I have a newly diagnosed kitty - Any help appreciated

Hi. My kitty, Bruno was just diagnosed with Diabetes and he is 14 years old. I am picking him up from the vet today and am very nervous about having to give him insulin injections. Any suggestions for a first timer? Also any recommendations on what techniques work for you when it comes to giving injections? Bruno can sometimes be a difficult cat, but I love him so much!

 

Hi and welcome.

You and Bruno are going to do great. Really. It's hard at first, even scary, but pretty quickly things are going to different.

Do you know what kind of insulin you're getting?

When I first started, I used to give shots while they were eating. I would play with the fur on the side, then quickly pull the skin out a little bit and shoot. They never noticed. It's different now, I can give a shot to Tucker and he sleeps through it.

Giving shots is very important but equally important is diet and hometesting. Diet being the simplest to do. A high protein, low carb diet is preferred. Your vet may want to sell you some prescription food while you are there, but you can do better buying at the grocery store. We use Fancy Feast gourmet feast varieties canned food only, but there are other options out there.

Hometesting blood sugar sounds scary, but that too, in time can be pretty simple. When you get some time, read the FAQs and ask lots of questions.

Being that Bruno can be a difficult cat, I would suggest that you remain calm when you give him the injection for the first time. You're nervous and that will make him more nervous and make him more difficult to handle. Take a deep breathe and remember you are doing this for his health, then keep thinking about that as you give the injection, don't think about anything else, don't let yourself be nervous or upset because that will make the experience less than desirable for him. What would help too is if you have a wonderful treat for him that he gets only at shot time, he will quickly learn to associate shot time with the yummy treat. Cooked chicken works well, freeze dried treats work well, lots of stuff.

 

I don't know what kind of insulin he is getting yet. But when I do I'll post it. Thanks for the advice. I just wish my husband was supporting me in this. He keeps asking me "Can we afford this" But in my heart I know what I want. I want more time with my friend of 14 years.
I'll see what food the vet suggests. I used to give him Fancy Feast when he was younger, then he got a blockage and I had to put him on Purina One urinary tract diet.

I'll keep you posted.

 

Welcome!

Jennifer has given you good ideas about the shot, if Bruno is difficult. Oliver never noticed the shot as his head was deep into his dish. As Jennifer noted, we feed wet lo carb food. Here a vet explains why: http://www.catinfo.org. We also hometest our kitties. We figure we wouldn't go home from our child's doctor with a dose of insulin, give everyday for 2 weeks and then take them in for a checkup. Here's a video that shows you how: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn8 video for hometesting We have lots of tips that work, if Bruno proves difficult for this also.

We hope your vet will start low and go slow. By low, most new kitties should start on one unit of insulin twice a day, 12 hours apart. Some vets dose by weight. That works in dogs, but not cats.

As for cost, hometesting eliminates visits to the vet for tests. And regular food is fine - prescription food actually has more carbs than Fancy Feast without gravy. So there, you have already saved money twice!

Come back often and ask questions. There is a lot of wonderful information on this site. Reread and reread and copy pages to keep.

 

Thank you for all your suggestions. I will definitely keep in touch. I was very grateful when I found this website. At least I know I have somewhere to go to ask questions.

 

What food is he on now? I'm surprised that he had a blockage while on FF..... if he is now on dry, that could be a big part of the diabetes problem. Dr Lisa Pierson talks about diet and various health issues including blockages at www.catinfo.org

As for hubbies...they tend to worry...the fact is, if you have a pet and it gets sick, it is your/our responsibility to treat it (within reason of course). Diabetes is not a terribly expensive disease to treat if you are proactive, and we can help with that.

Jen

 

When you know what insulin Bruno is going to be on, please let us know. At that point, you'll also want to check out the stickies for your insulin in the appropriate Insulin Support Group. To do that, in the lower right corner of the screen is a 'Jump To' box (ProZinc is part of the PZI forum and NPH is part of the Vetsulin/Caninsulin/Humulin N forum).

Also, please be careful with dosing. One of common mistakes we see from vets is treat diabetic cats as if they were small dogs; in reality, dogs and cats process insulin very differently. This can result in three types of errors:
1. Error: Dosing based on weight. If this occurs, your vet will tell you to give more than 1 unit at a time. In general, cats should be started at no more than one unit at a time. (The only exception to this might be Bruno had ketones or diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).)
2. Error: Raising the dose too quickly. Cats need time to 'settle in' to their dose, usually 5-7 days. Unless Bruno has or develops ketones, please do not be tempted to increase the dose too quickly.
3. Error: Dosing once a day. Many dogs can get along fine with insulin shots just once a day, but cats have very fast metabolisms and almost always require twice-a-day dosing.

