My cat has just been diagnosed with diabetes ... Any advice or experiences to share?

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My 10 year old male cat has just been diagnosed with diabetes. Looks like he will need regular insulin injections for the rest of his days. Anyone experienced this? All advice welcome, I'm a bit worried about implications for day to day life, his quality of life and cost ( please don't think me hard hearted!!!).

Hi, my cat was diagnosed in March. It wasn't a complete surprise as she was ill last year and her pancreas was damaged so I was quite wise to the symptoms.
Anyway, we've been injecting her twice a day without any dramas. Easier than giving tablets! She did have a hypoglaecemic episode the other week so her insulin has been reduced as vet thinks her requirements have changed. She has other health issues which can make it trickier to manage.
There have been more vet visits for blood tests and there is more responsibility on us as owners to make sure she is ok and ensure she has the injections but it is managable. Luckily our insurance is still paying out for it! Our neighbour had a diabetic cat who lived for 6 years after diagnosis and she peacefully died in her sleep aged 18 and a half.
Has your vet gone through things with you? I had appointment with the vet who explained everything I needed to know ie. managing it and how we could check things at home, showed me how to do injections (using distilled water) and things to look out for. I also got a print out to refer to.
Quality of life certainly isn't affected. Costs of the insulin and syringes isn't cheap. Your vet will do fructosamine tests which is a blood test every do often to check how well it's being managed. They may want to do glucose curves but you can do these yourself and let the vet know the readings ( depending on your cat!) which can save some money.
Sorry for the lengthy reply!

No that's great thank you! He was only diagnosed this evening so going back to vet tomorrow for a more in depth discussion. I had noticed a change in him over past few weeks, lots of water drinking, weight loss and sleeping on floor rather than leaping up to his favourite chair. He is such a lovely placid cat that I want to do the very best by him but also trying to be practical about how much we can afford and how much time we have. But you have reassured me.

If he's a placid cat that should make it easier then! Is amazing how much water they drink with diabetes. Hopefully vet visits will reduce once it's under control. Do you have insurance?