Question:
I had a cat who was 13 years old. He was a house cat who never went outside. I would take him to the veterinarian whenever they told me to do so.
He developed diabetes, and for a year and a half we gave him insulin. He started with #2 insulin and we could not go above 5. They said the number would go down. We had him on a special diet of 3/4 cup of food a day. We gave him insulin twice a day, morning and night. After awhile, his back legs began failing, and then the front legs.
From 18 pounds, he went down to 8 pounds. He also had an infection in his urine. They said we could not give him more than 5 on his insulin. Other people have said we should have given more insulin.
Please tell me what went wrong. Did we make a mistake by not giving him more insulin? I know people who have cats with diabetes and they are OK. It broke our hearts when we had to put him to sleep.
P.M., Poughkeepsie, NY Oct 18, 2011
Answer:
Pets who are receiving insulin, or any other hormone replacement medication, require periodic blood tests to determine if the dosage needs to be increased.
When the diabetes cannot be regulated, it is advisable to change the kind of insulin being prescribed, not simply the twice-daily dosage. Also discuss with the veterinarian the possible benefits of prescribing glipizide or vanadium. Cinnamon helps reduce insulin dosage in humans, and it may help cats if they will accept it in their food, beginning with a pinch and increasing to 1/8 teaspoon twice daily. Considering your cat's age and drastic weight loss, coupled with a bladder infection, a thorough and immediate clinical evaluation was called for. I suspect he had some other condition that hadn't been diagnosed and treated, such as hyperactive thyroid disease. You gave him love and the best care that you could find, so please don't berate yourself for not having done more.
The kinds of health problems afflicting older companion animals like yours can often be nipped in the bud -- early diabetes, simply by a change in diet -- by ensuring that every beloved animal goes to the veterinarian yearly for a thorough health checkup. You say you took your cat in whenever they told you to do so, so you did your best on that score. I wish more cat and dog owners would be as conscientious as you -- provided, of course, that the veterinarians are not simply out to give annual booster vaccinations that so often are unwarranted and not without risk.
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