A Guide to Novolin Insulin - Treating Your Pet's Diabetes

Helping to Control Your Diabetic Dog or Cat’s Blood Sugar

By Sam Bourne.

Hypoglycemia
Glycogen Storage Disease
Underweight
Overweight
Diabetes

indications for Novolin

Novolinis a man made form of insulin designed to help control diabetes mellitus. It is structurally identical to the insulin produced by the human pancreas, but is still quite effective in cats and dogs. Helping to bring down high blood sugar, Novolin assists pets with diabetes mellitus in controlling their hyperglycemia. Novolin, like all insulins, is only offered as an injection.

Precautions

Patients on Novolin should monitor their blood sugar closely, as an overdose of this drug will cause the blood sugar to drop dangerously low. The safety of using Novolin with pregnant or nursing pets has not been tested, so caution should be used. Pets taking anabolic steroids, beta adrenergic blockers, diuretics, estrogen agents, glucocorticoids, MAOIs, progestin, thyroid hormones, aspirin, digoxin, dobutamine, epinephrine, furosemide, phenylbutazone, or tetracycline should tell their vet before taking Novolin, as they may decrease its effectiveness.

Dosage

A U100 type insulin, make sure you have the proper syringe, otherwise your dosage will be off.

The dosage in both cats and dogs is 0.2 units/kg, but you should consult with your veterinarian before administering any injections.

Brand/Generic equivalents

Humulin

Side Effects

Since Novolin is intended to lower the blood sugar of the recipient, patients may experience hypoglycemia, or dangerously low blood sugar, if they take too large of a dose, which can be fatal. After having taken Novolin for a while, pets may experience rapid insulin metabolism, finding that they have built up a tolerance to the effects of insulin. Somogyi effect hyperglycemia is also a possible reaction to taking Novolin.