Cat Diabetes

[LadySlipper]

My sweet lovely boy was diagnosed with diabetes this morning. I am so sad. :(. the vet didn't even see him. We sat outside vet practice and we chatted. She gave me the gubbins to get a urine sample which I dropped off a couple of hours later. Then she called about an hour or two later and dropped the bomb on me. She explained the treatment which involves stays at the vet and many trips back and forth, injections twice a day, no more going outside. etc. He hates going in the box, the car, the vet; its very stressful for him. She seemed to steer me away from that option due to his age (12) and stress factor and general problems of giving the twice-daily injections. She said he could be fine for ' a while' but not going to live until he's 20 for sure. I sort got the hint she was thinking a year or two, but that might be my imagination.

But I feel at a loss about what I can do for him in the meantime. She suggested changing his cat food and named a couple of brands. But that's it. Didn't suggest any kind of interval to bring him back for a check up.

Does anyone know how this will progress? How will I know when it's gone on long enough? Will he be suffering? He seems ok in himself now. Just drinking more. His brother is going to miss him so much. And I will too, he's just the sweetest most loving soppy ole sack of cat ever.

It is a bit if a shock at first. The injections are easy to do (easier than tablets and spot on flea treatment in my view); you just need to make sure your cat has eaten.
Our old girl lived for just over a year and a half after being diagnosed (hers was caused by a damaged pancreas from pancreatitis). However, she did have other ongoing health issues-IBD which caused issues with the diabetes. Our neighbour had a diabetic cat who survived to about 18 and was diabetic for at least 5 years after diagnosis.
Both our cats still went outside; granted neither went far. Nobody ever said not to let them. I assume it's so you can monitor food intake but honestly if your cat enjoys the great outdoors I would look at quality of life.
Ours never needed vet stays du to diabetes. This is likely to do glucose curves which you can do at home. The vet or vet nurse can show you how to do the blood glucose readings at home. You would need to buy a glucometer; we bought a human one rather than the gold standard the vet used but we did compare it with theirs and it was pretty close. She did once have a day being in after a hypo (low blood sugar); this was when we had a new vet to the practice and she was newly diagnosed. Other times we managed hypos at home with honey.
We did have a wonderful vet who was so supportive which helped a lot.
The main issue was making sure we were hike to give injections. Also holidays but our vets have a cattery so she stayed there and all medications were administered.
It is a lot to take in!

*home not hike

Actually just reading the end of your post I would see how things are post covid but would look to find a better vet!

Gosh I am seeing and diagnosis potential and actual diabetic cats they come in the surgery without their owners. I have started four (all teenagers) on insulin since lockdown started.
There are lots of great video resources for clients and the VetPen like a human pen syringe makes it really easy to do.
I would not diagnose diabetes on just a tribe sample I would always back it up with a blood sample even in these difficult times.
I think perhaps getting another opinion is not a bad idea.

Sending hugs OP, it's a horrible shock when you find out but with a bit of practice it's manageable. As I type this diabetic DCat1 is curled up on the ottoman, and he and I would be very happy to talk to you (but he doesn't do email, so you'll have to pm me)

Thanks All! @Lonecatwithkitten , the vet has pretty much steered me away from treatment, due to his age I guess, and to just let it run it course. Obviously the choice is mine and right now I am leaning towards this but I am worried about it and I feel so terrible about what is the right thing to do and don't want him to suffer. She gave me no advice at all other than to change his food brand. I think I might take your advice and take him to another vet practice.

OP I'm very surprised to hear that the vet is discouraging you from treating. Diabetes is absolutely not the death sentence it was 20 years ago, even for older cats. My current (third!) diabetic cat was older than that when diagnosed and also FIV+, and there was no question of not treating. He's still very much with us and ruling the roost. Previous diabetic cat lived another 7 years after diagnosis and died of something else. The one before that didn't live quite so long, but was a particularly complicated (and rare) case. I'd definitely suggest a second opinion.

@LadySlipper my diabetic patients have normal lives going outside. At the start of treatment there is a bit of back and forth whilst we get them stable and once stable we see them every few months to do a fructosamine test that looks at glucose levels over the last two weeks. But not long stays in the vets unless they are ketoacidotic, but that is much more common in dogs than cats.

Just coming back to this as I was thinking about it earlier. Your vets attitude towards this really surprises me as it seems so unusual for a vet to be quite as dismissive (not sure if this is the best word) about something which can be managed. As I say we had a wonderful vet and our dear cat was quite the complicated case throwing challenges out all the time. Lone clearly has her patients best interests at the forefront too.
Are you in the UK? I hope you manage to find another vet.

@Vinorosso74 this has been playing on my mind too. What a strange attitude by the vet, yes diabetes is serious but in most cases also perfectly treatable and has a decent prognosis.

Does insurance cover it, I wonder? It’s something I do think about.

I've got a friend whose cat has got diabetes Ladyslipper. He's had it about 5 or 6 years. He has a good quality of life. The only real problem for her is that her insurance is really high and she has to be very careful when she feeds him as she has two other cats and he tries to eat their food too. She feeds them in separate rooms and doesn't leave any dry snacks out. He was a stray originally and still treats every meal as if he doesn't know where the next one is coming from. He does have occasional 'accidents' and he wakes her up very early for breakfast but she forgives him! I have seen her injecting him and he is really good about it - he is a very good natured cat though.