Oral Diabetic Medications
Since Florida has issued the stay-at-home order, I have had a lot more TV time. During the day, as many know, the commercials that dominate are for medications. I counted over a few days and they are mostly biologics for people with overactive immune systems causing problems like rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, plaque psoriasis, etc. The second most aired commercials were for Type 2 diabetes (diabetes mellitus). This made me wonder if these medications could be helpful in the sugar kitty. The answer is a big fat… possibly.
As we know, feline diabetes is considered to be type 2, in that they can still produce at least some insulin. The disease tends to develop later in life for humans and cats. With humans, it usually makes more sense to start with an oral medication because it is easier to take a pill every day than to give insulin, especially if the glucose level is consistently just borderline high. With cats, starting with oral medication is not the traditional approach. The reason for this is that daily testing, diet changes and insulin are the tried-and-true treatments for feline diabetes. Plus, if kitty has serious symptoms of diabetes with weight loss, hair loss, and some of the other effects of severe disease, it is best to start with that traditional treatment as soon as possible.
Since many of us pet owners either have or know someone who has a chronic condition, we also know that the tried-and-true treatments don’t work for everyone. I have treatment-resistant migraines, and absolutely NONE of the traditional preventive medications worked for me. For Kitty, their glucose control may not respond as well to insulin and diet. Every patient is different, human and feline. So, there is possibly a place for oral diabetic medications such as Glucophage, Glipizide, Acarbose, etc. In very mild cases of diabetes, this could be a good start along with daily testing and dietary management. These medications may also be used as adjunct therapy to help the insulin work better in the kitty that is not responding well enough to their insulin. These oral medications can also possibly “smooth out” the kitty with the tendency to spike up and down despite careful testing and management.
Will these oral medications be able to make your life a ton easier? Nope. Frankly, trying to give my cats any type of pill requires a LOT of physical skill and usually result in personal injury to myself and a period of being shunned by my “victim”. Will these oral medications keep my kitty off insulin? Probably not. Will these oral medications negate the need for daily testing? No way! The medications are not a miracle cure; there isn’t one. What they CAN potentially do is fine-tune blood glucose control in conjunction with testing, insulin, and diet.
While humans usually end up on oral medications for type 2 diabetes at diagnosis, this is rarely going to be the solution for Kitty. Humans can communicate their issues, side effects, and other changes. Kitty is reliant on raw data for mom and dad (diabetes journal with test results, food diary, etc). It is worth it to ask your veterinarian about the possible addition of one of these medications if kitty’s sugar spikes up and down easily, blood-glucose levels remain high despite testing, diet and insulin, or if Kitty is not tolerating their new food or insulin well. There are kitties out there with food allergies and sensitivities that may hamper the low-carbohydrate diet because food allergies certainly complicate matters with poor digestion and absorption on top of any outward signs.
In the end, oral medication may be a good add-on therapy depending on Kitty’s unique situation. There are too many factors to consider in a blog post, but that is why I am just a writer and not a veterinarian! If Kitty is in any of the above situations, it may be worth talking to your vet about a trial of an oral medication. I stress again that there is no magic pill, but perhaps these can serve as an extra weapon in the battle of diabetes.
Be safe out there (or at home). Give Kitty some extra scratches from us!
As always, the Feline Diabetes Support Group on FB is a great resource with great admins and community members who are caring and very, very helpful.