My cat has diabetis I need advice?

Question

My cat is very poorly, he is only ten and has been diagnosed with diabetis. I don't want to have him put to sleep but what will his quality of life and life expectancy be if I get him stabalised on insulin? He looks so miserable and in spite of eating like a horse is loosing weight. I want to do what's best for the cat, not the vet!

Answer 1

Cats normally have a lifespan of 16 - 20 years, so yours is only middle aged right now. It's got a very good chance to live out the rest of its life if you get it on treatment right away. They are normal cats except for having those injections which they get used to after a while.

Answer 2

My cat was diagnosed with diabetes about 2-1/2 years ago (when she was 9).

I give her insulin shots twice a day and she is thriving and happy. You don't have to put your cat to sleep because he is diabetic.

You do need to speak to your vet regarding his care though. The vet will start you off on an insulin schedule and will have you bring your cat in for testing. As soon as he's regulated, he'll just need to go in every 6 months or so to make sure the dosage is correct.

My cats quality of life is great. She is happy and healthy otherwise and is now 11 years old. Once the diabetes is under control, his eating will go back to normal and his weight will regulate.

Call your vet and have a consultation with him or you can contact me with any other questions, I'll be happy to help.

Lots of luck to you both.

Answer 3

Your cat has a good prognosis once he's stabilised with the insulin. His quality of life will depend on his daily routine.
Cats that are diabetic can live normally but as the exercise regime and amount fed need to be the same daily. He will require once or twice daily injections with regular blood samples to check his glucose levels. He will begin to weight gain and drink less once he's stabilised and your vet will monitor him closely. If he's a cat that get wander lust and goes for days on end, or likes to visit local neighbours for titbits then thats what would cause any problems for him.
Other considerations are the obvious impact this will have on you and your life. His injections need to be given at a speficic time everyday, his food intake monitored.
Holidays or days out would have to be arranged around the cat. There's also the financial implications
Any respecting vet surgery would not advise continued care if the quality of life for a cat was not a happy one.
At our vets we offer restbite care for diabetic cat owners so they can have that much needed holiday and day out.
Contact your Vet surgery for advise they should guide you in the right direction

Answer 4

Diabetes is very common and very treatable in cats. I don't see any reason you would have to put your cat to sleep. It may take some getting used to when having to give insulin on a daily basis and getting him used to a special diet, but once that is established you will only have to do some occassional vet visits to check his glucose levels.

Answer 5

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A number of clinical studies have been carried out in recent years that show potential links between herbal therapies and improved blood glucose control, which has led to an increase in people with diabetes using these more 'natural' ingredients to help manage their condition.

Answer 6

As a vet tech, I can tell you that our patients who are diabetic and maintained on insulin usually have a very long and happy life. Your vet will give you a very specific treatment plan that you will have to follow, and your cat will likely do fantastic!

Answer 7

Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. It promotes the creation of body fat, decreases fat burning, and it binds to the tissues of the body and allows them to take simple sugars (glucose) from the blood for their food.

Diabetes mellitus (sugar diabetes) occurs either when the pancreas is unable to produce all the insulin that the body needs (Type I, or insulin-dependent diabetes); or when the tissues lose the ability to respond to insulin's effects (Type II diabetes). Most diabetic pets have Type I diabetes.

Without insulin, the food your cat eats is digested and the end product of digestion, glucose, gets into his blood stream but he is less able to nourish his body with that glucose or lay it down as fat. It goes around and around in the blood until it is peed out as waste. Also, with out insulin to turn-off the fat-burning hormones, your kitty has nothing to counterbalance, which is why he is eating so much and at the same time losing so much weight.

Luckily, it is relatively easy to supplement diabetic people and animals with man-made or animal-derived insulin. We inject the insulin into the diabetic patient, and it travels to their blood stream where it acts exactly like their own insulin would, making them feel happy and healthy again. Once managed most diabetics go on to lead full and happy lives and live to the end of their natural lifespan.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind.

Having diabetes type I does not mean your cat produces NO insulin. It means he does not produce ENOUGH insulin. There is no test to determine how much insulin your kitty does produce on his own, and having too much insulin in your cat's blood is dangerous for him. This is why your vet will need to start kitty on a very lose dose of insulin and monitor his blood and urine glucose very frequently, increasing how much insulin he gets gradually until his glucose values return to normal limits. This can take a number of trips to the vet, but take heart, a little patience here will means a bigger payoff later on.

A cat's liver destroys insulin much faster than either a dog or a human's. Your veterinarian will provide you with insulin formulated for cats to be resistant to the liver's destructive molecules. Do not give your cat insulin intended for dogs or humans.

Most diabetic cats will need 2 injections of insulin a day.It is important that these injections be as close as possible to being the same time, every day. Even a few hours difference can cause there to be too much, or not enough insulin in your kitty's blood.

For complete management of diabetes, your veterinarian will recommend a pet food composed of more complex carbohydrates and fiber than the average pet needs. Because of their "complex" (a fancy way of saying big and hard to chop up) nature, these carbohydrates are broken down more slowly after your pet eats them, resulting in slower absorption into the blood and therfore gradual changes in blood sugar during the day. If this is difficult to conceptualize, imagine dropping a tablespoon of sugar into a glass of water. Give it a swirl and the sugar is dissolved, and all the water tastes sweet. But if you drop 6 Skittles in a glass of water and give it a swirl, they may take hours to dissolve, because the Skittles are in a bigger form.

I hope this helps you a bit with understanding what is going on with you cat, and assists you in making the best decision for him. The best of luck to both of you.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

Leigh D how completely and utterly callous!!!!!

Don't listen to her please.

There are many specialised diets for pets with diabetes and with the right care they can cope very well.

I wish you all the best.

Answer 10

Diapers.