FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine Alerts Veterinarians About Problems with Vetsulin® to Treat Diabetes in Dogs and Cats
November 2, 2009
The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) and Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health are alerting veterinarians and pet owners that Vetsulin®, a porcine insulin zinc suspension used to treat diabetes in animals, may have varying amounts of crystalline zinc insulin in the formulation. Because this Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health product is out of specification it could cause a delay in insulin action and an overall longer duration of insulin activity. Products having significant problems with stability can affect the management of chronic diseases. Unstable insulin products can result in unpredictable fluctuations in the glucose levels of diabetic patients. Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health is unable to assure FDA that each batch of their product is stable.
FDA and Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health request that veterinarians closely monitor their patients receiving Vetsulin® for any changes in onset or duration of activity, or for any signs of hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia. The classic signs of hyperglycemia include increased thirst, increased urination, weight loss and lethargy. The classic signs of hypoglycemia would include disorientation, unsteadiness, weakness, lethargy, and seizures.
While Intervet/Schering-Plough is working with FDA on resolving this issue, supplies may be limited. Therefore, veterinarians should consider transitioning their diabetic patients to other insulin products. In addition, FDA encourages veterinarians to report any adverse events with the Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health product to the company through the Technical Services Department at 1-800-224-5318.
Today’s National Cat Day, and it’s a good opportunity to reflect upon how valued a member of your household your cat is. Especially now, with everyone’s world turned upside down with economic worries, cats are purrfect sources of solace, and can brighten the dreariest of your days.
So here are ten random acts of kindness you can do for your cat(s) today:
1) Heavy Petting
Who doesn’t love a little heavy petting? Most cats love the attention, and it might help decrease your blood pressure if done regularly.
2) Spa Session Grooming: Groom your cat to remove loose hair. This helps reduce hairballs, and makes your cat feel better. Older cats have extra grooming needs because they can’t groom themselves as thoroughly as youngsters. It also gives you the opportunity to feel for lumps, hot spots, ticks, and tender spots.
Pawdicure: Give your cat a nail trim. Not trimming your cat’s nails can result in damage to you and your cat. If the nails rival Howard Hughes’ in length, they can get stuck in carpeting or other material, and your cat could pull out the nail to extricate herself. If left long for too long, you can run the risk of the nail curling around and growing into the paw pad.
3) Tell Her You Love Her
Cats have a limited ability to understand language, and I have no doubt that they have emotions as well. When my Siamese, Mao, is cuddled next to me and I say, “I love you, Mao”, he begins purring. If I say it again, he’ll rev up the purrer even more. He does not react to random phrases like “broccoli books and funny hats”
But that’s just my unscientific observation. What if, twenty years from now, it is proved that cats understand every single word we say? Wouldn’t you then like to go back and say “I love you” to every cat you ever had? You can start today.
4) Buy a Pet First Aid Book and Kit
You can buy a pre-made kit, or put together your own.
PetFinder recommends that a basic Pet First Aid Kit contain the following:
Sterile gauze pads (3″ x 3″ and 2″ X 2″) and gauze bandage rolls (1″ and 2″)
First-aid adhesive tape, 1″ roll
Cotton swabs (Q-tips®)
Tweezers
Scissors
Plastic freezer/sandwich bags
Small bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide
Styptic pencil or cornstarch (stems blood flow from minor cuts)
Antibacterial ointment
Antiseptic cleansing wipes
Kaopectate® or Pepto-Bismol®
A current pet first-aid book
Eyewash
Eyedropper
Mineral oil (a lubricant and laxative when given by mouth)
Digital or rectal thermometer in a plastic case
Leather work gloves (to protect you from being bitten)
Latex gloves
Leash
Thin rope
Splint materials (tongue depressor, 12-inch wooden ruler or thick magazine)
5) Tag and Microchip Your Cat
If she’s already microchipped, take a few minutes to ensure that your contact info is accurate.
When buying tags, we recommend a pet recovery service like Together Tag which allows the finder of your pet to go online and find out who your pet’s vet is, any meds your pet takes, and out-of-area contacts (good in the case of emergencies like wildfires, earthquakes and flooding.)
