Ok, the situation is not-so-simple - a family member called me and informed me that one of her beautiful Siamese cats has developed diabetes. She is completely mortified and saddened because the Vet said she has to have him on a special diet and must give him insulin on a regular basis. The vet knows this person quite well and knows she cannot meet this need of the cat - she works 50-60 hours a week and travels all the time. She is heart-broken to say the VERY least.
What are her options? She lives in Rhode Island and is looking to give this little guy to a good home who can 1) afford to take care of him 2) be happy with a very active, socially adjusted, indoor Siamese Cat.
If she gives him to a shelter - he will most likely be put in a cage and that is simply not an option. I suggested a heart-felt ad on Craigs List and she can interview anyone who responds…
Does anyone else have any ideas? She’s looking to place this guy by the first week in April. Any suggestions are welcome!
Post on diabetic boards and see if a human diabetic is in the area who wants to take her kitty. It’d be absolutely not a big deal for me to take care of one, having to deal with it myself. If I didn’t have bug-eyed dogs that can’t be around cats with claws, I’d be really tempted to take the kitty myself. Siamese are my favorites.
Check out diabetesdaily.com and tudiabetes.com, both good boards. Maybe someone there would be close enough & willing to take on the kitty.
Look around on feline diabetes boards, too, and see if it could possibly be controlled with a low-carb, no grain canned-food diet. Sometimes the diet the vet recommends isn’t the only way to feed a cat. I know people who have controlled their diabetes by cutting carbs.
This worked for my cat - I did injections for a few weeks, but then his pancreas apparently kick-started themselves again, and he’s been fine for several years with just prescription high-protein, low-carb kitty food.
Some 80% or more of diabetic cats have what we call ‘type 2’ in humans, and do not need insulin management *if *they are on a very low or no-carb diet. Most vets don’t appear to be aware of this, but they make a money selling the prescription food and insulin… works for type 2 diabetic humans too. Not that you can tell by the ADA’s recommendations.
If your friend or a stand-in can feed this cat twice or three times per day, the appropriate food, I don’t see why it would be a problem. You’d have to adapt all the cats to no longer being free-fed, though, so the diabetic cat won’t kill herself with grain kibble.
You say that the vet knows the person quite well and knows she can’t meet the cat’s needs so I will take this as true. For other people who may find themselves in this situation I’d just like to add that when my cat was diagnosed six years ago I felt completely overwhelmed and didn’t think I could manage it. Between my squemishness about giving injections and my work schedule (leave at 7am, home at 7pm) I thought I couldn’t manage. It turns out that it’s been pretty easy to manage afterall. Sometimes I can’t meet his injection schedule exactly but I just ‘reset’ and work from there - he’s doing great after six years. And yes, a low carb diet helps.
I know people who have controlled their diabetes by cutting carbs.