure out what to do.

 

[yomamab]

I’ve seen cats go into remission fairly quickly on the Lantau Glargine. It is a human insulin and you can get it from any pharmacy. You can buy what they call a pen which is a smaller amount that the bottle and not as expensive. When I worked at the cat hospital, that is all we used and cats do well on it.

Honestly, it sounds like you may want to get a second opinion at a vet that is more knowledgeable about cats and will take your concerns more seriously. Just my opinion.

Are you in the US? If so, you can look for a feline friendly Find a Veterinarian and Practice | The Cat Community

The other thing that concerns me is they haven’t set you up to monitor his glucose at home. It is far less stressful on the cat and also more economical. There is a device that can be placed on the cat and you just scan it to get a reading. Or, there is a glucometer you can purchase and the blood sample is just a quick needle stick on the edge of the ear. It uses a tiny amount of blood. It is easy to do.

I would ask them for something for nausea. When cats are interested in food, then walk away, it can be due to nausea.

Sorry I somehow missed your reply before to me. I hate to switch insulins now that Dean has been on this Vetsulin. Besides, with my luck the pharmacies around here would say they wouldn't have the Lantau Llargine. Knowing the vet, they wouldn't be willing to have him on that. Also, I'm afraid if we'd take him somewhere else, we'd have to start all over again and we just can't do that. We're lacking the funds.

We're in PA. We've been taking our cats to this veterinary practice for years now. You don't always see the same veterinarian. You might see one one time and another the next time. They have either four or five in there. We've been able to see the same two, though, since this started with Dean.

I don't know if most people monitor their cat's glucose at home. It is funny that they didn't mention that to us. Now I'm wondering if they'll be stringing us along for half a year or whatever with this veterinarian glucose curve visits, which are each around $250. That's $500/mo, which for us is a lot. I wouldn't put Dean to sleep because of this, but I can see why many people would have to end up doing that, which is sad to think about. I watch Dr. Jeff, Rocky Mountain Vet, and wish more veterinarians would be compassionate like he is. It sure would prevent a lot of people from making decisions that they wish they wouldn't have to make and which I bet are heart-wrenching for them.

 

[fionasmom]

Once Dean stabilizes, you should not be looking at two visits a month. This is what Vetsulin says about monitoring the glucose curve.
Glucose Curves for Cats | Vetsulin.
Once stable, they are recommending every 2 to 4 months.

My cat vet, oddly enough, does not recommend home monitoring; it is my dog's vet that uses the FreeStyle Libre, but that is not the only way to monitor a cat. Some vets feel that it will be difficult for a client to do; here is one recommendation from Vetsulin again, about home monitoring in a couple of ways. You might bring this up to your vet, especially if Dean is calm enough to allow a quick prick on his ear pinna or paw pad.
Monitoring Blood Glucose for Cats With Diabetes | Vetsulin.

Generic article written from the vet's point of view, but very clear.
Home Monitoring of Blood Glucose: Practical Tips for Incorporating It into Your Practice

 

[Kflowers]

Regarding the monitoring of the cat's glucose during the day at the vet. --- your experience maybe different. Being pissed off will raise a cat's glucose reading, it's part of the body's way of defending itself against an enemy by producing more energy and power for the moment.

With our diabetic cat, there was no home monitoring, the vet wanted her brought in the evening before they ran the all-day test. The all-day test means they do several glucose readings during the day. Coming in the evening before was so she would be calm. Seemed daft to me since she didn't care for the vet, but okay. The first glucose test after her morning insulin, gave a good reading. Every single test after that was over 300. When I picked her up the vet said once they did the first test she was annoyed (I think he meant pissed) with everyone who came near her even if they didn't touch her. This meant none of the later readings were of any use. He did not suggest that I was capable of monitoring her at home. However, we lucked up on a dose that worked well for her.

