Experience w/diabetic cat?

[liberal_chick]

I took my boy kitty in to the vet today for what I thought was a UTI. They did a urinalysis and, while it did indicate he had an infection, there was also a ton of glucose in his urine. The vet is running a blood test to check for diabetes.

Kitty has lost some weight recently, but I attributed it to the fact that he had started going out into our (fenced) backyard (through the dog doors, he's never really been outside before we moved here).

Does anyone have experience dealing with a diabetic cat? I'd kind of like to know what is in store should he have it.

[FuzzyOne]

my parents inherited my great-aunt's diabetic cat when she passed away. the cat received a hand-made pill everyday for his diabetes and he lived a long, long happy life - i think he was close to 20 in fact, it was not the diabetes that killed him in the end.

[Minky]

Our diabetic boy lived until 16. His kidneys failed, which I'm not sure if it was related to diabetes or not, but we had him euthanised because he was in pain. But he lived 6 years with diabetes and all we had to do was give him an injection. It was easy to give him the injection. You don't need to find a vein or anything, just grab his scruff and jab him.

Good luck.

[iamama]

My neighbors have a cat with diabetes she gets special food and a tiny tiny shot of insulin 2x per day. The needle is small and goes in very quick.

[rhiOrion]

When I worked at an animal hospital we had a very awesome diabetic cat. He was seriously the most hilarious cat. But anyhow, he got two tiny doses of insulin a day, plus a special diet.

Like PPs have said, the insulin is so easy to give. He would get annoyed with it occasionally, but it never seemed to cause him any pain. Those are some really tiny, thin needles.

The biggest issue that I can see arising in your every day life is that if he *does* (and he might not) need insulin once or even twice a day, it can be a pain to schedule. It was easy at the vet's office, because somebody was always going to be there...but at home I would think it would be a pain to make sure you're at home at the right times.

[cravenab00]

we had a diabetic kitty until last fall when she passed

the diabetes was unusual with her. it wasnt just the blood sugar issues, it was something else the vet could never pinpoint.

but we did insulin 2X per day. she never minded. in fact, if i ever forgot she would meow at the fridge! lol
she drank SO much water. like, unbelieveable amount of water. which meant she peed, and peed and peed. we had to change litter twice a day.

to me, the litter issues were more of an inconveince than the insulin.

we had seen one vet who swore that she wasnt diabetic. so he had us discontinue her insulin, and she started peeing everywhere : but her blood sugar stayed normal. we started giving the shots again, and she was fine.
DH swore she had munchausens or something, lol.

[Caneel]

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

When I worked at an animal hospital we had a very awesome diabetic cat. He was seriously the most hilarious cat. But anyhow, he got two tiny doses of insulin a day, plus a special diet.

Like PPs have said, the insulin is so easy to give. He would get annoyed with it occasionally, but it never seemed to cause him any pain. Those are some really tiny, thin needles.

The biggest issue that I can see arising in your every day life is that if he *does* (and he might not) need insulin once or even twice a day, it can be a pain to schedule. It was easy at the vet's office, because somebody was always going to be there...but at home I would think it would be a pain to make sure you're at home at the right times.

We have a 15 year old diabetic female Siamese. It was discovered last fall after she got really sick, very fast.

My experience:

Scheduling the shots is difficult for us. It is just our lifestyle. It does seem like my life revolves around "when does Cleo need her shot?"

Giving the shots is very easy. Prior to this, I couldn't even look at a needle without getting queasy. I cried at the vets office because I thought there would be no way I could ever administer the shot. The vet tech trained me and after a day, I had no problems at all.

Cleo doesn't mind the shots at all. We use the smallest needles, 31s I think.

The special food made a huge differene but it is pricey, as is the insulin. We are fast approaching $5,000 in vet bills since starting treatment. Now, a hunk of that was for emergency visits when her sugar would get whacky but there is a financial commitment.

Lots of water, lots of pee. We have issues with her missing the box but that could also be age-related.

She crashed a month or two back and we rushed her to the emergency vet center, hence the huge costs, where she needed to stay for several days until she was stabilized.