Treatment guidelines

Your veterinarian will determine the correct dosage of insulin for your cat. If your cat has other medical problems, your veterinarian will start appropriate treatment.

Starting treatment with insulin

The insulin requirement of each diabetic cat is different. Your cat’s insulin dose is based on its body weight and individual needs.

The initial insulin dosage is calculated based on the body weight of your cat. For the first few days of treatment your veterinarian will probably:

• Monitor the effect of this dose – you will probably be asked to observe how much your cat drinks and urinates less
• Check your cat’s blood glucose concentrations.
• Check for the presence of glucose and ketones in your cat's urine

This information will help your veterinarian adjust the insulin dosage until the correct dose for your cat is found. For information on collecting urine and blood samples see Monitoring.

It may be necessary for your veterinarian to hospitalise your cat to investigate the effects of the insulin further. Read more under Glucose Curves.

Maintenance treatment with insulin

Establish a routine

Your veterinarian will set up a treatment programme including:

• insulin treatment
• a recommended diet and feeding regime - see Nutrition

You will need to stay in close contact with your veterinarian. They will decide on how often your cat needs to have a check-up and may request that you collect urine or blood samples to help monitor your cat’s progress. More details in Monitoring.