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BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat?
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BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: gnu Date: 18 Nov 02 - 05:45 AM Had one. Took a month and a half to get the insulin to food ratio correct. Or, perhaps, it took her that long to get used to it. She lived another 16 months. We never gave her any "treats". Only the measured food for diabetic cats... and lots of attention. Do not dispair. It will work out. Get yourself a scale and weigh the cat twice a week. Keep your own records regarding insulin, food, weight, blood sugar levels, siezures, and activity. Above all, give her the insulin within 15 minutes either way of the same time every day. I realize that may be inconvenient, but not for the cat. Good luck and a prayer on you and the cat. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: Tig Date: 17 Nov 02 - 05:41 PM Although she's not diabetic I know from experience that 'handicapped' cats still give great pleasure although they take a bit more looking after - and you will know when the time comes to 'Let Go'. For those of you who met up with ours at the festivals we no longer have Wibble but Penny is doing just fine. You and your cat will soon get into the routine. I've just started on insulin myself and I'm getting there - slowly!!! Good luck and lots of hugs (for both of you) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: selby Date: 17 Nov 02 - 02:39 PM We would like to say our cat was thinking of you, but it's a bit odd to say the least, it doesn't like me, can you believe that? So we send our combined Hugs and Kisses and when you recieve them if Shadow has agreed to join in you'll feel a little extra one but seeing as it does not talk to me I can't guarentee it, let us know if you feel it (((((((((HUG)))))))) the Selby Clan |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: Sonnet Date: 17 Nov 02 - 01:12 PM Thankyou to everyone who's been so supportive. Your kindness and the willingness to share information and personal experience has been a real help. I owe some of you e-mails or PMs. The feelings of being totally alone in this situation have dispersed. We had a phone call from the vet this afternoon to say that Charlie's had a potassium deficiency, which has probably been the source of the fits and dithering, and for which he's now being treated. I feel slightly more optimistic than I did when I saw him yesterday. Love. Courage. Forward. Jay |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: Bat Goddess Date: 17 Nov 02 - 01:04 PM My vet has reassured me that Mortimer will be able to lead a more or less normal life and for a normal lifespan (he's 8 now) and has a fairly decent chance of getting off insulin. I've been on a Diabetic Cat list for about a month, and several of the cats on there have their diabetes controlled without insulin -- and diabetes is sometimes is a temporary situation. Mortimer, too (as are all my cats), was a cat without a home until I gave him one. Sabine came from a broken home and Banjo and Creamsicle were born under a house in Dover, the products of a looooooooong line of ferals. Well, they're the end of the line, as they will produce no litters. Linn |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: Bernard Date: 17 Nov 02 - 06:13 AM Never forget... Dogs have owners... Cats have staff...! Happily, my cat appears to have no medical problems. Right now I've no idea how I would react if she became diabetic... Good luck B |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: Sonnet Date: 17 Nov 02 - 04:36 AM Am I supposed thank Gargoyle for this well-researched,informed response? The cat involved is a rescue cat, and undoubtedly I shall rescue again. I shan't follow your advice right now GUEST. Please don't offer me your mock sincerity. I shall not enter into further discussion with you, as I'm already getting the kind of support I need from people who understand the problem. Please divert your energy elsewhere. Jay |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: GUEST,.gargoyle Date: 16 Nov 02 - 10:46 PM
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: Susanne (skw) Date: 16 Nov 02 - 09:09 PM My Puss developed diabetes when he was eight and not at all obese. In such cases I understand there is no hope of them ever living without insulin again. My vet predicted he might live for another six months. I decided to try it, and he survived for another five years and a half. The main factors were, I believe, his balanced character and my attentiveness. I soon changed over to two shots of insulin a day, which made for a more evenly distributed intake, and I never limited his food supply. (He went on diet food after a few months because normal food mixed with rolled oats gave him diarrhoea when he desperately needed to put on weight.) When I left for work in the morning his bowl was still partly filled, and even when I got back ten hours