I have had two cats who had to have insulin injections. Neither of them reacted. The needles are tiny. I used to wait until they were sitting in a relaxed position and them administer it.

 

See above - she has already replied to this thread.

 

Unfortunately I think Sheba has sugar in it. I’d follow PaddyPaws advice.

 

Unfortunately I think Sheba has sugar in it. I'd follow PaddyPaws advice.

Who is paddy paws

 

Hi can anyone help me. I have a Coco who was diagnosed with diabetes in feb after her brother blue died from cancer. I have been going to vet and he put Coco on DM dry food but her urine is copious amounts. Her weight is 4.25 kl he put her on 2m. I seen this forum and changef her to Sheba flakes as it was the lowest carb and put the insulin down to 1 1/2 m and she was fab. took her to the vets today and he kept her in all-day her count was 13.5. 10.5 12.5 11.5 he told me to put her back on dry food what the hell do I do so confused.help

 

It would still be advisable to get permission from your vet to blood test at home. You want to be working with them and not against them. After Cinders stabilised, we were only asked to take her for a check up once every two months, then every six months and now they only see her for her yearly boosters

I disagree. Nobody needs permission from a vet to blood test their own cat. Ultimately, the cats health and well being is the owner's responsibility and the more people that question their vet and do their own research the better (and I mean that in respect of every aspect of veterinary care). Vets are only humans too, and whilst they undergo a vast amount of training, often that training is general (eg they don't specialise in things such as feline diabetes).

No doctor who diagnosed somebody with diabetes would turn round and say "carry on eating lots of cakes and blindly dose yourself x amount of this insulin a day" so why would we do that to our cats?

Yep, try and keep your vet on side, but don't do that do to the detriment of your pets health. My vet wasn't so keen initially, but soon came round as soon as she saw the proof - a very healthy looking cat with (in her words) "no clinical signs of diabetes" and a spreadsheet full of good blood glucose readings.

 

vix107....if you are a Diabetic yourself then you can be of great help to your friend and her cat.
Successful treatment for cats is very similar to that used for humans. I presume you would not consider giving your self static doses of insulin without any idea of what your BG was from day to day? The protocol that I use involves careful home monitoring of the BG to keep the cat safe from both DKA and hypo in much the same way that you do.

 

Only to add that I found this on sugarpet.net, referring to an article on sugarcats.com

"Apparently somebody discovered that it was illegal for people in England to blood test their cats. In a joking effort to avoid capture and jail people and their pets adopted aliases and the "secret agent" idea was born. I’ve since read that it’s only illegal if you don’t have permission from your vet, but this site is nonetheless entertaining and informative."

It would still be advisable to get permission from your vet to blood test at home. You want to be working with them and not against them. After Cinders stabilised, we were only asked to take her for a check up once every two months, then every six months and now they only see her for her yearly boosters

 

wow thank you everyone for all your advice im sure it will help my friend so much must admit it feels a little odd to have asked for this kind of info being a type 1 diabetic myself!!! ive told her not to worry too much until she has more info from the vet about how bad the diabetes is and everyone she knows is seeking advice on the various bits needed to care for him and give him good quality of life, he is a lovely cat though as many of you have mentioned he is a little on the weighty side!! bless him!! so I hope the diet change will make a big difference as that seems the obvious first thing to do again a massive thank you to you all for the advice at this point tho im sure I will be back at the very least to give an update of his progress x

 

i have no experience of having a cat with diabetes but i know a lady who runs a cat sanctuary in america (blind cat rescue and sanctuary) who swears that putting a cat on a low carb diet works wonders, according to her she has managed to control some of her diabetic cats with diet only, her is a link to her blog where she mentions it
Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary, Inc.: 2/2/2014
im not sure it will be any help but its worth a look.

 

I can second all the information given by Rox66 above as I am an active member of Diabetic Cat Care too.
I have had 2 Diabetic cats....my first cat Paddy who developed FD after steroid shots went in to remission after 8 weeks on the Tight Regulation programme. I lost him a couple of years later due to various health issues unrelated to FD.
I then went on to adopt Woody from a rescue centre and he achieved remission after 10 weeks.
Like Rox, I test daily at home (never heard of it being illegal in any way! ) and the major expense was the insulin at around £70 but which lasted for up to a year!
Unfortunately the UK is way behind the rest of the world in the way that Diabetic cats are routinely treated through vets. The protocol that Rox and I use aims to achieve remission....UK rates in general are as low as 20% whereas other countries achieve 60/70/80% remission rates through better treatment.
Please PLEASE tell your friend to join the forum I link to above and we will do all we can to help her and her cat.

 

Hi, I'm really short of time so this will be a quick post in the hope that paddypaws will see this and also respond.

Please please please do not let your friend even consider putting her cat to sleep. A lot of cats can go into diabetic remission (ie no need for insulin) with a simple diet change.

What does she feed her cat? Ideally her cat should be switched to a completely wet food diet only feeding foods that are high in protein and low in carbs. Tinned foods such as Bozita, Macs, Granatapet etc. A diet change alone can often be a great help. (Although a diet change should be done with caution if insulin is already being administered.)

I have two diabetic cats - one of whom went straight into remission once I got her and put her on to the appropriate food.

I strongly recommend that your friend joins this forum.....

http://www.diabeticcatcare.com

Where you will find lots of helpful people and lots of helpful advice. The forum was a life saver for me and helped turn my diabetic cat Slinky from a skinny always hungry cat with a dull coat to a cat that my vet was stunned to see the difference in. His appetite is normal, his coat is shiny and he went from 3.5kg to 6.5kg which is a good weight for him.