Both tag and microchip work together to ensure that your cat can be returned to you. For more information, check out The Cat’s Meow’s Guide to Pet Recovery.
6) Play with your Cat
Cats rarely get enough playtime, especially if they’re under five years old. Spend some quality time with your cat and play her favorite game. Then resolve to spend 15 minutes (or more) each day in playtime.
7) Volunteer at an Animals-as-Therapy Group
If your cat has a mellow disposition and is a good traveler, consider volunteering for a therapy animal program. It will give you a chance to spend quality time with your cat, and help out your community.
8] Buy your cat a water fountain. One of the best pet inventions ever. Provides your cat with pure filtered running water 24 hours a day. Most cats LOVE them. Drinkwell has an extensive line, with a model to suit every need.
9) Channel Mr Clean
Wash your cat’s bedding (use fragrance-free laundry soap) and empty and scour her litter box. Both off these tasks should be done weekly, but time often slips away from us and before you know it, neither bedding nor litter box has been cleaned for a month. Do both today, and set a weekly reminder.
10) Adopt a Cat
If you have the time and resources to do so (and not many cats to begin with), adopt one of the 4 million cats in local shelters and save her life. Is there anything better you could do for a cat than that?
About National Cat Day
National Cat Day was founded by Pet Lifestyle Expert & Animal Behaviorist, Colleen Paige to help galvanize the public to recognize the number of cats that need to be rescued each year and also to encourage cat lovers to celebrate the cat(s) in their life for the unconditional love and companionship they bestow upon us.
Estimates reveal that there are approximately 4 million cats entering shelters every year with 1-2 million being euthanized. Often cats are overlooked and under-appreciated because they don’t usually have jobs like dogs. But cats still lower blood pressure, offer unconditional love and companionship and alert their owner of danger.
Cats have so many puuuurrrrsonalities and there is so much to love about them! Even if you can’t adopt a cat, offer to volunteer to clean a cage or sit and play with a cat for a while. Who knows? You may just fall in love!
The Associated Press and Petside.com recently polled 1,166 pet owners about their pet safety habits. While it showed that many pet owners would go to extraordinary measures to save their pets, most are unprepared for pet emergencies.
The one question that struck me funny was “Would you perform CPR on your pet?” The answer was surprising.
Among my cat-loving friends, I’d guess the percentage who’d be willing to give CPR to their cats would be above 90%. But the poll results were much lower. 63% of dog owners and 53% of cat owners would be at least somewhat likely to perform CPR on their pets.
It’s the guys who are dragging down the average: 65% of women vs. 50% of men say they’d be more likely to perform CPR.
Some findings on pet owners:
54% don’t have a fire evacuation plan.
41% have had at least one incident requiring an emergency trip to the vet.
30% of dog owners and 22% of cat owners at least sometimes give them bones from table scraps.
20% have a pet first aid kit at home.
16% have pets who’ve had allergic reactions.
7% have pets that have eaten something poisonous.
Having emergency and disaster plans so that you can properly care for — and evacuate with — your pet can mean the difference between life or death for them. If you don’t have a pet emergency kit, you should assemble one – it’s easy to put one together on your own. Click here for instructions.
Many shelters provide CPR and pet safety training. If you don’t know how to administer CPR to your pet, here’s a video:
As Halloween approaches, it’s easy to get caught up in the fun of it and forget about keeping your pets safe. Here are 13 tips on keeping your cat safe and happy on Halloween, courtesy of PetSmart and The Cat’s Meow:
To ensure that your cat isn’t part of any Halloween mischief or pranks, don’t let her outside unattended, especially at night. Even if your cat does normally go outside, remember that on Halloween, she could get spooked by the loud noises and costumes, wander off and become disoriented.
Your cat should wear a collar and name tag with your phone number and address on it all times — if she does get out of the house, at least you can be contacted. Microchipping ensures that if the collar is lost, you and your cat can be reunited.
Candy is a hazard:
* Never leave candy or candy wrappers lying around or put it where your cat can get them. Small candy and errant candy wrappers are choking hazards and can cause intestinal blockage.
