Call us for tips and tricks if you are having trouble getting blood or enough blood from your cat,etc. Not only do we have lots of diabetic feline patients, but many of us have diabetic pet cats at home and we have one that lives here at the clinic. Remove the plastic cap on the plunger side of the insulin syringe. Push the plunger all the way in towards the needle. Once the bottle of insulin is removed from the refrigerator and gently rolled back and forth a few times, carefully remove the cap from the needle.
Invert the bottle of insulin and carefully insert the needle through the rubber stopper in the bottle of insulin. The needle should be pointed up towards the sky to meet the rubber stopper. Pull back on the plunger to remove the appropriate amount of units of insulin. Each line on the syringe is equal to one unit. Then replace the cap on the needle. You are now ready to inject the insulin under the skin of your cat.
On one side of the cat, in front of the hip, pull out a pocket of skin using three fingers to create a tented area of skin as shown in our office.
Remove the cap off the needle and insert it into the skin pocket. Also make sure the tip of the needle is pointed TOWARDS the head; that way, if something spooks him and he runs away, the needle will just pull out instead of getting caught in and tearing the skin.
This ensures that you got the insulin under the skin. If you feel moisture or are unsure if you got all the insulin under the skin and into your cat,DO NOT simply give your cat more insulin. Call our office for guidance. It is always safer to give less than more insulin at any one time. Marietta , Georgia , Download PDF Version. What are the clinical signs of diabetes mellitus? How is diabetes mellitus diagnosed?
How is diabetes mellitus treated? You will be taught by our staff how to give insulin injections to your cat. What happens if my cat receives too much insulin? Administering Insulin Remove the plastic cap on the plunger side of the insulin syringe. Kidney Disease in Cats ». Phone: Your cat has the more common type of diabetes, diabetes mellitus.
This disease is seen on a fairly regular basis, usually in cats 5 years of age or older, many of them overweight. Simply put, diabetes mellitus is a failure of the pancreas to regulate blood sugar. The pancreas is a small but vital organ that is located near the stomach. It has two significant populations of cells. One group of cells produces the enzymes necessary for proper digestion; the other group beta cells produces the hormone called insulin.
In cats, two types of diabetes mellitus have been discovered. Both types are similar in that there is a failure to regulate blood sugar, but the basic mechanisms of disease differ somewhat between the two groups. The role of insulin is much like that of a gatekeeper.
It stands at the surface of body cells and opens the door, allowing glucose to leave the blood stream and pass inside the cells. Glucose is a vital substance that provides much of the energy needed for life, and it must work inside the cells.
Without an adequate amount of insulin, glucose is unable to get into the cells. It accumulates in the blood, setting in motion a series of events that can ultimately prove fatal. When insulin is deficient, the cells become starved for a source of energy. In response to this, the body starts breaking down stores of fat and protein to use as alternative energy sources.
As a consequence, the cat eats more; thus we have weight loss in a cat with a ravenous appetite. The body tries to eliminate the excess glucose by eliminating it in the urine. To avoid dehydration, the cat drinks more and more water. Thus we have the four classical signs of diabetes:.
The diagnosis of diabetes mellitus is based on three criteria: The four classical clinical signs, the presence of a persistently high level of glucose in the blood stream, and the presence of glucose in the urine. To keep the body from losing its needed glucose, the kidneys do not allow glucose to be filtered out of the blood stream until an excessive level is reached. This means that cats with a normal blood glucose level will not have glucose in the urine. Diabetic cats, however, have excessive amounts of glucose in the blood, so it will be present in the urine.
The diagnosis of diabetes seems rather simple, and in most cats it is. However, some diabetic cats do not meet all the criteria. For these, another test is performed called fructosamine levels. This test represents the average blood glucose level for the past two weeks. It minimizes the influence that stress and eating have on blood glucose levels and can be very helpful in understanding difficult cases.
For the diabetic cat, one reality exists. Blood glucose cannot be normalized without treatment. Treatment almost always requires some dietary changes. Whether an individual cat will require oral therapy or insulin injections will vary.
As for the owner, there are two implications: financial commitment and personal commitment. When your cat is well regulated, the maintenance costs are minimal. The special diet, the oral medication, insulin and syringes are not expensive. However the financial commitment can be significant during the initial regulation process, especially if complications arise.