Frequent vets visits are completely unnecessary if she learns to home test the cat herself. Sounds scary but it really is very simple. I home test my cat (the one not in remission) and he only visits the vet once a year for his boosters. No need for them to do any tests as I can provide all the blood glucose figures myself and I am in control of his diabetes. I use an insulin that lasts for months and months - my current vial has been open about 6 months and it cost me £60. I still have plenty left.

There is loads more info but I really have to go. My main advice is to join the forum I have linked to above and read and read and don't be scared. It's not a life sentence, it is a perfectly manageable condition and there is no reason why the cat cannot have a long and healthy life ahead.

 

I've had two diabetic cats, one actually recovered but I lost them both about a year after diagnosis, one from liver disease. It certainly isn't easy looking after a diabetic cat but the most difficult part is at the beginning getting them stabilised. Its very important to do all that the vet advises, particularly giving injections at specific times and checking urine levels etc. However, once you get into the routine and learn to give injections which isn't half as difficult as it appears, it is manageable.
Obviously, cost is ongoing as long as the illness lasts.
Your friend might find this helpful
http://www.cats.org.uk/uploads/documents/cat-care-leaflets-2013/VG03_Diabetes.pdf
Tell her not to panic and think about putting her beloved pet to sleep. If cost is the main problem, one thing would be to get a prescription from her vet and buy medication and food online if she can which is half the cost of getting it from the vets. If she looks on a website like Viovet, she can get an idea of the costs of things like insulin, urine sticks and diet food for diabetic cats. If she really felt she couldn't cope, she could contact Cats Protection or other rescues as I am sure they would be sympathetic and they can and do find homes for diabetic cats. It would be an awful shame to end her cat's life prematurely when he could have an almost normal life for some years yet. At the end of the day, it isn't a lot different to a person being diabetic other than your friend has to be responsible for his care.

 

I lurk in the forum occasionally, but I joined tonight to reply. One of our cats was diagnosed with diabetes 8 years ago and she is still doing well. As she wasn't ill at the time of diagnosis, we were given a choice and opted to keep her at home and stabilise her with help from the vet, rather than them keeping her in.

We were shown how to use the insulin and how to inject. We watched first and then injected her ourselves with sterile water. All three of us quickly fell into a routine and because we always feed a small amount BEFORE injecting, we know Cinders is well and able to eat enough to compensate for the action of the insulin. She also regards it as a treat and willingly comes into the kitchen twice a day for her jab. She often purrs while I am injecting her.

From the start I wanted to take control of her diabetes, so I asked the vet for permission to blood test at home. Initially she was also checked at the vet, but we soon learned how to use the blood glucose monitor and we test once a week - more if necessary. This way we have NEVER had a problem with a hypo, although sometimes we do get quite low readings. In that case, we keep her in and feed treats little and often and generally don't inject the next time.

We have all been very lucky and I know survival times after diagnosis aren't normally this long. I would definitely say go for it and get the vet's permission to test at home - you have to do this as it is against the law otherwise. Diabetes isn't difficult to understand - we have ferrets that sometimes get insulinoma, which is almost the reverse of diabetes. Once the penny drops then it really is easy.

I can't advise regarding expense because none of our nearly 40 pets are insured and we just accept the cost. Once stabilised, I wouldn't imagine the "running costs" are too bad

 

I’m new to the diabetic cat, my cat was diagnosed in April, I immediately changed his diet to katkins untamed and Thrive, started giving him pancreas glandular and multi plus from the pet health and nutrition centre. I also started him on a homeopath remedy Naranyani sugar balance BR2 but I stopped that because it has sucrose . Zippy seams happier because of the herbs and no sloppy poops which his pancreas caused his had this for many years and that could have cause the diabetes. I’ve tried but I think he needs the insulin. My biggest worry is hurting him with the injections and stressing him out with vet visits

 

I've had a diabetic cat One of my previous moggies was diagnosed and required insulin. I have to be completely honest, looking back it was difficult to say the least, however he was my old boy and I owed him enough to try.
From diagnosis to him being pts it was around 2 and a half years. He required insulin shots twice daily. Took a while to stabilise him and find the right dosage etc but the vet was happy and he did very well in that period of time, only one hypo
Giving the shots was super traumatic for me to begin with (Oscar bless him rarely batted an eyelid) but it's amazing how quickly you both get used to it.
Cost wise, about 2 years ago now the insulin Oscar needed was about £70 a bottle which lasted approx. 3 months. That wasn't really the major expense, what really added up were the regular vet visits to monitor him and also the food.
I guess what I am trying to say is this. It's a hugely scary prospect to be faced with initially, but if you want to try and have a supportive vet it can also be very rewarding
On the other hand, I fully understand if someone feels it is too much to take on. My life centred around Oscar's insulin because it has to be given at the same time every day, twice a day. This is not always possible for many people. I wouldn't blame anyone if they felt they couldn't cope with this :sad:
I'd be happy to help or share my own experiences if you think your friend would appreciate it. I'm sure others have stories of their own which may differ immensely too.
Oh and btw Oscar wasn't insured either Please keep us posted on your friends cat x

 

Hi and welcome,

The cost of treatment can be variable depending on the specifics of his case and the practice. Regardless, it is likely to be more at first while he is stabilised because he will need more frequent check-ups and blood tests.

The vast majority of cats suffer from Type 2 diabetes caused by pancreatic insufficiency (ie the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin) and/or insulin resistance (ie the body does not respond to the insulin produced).

Is the kitty overweight?

It is worth noting that some cases of feline diabetes are reversible so he may have a chance of recovery - that would be worth discussing with the vet if your friend hasn't already. Unfortunately not all cats can enter remission - it depends on the case.