I’m not sure if this has already been mentioned in this forum or not. This must be a very welcome change for cats with diabetes and their owners.
What bothers me is the large mark up that vets will charge for it.
2 Likes
See now I would be interested in that because Duncan is diabetic and I fear his brother Jack may be headed down the same path. My fear is also the cost. But it couldn’t be worse than the $150 I was told that a bottle of insulin costs. Could it?
I have no idea how much a bottle of insulin costs. Maybe some of the cat owners that have diabetic cats on here can weigh in?
My diabetic cat was in remission after a diet change and a couple small doses if insulin.
Imo, a low carb (and many rx diets aren’t) diet should be initiated and allowed to do their magic for ten days to two weeks first.
Starting testing twice daily during this time is helpful.
Home testing is a must.
I used lantus/glargine pens, used like a vial, for his insulin.
I got it inexpensively through a program at Sanofi.
I used very small doses, half units usually*
Vetsulin is a horrible insulin that causes huge swing in glucose, high peaks and then low troughs. I would avoid that like the plague.
*until he reverted again, was uncontrolled, and we discovered he had acromegaly.
“When Mark Winternheimer’s 12-year-old tabby cat was diagnosed with diabetes last year, the treatment was daunting: twice-daily injections of insulin, an implanted monitor and frequent visits to the vet”
The injections aren’t “daunting”, testing isn’t either, and diet change makes it even easier. If you test at home, there’s not as much need for vet visits. 
I swear, people just don’t want to freakin’ bother.
Evidenced by the euth rate quoted in the article.
When my cat was diagnosed, the vet was surprised I wanted to try to manage it, most didn’t.
1 Like
How was this discovered? So is your cat diabetic or is it the acromegaly causing the issues and is it or can it be treated?
I think the people in the article are typical city people that don’t know much about animals or how to handle them. A lot of people don’t have good or trusting relationships with their cats which would make treatment a nightmare for both owners and cats involved.
I agree that diet change should be initiated in hopes of eliminating the insulin. It’s what we diabetic humans do, so why not with animals?
The article I read said Bexacat will cost about $52 a month, but the veterinarians will charge $100 to $150 for it. If the cat has ever had insulin, Bexacat cannot be used.
1 Like
He was diabetic, and then acromegaly. He was in diabetic remission for about a year, then exhibited some diabetes symptoms so I restarted testing and dosing insulin which went fairly predictably, but eventually his blood glucose did not respond to normal insulin doses, and just soared.
I went from dosing a unit… To iirc it creeping up, up, up… To high BG of 285 treated with 16 units, followed by a bg of 197 and a 13 unit dose and crazy high numbers like that, and a few large swings, followed by more typically high numbers not budging with dose increases. It was a rollercoaster of chasing the bg up, up, up,… rather than it responding predictably to the insulin and coming down and staying down.
It was scary dosing insulin at that high dosage, but eventually it proved that the risk of bottoming him out with too large a dose just no longer really existed. The few times his bg dropped dramatically, it quickly went right back up and stayed up.
I was doing twice daily testing, to dose, but also testing every two hours for 12 hours often to confirm that he wasn’t peaking, and then bottoming out post dose.
I was lucky to have a very proactive vet, who listened to the research I had done. In that research was the advice from the Diabetic cat group to test for Acromegaly by sending samples to U of Minnesota
We then, after the diagnosis, initiated a more aggressive testing dosing protocol.
I agree with the group that blood glucose that stops responding should more quickly be tested for acro. as its likely far more common.
“Feline acromegaly is likely an underdiagnosed disease in older male cats, especially in ones with insulin-resistant diabetes. A recent study in the United Kingdom measured IGF-1 concentrations in variably controlled diabetic cats. Of the 184 cases, 59 (32%) had markedly increased IGF-1 concentrations. Eighteen of these 59 cats underwent pituitary imaging, confirming a diagnosis of acromegaly in 17/18 (94%).6 This study illustrates the importance of ensuring that we remain aware of feline acromegaly so that we may more consistently diagnose and treat these patients.”
1 Like
I have become a very vocal cat food critic.
It doesn’t need to be $$$, but dry food is usually garbage and wet food needs to be non gravy varieties, iow pate is your cats friend.
2 Likes
Here’s an example from my log.
As you can see, over the day his bg just never goes very low even when it seems like it might go down…
And the next day
It was a lot like steering when you’re sliding on ice…when you try to stay calm, not brake, and just steer with the slide and breathe.
2 Likes
My cat did not respond to a diet change initially. His blood sugar was very hard to control and we were up to 3 units twice a day. (I know, that’s still pretty low but it was very concerning to me.) My vet put him on a Royal Canin diet called glycobalance (another $60 per 24 cans along with the $60 for his renal food = ouch!) He responded quite well to that and now we are down to 2 units twice daily and vet thinks that if we continue along like this, we may be able to get to 1 unit 2x a day. He can’t eat dry food because of his health issues and I think that has certainly helped. He gets a couple of bits of dry food every now and then as a reward for actually coming to get his shots.
1 Like
That sounds very promising!
All of my cats are on the dry RC Urinary SO in order to prevent recurring bladder crystals and stones. I worry a bit that they may develop diabetes, so learning about the Bexacat pills is promising.
I wonder if it would be worth getting him tested for acromegaly?
Though really, other than being more confident you won’t go too low, there’s not much benefit.
Do you test at home?
I was but when he stabilized I stopped because he hated it so much. He is doing well but I know this cat and if I see so much as a hair out of place on him off he goes to the vet and labs will be drawn and testing will be re-instituted if need be. It’s been a big help to cut out the dry food. Like I said he only gets a couple for good behavior every now and then. Only the two girls who are pretty picky eaters are allowed dry food. Everyone else is cut off.
I am going to do s me research on the acromegaly. Forewarned, etc etc
I don’t know a ton about cats and haven’t done a lot of research, but have read bits and pieces about how cats should never be on a kibble type diet and canned is not great either. As they are true carnivores, proteins only as in raw or cooked with no veggies and no carbs. Is that ever a possibility? I wonder if this would help with diabetes. Maybe a holistic vet could help with diet change? Just an idea of course.
I wish more owners of cats diagnosed with diabetes were informed about it. Its can be very helpful to be aware of.
1 Like
