There’s a group on Facebook called “Feline Diabetes Support Group” that guides cat owners through this difficult journey. Many cats go on to have high qualities of life. Good luck!!
this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2023
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Thank you! I'll check them out
I cried when I found out my sweet little furball was diabetic. Now about four years later, she’s 15 years old, still happy and sweet as ever. In fact, she’s snoozing happily against my leg right now. I give her two injections a day, I’ve been able to find cat sitters who can (or can learn) how to give injections, and in general she’s doing great.
You’ll be fine and your kitty is more than capable of having a long and happy life beyond the diagnosis.
A bottle of insulin is about $130 but lasts ages, and I’ve had her on Hill’s Science Diet m/d glucose management food for years even before she was diabetic. My other cat had kidney issues and the easiest thing was to feed them both the m/d, particularly because the vet said it’s basically one of the best things a cat could be eating anyway since they’re obligate carnivores.
So we cried too, and the options being Insulin or making them comfortable was tough. We're still deciding but I think my partner is unable to afford it but I can, and I don't mind I just want to know if that would be the right decision for my boy. I mean the main question is how much the insulin is and how long does it last and they $130 you told me is like super affordable, when I was expecting $300
What we use is a 10 mL vial of Mylan Insulin Glargine, and her dose is I think 0.03 mL twice a day. That’s about five months or so.
The food is a lot more expensive, at $65 for an 8.5 lb. bag on Chewy. But she’s well worth it. Don’t make this calculation based on “reduced” suffering - your cat can be perfectly fine and happy. There may be some cheaper food options and such to limit the financial impact, but there’s no reason at all that you should give up on your kitty.
Okay that's good to hear, I know nothing about diabetes and what the animal would go thru and it's good to know they wouldn't be suffering the whole time which was my main concern. But I'm just here for more information so I can understand this better and provide for him
As long as they get their insulin on schedule, there’s really no suffering at all. Even the injection can be done painlessly through the scruff of the neck. All you’re doing is picking up their pancreas’ slack and providing insulin when it falls short.
There’s a little discomfort whenever you need to do a glucose curve/check, but it’s not too bad. You need a glucose monitor and test strips (not trivially inexpensive but not too expensive as a mostly one-time/rare cost). You use a lancet to prick their ear and draw a tiny drop of blood to test glucose levels and see if they’re stable. You may have to do it several times in a day to get a sense of peaks and variability, but you don’t have to do it very often once they’re stable. You get used to it and you can just give your kitty some extra treats after and you’ll be forgiven. My girl loves butter more than life itself, so I’ll often just rub my finger on a stick of butter and let her lick it off as a low-carb treat.
I have a 16 year old that was diagnosed as diabetic 6 years ago. I regularly give him his shots and switched him to diabetic food. I haven't really seen any difference in the years since. He is just recently starting to loose his hearing but I think that is just due to his age. Otherwise, he is happy and healthy. Oh, and he has been FIV positive since birth.
We have a 15 year old who started recently. Once we found the correct dosage it made a huge difference in his overall behavior. I found the testing to be trickier than administering the insulin. Ultimately I settled on the tester below, and found it easiest to get the blood sample from the ear tip. After about a week, we developed a good system for the testing as well. Best of luck!
AlphaTRAK 3, 8 Piece Pet Blood Glucose Monitoring Kit for Diabetic Cats and Dogs, All-in-One Solution for in-Clinic Or at Home, with Digital Results https://a.co/d/gvL9AcS
Insulin made a big difference for my diabetic cat. She had great quality of life for a couple years after she started getting it. She was I think 12 when she was diagnosed, and lived about 2 years after that. The daily injections didn't bother her a bit, and she really loved the prescription food too. She was her same old sweet and cuddly happy self. Do ask your vet about insulin overdose and be prepared in case it happens. One morning after her normal dose, she started acting strange - lethargic, weak, and kept hiding behind my desk. That hiding behavior is what cats do when they're looking for a place to die. We called the vet and she said said her blood sugar was probably way too low, and we needed to rub some Karo syrup on her gums. We didn't have any on hand but fortunately we have a grocery store close by, and my wife used molasses until I got back with the Karo. We took her in for blood work the following day, and the vet ended up lowering her dosage.