 

[BellaBlue82]

Just my personal experience, but the vets I came in contact with in my area did not suggest home testing. But when I did my own research, it made sense - humans do it, why can't it work for cats? So I spoke to them about it. The main reason they don't suggest it, as you can imagine, is they do not want to put that pressure on pet parents. But since I was open to it, the vet gave me her blessing. She would also do tests every 4 months, just to make sure our numbers were in sync.

I had home tested Nico for two years (until he passed.) He started on 2 units of insulin, and before he got really sick (different issue) I had him down to less than .25 ml of insulin. I did my own glucose curves at home each month, tracked his daily numbers and monthly survey in a spreadsheet, and sent it to my vet every month.

The beneficial part was that I didn't have to take my boy who hated car rides to the vet every month. It became like second nature, and I could get a test done in seconds. It just took practice. But again, everyone is different. No pressure, but also don't be afraid to ask (or tell lol) the vet what you're goal is. The other benefit was that being in the vet clinic caused his glucose to shoot WAY up. At home if he we're normally 120-130, at the clinic he would go to 360. As stated above, stress has a major impact on their glucose. So I could truly see the benefit when testing at home.

Also don't be afraid to switch insulins. Kitties are like humans - insulin is not a one size fits all. The vet may in fact suggest a switch if they see the one he is on is not working ideally. I also had to switch to a human insulin for Nico, and once we did that's when we saw the progress. Again, just items for discussion with the vet if you're concerned about his numbers not coming down.

 

[yomamab]

It's been awhile since I checked in here last. We've been going through this diabetes problem that Dean has, plus I guess I said that the vet also said he has Inflammatory Bowel Disease (I think that's the name of it), Pancreatitis and he was also having trouble with his liver. She put him on insulin and for awhile there his numbers were all over the place but always pretty high, usually up in the 500's or even higher. I think this case even had the vet stumped. She more or less said that she never had a case like this before. We had a glucose meter (can't think of the name of it) on Dean for two weeks, which he absolutely hated, and he had to wear this shirt that they put on him at the vet's. This gadget on Dean was coordinated with my phone somehow (our daughter did all this) and it sent the numbers in to the vet's office. One day when my daughter checked Dean's glucose (after we refused to put another meter on him because it made him so miserable) and she was puncturing his ear to get blood to check it that way, his blood sugar came way down, something like 80 something. We could hardly believe our eyes! Dean was going into remission, and his sugar has been okay for the past two months. They had told us that there was a chance that he could go into remission and his has. Yay! Now, we're crossing our fingers that he doesn't come out of remission. I think they said that that is a possibility.
I forgot to mention that he is still on Atopica and it's down to twice a week now. I guess that must be helping his allergies and whatever else it's supposed to be helping. Honestly, it's been such a whirlwind that it's hard to remember everything. I'm just so happy that Dean is much better, and he even acts like a much younger cat. It makes me wonder just how long these problems have been affecting him. This has been very upsetting for us thinking that he was going to die. I think that if we'd have waited another day to call the vet, that just might have happened. I could tell from what the vet had said that she thought that he was going to "succumb to his illnesses". Trust me, we have forced ourselves to ignore him whenever he begs for food, which he does a lot. He has always begged whenever we ate meals, and unfortunately we had given in to him in the past, which I'm sure was probably a big part of his medical issues. I didn't realize that we could be killing him. I think all of the cats we've ever had did the same thing and we fed them too, but none of them suffered from our ignorance like Dean has. I'm so grateful that he's been given a second chance at life. I hate losing a cat at any age, but he's only going on eight years old, which I thought he should have many years ahead of him yet.

 

[fionasmom]

Thank you so much for letting us know this! Members often look for updated information on threads and this will be a big help. You did a great job with Dean even though it was stressful for all of you. How is Dean doing with the IBD and pancreatitis?

 

[yomamab]

Thanks! The vet said his blood tests looked good, so that's great news. I don't know if the one med fixed everything, but however he got better, I'm glad. For the price of the Atopica, it ought to be a miracle drug. Ha.