Anyone else have a diabetic cat?

Factual Questions
1

Our 13+ year-old male cat, Smokey, was just diagnosed with diabetes yesterday. He’s getting his first insulin shot this morning at the vet office, and we’re going to get lessons in administering the injections ourselves (twice daily; there go our New Year’s Eve plans!).

His diabetes is pretty far along, and we’re angry with ourselves (and with the vet) for not catching the signs earlier. When he (and his two buddies) went in for their regular checkup in October, one of the other cats’ bloodwork came back with elevated glucose levels; but upon retesting that cat the results came back as normal. We’re almost certain now that the elevated glucose levels were Smokey’s; at some point the names or samples must have gotten mixed up. The vet is not pleased about that.

As it is, he continued to lose weight (2+ more pounds since early October), and was having trouble using/controlling his back legs. It was only a slight limp before Xmas, but upon our return from our week-long visit to family, it was much worse. Every time he tried to run, his rear legs would flail about. We called the vet first thing Monday, blood and urine tests were run, and diabetes was the diagnosis.

Given the number of feline owners on this board, I’m sure some others have experienced this already. Just wondering what we should expect.

2

Sorry to hear about your little buddy, Runestar. My Nermal(and yes, she was the “world’s cutest kitten”)was diabetic for the last two years of her life. When she was first diagnosed I freaked, thinking I couldn’t possibly give her injections, but it’s really easy and she didn’t even notice it after awhile. One trick, is to inject the cat while he’s eating. Also, doing it at the same time every day will help to make sure that you don’t miss a dose. If you do miss a dose, DO NOT double up on the next one. It’s much better for the cat to have too little insulin than too much. It can be an inconvenience and unfortunately it is expensive, but there’s no reason your cat can’t live the rest of his days in kitty comfort. Good luck!

3

I had a diabetic dog. The injections were actually very easy, as the needle is small. I’d warm the syringe up under my armpit for a minute or so before injecting (more comfortable for the animal), and it only takes a second.

The main things are:
a) Diet. Ask your vet. Lower carb is generally better, but ask your vet.
b) Schedule. I had to set a schedule for food & shots. It is better to get into a routine and feed/give shots at the same time daily, since it is expensive & difficult (but maybe this has changed) to test the blood daily.

4

I have spoken with a lot of people with diabetic cats who have had great success feeding Innova Evo. Some have been able to take their cats off of insulin altogether with a vets supervision. It is the highest protein lowest carb kibble style food available. You might do better with some of the frozen raw diets but they can be expensive. Evo is expensive but you’ll find it packs more calories by volume than most other commercial foods so you will feed less. Talk to your vet first because if there are any borderline kidney problems a high protein diet can make it worse.

Don’t worry about the injections. Once you get accustomed to it they’re easy. Good advice above to use a schedule, inject while kitty is eating or otherwise distracted and to warm the dose slightly before injecting. Most cats usually respond really well to treatment so you may see an increased activity level which can help. Try to make sure fresh water is available anywhere your cat likes to hang out. If you’re feeling extra fancy you could get a cat fountain. One of my older guys who was always drawn to water flowing from the tap absolutely loves his. The more you can get an older cat to drink the better.

Good luck, don’t stress.

5

My cat Hobbes was diagnosed with diabetes five years ago, and he’s still going strong. I give him a shot twice a day with his food, and he doesn’t seem to mind.

6

I don’t have a diabetic cat myself, but as a petsitter I’ve taken care of two diabetic cats and one diabetic dog. The shots were easy, just make sure you time them right. However, one of the cats, Little Bear ( http://flickr.com/photos/egamirorrim/514076045/ ), peed a huge amount. It seemed like gallons and gallons. I scooped his box a couple times a day when I was taking care of him, and I almost always had to refill the litter. He drank a lot of water, too.

7

Our cat was diagnosed at age 20. At the time, we decided she wasn’t very long for this world and just took her home. She’s 23 now and still kickin’. My guess is that she was going through a bout of pancreatitis, and shook it off, just like she’s done a couple of times with her apparent pink frothing pulmonary edema. Our thinking is this cat is going to outlive us all. God bless her.

