My worst fears confirmed today

Just found out today my ten year old cat, Norman, is diabetic. Not a total surprise, he has been drinking and urinating a lot lately. Still, overwhelming at the thought I'll have to give him two injections a day. The vet was out of the insulin, so we're going back tomorrow. So glad to see this website. Looking forward to getting, and giving, support to others in the same situation.

 

Welcome to the group. My 12-year old, Joshi, was diagnosed 10 days ago. I too was nervous about giving my furgirl shots twice a day, too - but it is really not that bad. In fact, it is light years easier than giving my cat a pill. You'll do fine - Joshi doesn't even flinch when I give her injections.

 

Thanks. The vet said he had a good temperament so he would take the shots well. Do you have to go back soon? What type of insulin do you use? The vet offered me three choices. Hope I picked the right one.

 

Don't be afraid! It seems overwhelming at first, but once you get over the initial learning curve (learning about diet, how to give and dose insulin, how to home test), everything definitely gets much easier! Bandit's been diabetic since 2009, and he's been off insulin longer than he's been on it. With the right treatment, diabetic cats can live perfectly healthy and normal lives! Their pancreas has the amazing ability to heal when it has a little help from the insulin.

I always gave Bandit his injections while he ate, and he never even noticed I was doing it! Home testing was a bit more challenging, and he fought me a lot at first, but after a while (and a treat after every test) he accepted it and now he comes running and sits patiently for me and purrs while I test him.

The insulins with the best remission rates for cats are Lantus (glargine) and Levemir (detemir). Prozinc (PZI) is also ok to use in cats, but it has remission rates that are a little lower. Insulins that should not be used for cats because of their poor duration of action in cats are Novolin (Humulin) or Vetsulin. If your vet prescribed Lantus or Levemir, it's much cheaper to take the script and order it from a Canadian pharmacy online, as it's a bit pricy in the US.

 

Our vet wanted us to come around a week later to do follow up testing - sounds like that's the average protocol. We've started on Vetsulin. I didn't really know much about the other choices, but so far Joshi is doing well. I've been reading a lot of threads on here about the different insulins, and there are so many different opinions. I do trust my vets judgement - so for now, I'm not going to worry too much whether I made the "right" decision on the insulin choice. If it continues to work well for her, we'll stay with Vetsulin. If not, we'll try other options. I'm just glad to know there are other options to try.

Learning all there is to know about feline DM is sure overwhelming, isn't it?

 

Just a word of caution--I would just make sure you're not waiting too long to switch insuilns if the Vetsulin isn't working. I wouldn't give it any more than 4-6 weeks. There's a window of remission with Lantus and Levemir, and the sooner you start treatment with it, the better your odds are. Once you get past 6 months on another insulin, the remission rates drop with Lantus/Levemir from 80+% to 35%-40%.

Cats' metabolisms are twice as fast as people or dogs, which is why Vetsulin has a very poor duration of action in cats but works well for dogs. It simply can't keep their BG in a normal range long enough for good control. If your cat doesn't get to remission within the first few weeks once the change in diet to low carb canned food has settled in, it's very unlikely you'll ever get there on that insulin.

 

Our cat was just diagnosed last week...it has been tough but my husband and I were so glad to find this group, and also the Facebook group. We'll get through this together!