Diabetes in Cats, any information will be helpful?

tierre0 · Mar 28, 2009

My sister's cat Brady was just diagnosed with Diabetes. As you can well imagine she is very upset and requested I ask for any information that I can find about the treatments and such.

I think her main concerns is about how successful the treatments are?
How the quality of his life will be?
The costs involved in treating him?
Questions such as that.

Thanks.

mschauer · Mar 28, 2009

I don't have any direct experience with it myself but a friend of mine was able to completely reverse diabetes in her cat by switching to a raw diet. Her cat now needs no insulin at all after years needing it.

This site has much information about treating diabetes in cats including the importance of diet change (which doesn't have to be raw):

www.yourdiabeticcat.com

How old is your sister's cat? Does he eat a lot of dry food?

tierre0 · Mar 28, 2009

Originally Posted by mschauer

I don't have any direct experience with it myself but a friend of mine was able to completely reverse diabetes in her cat by switching to a raw diet. Her cat now needs no insulin at all after years needing it.

This site has much information about treating diabetes in cats including the importance of diet change (which doesn't have to be raw):

www.yourdiabeticcat.com

How old is your sister's cat? Does he eat a lot of dry food?

Brady just turned six, and eats a combination of both wet and dry.

mschauer · Mar 28, 2009

Originally Posted by tierre0

Brady just turned six, and eats a combination of both wet and dry.

That's pretty young for diabetes. I hope she finds a way to control it.

Another friend of mine has a diabetic cat and they were unsuccessful in changing his diet. In my opinion, they didn't try very hard. They have had a very hard time getting and keeping him regulated. They've been struggling with it for a couple of years now and just recently they have gotten him fairly well regulated. I think a change in insulin type made a big difference for them.

You asked about quality of life, from what I've seen, if their blood glucose can be regulated they can led a perfectly normal life. Consistent regulation is the key though.

violet · Mar 28, 2009

Two great places for information:

http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe.cgi/Felinediabetes

http://felinediabetes.com/

And something to read
http://www.catinfo.org/felinediabetes.htm

optionken · Mar 28, 2009

Hi
Diabetes is not a death sentence, no life span lost and nor is quality of life lost if treated.
Treatment has to be proactive meaning your sister has to know what is going on and be in control. Costs depend on too many factors to say here but you can expect to spend about 50 dollars a month.
Diabetic cats can go into remission and be diet controlled.

nance · Mar 28, 2009

I highly recommend this site

http://felinediabetes.com/

They saved my diabetic cat more than once...they are great ppl and they will help...

cinder · Mar 28, 2009

I've had two diabetic cats.

Toby was very overweight and was diagnosed when he was about 10. I gave him insulin shots twice daily for about 3 years. During that time his diet consisted of Purina DM. After losing 7-8 lbs he eventually went off insulin completely. A few bumps in the road, but he's 17 now and diabetes isn't an issue. (Has CRF)

You do have to be consistent and there were many times when I had to change plans or adjust my schedule to make sure Toby got his shot when he was supposed to. The insulin itself was my biggest expense. Syringes are fairly cheap, and they can save money by getting a monitor and testing Brady's glucose level at home.

farleyv · Mar 29, 2009

I had two cats come down with FD. One I lost because the vet never told me to take him off dry food. After being on www.yourdiabeticcat.com, I learned soooo much. Goofy is now on only wet. They all are. Dry catfood is called the dry death. NO diabetic cat should be near dry food. Actually, no cat at all should be. No grains. the worst thing they can eat is grains. The first 4 ingredients under Guaranteed Analysis on the cans of food should add up to 98 or more. Carbs should be less than 13. You can get all this at the above site. It is a great tool and you get so much feedback and support there. I give Goofy 2 units twice a day and last week his BG was 100. Very acceptable. It is not a death sentence, but you have to be dedicated to giving the shots. If we go to dinner, we have to be home by 6pm for his second shot. This works good especially if we don't care for the people we are with!! Knowledge is power so learn all you can about the disease. Gotta go, Goofy needs his 6 am shot. PS Keep watch of your cat. You know him best. Watch his body language. I can always tell when one of mine is not up to par. Is he playing as usual? Washing and interested in things around him. You develope a sixth sense when you have animals. If you think he is feeling ill, he probably is. Best wishes for successful treatment.

cinder · Mar 29, 2009

Gotta go, Goofy needs his 6 am shot.

Boy does that sound familiar. I would say making sure I was home to give the shots on time was the worst of it. My backup at home was not all that reliable.