* Chocolate can be toxic to cats, and especially dogs. Symptoms of significant chocolate ingestion may include vomiting, diarrhea, hyperactivity, increased thirst, urination and heart rate—and even seizures.
* Candies containing the artificial sweetener xylitol can be poisonous to pets. Even small amounts of xylitol sweetener can cause a sudden drop in blood sugar, which leads to depression, lack of coordination and seizures. In cases of significantly low blood sugar, liver failure has been known to occur.
Confine your cat to one room in your house during parties or high-traffic trick-or-treating times. This way, you’ll be at ease when opening and shutting the door. And, if trick-or-treaters enter your home, your cat will be protected from pokes, prods and loud noises.
Lit pumpkins and candles can easily be knocked over and burn your cat. Curious kittens are especially at risk for getting hurt. Use a special battery-powered Jack-o-Lantern light or an electric candle.
Keep wires and cords from electric lights and other decorations out of reach of your pets. If chewed, your pet could damage her mouth from shards of glass or plastic, or receive a possibly life-threatening electrical shock.
Instead of sharing any of your trick-or-treating loot, celebrate Halloween with your cat by giving him goodies made especially for her. You could even find a cat-specific recipe for making homemade treats. Another way to get in the spirit is to switch out regular toys with some Halloween-themed toys.
If you plan to put a costume on your cat, try it on her well in advance of Halloween to see how she reacts to it. If she tolerates it without fuss, make sure that it fits well enough to allow her to see, breathe, hear and move around unencumbered.
Most Halloween costumes for cats are best used for photographing the cat, then removing. NEVER leave a costume on a cat unattended.
Resist the temptation to take your cat to a Halloween Pet Parade, unless she is extremely comfortable around barking dogs, shrieking kids and other noise. For most cats, it’s a little slice of hell. It’s much more humane to leave her at home and enter her in one of the many online Halloween photo contests — the PetSmart Howl-O-Ween photo contest, for example.
If your cat is mellow enough to attend a Halloween Pet Parade, keep her in a harness and on a leash at all times.
Resist the urge to take your pets trick-or-treating with you. Dogs especially are prone to picking up and eating candy or wrappers that have fallen to the ground, and in the dark, you’re unlikely to see it happen. Cats can be easily spooked by the noise and chaos and escape.
Because most cats dislike loud noises and shrieking, keep a television or radio on for your cats throughout the evening on Halloween to drown out the neighborhood sounds.
The AVMA celebrates Senior Healthy Pet Month in September, which is a good time to reflect on whether you’re doing everything you can to keep your senior cat healthy and happy.
Cats are considered “seniors” after age 10, and “geriatric” after the age of 13. The AVMA recommends twice-yearly checkups for geriatric cats. That might sound like overkill, but early detection of common senior afflictions (thyroid problems, diabetes, chronic renal failure, cancer, heart problems and the like) can mean the difference between effectively managing the disease long-term and having to euthanize your beloved pet.
10 Tips to keep your senior cat healthy and happy:
1) Take her in for regular dental checkups.
Cats mask discomfort and pain, and it’s often hard to tell if your cat has dental problems unless her breath is horrific, or her face swells from an abscessed tooth. Regular dental checkups and treatment can save her months of discomfort, and keep her from losing weight – weight that, for a senior cat, might difficult to regain.
2) Groom her often
The benefits of grooming extend beyond keeping her coat tidy. Senior cats are far less aggressive groomers than their younger counterparts, and usually end up with a lot more loose hair … leaving them especially vulnerable to hairballs. Grooming your cat daily will help you learn your cat’s body to such a degree that you’ll be able to recognize tender spots or lumps early on. You’ll be able to spot skin flakes and a dull coat that might be symptomatic of thyroid disease or a poor diet. And it will give you invaluable bonding time — time you won’t have together once she’s gone.
3) Encourage play
It’s easy to forget to interact with older cats, since they sleep most of their days away and don’t seem like they want to play. But it’s worth trying to engage them in play — try their favorite toy and some catnip, and see what happens.
