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Cat Forum / General Topics / February 2007insulin resistant cat
Hi. I have a cat whose diabetes was until recently manageable through diet. He started to lose weight so I took him to see the veterinarian. She told me that his blood sugar was high enough that dietary intervention alone wasn't going to be good enough - that he'd require insulin. I left my cat at the vet's office for a couple of days while they attempted to regulate his blood sugar with insulin, but they were mostly unsuccessful. I'm really at a loss here with the only thing in my mind to try is a taurine supplement as I have read that it helps increase insulin sensitivity. Does anybody have any ideas that might help? I'm grateful for any information you can provide. Thanks and take care, MarkM > Hi. I have a cat whose diabetes was until recently manageable through diet. > He started to lose weight so I took him to see the veterinarian. She told [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > MarkM Mark, Email me privately. I have some information for you. Rene Hi Mark, It takes awhile to regulate a cat's sugar. The best way is to start out very low, like 1 unit per day, then recheck in a week. It takes a week or two for the body to adjust to a new dose. If they were doing multiple switches in a couple of days -- that will tell them nothing. You might try another vet who is more familiar with diabetes, or ask to be referred to an internist vet (you will need a referral for that.) We took our diabetic cat to an internist and she saved his life. Also, some vets start out insulin way too high, like 4-5 units, and it overloads the cat's system. Their sugar levels start swinging wildly and it looks like the cat is not responding to insulin, when really they are responding too much and on the downswing of a wild curve. There is a wonderful group of diabetic cat owners that helped me with our cat. They know more than some vets! I can't say enough about the support and knowledge that they share. It's the message board on this website: http://www.felinediabetes.com/. It's under "communication" in the column on the right. Good luck with your cat! Rhonda > Hi. I have a cat whose diabetes was until recently manageable through diet. > He started to lose weight so I took him to see the veterinarian. She told [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > MarkM also read up on home testing. it is better if you can test your cats blood sugar at home.. better for you financially, and better for the cat for less stress. It was recommended to me to use a human glucometer several years ago, and many studies have shown it to be effective and it has saved many cats lives. Diet is also highly important. if your vet is up on the current treatment of diabetes, then chances are they prescribed Hills DM or some other high protein diet. Hopefully you are feeding a canned food. There isn't a dry food out there that is low enough in carbs to help diabetic cats. Check out www.catinfo.org for more information regarding diet. I have not heard of taurine helping increase insulin sensitivity. I would be very interested to see where you got that from. A high protein low carb diet is an appropriate diet for any cat, but is very important for a diabetic cat. felinediabetes.com is a very helpful website! so is www.yourdiabeticcat.com My kitty has been diabetic for almost 7 years now.. it is treatable, and manageable, and insulin is quite easy to administer. Get your cat on the right diet and boost the system with insulin, you might be able to get your cat off insulin. > Hi. I have a cat whose diabetes was until recently manageable through > diet. He started to lose weight so I took him to see the veterinarian. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > MarkM > also read up on home testing. it is better if you can test your cats > blood sugar at home.. better for you financially, and better for the cat > for less stress. It was recommended to me to use a human glucometer > several years ago, and many studies have shown it to be effective and it > has saved many cats lives. As a 15 year diabetic, I recommend the Freestyle "Flash" glucoseometer.....It uses only .3 microliteres of blood, which is so small, you can hardly see it. The less the blood, the less traumatic for the cat.....You should measure your own blood sugar in the cats presence a few times, so she/he can see that it doesn't hurt you.......... >> also read up on home testing. it is better if you can test your cats >> blood sugar at home.. better for you financially, and better for the cat [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > the cat.....You should measure your own blood sugar in the cats presence a > few times, so she/he can see that it doesn't hurt you.......... I do use the freestyle flash.. Getting my cat to bleed takes a long time, she's never liked doing it. There are 'generic' brands out there that take small amounts of blood as well, and the strips are less expensive. You can get the flash for free most of the time because they offer a rebate, but the strips in the store sell for about a dollar each ($50 for 50 etc) I buy mine on Ebay for about fifty cents a strip... but you have to be careful of sellers and of expiration dates. If you can find a