Our oldest cat was just diagnosed diabetic. We start treatment tomorrow.
Anyone here had a diabetic pet? Tips, tricks, anecdotes?
My cat, Hobbes, is diabetic. Three years and counting. Keep up with the shots that your vet says and your cat can continue having a healthy, fulfilling life. Minor anecdote: if I forget to give him his shot, he will nibble a bit at his dry food but then start whining at me. Upon getting his shot, he’ll proceed to chow down. Wet food, on the other hand, lasts about 0.2 nanoseconds before getting warfled down into his gut, shot or no.
My elder cat, Mojo, had diabetes for the last four years of life, and he died at 17, six years ago. I learned a lot from that , including some bad days and near coma episodes. Keep up the shots, and don’t miss a beat with them. In researching his condition, I really learned a lot about pet food. Mainly, that a great deal of it is really sub par nasty stuff. I switched to a much better food, Wellness brand is what I use now, both dry and wet for my newer generation of cats. It really is quite a difference, and you can tell right off from the smell…it doesn’t smell awful, but rather tasty, like humans could eat it, right palatable. Good food is essential with diabetes issues, cats and humans alike, and cheap pet food can be way sub-par.
Here’s one avenue of understanding the condition. I see there that understanding feline diabetes has progressed since I dealt with it. Don’t be overwhelmed, it’s a maneageable condition, and more veterinarians are aware and able to treat it.
My fur fellow had it but didn’t need shots. A combination of pills and specially-formulated food kept it under control. I don’t know how serious your kitty’s case is, but it might be worth asking if you can use pills (glyburide and prandase) and food (Purina DM).
I guess it depends upon your cat. My cat hate Hate HATES pills but, as noted above, accepts if not desires the shots. The point is that there are many options these days; many ways to help control your cat’s diabetes, so keep up good communication with your vet to find a way that works for all of you.
I got some good advice a few months ago in this thread. In fact, my cat is currently not insulin-dependent anymore now that he’s on the Kitty Atkins Diet. Good luck!
I forgot about pill-hating cats. My little fellow seemed to realize he needed them; he was an absolute angel and never gave me any trouble at all when it was pill time.
In my experience, around half of all feline diabetics will eventually no longer need insulin within the first year of treatment with a high protein diet (Purina D/M or Science diet m/d).
I have had absolutely no luck with oral treatment of diabetes mellitus in cats.
Find out what your veterinarian’s protocol is for emergencies. Most new diabetic patients have a need for emergency treatment at some time.
I don’t have advice, just best wishes. We had a fellow with diabetes and he always seemed to act like he knew he was supposed to get shots twice a day. I still miss that cat.
Warm the insulin syringe (I’d place it under my armpit for a few minutes) before injecting - it makes a difference in comfort. My diabetic dog would cringe when I forgot and gave him cold insulin.
Our fatso Mowzer was diagnosed at age 13, he lived with diabetes for 4.5 years before succumbing to heart failure. I still tear up thinking of him. 
I remember how scared I felt the day he was diagnosed, but things got brighter after that and just want to assure you Tank’s gonna be ok. I don’t know if Tank’s s DM is bad enough that he needs shots, but be assured he won’t mind his shots at all.
For a zillion great sources of tips & advice, go read the articles in felinediabetes.com (the link elelle gave you), and their message board, which was my 2nd home for a while.
Besides that website, the other one I used often was Janet & Binky’s Page. After you read why a high protein diet is important, go to the Tables listing almost all the cat food brands & flavors & their protein content, so you know which foods to buy to manage Tank’s diet.
Last of all, I couldn’t afford to take Mowzer to the vet every couple weeks to check his blood sugar so the best piece (or pieces) of advice I got was how to measure his blood glucose myself with a glucometer. Huge help in preventing crashes & managing his diabetes in general.
By the way, I still have supplies I can give you if you wish. Mowzer’s glucometer, unused test strips, unused syringes, etc. Email me if you need stuff.