Cat Diabetes

SillyMangoX

Hey folks.

Just wondering if anyone else on here is going through caring for a diabetic cat? I thought this might be a nice space for support and discussion about it.

Our diabetes journey started in October 2021 when Cream was diagnosed after we brought him to the vet because he was limping. What we thought was a pulled muscle was actually diabetic neuropathy. He was the best boy through everything and was so good at taking his injections, though not so good at eating. He was extremely hard to manage though and out of the 7 months journey we went through he was stable for maybe only two weeks of that. As things happened at the end, the vets were convinced that he had some sort of cancer (probably pancreatic) that was the cause of the diabetes.

So there we thought or diabetes journey was over but life always likes to throw a little spanner in the works. At the start of December last year, Moose had a recurring throat/chest infection so the vets brought him in to do a chest X-ray and bloods. You already know where this is going. What showed up in his bloods? Diabetes.

He literally did not have a single symptom other than weight loss which we put down to him being a very fussy eater, he’s weight would quite often fluctuate. But his sugars were high and another test showed they had been high for a while so he started insulin.

Thankfully it’s working extremely well for him. He’s on a tiny dose along with the diabetic prescription food and his sugars have been perfect at every check up. He had an ultrasound with a specialist in diagnostic imaging to check out his pancreas, it was inflamed which is normal in diabetes but he also has mild IBD. He doesn’t seem to have any problem with that though so just have to stick to strict diabetic diet to control both.

He really hates being injected and he is a strong cat so twice a day injections are.. fun to say the least but it’s so good to see him happy, eating well, and with energy he hasn’t had in a long time.

We just seem to be destined to own diabetic cats!

SillyMangoX

So an add on to the diabetes saga, moose seems to have gone into remission!!

Hes quite.. fractious to say the least with injections so I had been putting off home testing his blood glucose levels. At the weekend his appetite wasn’t great and I was reluctant to give him insulin with the amount he was eating. I remember with Cream when his appetite was like that his BG levels were usually through the roof so I bit the bullet and tested him.. he was actually so good for it, I couldn’t believe it! Not only that but his levels were perfect.

So I took to testing him at the times he was due insulin, and low and behold each time his levels were perfect. He had a check up today where I brought our little diary from the last few days and the vet was delighted with his numbers so we’re doing a trial of no insulin! I’ve to test him at home for the next 3 weeks, if his levels rise to a certain amount we will have to give him insulin but so far fingers and paws crossed, we seem to have hit spontaneous remission 🙊

alexago

We've been caring for our diabetic cat for more than a year. The vet told us she will be getting insulin shots twice a day for the remainder of her life (we buy Vetsulin online for this purpose). She is also on a special diet. She is doing fine and I hope she will have a long and happy life.

SillyMangoX

Just to give you all hope, we are 5 months out from the last insulin shot given! I test his blood glucose twice a week at home and they’re always completely normal. Still on the diabetic food and likely will be for the rest of his life, but the injections have stopped for the foreseeable ☺️