later some food would usually be left. If not, it usually advertised the onset of an attack of low blood sugar. He would amble about aimlessly, oblivious of his surroundings. If I got him to eat a little, the attack usually subsided. If it had gone further I got the fruit sugar out, dissolved a good dose in water and put it into his mouth with the help of a syringe kept for this purpose. This usually did the trick, although the attack took longer to wear off. Occasionally I had to take him to the vet. I started giving him minced lean beef for a treat. He loved it, and it didn't seem to have any harmful effects. The vet also prescribed a special paste (can't remember what it was called) of which he was allowed about a centimetre a couple of times a day. He loved that too, and used to lick it off my finger. For years he was able to live a fairly normal life, roaming through the fields and allotments behind our house. However, my vet had warned me cats' insulin levels are notoriously difficult to keep adjusted (far more difficult than dogs'), and that at some point it would be impossible to do so. He was not too well for the last few months of his life, and when we reached a point where a fraction of a unit less than the normal dose was too little and a fraction more was too much, both resulting in attacks, I one day decided enough was enough, and just did nothing when the next attack came. He died in my arms. It took me more than two years to get rid of the feeling every night around seven that I'd forgotten something. That was the time I usually got home to give him his evening shot. Sonnet, I hope, for both of you, that your cat will live for years yet. Should you think I can help you further eMail me at: skw at worldmusic.de |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: Bat Goddess Date: 16 Nov 02 - 07:43 PM From what I'm gathering from my vet and from on-line sources is that in a lot of cases, once the diabetic cat is a "happy" diabetic rather than a sick one, it's possible to get off insulin and control blood sugar with diet -- a very high protein diet, like kitten food. One of the problems, at least as I see it, is we feed an animal corn and wheat and rice when cats naturally should have a very high protein diet. Gotta go -- and give Mortimer his insulin injection (and freeze-dried shrimp treat). Linn |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: Jim Dixon Date: 16 Nov 02 - 07:28 PM I had a diabetic cat. She was about 17 years old when she was diagnosed, due to weight loss. We gave her insulin daily after that. Then, about a year later, she started getting sickly again, culminating in kidney failure, which finally forced us to have her put down. But she had a good year, and we're glad we made the decision to use insulin, although we worried about it at first. The vet tech who taught us how to give the shots said he had a 20-year-old cat that he had been giving shots for most of its life. I hope you will be as successful as he was. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: GUEST,MAG at work Date: 16 Nov 02 - 06:56 PM We had a long discussion about this on a diabetic listserv to which I belong (subscription only). I have had two diabetic cats in my life; lost one almost 20 years ago. Lost the second just a month ago; she snuck out somehow and disappeared. She did well on the diabetic catfood; I understand some cats won't eat it. Her dosage shifted constantly, and when she developed neuropathy I knew it wouldn't be long. A big jump in her dosage reversed the neuropathy but it was always hovering there. She could walk but not jump. Good luck with it all; nothing you decide is wrong and nothing you do or don't do is wrong. -- MA |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: Sonnet Date: 16 Nov 02 - 06:38 PM Bat Goddess; thankyou for your e-mail address and PM - I will contact you soon. Thankyou everyone who's responded so far. Jay |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: katlaughing Date: 16 Nov 02 - 06:28 PM Sorry to hear this, Sonnet. I'll send some good thoughts to the little critter and see you both enveloped in a Light of love and healing. My sister, Mudcatter "bet," had an older cat who was obese and became diabetic. She did really well for a couple of years. She was the only cat so the feeding was easy and she didn't mind the shots that I know of. My sister was kind of used to it, anyway, as her daughter has been diabetic since early childhood. It is obvious you trust your vet and love the cat. Just keep sending that love out and it will get sorted out. Either way, you've done your best and the kitty has had a good home with you and that's the best thing we can give them. {{{{{HUGS}}}}}} kat & the cats, all six of them! And, the border collie, too. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: Sorcha Date: 16 Nov 02 - 04:48 PM I doubt you will be able too, Linn. Never got the diabetic dog's blood sugar down to acceptable levels.....he went blind and incontinent.....not good endings to either of my stories, sorry to say. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: mg Date: 16 Nov 02 - 04:18 PM do a google search under green beans and diabetis or diabetic cats..a lot of people add a few green beans to the diet (can if you are a person too)...also do a search under cinnamon..don't know if they use it for cats but do for people. mg |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: InOBU Date: 16 Nov 02 - 04:02 PM My Cuz does, I will let her know about this post. Cheers Larry |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: Bat Goddess Date: 16 Nov 02 - 03:55 PM Whew! Our 8 year old neutered male, Mortimer, was diagnosed diabetic September 27th. I had noticed he had lost a lot of weight (I was working out of state and away from home midweek) and asked Tom to take Mort to the vet. He was also drinking a lot of water and peeing a lot, but we had an exceptionally hot and dry summer so I didn't think much of it. (I had a cat get heatstroke a few years ago, and since then we've got water dishes available all over the place.) Anyway, he was originally put on 3 units of insulin twice a day, each injection after his meal of 1/3 cup of Purina DM. The difficult part, of coarse, was the feeding choreography change. Since Mortimer's diet had to be controlled, not only could HE no longer graze on dry food, but neither could our other 3 cats. And he got no canned food at night, nor treats. We feed him in the bathroom away from the other cats, and they get fed at the same time in the kitchen. Sabine gets dry food in her dish on top of the washer when she comes in and screams at me. Poor Mort. He had no problem with the insulin injections; doesn't even seem to feel them. But he really didn't understand why he couldn't have food on demand, canned food at night and no treats -- we must hate him. Well, he's gained back his weight and he goes in every two weeks for the blood sugar curve. The vet put him up to 4 units twice a day and his blood sugar is down, but not all the way. The vet thinks it may be a stress reaction similar to "white coat hypertension" so is getting the test strips for us to do an ear prick blood test with. He's still drinking a lot of water, but he's not peeing anywhere near as much. Oh, and we found some acceptable treats (in moderation). The vet said treats that are 100% chicken or 100% shrimp or whatever would be okay. (Just one or two pieces after Mort's evening meal and injection.) He loves the freeze dried shrimp we got him and is reassured that we still love him. (That and the fact he gets A LOT of attention and affection and praise for eating all his food and being so good and all.) I'm on a Diabetic Cat mailing list, but haven't posted. It seems like all the cats on the list are obese and Mortimer's original symptom was weight loss. Mortimer had also been spending a lot of his time this summer sleeping on the bed rather than going outside. I put it down to the hot, hot summer. I didn't particularly want to move much, either. Since his diet change and getting on insulin, he seems to have a lot more energy. He goes outside for awhile just about every day (we live on 33 acres of trees) and even "kittens" -- instigates the "under the covers" game even if my toes did NOT move. Hope we can get him off insulin eventually, but I'm sure it will mean he'll always have to eat a very high protein diet -- like kitten food. PM me -- we can compare notes. Linn |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: Sonnet Date: 16 Nov 02 - 03:34 PM Sorcha;you took the trouble to reply, and I appreciate that kindness right now. Thankyou, Jay |
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Subject: RE: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: Sorcha Date: 16 Nov 02 - 03:04 PM Not a diabetic cat, but had a diabetic dog and an epileptic cat....I'm not much help, I'm afraid. Maybe kat will have some advice. |
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Subject: BS: Anyone own a diabetic cat? From: Sonnet Date: 16 Nov 02 - 03:00 PM My cat, Charlie, was diagnosed as diabetic about six weeks ago. He was doing really well after a few initial problems. 4 units of insulin,as directed by our vet (who is wonderful), and a change of diet put Charlie weight on again, lowered his blood sugar level, stopped his odd behaviour patterns, and gave us sculptures instead of hot chocolate in the litter tray. The past couple of days have been so frightening, with him having fits. I knew what to do, rubbing honey on his gums to bring him out of the seizures. As I write, he's hospitalised at the vet's, which is the best place for him until Adele and team have got him sorted out. Do any of you out there have a diabetic cat? If so, can you offer me any advice or just a few words of comfort. I feel very fragile. He's already been through so much, having survived cancer in his ears. He looks a bit like a little white otter. I want to do my best for this special little cat. Thankyou. Jay McS |