store brand that takes a small amount of blood, I might recommend you go that route. You might also want to buy a pair of baby socks (socks for human babies) and fill one with some regular rice (not instant rice) so you can warm it up in the microwave and then place that on the cat's ear to warm it up and help with the blood flow. :) the learning curve for FD is incredibly steep, but very short. >>> also read up on home testing. it is better if you can test your cats >>> blood sugar at home.. better for you financially, and better for the [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > the learning curve for FD is incredibly steep, but very short. Yeah....I should have mentioned that the test strips are very expensive.....My wife's endocrinologist gives her the Freestyle Flash units away for free when he has them, because he gets them for free. The company more than makes up for it by selling those strips for a dollar each.....I always thought Polaroid should have given their cameras away for nothing for the same reason.....Now they are out of business.......We get our test strips for a lot less, because our health plan includes prescription drugs, and our doctor prescribes the strips for us......It's too bad there isn't a health plan for cats..... >>>> also read up on home testing. it is better if you can test your cats >>>> blood sugar at home.. better for you financially, and better for the [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > prescription drugs, and our doctor prescribes the strips for us......It's > too bad there isn't a health plan for cats..... That's a bit high. I pay $79.00 for 100 Freestyle strips -- at Kroger's pharmacy, of all places. I checked every pharmacy in the area, and they were the least expensive. So, you might want to see if there is a Kroger's pharmacy in your area. It's still expensive, but not quite as much as you are paying. I agree. I really like Freestyle. I have both Freestyle and Freestyle Flash, and they use a tiny drop of blood and return results almost instantly. My doctor's nurse was amazed when she saw how quickly I could get results (and the results were very close to what she got with their lab tests). MaryL >>>>> also read up on home testing. it is better if you can test your cats >>>>> blood sugar at home.. better for you financially, and better for the [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > > MaryL Well, my health plan pays the bulk of the price for my test strips....Actually, since I am over 65, and on Medicare, it's the government (read YOU) who is paying......:^) But thanks for the information about Kroger's...... >> That's a bit high. I pay $79.00 for 100 Freestyle strips -- at Kroger's >> pharmacy, of all places. I checked every pharmacy in the area, and they [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > government (read YOU) who is paying......:^) But thanks for the > information about Kroger's...... Fortunately, my insurance also pays a good percentage of my cost -- but it is a percentage, so lower cost means that I pay a smaller amount (and I think it is always worthwhile to do some comparison). This will be particularly important for those who have cats with diabetes because insurance will not cover that. MaryL > You might also want to buy a pair of baby socks (socks for human babies) > and fill one with some regular rice (not instant rice) so you can warm it > up in the microwave and then place that on the cat's ear to warm it up and > help with the blood flow. :) ----------------- What my vet suggested and works extremely well is to rub a little vaseline on the cat's ear where you intend to stick him. After you stick him, the blood beads up and stays in place rather than running down his ear. Best regards, ---Cindy S. > also read up on home testing. it is better if you can test your cats > blood sugar at home.. better for you financially, and better for the cat [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > of diabetes, then chances are they prescribed Hills DM or some other high > protein diet. Hopefully you are feeding a canned food. My *previously* diabetic cat eats canned food and Purina OM dry food (prescription). Purina also makes an OM canned, but my cat refused to eat it, so he's been eating the store-brand special diet canned food (along with the dry OM) for the past year. This has worked out great. I check his blood glucose at home (only about once a month now), and it's always in the high 70 to low 90 range. This is a cat whose blood glucose was once in the 500-600 range, and the vet put him on Lantus (glargine) insulin. He only required insulin for a few weeks and in a combination with the change in diet (I had previously been feeding Iams Weight Control dry cat food), he was ostensibly cured of diabetes (or at least controlled with diet only - he no longer needs insulin). > felinediabetes.com is a very helpful website! so is www.yourdiabeticcat.com > My kitty has been diabetic for almost 7 years now.. it is treatable, and > manageable, and insulin is quite easy to administer. Get your cat on the > right diet and boost the system with insulin, you might be able to get > your cat off insulin. Absolutely true. My cat is living proof of this. Best regards, ---Cindy S.
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