Holistic treatment options

It's much easier to deal with pre-diabetes because herbs, supplements, and diet can keep a kitty from developing diabetes. But once a cat is on insulin, it all becomes trickier to manage. Do not give a diabetic cat any herb, supplement, or homeopathic remedy without keeping strict tabs on BG levels. Constitutional homeopathic treatment is the only truly effective treatment and dare I say "cure" for diabetes. If you want to go at it alone, I've outlined some ideas but these should be treated merely as a starting point.

Herbs

There are no studies that have looked specifically at herbs for feline diabetes.

Stevia, Chinese herb He Shou Wu a.k.a. Fo-Ti (Polygonum multiflorum), and Ayurvedic herbs Bitter Melon (Karela) and Gymnema Sylvestre (Gur Mar), Holy Basil Leaf, and Eclipta alba a.k.a Bhringaraja or Kesharaja have shown promise in the treatment of diabetes in humans.

Some cats on the list have been on one or more of these herbs. There are no established safe or therapeutic amounts for these herbs in cats. Any herbal regimen would need to be customized for each cat.

Cinnamon is the only herb that has been used on my list for at least 10 years. As with the other herbs and supplements, it is particularly helpful in the early stages.

Cautions:

• Use only water-soluble extract (to avoid coumarin and oils)
• Avoid cinnamomum cassia form

In other words, stick to Cinnamomum Verum/zeylanicum the latter is also known as true Ceylon cinnamon as found in this paper:

• Taherm Muhammad, Fadzilah Adibah, Abdul Majid, and Mohamad Roji Sarmidi, "A proanthocyanidin from cinnamomum zeylanicum stimulates phosphorylation of insulin receptor in 3T3-L1 adipocytes", Jurnal Teknologi, 44(F) Jun 2006: 53–68

Be sure to monitor glucose levels very carefully because in human studies, the effect of insulin was greatly intensified with cinnamon supplementation.  Although I've seen suggestions for therapeutic human dose ranges from 250 to 1000 mg/day, as per mouse studies 200mg seemed to be just as effective.

If 200mg is the dose for humans, extrapolating from there for a cat one doesn't presumably need all that much.  Needless to say, one would need to check BG big time just as if on insulin. Note - it takes a given dose of cinnamon at least 2 weeks to provide a reliable baseline. So don't plan on it acting like giving an insulin shot.  Use the right (water-extracted) product e.g. NOW brand, starting with only around 20 to 25mg at first, and monitor BG levels closely.  It takes some trial-and-error e.g. in some cases, cats do well on as much as 200mg and in others just 50mg keeps their BG levels in check.  In other words, cinnamon is best used when a cat is not in a condition where insulin is necessary.

Supplements

• Vitamin E - in humans has been shown to help diabetics cut back on their need for insulin e.g. as reported here. One can give cats 50-100 IU daily.
• Pancreatic enzymes – if there is diagnosed Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI) to help the pancreas do its job. .
• Pancreas glandulars and/or adrenal glandulars. Glandulars are made from animal tissue. Look for a brand that uses organic, good quality glandular material.
• Water-soluble vitamins such as Vitamin B-Complex and Vitamin C. Ascorbic acid is a little rough on the stomach, so calcium ascorbate might be a better idea. In this paper, they found ascorbic acid helps with blood pressure and cardiovascular risk. Cats produce their own Vit C, but who knows, in times of stress, it's possible Vit C can help?
• Trace minerals can be useful as well as chromium, zinc and manganese help to balance blood sugar. This is safer than giving Chromium Picolinate, on which even for humans, the jury is still out as to its safety and efficacy.
• CoQ10 - 10mg of CoQ10 per 3 lbs of kitty body weight
• These two supposedly work by increasing sensitivity of tissues to insulin and decreasing glucose release from the liver: Vanadyl Sulfate 10mg and Chromium Picolinate 200mcg
  Below are 2 references (same author/presenter) that talk about using chromium (200mcg dosage) and vanadyl sulfate for cats with diabetes:
  
  • Greco DS. "Treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in cats using oral hypoglycemic agents". In: Bonajura JD, ed. Current Veterinary Therapy XIII. Philadephia, PA: W.B. Saunders; 1999:350.
  • Greco DS. "Treatment of feline diabetes mellitus (dm) with pzi and transition metals". American Association of Feline Practitioners Fall Meeting. Nashville, TN; October 16-19, 1999.

Caution: There are concerns regarding toxicity especially for Vanadyl Sulfate, so it should not be used for more than 3 weeks at a time with long breaks in between.

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