In some cases, your cat will be hospitalized for a few days to deal with the immediate crisis and to begin the regulation process. Cats in this state, called ketoacidosis may require a week or more of hospitalization with quite a bit of laboratory testing. Otherwise the initial hospitalization may be only for a day or two to get some testing done and to begin treatment. At that point, your cat goes home for you to administer medication. At first, return visits are required every 5 — 7 days to monitor progress.
It may take a month or more to achieve good regulation. The financial commitment may be significant if complications arise.
We will work with you to achieve consistent regulation, but some cats are difficult to keep regulated. It is important that you pay close attention to our instructions related to administration of medication, to diet, and to home monitoring. Consistency is the key to prolonged regulation.
The more you keep the medication, diet, and activity the same from one day to the next, the easier it will be to keep your cat regulated. Another complication that can arise is hypoglycemia or low blood sugar glucose ; if severe, it may be fatal. This may occur due to inconsistencies in treatment or because some cats can have a spontaneous remission of their disease.
This will be explained later. Your personal commitment to treating this cat is very important in maintaining regulation and preventing crises. Most diabetic cats require insulin injections twice daily, at about 12 hour intervals. They must be fed the same food in the same amount on the same schedule every day.
If you are out of town, your cat must receive proper treatment while you are gone. These factors should be considered carefully before deciding to treat a diabetic cat. Additional information can be found at the following websites: www. As mentioned, the key to successful treatment is consistency.
Your cat needs consistent administration of medication, consistent feeding, and a stable, stress-free lifestyle. To best achieve this, it is preferred that your cat lives indoors. Although that is not essential, indoor living removes many uncontrollable variables that can disrupt regulation.
Diets that are high in protein and fiber are preferred because they are generally lower in sugar and slower to be digested. This means that the cat does not have to process a large amount of sugar at one time.
If your cat is overweight, a reducing-type diet is fed until the proper weight is achieved, then your cat is switched to a high fiber maintenance. The average cat prefers to eat about 10 — 15 times per day, one mouthful at a time. This means that food is left in the bowl at all times for free choice feeding. Fortunately, this is the best way to feed a diabetic cat.
However, it is also desirable to monitor how much food is eaten each day. We realize that if you have more than one cat, this may be difficult, but please make an effort, as this is part of the home monitoring that should occur. The second step in treatment is to use a drug to control lower blood glucose levels. The choices are to give insulin injections or to give an oral drug.
Either is acceptable, and both have advantages and disadvantages. Many cats that undergo remission can live without insulin for years. However, some may relapse after a few months so continuous monitoring is still necessary.
However, not all cats will achieve remission. Diet, glucose regulators, the timing of treatment, and overall health are just some of it. Euthanizing a diabetic cat is always the last resort and reserved only for the worst cases. Please read here how to get a kitten to sleep. If the prognosis for the diabetic cat is poor, the vet may advise that the feline be put to sleep.
Above all, it will put more suffering to the cat. On the other hand, some diabetic cats are put to sleep if their owners are no longer financially capable to support their veterinary care. The primary cause of diabetes in cats is that the insulin that their body produces is either insufficient or ineffective. This means that insulin is either not helping glucose get into the cells to supply energy or that there is not enough insulin to do its job efficiently.
Being overweight puts cats at high risk for developing diabetes. Many indoor cats gain weight as they age. If your cat is overweight, ask your veterinarian what you can do to help them achieve a healthy weight and reduce their risk of diabetes. It is important that you schedule an appointment with your veterinarian if you suspect that your cat has diabetes. In the meantime, provide plenty of water and keep an eye on the water dish or fountain, because you will have to refill it more often.
If your cat is very ill or not eating, they need immediate veterinary attention. By the time a cat with diabetes has lost their appetite, they are very sick. They will also check for conditions that can complicate the treatment of diabetes, like infections and diabetic ketoacidosis, which require hospitalization. The goal of treatment is to have a cat that is free of diabetic symptoms with a blood glucose level that is near the normal range.
To achieve this, the course of treatment will have to be individualized to your cat. Diet change and weight loss may be prescribed in addition to insulin therapy. If your cat has developed the complication of diabetic ketoacidosis, they will be hospitalized and given IV insulin as well as IV fluids until they are eating and their blood sugar and electrolytes stabilize. Then they will be switched to subcutaneous insulin and sent home.
Infections can interfere with proper glucose regulation, so if your cat has any infections, those will need to be treated first. Urinary tract infections are common in diabetic cats, and your veterinarian may recommend regular screening to prevent complications.
At-home insulin therapy commences once the diagnosis has been confirmed and any infections are under control.
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