Anyone have a diabetic cat?

[Catowner234]

Hello all,

My elderly cat has just been diagnosed with diabetes. It is very early days - got caught on a check-up. Looks like I will be giving her insulin injections.

She looks so happy and normal. I suppose what I am asking is: if you have a diabetic cat, what is it really like? What tips do you have? What were the hardest things that I need to be prepared for?

Any comments about how the cat still had a wonderful quality of life would be great!

Yes ours is diabetic (amongst other things) diagnosed March last year, she is approaching 15. Once you get into the routine of the insulin injections it's fine.
Have some honey to hand in case of any hypos, some from the pound shop nothing fancy. We also got a basic glucometer about £20 so we can do readings at home-ask your vet or nurse to show you how to do it.
Be prepared for more vet visits or even just keeping in touch with them. I found the nurses very knowledgeable and helpful on diabetes. You can order syringes and insulin (with a prescription) online but your vet will possibly want to check you're managing ok before issuing a prescription.
It does seem daunting at first but is quite manageable. Our neighbour had a diabetic cat live to 18 and a half and I think she was diabetic for at least 6 years.

Thanks so much vinorosso - that's good to hear. Am definitely prepared to interact way more with the vets and they have been lovely and very good so far.

And a glucometer is an excellent idea - thank you. I adore her - she is the sweetest, most affectionate little old lady and I want her to have as good a retirement as possible.

You're positive wanting to do the right thing by her so I think that's the first hurdle. Glad your vets are nice too, I think you need a good relationship with them when your cat has an ongoing condition. Good luck with it all. This may sound odd but that additional care kind of increases the bond I think (that could sound odd to a non cat person I realise).

Our cat was also diagnosed a few years ago, although thankfully in remission now, and I totally agree with Vinorosso.

Hopefully your vet is a good one, up to date with the latest methods/research as unfortunately not all vets are. Our initial vet certainly wasn't!

There are loads of videos on YouTube showing how to get your own blood glucose readings e.g.

The Royal Veterinary College are doing some amazing research and have released a free app to help monitor your cat's glucose levels, etc. Here's a link to their Youtube video about it.

They have loads of other videos talking about other aspects of feline diabetes too.

I don't know if you live anywhere near them, but they run a special clinic (I have read that they provide a blood glucose meter and insulin free of charge but I don't know if that's still the case)
www.rvc.ac.uk/research/research-centres-and-facilities/clinical-investigation-centre/projects/diabetic-remission-clinic

I would also recommend looking at your cat's diet - a wet food that is high protein and low carbohydrate is recommended (don't buy stuff in gravy - it's got lots of sugar in).

The blood glucose readings do take a bit of practice to begin with, but once you've got the knack it's fine. If you have to buy them yourself, the strips are quite expensive, especially in high street stores (we got ours from Amazon) and you might find you get through quite a few of them while you're getting the hang of it, but it does get easier...honestly!

Best of luck. Your cat is lucky to have such a caring owner.

Realise that this thread is a year old ...., but just to say thanks Helleborus if you are still around*

The RVC videos are really useful stuff .

DPusscat is looking like he has diabetes . We're in the middle of tests but so far the signs are all there.

I know about how great low carb is for humans in reversing Diabetes so I have already changed his diet .. ( hes loving the Applaws.. but was at the price- he previously being a Felix cat .. ).. However if it helps then dont care .. its definitely worth it ..

Having a chronically ill cat definitely increases the bond!

Yes hes always been a very independent outdoors cat and We've been very laid back having him, but now...... [anxietyrules]

Hi @Laska5772 I’m still here and delighted that my old post was useful!

Please don’t feel you need to spend so much on food – there are cheaper, low carb alternatives. We use Sheba Fine Flakes in Jelly pouches that you can get in all the supermarkets.

The best way to check the carbohydrate content of any food is to work it out on a ‘dry matter’ basis:
Find the moisture percentage and subtract that from 100.
Then to calculate the carbohydrate content, take all the listed ingredients away from 100.
Finally divide the carbohydrate content by the dry matter number.

For example the Sheba ingredients for the poultry pouches are:
Protein 8.5
Fat content 5
Inorganic matter 1.8
Crude fibres 0.3
Moisture 84

Dry matter % = 100 – 84 = 16
Carbohydrate % = 100 – 8.5 – 5 – 1.8 – 0.3 – 84 = 0.4
Carbohydrate content on a dry matter basis = 0.4 divided by 16 = 2.5%

Ideally you want a dry matter carbs figure less than 5%

A lot of the Applaws foods are very good, but they do vary so you have to be careful (and look a bit odd doing calculations on your phone in the pet food aisle!) – for example the one with pumpkin in is 10% carbs.

Best wishes to you and DPusscat. Let us know how you get on.

