wanted to hear if any of you had a cat that had diabetes? our sukie has been peeing a LOT and we are always filling her water bowl, I managed to get a really big sample of pee for the vet at work, he said that fact I managed to get so much wasnt a great sign, anyway he tested it and he said it looks like she is definately diabetic the colour changed on the little testing strip within 30 secs to signal very high levels of sugar, and in his experience cats dont do as well as dogs as far as insulin therapy, he said if I wanted I could talk to the other vet at work see if she has had better experience treating a cat with this than he has, but in his opinion, as she is not in any pain with the condition, just let her play her time out without a lot of intervention medically, anyone else had any success with their cats?

Mo

So sorry to hear that your cat appears to be diabetic.

Have they talked to you yet about your cat's diet? Do you feed dry food or wet or a combination of both. The thing to watch out for with a diabetic cat is the amount of carbohydrates in their food. If you are feeding dry, then chances are that the dry food contains a lot of carbs - but wet food does too depending on the brand.

I know some people who have fed their diabetic cats a raw diet for a good few years with a lot of success!
Update- i also should have said, that I also know a number of people with diabetic cats who have successfully fed a carb-reduced diet to the point that no more insulin was needed to control it.

Thanks for that, can you suggest a good low carb dry food? at she has always been funny about what she will eat, in fact she has been on go cat for a good few years because that was the only one she didnt turn her nose up at, but if the type of food can make a difference like this then she is just going to have to get used to it, and eat whats in front of her. any suggestions would be wonderful.

mo

In terms of dry, I can think of two that are high in protein and low in carbs Applaws and Orijen. Neither of these contain grains etc However, for both i am not sure how much sugar etc is hidden in the fruit etc that they contain.

Orijen Cat | Orijen Pet Foods .co.uk I would email them to find out what they think about orijen and it being fed to a diabetic cat.

The same people - bern pet food - also now stock a brand called ziwi peak, which is the most interesting dry food I have seen in a while as it is not dry food but wet that has been freeze dried. ZiwiPeak Daily Cat Cuisine | ZiwiPeak Shop .co.uk.
Quite expensive at £8 per bag but I have tried it on mine and let me tell you a bag lasts a long time! Again, when you email them you may want to ask about the suitability of that product to a diabetic cat.

And again, the same people also stock Acana - which similar to orijen contains no carbs but fruit and veg instead: ACANA Grasslands Cat | Bern Pet Foods .co.uk

Then there is Arden Grange Sensitive - which doesn't contain grains but potatoes. Again, how about firing off an email to Arden Grange as to what they think about the suitability of the sensitive one for a diabetic cat.

Does your cat eat nothing else but dry?

None of the people I know with a diabetic cat feed dry - they either feed wet or raw. Because you have a such a high level of control when you feed raw in terms of what goes and what doesn't go in your cat's food, I would really recommend it. That way you could make sure that all your cat gets is meat, offal and bones.

thanks for the help, funnily enough I fed my dogs a raw diet, for many years, but as our cat was so fussy I never even tried to give it to her, I think now I am going to have to put my foot down, and make sure she eats more protein and less carbs, sadly I was just happy she actually ate a meal with eagerness, I never even bothered to read the contents list.

Mo

hiya moboyd

I'm gonna echo hobbs! RAW would be very useful as you can ensure she has a balanced diet, help her immune system remain on top form, and truely balance the sugars in her diet naturally.

Is there any reason she might be diabetic? - obesity?

Type 1 or type 2?

Both will have some level of dietry management, but type 2 more so.

Hope it helps x

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Hi there

One of my cats (now passed away) was diabetic. He was probably around 13 at the time. He had gone missing for 6 weeks and was terribly thin when we eventually got him back. After gaining all his weight back he became diabetic. Like you, the first thing I noticed was all the water he drank. I injected him twice a day with insulin. I can't for the life of me remember what diet he was on at the time (7 years ago now since he died) but pretty sure I went with what the vet recommended (although, I didn't know about raw then.....do now ) I learned how to take blood (from the neck ) - fortunately he was a very placid cat so I could do it on my own. We got quite good!! He passed away about 5 or 6 years after diagnosis so we managed it pretty well and he was about 18 or so by then. I used to do blood glucose curves where I took blood and tested it every 2 hours for a 24 hour period (!!) and then made a graph which I then sent over to the vet so between us we could regulate the insulin. It did play havoc with the social life at times as I would sometimes have to pop home to do the injection if I was out - so it could be a problem sometimes......but he was worth it.

I was always having to deal with folk telling me to have him PTS! Apparently, as he was 'just a cat' he wasn't worth the hassle.....

R.I.P Darling TC....

Good Luck!

~x~

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R.I.P. Darling Jackson 11/7/09 - 15/1/10
Black Norwegian - died under anaesthetic for neutering
R.I.P. - TC - Black & White Moggie
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R.I.P. - Sunny Hill Lad - Arabian

I don't know much about feline diabetes myself, but if you search under www.pet-health-care.gazette.com and Feline Diabetes —Diabetes in Cats — Treatment and Diabetic Cat Info — FDMB for diabetes or hypoglycemia they go into treatment and long term health. I was worried about my cat a while ago and made a note of these for the future.

Hello Mo, i was just reading a really excellent article on feline diabetes and thought of you (in German, otherwise I would post the link).

And one of the things it says, particularly if your vet thinks that it needs to be controlled with insulin, is that more insulin is needed when you feed dry than when you feed wet. So, if they test your cat while it is eating dry and come up with an insulin dose, then that will need to be changed asap when you change the diet over to wet or raw as less insulin will be needed.

Hope that helps

The vet who told you just to leave her be should be shot. Seriously.
Diabetes in cats can be managed excellently, and the sooner proper treatment starts the better the chance of the cat going in to remission.
Yes, I am speaking from experience, my 15 year old boy was diagnosed last October, within 2 months of treatment I got his blood sugar so well controlled that the pancreas healed and he is in dietary controlled remission.
Diet is key....NO carbohydrate, none at all. Get the cat on raw or low carb tinned ( animonda carny or Bozita from Zooplus ) for the next two days then get to the vet for a Blood Glucose test and Insulin if necessary...it must be PZI insulin not caninsulin.
The support site I use is Diabetic Cat Care
They are experts in feline diabetes...read all the information on The College of Knowledge section and you will know more than your vet!
Please please, treat this cat...it is not difficult, I am more than happy to help you. If you would like to chat please pm me!
Claire (and Paddy)