Diabetic Cat

[indyandlara]

I have had a call tonight from my vet to let me know that our 10 year old boy is diabetic. I'm in a total spin now. We have an appointment tomorrow to discuss the situation and be shown how to give injections of insulin. We adore him but I don't know if we can do this. Any advice or experience would be greatly received.

Ours was diagnosed diabetic in March (we expected it as her pancreas is damaged). At first it was stressful regards remembering everything to do but like everything just became part of the daily routine. There will be vet appointments so they can get the dosage right. The injections are easy to do, easier than giving tablets. I'm sure your vet will go through everything but one of the nurses suggested to me to buy a box to keep all the bits in so syringes, vet instructions, squeezy bottle of honey in case of hypo (poundshop one rather than manuka!), and we got a glucometer so can check blood sugar at home
Our upstairs neighbour had a diabetic cat and he is needlephobic so his late wife used to do the injections but he had to learn when she got ill and he managed fine.
Honestly, try not to worry it is more tying but is managable.

Thank you. Pretty stressed about the injections but I'm hoping it will become easier. I've taught several diabetic children so know about diabetes but this is quite unexpected. Frequent trips to the vets is stressful as he hates the car and always poos. Makes the whole experience pretty ghastly for both of us! My dad looks after our two when we are on holiday and he doesn't think he will be able to inject him. Hopefully one of the local catteries will take the money though. A few are vet owned.

I have a diabetic cat. Is yours insured? It makes a huge difference.

He has been quite tricky to stabilise, with plenty of stays at the vets for a glucose curve to be done. This is to decide the dosage of insulin. So they check the glucose every few hours to track its lowest and highest point.

When we started out cat had 1unit twice a day, it gradually increased over time (and many glucose curves) to 6 units twice a day - this is a lot! He's improving now though and is back down to 2 twice a day.

The insurance, pet plan, have been brilliant.

The injections are simple, a syringe with needle already attached, inject under the skin in the scruff. Very simple. I was used to injecting my horse on a much larger scale bit even dh finds it easy.

I feed royal canin diabetic dry food and think it helps.

Cats can actually recover from diabetes, which mine seems to be doing. If you have any questions I'd be happy to answer.

Thank you. He is insured. At 10 we've never made a claim but I think that's about to change! We have 2 cats so I think they will both have to change food or it might be hard to ensure he's eating properly. I have to admit the injections really concern me but I will just need to get over it.

Yes holidays are trickier to manage but diabetes is common in cats so decent catteries should be fine with the injections. We're lucky as our vets has a cattery at the back so ours stays there.
Our vet let me have a few goes doing an injection with I think distilled water. It did feel strange first time as she talked me through it but soon becomes second nature.

Great re the insurance, mine has paid out around £2500 so far. But, my cat was incredibly tricky to stabilise. Pil also had a diabetic cat and she was much much more straightforward, one injection a day.

Any cattery should manage injections easily.

You can do a glucose curve at home too-saves money and better if cat gets very stressed going to vets. Depends how easy your cat is to handle!

You can indeed but given there are concerns about giving injections, not sure how confident op would be about getting enough blood each time! I would have done it though had I not been insured.

Thank you for your input. I feel happpier tonight. As DH said, we could have had worse news. We will get used to it. You're right, I wouldn't happily manage to take blood. Glad of his insurance.

How did you get on today?

My cat was diagnosed with diabetes several years ago and was a terrible vet hater. The vet told us that although cats could go into remission his levels were so high it was unlikely. The injections were easy but to try and minimise vet visits we decided to do the glucose curve at home. The first few weeks were horrendous, trying to get blood from an unhappy cat's ears drove me to tears. Got there eventually with a lot of patience, a sock filled with rice in the microwave and twice having to administer golden syrup after a hypo. Amazingly he did go into remission, the vet was amazed but we had changed his diet - pretty much got rid of any dry food and gave him high protein. He thrived.

It was okay today. We both injected him. I don't think I did as well as yesterday as he certainly noticed but hopefully it'll get easier.

The vet did mention remission. She thinks we have noticed early on so I presume his levels are not catastrophic. I thought we would have to change his diet but the vet said to keep it the same just now. He's okay with the vet but not the car. During this week's visits he has peed and pooed in his basket. The glucose curve is booked for a week on Thursday to see how he's getting on.

Glad you're okay. It really is worth getting a blood monitor and trying to get used to testing the levels. I didn't realise mine had gone into remission and so I was merrily administering insulin that he didn't need! Mine had 2 hypos that scared me to death, make sure you've got some honey or golden syrup in. In the event of a hypo just put some on their gums, it works instantly! It really will get easier. Good luck!

Our 8 year old girl was diagnosed earlier this year - she's now more stable so only goes every two months for her blood sugar check instead of every month.

We've switched her diet from dry to wet food as recommended by the vet, it did seem to help.

She's normally easy to inject apart from the odd day when she insists on rolling over!

We have also found a cattery run by a vet for if we go away - she stayed for a weekend last month and seemed to enjoy her holiday!

Thank you everyone for your comments. A week on and he is doing okay. Injections are becoming smoother and he is being surprisingly patient! He is back in next week for the glucose curve but I will look into home monitors. Indy has a runny bum but the vet has said not to worry and just to keep an eye on him.

What a beautiful girl Eleanor! This is our ginger boy and his sister. Sibling love- well sometimes!

Pleased you're getting on ok. We got an accucheck monitor for £20 from a local pharmacy-seems to do the job ok. Your vet can show you how to get blood from the ear.
Beautiful cats!