DH and I've had two diabetics. Both lived happily for several years. A couple of things to consider in addition to the good advice already given above:

Consider how to cover car care when you're away. Most catteries won't give meds, but we had a wonderful cat-sitter (also a vet nurse) who, for a very reasonable rate, would come in to feed and jab DCats. Your vets should know of someone local to you.

Be aware that, unlike human and canine diabetes, feline diabetes can sometimes be transient ie comes and goes. We experienced this with one of ours. This is very important, because if DCat does revert to a non-diabetic state but you're still giving insulin, you can quickly be in hypo territory.

Best of luck. Please pm if you want.

Car care? Meant cat care! Stupid autocorrect

You might want to look into a specific diabetic diet for your cat. Many do well on purina dm. They are wet or dry according to cat preference. They are high fibre ad release energy slowly which avoids spikes and troughs in blood glucose.

Be prepared for your vet to want to do afair few glucose curves over the next few months as it will take a while to stabalise.

If you are able to invest in a glucometer all the better as you can do the tests at home and this will give a much better indication of his glucose levels throughout the day (and save you significant £££).

It can take time for the right insulin dose to be worked out but once stable you can stick to a dose and only need to checj blood glucose every now and then or if there are concerns.

It is easy to manage once stabilised.

Also it may be worth askung your vet to check fructosamine levels as this can give more definate yes or no to diabetes over other conditions

Our 10 year old tortoise shell bacame diabetic 2 years ago through becoming obese (she was getting second helpings from next door without our knowledge). She has always been lethargic and likes the lazy life and this has continued. As instructed by the vet we inject her twice a day and she has special food. No monitoring of blood glucose has been suggested by the vet. Our cat enjoys her quiet life. She's always purring and we haven't notice any change in her really since becoming diabetic. It's expensive though. Insulin, needles and food come to about £20 a week.

Thanks for all your advice, We are still awaiting the last lot of last blood results -should get them tomorrow- but yes vet seems to think he is diabetic. He is now on also on an antibiotic as he had a urine infection according to his sample , and actually now doesn't seem to be drinking quite so much ..

Useful info on the carb content calculation helleborus. so far he has rejected the hi life rain fee , and is a bit about Applaws ( after liking it for the first 2 days!) He does like the Butchers classic cat foodthought which is cheaper .. ill try him on the Sheba also

sparky I am wondering about what we would do going away .. We do have a reliable cat sitter , but I dont know if she would want to inject him..
Lem thanks I will ask the vet about fructosamine levels tomorrow. is there specific glucometer you would recommend?

..

do ones for people work on cats? ..

A cattery should know how to do it, They must have had diabetic cats before.

We use the alphacheck glucometers. I just did a quick google and they are quite expensive. Your practice could get you one bit you might find it cheaper to buy onlone. Talk to your vet as it might be an idea to use the same ones as they do. I dont like the lancet ear prickers and prefer to use an injection needle as it doesnt feel so harsh. It takes a bit of practice - i always massage the ear first to get the blood flowing.

I have to take him into vets tomorrow for his first insulin injection and then leave him all day . I suppose so they can monitor his blood sugar ,
Vet said his last test showed blood sugar level is 485 ( but i dont really know what that means -if its bad or not so bad - apart from he has diabetes. then I have to go and learn how to do it myself..
cat is 14 and not insured ! ( suppose this is going o be v expensive from now on ..) I have kept him in gain as we have to get there for 8 am and hes not happy . (he will be even less happy in the morning as he hates going in the box and car and its a 12 mile journey over windy rural roads to the cats hospital)

He has taken to new food , currently liking Hi life Its only Natural, and Butchers classic best.. I haven't tried him on Sheba fine flakes yet .. ( which is good as cheaper than the Applaws hes not so keen on )

At least i think that is what she said..this whole thing is new to me..

We had a trip away booked in a few weeks, we usually get a nice person to come in and feed him, but no idea now if she will be willing to inject him. ( seems like a lot to ask, .. ) Hes never been in a cattery in his life, (apart from CP where we got him from ) has been totally free range and Id hate to have to put him into one

I think 485 is likely the number from the fructosamine test. Urine infections are common in diabetic cats.
The glucometer we got was an Aviva accucheck which cost about £20 from a local pharmacy and did the job. I also used syringe needles.
It does sound daunting but honestly it becomes part of your routine.
Sadly we had to have our old girl PTS later last year (so many things wrong) but I wouldn't be phased if I had to do it again.

I used to pet sit a diabetic cat when her owners were on holiday. She'd come down and meow at me to give her insulin when it was nearly time (she wasn't quite as compliant when it came to tablets though!). I wouldn't worry too much about asking the person who'll be looking after them. It won't be too difficult once they've been shown a couple of times, and depending how well your cat behaves about it will probably only take ten minutes max.