Question about humulin insulin

I was wondering if humulin is a good insulin for my cat that was just diagnosed with diabetes?

 

Hi Kristi, Humulin is not recommended for kitties. It tends to drop the blood glucose fast and only has a short duration, often falling far short of 12 hours.

The general recommendation is that longer-acting insulins, Prozinc, Lantus, or Levemir are most suitable. These give the best chance of controlling blood glucose, and also give an increased chance of getting the kitty into remission (controlling diabetes with diet alone).
Another option is Vetsulin/Caninsulin; but this is also typically quite short-acting. Some kitties have done fine on it however.

Is your kitty currently on Humulin? If so, do have a read of our information on using Humulin here:
Beginner's Guide To Novolin/Humulin/NPH

Eliz

 

They put him on 1 unit of humulin . I want a different one because of what I've read and heard about humulin. But how do I tell my vet that I want to switch insulins?

 

That may depend on your vet.... The fact that a vet is recommending Humulin for cats indicates either a certain lack of current knowledge about treating feline diabetes, or that you live in part of the world where other insulin options may not be easily available.
Some vets are very amenable to changing insulin. Some people find it easier to change their vet than to change the insulin itself. Or, in some parts of the world it's possible to buy insulin over the counter without a vet's prescription.

If you're in the US you could refer your vet to the AAHA (American Animal Hospital Assn.) guidelines, which state:
“NPH (U-100 human recombinant; Neutral Protamine Hagedorn, Humulin N, Lilly or Novulin N, Novo Nordisk) is an intermediate-acting insulin that is used in dogs. The Task Force does not recommend use of this insulin in cats due to its short duration of action.”
https://www.aaha.org/public_documents/guidelines/diabetes guidelines_final.pdf
[Page 6, note #4]

If you're outside the US you could refer your vet to the ISFM (International Society for Feline Medicine) guidelines which advocate use of long-acting insulins for cats.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1098612x15571880?hc_location=ufi

Eliz

 

Ok, I'm in Colorado. So should I switch vets? If I do, will I have to pay for bloodwork all over again with a new vet. Thank you so much

 

You shouldn't as long as you do it within 30 days. The blood tests your current vet has are YOURS...You paid for them! What I did was just called and told vet office #1 that I was coming to pick up a copy of China's test results to keep in a binder at home......then I went and picked them up

 

Humulin is much cheaper than the recommended insulins. Did you discuss costs with your vet? Could your vet be trying to save you money?

 

Just what "Humulin" insulin? Humulin is Eli Lilly's name for a family of insulins. They are N and R and combinations of N and R. Hopefully the vet prescribed N.