Another Diabetic Cat

Hi,

Pringles previously had been diagnosed around 2 years ago and I have been testing her daily before every dosage. She uses Vetsulin. My other cat, who is 16 years old, was just diagnosed with diabetes. He had a bad visit to the vet to get blood drawn and had to be gassed in order to get the blood samples, so we determined it was best to just start his insulin treatment from home.

The cat weights approximately 12.3 pounds. His initial glucose level at the test was 413, but when I first tested him at home and found the problem he was at 518. He had been depressed and crying and I took him into the vet and from exam initally found no problems so we didn't do any additional testing. I tested him at home, since I already everything and he came in at the 518 level. We took him back and the vet got the other value. The vet indicated that I should start him at 3 units/1 x day. I think this is a little high just due to my experience and would rather start him lower and start from there. I was thinking maybe starting at 1.5. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Amanda

 

1 or 1.5 units twice a day would be best I think. you know about testing and have the ability to keep kitty safe so that's what i would do.

remember, no insulin is a once a day insulin. yes, occasionally a cat works themselves to a dose every day or so but that's when their usually on their way to remission

fwiw, i want to make sure you are aware of the issues with vetsulin recently. if not, there's some stickies right above here about it. vets have actually been advised to change clients over to another insulin because of it so keep that in mind in case things are pretty wonky these first few days/weeks

 

Hi and welcome.

Exactly as Cindy has said, vetsulin isn't recommended right now.

I agree, 3u is too high. Even with a high initial bg your better starting low, going slow and working up.Twice a day dosing is needed, especially with vetsulin as it is short acting and 'peters' out around +10 Great that you already hometest as your in control.

If you want to consider other insulins, Lantus and Levemir have had brilliant results in cats. There's an isg for each (both very similar insulins).

 

I started with 1.5 units, which was good because that first day he went down to 69 by +8... He was still low at +12, so I did not shoot again. He is a dry food cat, so now at day 4, when I got home from work he was back in the low 500's... I tried switching his food to a Spa select, but now I look at the food charts and seems the one I chose has more carbs than the one he was on previously (Science Diet). So will probably have to do 2x day.

I asked the vets office about the vetsulin. They said that they were aware of the recall/discontinued manufacturing but said that they are still able to order the product. I haven't had any problems with it in the past, so I don't know if its worth trying to switch - I'd probably have to switch doctors.

 

Since the FDA is making a big to-do about it, and the manufacturer itself recommends that no one start new patients on it, you might get your vet's ear to do a switch. It's worth a try. I think the issues with Vetsulin were batch-specific, but since there are better insulins out there (for cats), there is no reason to stick with it. See the stickies on this page for more info on the recall, and see if your vet will consider it.

 

You really, really should try to wean them both off of the dry food. If not, it will keep their numbers high.

 

Well good news... I did end up taking him off all dry food. Everyone is eating wet and I think I may have caught his soon enough. His numbers at a max have been in the 250s range (sometimes not needing a shot due to being in the low 100s) for the past week and is very manageable as far as dosaging.... My other cat is nothing compared to this so I'm hoping he may have a chance for remission at some point.

 

Appreciate what your saying about switch, but if FDA has warning, surely your vet wouldn't refuse to be your vet when they are taking responsibility for administering a drug that has been found to be basically unsafe.

There's a group somewhere that is actually looking at sueing the manufacturers-I wouldn't be surprised if that is then followed by some vets being sued to.

I have seen kitties go OTJ on vetsulin but it can be very difficult to achieve. As Jess said there are much better insulins out there that will probably give you a chance at remission not only much easier but possibly faster too.

Go have a look at the other ISG's and read the stickies and see what you think.
If you go in supply closet you can sometimes find people willing to sell one vial of an insulin for you to try.

I couldn't get my cat regulated on Caninsulin (European name for vetsulin) but very quickly got her beautifully regulated on Levemir.

Good luck

 

Another point to consider is that you may not be able to get Vetsulin when you run out and then you will be forced to switch to another insulin. There is another person on this board who has been unable to obtain any Vetsulin and needs some very soon.
I hate to think you may just start on Vetsulin and then when you are running out and try to get more, your vet finds that the source can no longer deliver.

I started my Shadoe on Caninsulin and have poor results. I switched to Lantus and also had much better results.

With such high numbers, be sure to test urine for ketones.