Diabetes advice please

My friend's cat has been at the vets this week, they are 99% sure from the urine test that he has diabetes, but just waiting for the bloods to come back tomorrow to confirm there is nothing else - he isn't even a year old yet. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of diabetes in such a young cat - didn't seem to find much doing a search on here, and she has only found articles about it in older cats on the net.

Sorry to heard that, here is a few advises.
-give her the best possible food, like Wellness(sp?). don't do the preception food even the vet said so, they're crap.
-give her shot everyday on time.
-Monitor the bladder, if you can feel the bladder take her to the litter box.
-I personally find that mixing some flesh alfafa in the the food help.

good luck.

Hello, I'm a diabetic, plus I've had a diabetic cat. Unfortunately she passed away 2 years ago from other complications. There was and probably is still a Yahoo support group for diabetic cats online only I don't know what the address it. Maybe your friend can find it by Google-ing it.
Urine tests for diabetes aren't the most accurate. Blood tests are the most accurate to date. There is a way of testing blood glucose in cats by taking blood from the tiny veins in the cats ear tips. Some get used to it, my cat hated getting her ear pricked daily and I think it was too stressful for her. You can use the same kind of glucometer people use.

The vets have special food- you can find a wealth of information on food/diet for diabetic cats on the internet. In general the food should be higher protein (unless there is kidney problems) and lower carb. Insulin may have to injected daily to the cat's regimen, there are oral medications but they do not work as well or quit working after a couple years. Care must be taken the cat does not become hypoglycemic, especially with insulin.

Also, some cats may show up as diabetic in the vet's office from stress - and normal at home.

Taking care of a diabetic cat is a challenge. Some owners opt to euthanize their pets because they can't commit to the care needed. Your friend will need a support group to get her through this and help her to understand her cat's illness.

Thanks for that, I have passed it on. The vet wont commit to the diagnosis till the blood tests have come back, but he is 99% sure due to the reasons why he was taken to the vets - he had been wobbly at the beginning of the week, but vet couldn't find anything, and then a couple of days after that, he actually fell off the cat tree, and didnt look right in his eyes, so was rushed back, they have done an MRI, urine and blood tests (poss something else), and so far the urine test has shown an abnormality indicating it, but there are still bloods to come back, so a chance he is wrong. He does occasionally wet himself, but vet couldnt' find anything for that either. All her cats were really poorly with cat flu when they were young, so the vet can only think it is stemming from that with being so young.

If the cat is wobbly, especially at the hind legs, it could indicate neuropathy and would mean the diabetes has been going on for a while. The same with retinapathy. Was the cat obese to begin with? Did your friend notice the cat losing weight and drinking and peeing more? From my readings - the hind leg weakness can be helped a great deal in cats by proper treatment of the diabetes.

If your friend is giving any supplements (even things for hairball remedies) to the cat - please have her read the ingrediants- some of these hi calorie supplements contain a lot of sugar/corn syrup/glucose...all bad for diabetes!
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I just read in your previous post the cat is under a year old?! Wow..diabetes would be very rare in such a cat. In humans you have diabetes type 1 and 2, type 1 can occur at a very early age. I'm not sure type 1 exists in cats. This would mean there is some kind of pancreatic failure in the cat, even a tumor there or a liver tumor would be rare in a cat that young. I'm not a vet so I'm not sure what else could be causing the cat's problems. Let's see what the final diagnosis is. I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed for the poor kitty.

High protein low carb diet but consult the vet ... RXs are there for a reason , I will often use them till I have the proper knowledge... MOST OTC are TOTALLY wrong for a diabetic cat , no matter high end the are ...

Reply from my friend

Mister is fine he has type 1 diabetes and have to inject him now he seems to be taking it all in his stride and is still a little wobbly I have to go back to the vets in a week or so to make sure that he is okay.

Re his age I did find out that normally a cat is more likely to to develop the condition in later life but this can happen, he drinks all the time constantly so no way i am sure that he could be dehydrated although the vets would have checked for that, they did also check for kidney damage but there was no problems there.

Anway i gave him one of his presents early he and yumi have been playing lazy lets lie on our backs and play with the ball ..

Wow...so cats apparently can develop type 1 also! Well, this disease can be controlled but he'll have to be on insulin. Being so young he may get used to it. Poor dear, give him a hug from me.