(And, yeah, I and everyone else here on the boards know *exactly* how hard it's going to be for you to trust a bunch of random internet strangers on this sort of thing instead of your vet that you've known and trusted for years ... )


In general, cats also tend to do better on the longer-lasting insulins -- Lantus, Levemir, and ProZinc/PZI. Each one has it's plusses and minusses, which you read about in the stickies in the various Insulin Support Group forums. If your vet prescribed any of these, they're definitely worth trying.

If your vet prescribed Vetsulin or Caninsulin, please ask him/her to reconsider their choice of insulin. Vetsulin / Caninsulin is the subject of an FDA warning and is no longer being made. For those reasons, it's not a good choice as a starting insulin for a newly diagnosed cat.

If your vet prescribed Humulin N / NPH, those are often harsher insulins than many of us would prefer, but there are some cats that do tremendously well on them. They're also generally less expensive than the long-lasting insulins and may be worth trying.

If your vet has prescribed Lantus or Levemir, and doesn't hand you an open vial that you've already paid for: think about asking for a script for Lantus or Levemir in pens or cartridges. Depending on their treatment, insulins can have a limited shelf life. While the pens/cartridges are a higher initial investment, they're often more economical in the long run. This is particularly true if Bruno goes into remission (where his diabetes is controlled solely through diet and he no longer needs insulin shots). The pens/cartridges are sold in 5-packs of:
- Lantus 3ml SoloStar Pen
- Lantus 3ml Cartridge Refill for the OptiClick Pen
- Levemir 3ml FlexPen

Additionally, some pharmacies *may* sell pens/cartridges individually, but you should call around to see whether any in your area actually do.

Also, shop around for pricing; costs can vary dramatically. Remember to call any warehouse clubs in your area as well (Sam's, BJs, CostCo, etc); in the US, warehouse club pharmacies are legally required to fill prescriptions from members of the general public, even if they aren't club members, and they'll often have good prices.


If your state / locality requires a prescription for needles, ask your vet to write you a prescription for U-100 insulin syringes; you'll be most interested in 0.3cc syringes; that will give you the most accuracy in drawing up your doses. Many folks like the 31 gauge syringes, because those are the thinnest syringes on the market; some folks whose cats have thick skin prefer the 29 gauge.

You'll be interested in the U-100 syringes, even if your vet prescribed one of the U-40 insulins (Vetsulin / Caninsulin, ProZinc, some versions of PZI). That's because, if you use a U-100 syringe to administer a U-40 insulin, you can do very accurate micro-dosing, even to a fifth of a unit. (If you're given a U-40 insulin and want to use U-100 syringes, please come back and ask about the conversion chart.)


One more thing to cover: ask your vet whether Bruno has tested positive for ketones. Ketones are not-common but still possible side effect in any person or animal with unregulated / under-regulated diabetes. Small amounts of ketones may be treatable at home; large amounts of ketones may require hospitalisation in a 24-hour care facility. If you test for ketones at home, you can catch them early and hopefully avoid the expensive hospitalisation.

To test for ketones at home, pick up some ketostix from the diabetes section of your local pharmacy. (I've always found them in the aisle, though some folks report their pharmacist keep them behind the counter.) You test for ketones by sticking the the stick in fresh urine. If the stick changes color, ketones are present.


And that's about it from me for now. I know it's a lot of stuff to absorb; the good news is that, while the initial learning curve is pretty steep and will seem overwhelming, it's also comparatively short. And we'll be here to answer any questions you may have, and to help you help Bruno.

-- Jean and her Gwyn

 

Welcome!

How was Bruno diagnosed? If it was by blood test, find out how high his blood glucose was. If his BG wasn't terribly high, you may have the option trying a low carb diet change for a few weeks to see if his BG comes down to normal levels. Ask the vet about that option. Sometimes diabetic kitties can be diet controlled, and not need insulin. Mr Tinkles was very high, 600, so we did not have that option.

I'll save any other info for later, everyone else has given you the other important info that you need for now. Please update us when you can on how your vet visit went.

You have come to the right place! There are many people here who are very successfully managing their diabetic cats, or have managed diabetic cats in the past. There is a lot to learn, so feeling overwhelmed is completely normal in the beginning. We have all been there! Try to read the links others have posted and keep posting any questions you may have.