8

Just popping in to say that I misread the title as “Anyone else have a **diabolic **cat?”

My answer would have been “Yes, but aren’t they all?” :smiley:

9

We have had two.

The first was diagnosed at age 7 and lived another 10 years getting shots. He got one shot a day at first but the vet upped this to 2 per day. Insulin improved him greatly, and giving the shots was no trouble. He appeared to like getting the shots, or maybe the attention. He would appear around shot time, and maybe murmur at me if I didn’t notice him. He was a big and very friendly cat. We finally lost him a couple of years ago. We are very glad we went the treatment route.

The second was a big and friendly cat, but his diabetes was not as easily controlled. His cooperation on shots varied. Sometimes he’d make himself scarce. But, if he was around, I was always able to dose him. He got 2 shots per day from the start. However, he died suddenly after a couple of years of treatment, his age maybe about 10 or so. The vet suspected a heart attack.

If we had another cat diagnosed with diabetes we would immediately opt for treatment. It wasn’t difficult and seemed well worthwhile.

10

One of my cats is diabetic. She is 14 years old and I have been giving her shots for about six years now. When we were first figuring out her problem she did have neuropathy which was evidenced by her having problems with her back legs. That went away with the insulin shots although she does limp at times now. Probably from some arthritis.

Anyway, she’s doing well. After she eats she walks over to the carpeted area and lays down waiting for me to give her the shot. Never a complaint unless I’ve used the needle too much and it is getting a bit dull. If I get distracted and forget to give her a shot, she will “mew” to remind me.

My only frustrations are the added cost and not being able to leave her on weekends. She eats diabetes maintenance food we get from the vet. I just picked up a new bag today and it cost $50! At least it lasts for 4 months. The insulin we use costs about $95 per bottle and that lasts about 8 months. (And the lazy cat won’t get a job to help pay for any of it!)

I used to be able to leave extra food and water and could leave her at home for a weekend without a problem. With her needing two shots daily I have to take her with me for weekend trips or pass her off to my sister to do pet sitting. But, she is a wonderful cat and it beats the alternative.

11

Excessive water intake and urination is a classic symptom of uncontrolled diabetes. If the OP sees these signs despite insulin treatment, call the vet.

Having a pet with diabetes is more manageable than it seems at first. Just be sure to stick to a time table. And, you can always start your New Year’s after tonight’s 8pm treatment.

12

My little girl Bunnie, to be 14 in February, was diagnosed with diabetes October of 2007.

We started with switching to prescription “low-carb” kibble (don’t let anyone fool you, NO kibble is low-carb, just lower-carb, and absolutely no match for canned food)

When the diet change didn’t work, I started insulin in December 2007. Lantus Glargine insulin is the newest and most likely to help a diabetic cat achieve remission. That’s right, I said remission!

I was still resistant to switching to canned food, and so continued with the “lower-carb” kibble (Hill’s m/d) until about May. Then I started feeding some canned and some kibble. I was nervous about switching completely over because I have two other cats, both of whom were normal-weight and I didn’t want them to lose any weight with the almost-no-carb canned diet.

Well, I but the bullet and switched over to all canned between May and July. While the kibble was served less and less, Bunnie’s insulin doses got smaller and smaller. By October, when canned had been getting fed exclusively for just 3 months, Bunnie’s last insulin shot was October 1st. She has been officially in remission since then and she’s doing great!

I strongly encourage you to monitor your cat’s blood glucose at home. Insist that your vet order you an AlphaTRAK monitor for you to use at home, and teaches you how to use it. If your vet is resistant to this, they are not progressive and you need to switch to a vet who is familiar with teaching people how to do this stuff. The AlphaTRAK it is worth every penny and will pay itself back when you can do your own monitoring at home and don’t have to pay your vet for day-long glucose curves and for emergency visits when your cat is unregulated and you don’t know it.

This website is very useful, and has handy information for newbies to the diabetic cats’ world. DO make sure to check the canned cat food table, and the dry cat food table. They will clear up any debates about “lower-carb” foods!