In addition to the quality time you’ll spend together, activity will help keep the cat in better physical shape, and you’ll be in a better position to tell when the cat is lethargic, which could be a clue to a health problem. Be sure to play in a private area, where a younger cat won’t encroach upon the game, which will sometimes cause older cats to back off.
4) Buy bed steps
Older cats often have difficulty jumping up on the bed. If she’s accustomed to sleeping with you, and no longer can get up on the bed to do so, she might feel depressed and alienated.
So, if your senior cat likes sleeping on your bed, consider buying a set of steps for the bottom or side of your bed.
5) Provide a heated cat cup or heated pad
Geezer cats feel the cold more, and appreciate a warm place to sleep.
6) Evaluate accessibility and make changes, if necessary
Consider providing a litter box with lower walls, and raising the height of her food and water bowls.
7) Create a stable environment
Change is difficult for a lot of cats, especially as they get older. For example, adding a kitten to the household may be difficult on an older cat, especially if she’s long been an only cat.
8] Consult with your vet about food supplements
Supplements or special formulations of food can provide additional Omega3 fatty acids, glucosamine with chondroitin, immune system boosters, probiotics, or other supplements that may offer benefits to your cat’s health. Discuss the options with your vet. (Never give your cat supplements designed for humans)
9) Switch to a senior formula cat food
Talk to your vet to determine if your cat might benefit from one of the many senior formula cat foods on the market. These foods typically provide an optimal balance of appropriate protein, fat, calories, vitamins and minerals for older cats.
10) Provide a fresh, appealing source of water
Cat fountains are very popular with cats, and may encourage your senior cat to drink more. Keeping your cat well-hydrated is especially important for proper kidney function and overall health.
Good scales that weigh accurately in ounces may cost $80 to $100. Weight loss is often the first signal of disease or dental problems (as in your #1 tip) but can slip by undetected until it’s significant. Get a scale, use it regularly — for all your cats, not just seniors — and catch problems early. You can use a people scale, but it may be hard to detect a few ounces lost, which can be a significant loss for us small cats.
12) FRECKLES SEZ: Once you are ten years old, join the Olde Furts Group on Catster.
It’s a good place to meet other geezers and get good health advice and support.
Thanks Lola and Freckles for making it an even dozen tips!
Last week, Skeezix and I visited Iams/Eukanuba’s facilities in Dayton, Ohio. This is one in a series of posts on what I learned.
Every discussion of corn in the cat’s diet starts out something like this: “You have corn on the cob for dinner, and the next morning, if you care to peek, you’ll note it has been expelled from your digestive tract wholly intact. Thus, it’s only a cheap nutrition-free filler in pet food.”
When it came to discussing the nutritional value and makeup of Iams and Eukanuba foods last week, the word on the tip of everyone’s tongue was CORN, spoken with the same derision as one might say “cyanide” or “rat poison.”
At the earliest opportunity, I asked Dr Maury Docton, DVM (right), the Technical Services Vet at Iams/Eukanuba, what role corn plays in the composition of their foods, and whether the new grain-free diets are a better bet for our pets.
We were in for an episode of Mythbusters.
There’s been a lot of recent press about grain-free diets, with corn, wheat and rice portrayed in a negative light.
According to Dr Maury the most common myths include:
Corn is not digestible
Corn causes allergies
Cats don’t have the ability to digest grains
Dr Maury explained that corn is a nutritionally superior grain because it provides a highly available source of complex carbohydrates and substantial amounts of essential amino acids and fatty acids, providing more of the nutritional building blocks the pet needs for repair and maintenance of its body. And, corn minimizes blood glucose response to help maintain a healthy weight and blood sugar level.
To access the nutritional part of corn, you have to remove its outer hull and produce ground corn meal which is highly digestible. Although there are individual variations, once the hull is removed, ground corn is less than 2% fiber; therefore 98% digestible by your cat. Being 98% digestible means that more of the nutrition stays inside your cat, and less ends up in the litter box.
The only part of an ingredient that can trigger an allergy is the protein portion of that ingredient. Unless corn is used as a protein, in its gluten form, it is very unlikely to trigger an allergic reaction — corn meal contains less than 8% protein. Beef, dairy and fish account for most reported food related allergies in cats. Of food ingredients reported in veterinary medical literature to cause adverse reactions in cats, corn was at the bottom of the list, just above egg*.