When Toby was coming off insulin they were coming out with one that was supposed to be given only once a day. That would have made a big difference, but as I remember it was also more expensive.

Toby must have been fortunate because the dry death diet worked for him. I have actually tried switching over to all wet, but that's a whole 'nother tread. Fortunately there's a lot more to choose from now without the corn, etc.

nance · Mar 29, 2009

Its fairly cheap to treat.....for me the thing that cost the most was the testing strips....insulin was very cheap for me....my cat was on caninsulin

lovesmycats · Mar 29, 2009

Originally Posted by farleyv

I had two cats come down with FD. One I lost because the vet never told me to take him off dry food. After being on www.yourdiabeticcat.com, I learned soooo much. Goofy is now on only wet. They all are. Dry catfood is called the dry death. NO diabetic cat should be near dry food. Actually, no cat at all should be. No grains. the worst thing they can eat is grains. The first 4 ingredients under Guaranteed Analysis on the cans of food should add up to 98 or more. Carbs should be less than 13. You can get all this at the above site. It is a great tool and you get so much feedback and support there. I give Goofy 2 units twice a day and last week his BG was 100. Very acceptable. It is not a death sentence, but you have to be dedicated to giving the shots. If we go to dinner, we have to be home by 6pm for his second shot. This works good especially if we don't care for the people we are with!! Knowledge is power so learn all you can about the disease. Gotta go, Goofy needs his 6 am shot. PS Keep watch of your cat. You know him best. Watch his body language. I can always tell when one of mine is not up to par. Is he playing as usual? Washing and interested in things around him. You develope a sixth sense when you have animals. If you think he is feeling ill, he probably is. Best wishes for successful treatment.

Absolutely the best diabetic cat site ever! Please go to www.yourdiabeticcat.com and read it, then go to the forum and you will find people that are there to help you.

I'll tell my story, well Callie's story. Callie was diagnosed February 23, 2009 with Feline Diabetes (FD). Her blood glucose level at diagnosis was 557. I cried and was devastated. I was directed by someone here to go to yourdiabeticcat.com and I'm so happy that I did. I followed the protocol there and after a month of a lot of testing, changing doses, and getting rid of ALL DRY FOOD--and putting her on a all wet, low-carb, high protein diet she is now off the juice (i.e. she hasn't had insulin in almost two weeks). This won't happen with every cats, but it definitely will improve your cats condition. Diabetes is NOT a death sentence. Please go read the information at the site provided. I promise it will help your kitty feel better. You have to be dedicated to your kitty and be willing to following the protocol and its worth it. If you have any questions, please ask. There are many at the site that are willing to help, too. Good luck!

optionken · Apr 1, 2009

No insulin will work for cats 1x a day although there are some cats on 1 shot a day. Cats absorb insulin twice as fast as humans do.BCP PZI advertises as a 1x a day insulin but that just dosn't work for most cats. lantus which is generally longer lasting is also a
2x a day insulin. It's never easy.
nI also want to comment about your diabetic cat. The approachg used there has caused the death of some cats. it is a very aggresive non accepted way of treating this disease. When a cat has died or hypoed, the caregiver has been blamed and all evidence is usually wiped off the site. Many cats do go into remission there but no more there then following a less risky, easier for your cat and yourself protocol

mschauer · Apr 1, 2009

Originally Posted by optionken

nI also want to comment about your diabetic cat. The approachg used there has caused the death of some cats. it is a very aggresive non accepted way of treating this disease. When a cat has died or hypoed, the caregiver has been blamed and all evidence is usually wiped off the site. Many cats do go into remission there but no more there then following a less risky, easier for your cat and yourself protocol

As with many things seen on this site this is the posters opinion. The treating vet should always be consulted before the caregiver acts on any advice given on this or any other site.

cinder · Apr 1, 2009

The Lantus insulin, Glargine, was the one I was trying to think of. Toby was on it a very short time. Prior to that I always used Humulin, but the maker discontinued what I was using, which is why I had to switch. I don't know how current or accurate the attached link is, but the remission info is definitely interesting.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body...e_insulin.html

I read through the yourdiabeticcat site and it looks to have some good info. The very fact that the doctor there refers to what other *experts* think (even though she believes they are wrong) should tell us all that there are differing opinions. Like mschauer said, always talk to your vet.

Diabetes in Cats, any information will be helpful?

tierre0

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mschauer

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tierre0

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Thread starter

mschauer

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violet

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optionken

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nance

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cinder

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farleyv

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cinder

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nance

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lovesmycats

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optionken

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mschauer

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cinder

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