Best of luck, and it really is easier than you might think. I honestly had thought for several years previously to Bunnie’s diagnosis that I would have to put down any one of my cats if they came down with something like diabetes, being single, living alone, and working two jobs. But the adjustment was not nearly so difficult, and by doing everything (ultimately) right, she’s now in remission and still with me.

Feel free to PM me if you want any other info - I might not check every day, but I’ll definitely get back to you!

Oh, and Mycroft mentioned something about using a needle too much. That’s insane. NEVER EVER use ANY needle more than once! Insulin syringes are single-use only and sterile. Not sterile after use only once, and just asking for sepsis if you do. Never do that! (I probably didn’t need to tell you)

13

Well, I wasn’t too worried about giving the actual injections. A few years ago we had to give one of our (now passed on) cats IV fluids 3x/week for several months. Figured if I could handle the large IV needle, I wouldn’t have any trouble with the tiny insulin needle.

Our main concern is that Smokey, even after 13 years with us, is still a skittish cat. He was a pretty feral kitten when we rescued him, and still tends to view us with suspicion. Spending the next few years digging him out from under the bed twice a day to give him a shot doesn’t fill me with a warm, fuzzy feeling. :rolleyes:

The other issue is that of the food. All four of our cats seem to prefer dry crunchy kibble to nice soft canned food, which puzzles us no end. I’d prefer to feed canned food to all four at regular intervals, but I’m not confident that we could ensure that each one got their fair share, given the dynamics of the current kitty power structure. But from all I’ve read it sure sounds as if there’s a better chance to control the diabetes via diet alone if you can get them on the all-canned low-carb diet, which I’d definitely prefer to twice daily injections.

14

My cat Lucia nearly died of pancreatitis about a year and a half ago and has been diabetic since. The twice-daily injections aren’t so bad–the needle is very fine and doesn’t seem to hurt her, and I’m not squeamish about giving shots. However, she loathes the needle-sticks in the ear to monitor her blood-glucose levels. Fortunately, her blood-glucose levels have been good lately, so we don’t have to deal with that as often as we used to.

The vet and I had hoped that with careful monitoring of her diet, we could take her off insulin entirely, and did for awhile this summer, but it was difficult to keep it up with another non-diabetic cat in the house who’s growing old and losing weight. Lucia is a tubby girl at the moment, 15 lbs, but is otherwise doing well.

15

I thought the same thing, which was why it took me so long to make the total change myself. Turns out, what they really seem to want from the kibble is that nice, oily coating the manufacturers put on the kibble as the last part of the process.

Once I was putting out full portions of the canned, I was still sprinkling some kibble on top in case any of them needed enticement. They started eating around the kibble, even though it was still crunchy, once the coating came off! That was my “Aha!” moment and I felt fine stopping the kibble after that.

As to the dynamics of feeding, you’ll have to experiment. Sometimes separate rooms need to be used at mealtimes, or it may work out to feed on different levels, someone high up in a cat tree or a chair, with others on the floor, etc. I thought that was going to be a problem with mine, too, because none of them are friends. Turns out that the feeding is positive reinforcement and they’re all getting along better now than they ever did! I’ve graduated from separate rooms to actually putting the 3 feeding bowls in a line about 2 feet apart across the front of the coffee table. The shyest one can be under the table and still feel secure to eat at the same time as the one who sometimes picks on her. The antagonism and play-prey behavior has almost gone away, though, since July!

Give it a try, they’ll probably surprise you!

16

I also have a diabetic cat. Been injecting twice daily for about a year now, I think it’s been. Cat has responded well to the injections, although it’s much harder here in Australia as the good type of insulin isn’t available here for some reason.

We were told to only inject after the cat has finished eating. Or is that not true for all diabetic cats?

17

Excessive urination is a sign of diabetes. I found that out too late because I have multiple cats. The other sign was sluggishness. Said cat was slightly overweight and had stopped flying up and down the stairs but otherwise acted the same. She had a healthy appetite right up to the day I had to put her to sleep.