The trend to replace grains with fruit and vegetables for the same carbohydrate function is well-meaning, but as yet there is little research documentation to prove how they will affect the energy level and glycemic response of the cat. Although you won’t see cats in the wild chowing down corn on the cob, they do consume a diet of up to 10% carbohydrates, which they get from the stomach contents of their prey.
Bottom line: When processed correctly, corn is an excellent source of complex carbohydrates, as proven by data that Iams has collected during 50 years of research. Although cats are obligate carnivores, most do need a small percentage of complex carbohydrates in their diets for energy, and they will get that from a correctly balanced diet.
In rare cases, corn may cause an allergic response, but if your cat eats a food that contains corn and develops an allergic reaction, it’s far more likely due to beef, dairy or fish.
Like humans, some cats may need to be on low-carb diets, in which case your vet can recommend the best food for your cat’s needs.
In the interest of full disclosure, this trip was fully paid for by Iams/Eukanuba. I’ve fed my cats Eukanuba for nearly 20 years, and the only cat of mine with digestive issues is the one who won’t eat the Eukanuba, but sticks to an all-meat Catkins diet.
____________________________________
* source: Advances in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, Vol 5, Issue 9, 2002.
If you have activities planned, it’s easy to forget to take care of Fluffy’s needs. Make sure she has plenty of fresh, cool, clean water, especially if she’s a senior cat. Older cats tend to sleep for long periods during the day and forget to wake up and drink, so wake her up periodically, and encourage her to sip.
Keep Matches and Lighter Fluid out of Her Reach
Certain types of matches contain chlorates, which could potentially damage blood cells and result in difficulty breathing—or even kidney disease in severe cases. Lighter fluid can be irritating to skin, and if ingested, can produce gastrointestinal irritation and central nervous system depression. If lighter fluid is inhaled, pneumonia and breathing problems could develop.
Don’t Deviate from Her Normal Diet
Keep your cat on her normal diet. Any change, even for one meal, can give her severe indigestion and diarrhea. This is particularly true for older animals who have more delicate digestive systems and nutritional requirements. And keep in mind that people foods such as onions, chocolate, coffee, avocado, salt, yeast dough, grapes and raisins can all be potentially toxic to companion animals.
No Citronella!
Keep citronella candles, insect coils and oil products out of reach. Ingesting any of these items can produce stomach irritation and possibly even central nervous system depression in your pets, and if inhaled, the oils could cause aspiration pneumonia.
Never Leave a Pet Alone in the Car
Traveling with your cat? Never leave her alone in the car, and always keep a harness on her in the car so it’s easy to secure here when you stop for breaks.
Apply Sunscreen
If your cat enjoys outdoor barbecues with your family, don’t forget to apply a PET FORMULATED sunscreen to her nose and ears, especially during the midday hours. As with people, the light-skinned cats are the most vulnerable, especially if they don’t have much fur on their ears.
Indoor Cat and Visitors? Lock her up!
If you have house guests this weekend, sequester Fluffy in a spare room so that she won’t escape as strangers enter and exit the house.
Now that summer is coming to a close, it’s time to to get back into your regular fitness regimen. With the help of the stunning Oriental, Kaze, our friends at Pets.com have some fitness tips to share with you and your cat.
Is your tabby getting thick in the midsection? Are chewing and swallowing her only exercises?
A cat’s sedentary lifestyle can often result in obesity, a condition which can lead to hip, back, shoulder or knee injuries, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and heat stroke.
Apart from limiting your cat’s food intake, what else can you do to combat this problem? The answer is a simple one: kick your cat’s activity level up a notch by having her exercise on a daily basis.
Exercise? A cat? Sure. But not in the same way you might a dog. Your cat is a more independent creature, and must be motivated in different ways if she is to raise her level of activity.
Food is an effective motivator for teaching new behavior to a cat. Small treats can be used to get her moving. To raise your cat’s food drive, put her on a regular feeding schedule instead of free feeding or leaving food down all day. Doing so will program your cat to be hungry at specific times, a key in teaching her any new behavior.
