Panther, who is about 10 years old, and has been with us for 6 of those years, was diagnosed with diabetes this past month. He is on 1.5 Units of Lantus twice a day. Lantus is the generic of Glargine, an rDNA (recombinant DNA origin) insulin which is supposed to be gentler on cats than some other insulins.
Our veterinarian provided us with some informative handouts, empathy, and watched me repeatedly practice drawing (measuring and getting out the tiny air bubbles from the syringe) and giving the insulin. Of course I used saline, not insulin in my practice attempts. I learned that each type of insulin must be used with the specified syringe, in Panther’s case U-100 type syringes which have ultrafine short needles.
In my usual style of wanting to know more, as quickly as possible, I spent my day off from work on the Internet.
The first thing I learned is that we are not alone. Many others have feline and canine friends with diabetes and they have shared what they know freely.
Here are some of the places I visited:
Feline Diabetes is the best, most up to date by far of all the sites I visited. Their tagline is “Since 1996, The Original Internet Guide to Feline Diabetes“. A lot of really helpful and supportive information. They also have many useful links.
Recordkeeping is really important, so the family knows that the injections were given and at what time, as well as recording how your pet is doing — activity level, eating, urinating, drinking, etc. For a variety of pre-made charts you can download (free) go to this page on Pets with Diabetes (see link below), and insulin logs on the Feline Diabetes web site.
One of the many factors our vet explained was the importance of reducing the amount of carbohydrates in Panther’s diet. So we switched to Purina DM which has about 7% carbohydrates, and found lists (see below) of canned cat foods and their nutritional analysis. By the way, carbohydrate content is NOT listed on any cans of cat food we looked at. Basically you have to switch to feeding only wet foods, as all dry food has high carbohydrate content. This makes dental care even more important in diabetic pets.
Other useful sites and pages:
Pets With Diabetes
like Feline Diabetes, but broader in scope as canine and guinea pig diabetes issues are addressed as well. A fantastic site for educating yourself about caring for a diabetic pet.
Tips for giving insulin injections
Cat Health FAQ with articles and useful tools
Tables of nutritional information including carbohydrates, in wet and dry foods and non-U.S. food charts Keep in mind that with the Menu Foods Recalls, some formulations may change once the products are remade and reintroduced.
BD Diabetes.com this company manufactures syringes of all types. They have some veterinary articles about diabetes in pets.
Frugal Feline Diabetes Please note some of the links are broken. They advocate doing the glucose curve yourself, but after talking to some vet techs we decided it was too risky and time consuming to do ourselves.
On another note, the initial financial cost of diagnosing and the glucose curve testing can add up. Fortunately, we do not need their help, but for others IMOM (In Memory of Magic) can help with the financial aspects of caring for a sick pet. Their mission statement: ““Helping people help pets”. To better the lives of sick, injured and abused companion animals. We are dedicated to insure that no companion animal has to be euthanized simply because their caretaker is financially challenged. To educate on the importance of spay and neuter in relation the proven health risks for animals who have not been spayed or neutered.”
