Treatment for Diabetes in your Cat

Diabetes Mellitus is a metabolic disease involving the use of sugar in your pet’s body. Insulin is necessary for sugar to pass into the body’s cells so that the sugar may be used by the body's cells. One type of diabetes is a result of the body losing its ability to produce enough insulin. Another is insulin resistance or a result of the body losing its ability to use insulin properly even when at normal levels. The result of either is that the blood sugar builds up in the blood and the cells starve for sugar. Nearly all diabetes of cats is caused by the inability to use insulin. Treatment for diabetes in cats is to supply an appropriate amount of insulin by injection to overcome the resistance so that the blood sugar stays in a safe range. Your cat will likely need to be stabilized in the hospital. This may take a one day to several days depending on how ill they have become and how well they respond. When your pet is discharged, you will be given instructions on handling insulin, injecting insulin, and adjusting the dose of insulin. The blood sugar levels will determine how much insulin to give. Ideally, the blood sugar will be maintaining between 90 mg/dl and 200 mg/dl. If the blood sugar is above 200 then you will increase each subsequent insulin dose. If the blood sugar is below 90 then you will decrease each subsequent insulin dose. If the blood sugar is below 70 the insulin will be reduced by ½ and a dose of corn syrup will be given. If the pet is very weak or unconscious then call us or the Emergency Animal Clinic for immediate veterinary help. CallPaloVerdeAnimalHospital to answer the many questions you should expect.

When you are unable to measure blood sugar at home then a different set of rules apply. The indicator for raising or lowering the insulin dose will be increased or decreased urination or drinking. If the insulin is too low, your cat will drink and urinate more. The urine will then have sugar in it and you can test for the sugar with a test strip. You then increase the insulin as if the blood sugar is too high. On the other end, you must watch for weakness to indicate the insulin dose is too high. Look at the numbers entered on this graph to show the dose size changes for your size cat. Always be prepared to call if you have any questions. If your cat is weak then give corn syrup immediately. If your cat is unconscious, or if it fails to respond to the syrup within 20 minutes then seek emergency help by calling Palo Verde or the Emergency Animal Clinic.

The insulin needs to be kept in the refrigerator. It needs to be handled gently. Insulin is in crystalline form and the crystals are fragile and broken by shaking. The insulin will act differently if the crystals are broken. The crystals are the white material on the bottom of the bottle. They must be thoroughly suspended, so that there is no white on the bottom prior to filling your syringe. The insulin is mixed only by rolling or gently inverting the bottle. We will have you use U-100 insulin so that 1 unit of insulin will be 1/100^th cc (0.01cc) of insulin. Insulin injections cause mild inflammation. Change injection sites with each dose to avoid the inflammation of previous injection. The inflammation alters the insulin absorption.

Click here for a Blood Sugar Graph and then talk to your Doctor about insulin dosing.