So you’ve put your cat on a regular feeding schedule, and she’s famished at dinner time. What next? Put her hunger to work. The following are ways to get your cat moving prior to dinner time:
Stair Climbing
Get your cat to climb a flight or more of stairs several times each week by sporadically relocating her food dish. Place her meal at the top or bottom of a flight of stairs, depending on your home’s layout. To get to it, she must climb or descend. If she has trouble locating her dish, try moving it up just a few steps at first, eventually placing it as far away as possible.
Random Placement of Treats
Leave small treats in various locations around the home to condition her to explore more. Put one atop the fridge, one beneath the sofa and another beside your television. Eventually, searching will become a regular calorie-burning activity for her.
The Recall or ”Come”
Have you ever owned a cat who would rush to the kitchen upon hearing the whir of an electric can opener? Without knowing it, your cat had learned to come on cue. To teach your cat to ”Come,” try this:
Buy a child’s “clicker” toy or a clicker pet training tool. Next, with her close by, place her dinner down immediately after clicking the toy several times. Do this at each meal for two weeks. Then, with the cat in another room, try clicking the toy several times. The cat, now conditioned to think food is coming, should come running. When she does, reward her with a treat. Having her come on command will get her running whenever you want, in hopes of getting food. This of course burns calories.
These next activities use motivators other than food to get your cat moving:
Playing With Toys
Cats love to chase moving objects. You can get your cat moving by enticing her with various toys, including:
Teaser wands
Mouse toys
Balled-up newspaper
Wind-up toys
Toys suspended from a string
Balls
Feathers
The object is to keep your cat moving for at least 10 minutes. Have these sessions several times each day for best results.
Companionship
A great way to keep a cat active during the day is to provide her with company – like another cat. A willing feline partner will encourage play and stimulate her mind. They will romp and chase each other, keeping activity levels high.
Barbra Streisand is sponsoring a pet photo contest named after her beloved dog, Sammie (pictured above). To promote her new album “Love is the Answer,” she’ll be playing a once-in-a-lifetime show at the Village Vanguard in New York City on Saturday, September 26 to an intimate group of 100 fans. The winner of Sammie’s Cutest Pet Photo Contest will win tix to the show.
Here’s what you need to do. Submit a cute, original photo of your pet. The top 20 votes with the most votes move to the finals, from which one grand prize winner will chosen to receive two tickets to the performance, plus hotel and airfare.
This month’s contest at Martha Stewart Pets is a “Lazy Pets” photo contest… a natural for catnappin’ kitties! The prize is a year’s supply of Purina One cat food.
Official rules are here. Entry deadline is September 15, 2009.
1) Heavy Petting
3) Tell Her You Love Her
4) Buy a Pet First Aid Book and Kit
5) Tag and Microchip Your Cat
One of the best pet inventions ever. Provides your cat with pure filtered running water 24 hours a day. Most cats LOVE them. Drinkwell has an extensive line, with a model to suit every need.
It’s the guys who are dragging down the average: 65% of women vs. 50% of men say they’d be more likely to perform CPR.
As Halloween approaches, it’s easy to get caught up in the fun of it and forget about keeping your pets safe. Here are 13 tips on keeping your cat safe and happy on Halloween, courtesy of PetSmart and The Cat’s Meow:
4) Buy bed steps
many senior formula cat foods on the market. These foods typically provide an optimal balance of appropriate protein, fat, calories, vitamins and minerals for older cats. 
At the earliest opportunity, I asked Dr Maury Docton, DVM (right), the Technical Services Vet at Iams/Eukanuba, what role corn plays in the composition of their foods, and whether the new grain-free diets are a better bet for our pets.
Is your tabby getting thick in the midsection? Are chewing and swallowing her only exercises?
Get your cat to climb a flight or more of stairs several times each week by sporadically relocating her food dish. Place her meal at the top or bottom of a flight of stairs, depending on your home’s layout. To get to it, she must climb or descend. If she has trouble locating her dish, try moving it up just a few steps at first, eventually placing it as far away as possible.