Impossible to say without knowing the cat in question and how they usually act and how it has changed. I would say that this is something you need to discuss with your vet, based on behavior and medical diagnosis. That's about the only way to determine whether the cat is actively suffering from the condition or not.
My wife's cat that she had since she was a child was diagnosed with diabetes at 15. For the most part, it was fairly easy to manage. He lived for another 4 years. We did insulin injections twice a day when feeding him, and we fed him Hill's Science Diet W/D formula, per our vet's instruction.
Be sure to monitor your cat and watch for any changes in behavior. We had to adjust insulin dosages multiple times, usually slightly reducing the amount given.
Despite being older, once we was on insulin he went back to being his playful, albeit grumpy, self.
Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to him in 2021 as he had developed advanced renal failure. It was very hard for my wife because she had him for all 19 years of his life and loved him dearly.
All that to say, diabetic cats can still have long happy lives as long as you are willing to provide it to them. I'm happy that my wife was able to spend a few more years with her best and longest friend.
I had a diabetic cat. Diagnosed around 12 years old and passed away at 18. He didn't even care about his insulin shots. He would be just happily munching away his breakfast or supper and not even notice he got jabbed. He was always his super friendly and cheerful self until his time came. As long as you can maintain their medication they will be just fine.
EDIT: There are also specialized foods for diabetic cats, some available directly from the vet. If they recommend feeding your fuzzy one that, it's worth it. Way better for them than the stuff you'll find in most pet stores. At least that's the situation in Canada.
I feed them hills science diet for sensitive stomach and I know they have a prescription one for diabetic cats, but I'm also debating switching to wet food
My 8 year old is like this, he gets his shot with his food and doesn't even pause his eating. He's just had his latest fructosamine check and they've confirmed his diabetes is controlled and he's living his normal life
My sisters 16 year old cat has been taking insulin injections for the last few years, she’s happy as a clam. Doesn’t pay any attention to the injection, the only tricky part is making sure she eats before needle time. Its given her years of happy retirement
My first cat was diagnosed as diabetic at 9 years old. He lived to 17. We tested him daily - which he didn't mind at all - and usually ended up giving him one shot of insulin per day.
He was the same old cat the entire time. I'm really glad we learned how to take care of him because now I'm not worried about having another diabetic cat. It's just another thing to check on. Cats are just so accommodating when they know you're taking care of them.
I am on my third diabetic cat. One died at 12 because I was out of town and he was not given proper dosage and he spiraled. Second lived to be 17. My latest is 6 and just diagnosed a month ago. In my experience feeding them lower carb food is affordable, high protein for dry, pates for canned. I bought the glucose Rx food from the vet on day of diagnosis just because I didn’t want to argue with her. That was $80 for an 8 lb bag, I just cannot afford that plus I have another cat at home and can’t separate their food. I have read if you can afford to give them a 100% diet you can wean them off insulin. Take that with a grain of salt. The $20 Brandzig needles on Amazon are good and “pain free”. We tried the cheaper ones and they seemed more painful to the cat. The vet on my recently diagnosed cat wanted me on the “better” insulin that is twice as much. I’m starting with the “proven” Vetsulin for now. You’ll do great, they all act like normal when properly medicated. 😻
What kind of testers did you use?
I never used home tests. Vet does a blood curve once a year or two weeks after an adjustment.
This put my 10 year old yellow tabby into remission and he lived another 9 years. It was intense for several months but worth it, he was the love of my life. I got a simple insulin test kit at the drug store and he would let me prick his back foot pad after warming it up by pressing a cup of hot tap water against it, 3x a day. It turned into a snuggle session for him so, yeah, he was into it. I would alter the dose of insulin based on his last few blood values, gradually weaning him off Good luck! The raw diet was a huge factor.
https://hare-today.com/feline-nutrition/health/feline-diabetes-the-influence-of-diet
http://www.diabeticcatinternational.com/site/fd-treatment/feline-diabetes-treatment/