Information on Diabetic Cats

[caretaker]

can anyone give me information on diabetic cats, the costs, the shots, the food, do they live a quality of life. Are they happy living this way, I have looked on the internet for information, but wanted to personally talk to someone who owns one, and the personal involvment into it, I will be taking her to the vet here soon, but the one cat I rescued has cost me over a $1000.00 I am private sanctuary, with no donations, well once in a great while I do get some small donations, which are greatly appreciated, its been a long year for me, after the holidays I will be taking her in for tests, and talk to my vet, but unless its an emergency and I have had enough of those lately, I would like to get some information before that, she is older kitty, I rescued her off of wacco, her name is bootsie, I am almost 90% sure she is diabetic, I had one other cat long ago same way except i had to put him down, he had major other problems.

If you have time during the holidays please give me a email or call and we could chat about your experience and some ideas.

thanks
Mary

[kazooboy]

Mary-
I don't know for sure if she ever actually owned a cat w/ diabetes, but you can probably get some reliable and helpful information if you call my friend Heidi @ (707) 869-5636. She has had cats for decades and a former boyfriend is now one of the major cat specialist veterinarians in California, with an office in Oakland.
Give her a call, she is very generous with her time and knowledge.
Good luck w/ the kitty.
Shalom-- Kazooboy

[Pam]

Hi,

I have a cat who's had diabetes for about 6 years. You can email me with questions. It really hasn't been too expensive to take care of her, especially because I buy her insulin & syringes at Wal-Mart Pharmacy (I know it's not PC, but I'm on a budget and other pharmacies are twice as expensive). She's pretty healthy and seems to feel good, except she's still overweight and her hips are sore. I'm trying to feed both cats less, so they'll lose weight.

Pam
[email protected]

can anyone give me information on diabetic cats, the costs, the shots, the food, do they live a quality of life. Are they happy living this way, I have looked on the internet for information, but wanted to personally talk to someone who owns one, and the personal involvment into it, I will be taking her to the vet here soon, but the one cat I rescued has cost me over a $1000.00 I am private sanctuary, with no donations, well once in a great while I do get some small donations, which are greatly appreciated, its been a long year for me, after the holidays I will be taking her in for tests, and talk to my vet, but unless its an emergency and I have had enough of those lately, I would like to get some information before that, she is older kitty, I rescued her off of wacco, her name is bootsie, I am almost 90% sure she is diabetic, I had one other cat long ago same way except i had to put him down, he had major other problems.

If you have time during the holidays please give me a email or call and we could chat about your experience and some ideas.

thanks
Mary

[webturner]

Hi
We came back from a vacation to one very sick (diabetic) cat. IT took about a month to get him stable but he has been doing great since then. He developed diabeties at the age of 12 and is now 15 years old. He is a very content and I believe he is a happy cat but does occasionally hate getting his shots.

I have never checked out the prices from Walmart but it may be worth looking into. (Thanks for the tip). I usually get insulin from Longs and it runs about $29 (lasts about 4 - 5 months) then a box of syringes cost around $15 for 100 count. (lasts 50 days)

I think that the hardest thing about having a diabetic kitty is that they need to eat at a fairly regular time 2x / day. (YOU can NOT give insulin unless they have eaten.)

The most costly is the testing supplies. I highly recommend the units. I use a FreeStyle unit that requires very little blood. (Usually when you first buy them you can get free strips. If you purchase them in the double lots they are less expensive and you can usually get rebates on them.)
(Although the vet will tell you that they are not absolutely necessary they will give you a better understanding and instant results to know if KITTY really needs the insulin or not. (My cat will sometimes refuse to eat. So I usually do a blood test and sometimes I find he doesn't need the insulin. He has learned that everytime I feed him he gets a shot. IF he doesn't want the shot he will refuse to eat.)

You can email me w/ more questions if you wish. I've actually thought about finding or starting a support group for people to talk about their diabetic cats & dogs in this area. I'm sure that their are other ways to help our furry friends.

Debby ([email protected])

[webturner]

Hi WebTurner here again,
My Mikey cat finally gave up. He passed away peacefully in my arms on Saturday, July 25, 2009.

He was diabetic for 5 1/2 - 6 years. (A long Time!!!) IT is possible for them to survive and thrive for many years.

It was his time to go and the same with people, he had troubles with his feet and eye sight at the end.

Anyone have questions on diabetic kitties, I'm more than willing to answer question.

We will miss our buddy boy.

[sunrise]

I just lost my 19 year old male cat who was diabetic for the last 10 yrs.
Until about 2 years ago he had one shot a day and the last 2 yrs. 2 shots day. In retrospect the last two years required us to be around more, as the shots were 12 hrs apart. This probably kept us from doing some things but so worth it. He had no problems other than typical age related things at 19.
I know a lot about diabetes as I was diagnosed a year laterafter he was.
I found that unless I told vets that I loved my cat but I did not want to put him through any unnecessary tests or even visits....nor did I have the money to pay for all of what some vets want to do they would want to do a zillion tests etc.
A glucose test will tell if he's diabetic. They may want to do a fasting and several draws over a few hours to pin down how much insulin is needed. I can't remember how much this cost. The insulin lasted (one shot 3 cc a day)
for about a year and cost about $35. I think the syringes were given to me by druggist or very cheap. You can use the same needle over again several times. You'll feel when it gets dull and need a new one.
They need to have food available at all times. The worst thing is to have too much insulin. Like better to forget a shot than give an extra.
In the 10 years he had about 4 low sugar episodes (too much insulin from not enough food) and walked around as if he was drunk. We kept Kayro syrup on hand and gave him (amt.?) of that and he was fine. He would also meow and just be confused. After the Kayro kicked in w/i minutes he was fine.
So the deal is....if they are maintaining their weight pretty steady and not peeing a lot they are doing okay on dosage they have. Vets are supposed to check them once a year (I think) for RX which was cheap for glucose one test. They always tried to talk me into more and it was not necessary!
Basically, I figured it out and it was okay and he was the most wonderful cat that we had found as a tiny kitten. He was also an indoor cat but I don't think that makes any difference. The only thing is the time w/ giving the shots. you don't have to give at the exact same time of the day but w/i an hour or so of scheduled time. We never had a problem w/ it. The best part is that he purred through getting his shot. If I was late he would come and remind me. If you'd like to talk more about it or clarify anything please email your phone number and I'd be happy to help.