I sympathize, Elle. I had an elderly diabetic cat several years ago.

Yes and not really. She was always a grouchy cat anyhow. She tolerated
the twice-a-day injections, but when she let us know she didn't want
them anymore (got up and walked away when she saw us coming with the
needle), we stopped them. She lived about a week after that.

I think about six months. She was 18 or 19 at the time, though, so I
don't think it's really a reasonable comparison.

The following is info that is as best I can remember; please don't take
my word for it, but look for it as you research.

When cats are diabetic, their bodies continue to produce insulin but
stop recognizing it. Unlike humans, their bodies can suddenly start to
recognize insulin again and go back and forth. Giving insulin to a cat
that doesn't need it is bad.

Although my vet thought I was nuts, I learned how to check my cat's
blood sugar, which is more accurate and actually easier than checking
the sugar level in urine. I found explicit instructions how to do this
on the internet. Here are the basics:

I purchased a glucose testing kit from the local pharmacy - the tester
itself is often free or inexpensive with purchase of a box of test
strips. It's made for people to test their blood sugar with a finger
prick; for a cat, you can use their ear. There's a vein that runs up the
outside edge of the cat's ear. Stroke it upwards and it becomes more
visible. A pinprick with the tester on this vein will result in a drop
or two of blood - just enough for the test strip. My cat never minded
this part of it all, so I think there's not much feeling in this part of
the ear. I used the reading to determine how much insulin to give her,
twice a day. I had talked to the vet about the appropriate dosages for
ranges of readings.

I no longer have the sites bookmarked where I learned to do this, but
I'm sure you can find them or some similar by searching. The site I
learned the most from had photographs of the actual blood testing
procedure. It's awkward to do at first, but like anything, once you get
a routine, it becomes easier.

Good luck! From what I remember reading, it's very possible for your guy
to live happily for quite some time with diabetes.

Irene

You will find this page helpful:

http://community.webtv.net/getcathelp/diabetes

Megan

                                   

There is a wonderful site for pets with diabetes...  They have all sorts of
info for care & some very helpful boards include one for cats with diabetes.
They were extremely helpful when my parents' dog was diagnosed...

http://www.petdiabetes.org/

Hi Elle,

We had a cat, Bob, diagnosed with diabetes about 3 years ago. Our vet at
the time said a diabetic cat lives an average of 2 years after
diagnosis, and that proved true for our cat. He died though of cancer,
so I think he could have lived many more years with just diabetes.

As for cost of diabetes, it wasn't horrible until he had the
pancreatitus complications. We did feed him special food (Purina DM,)
the insulin was about $30 a bottle and lasted for months, and the
syringes were not that expensive. You can sometimes get home blood
glucose monitors for free or nearly free, because the company wants you
to buy their test strips.

There is a WONDERFUL message board on www.felinediabetes.com. Those
people have cats who have had diabetes for years and years. They know
the ins and outs and can answer most any question. They also never
sleep, you can post an emergency at 2am and usually someone answers!

Good luck with your cat. I hope you have many wonderful years with him.

Rhonda

also has a kidney complaint which I give him a tablet for each day.  I give
him the injections myself, at feeding time, and he doesn't flinch at all
(you do it on the fleshy part of their back where their mother would have
picked them up by).  The needles are so tiny it's quite hard to see the
dosage if you have bad eyesight but it doesn't hurt the cat at all, I find
it's best to do it when he's eating (he's a pig!) so he's distracted.  I
promise you that once you've done the first one (and got over your nerves)
it's really easy.  If course the hard part is convincing your usual cat
minder that it's easy when you have to go away!  My cat had insurance, so
they covered it for the first year, but (I'm in England) it costs about ?30
for the insulin, which lasts about 3 months in the fridge, and you have to
pay for the syringes and sharps box.  I have been told that some diabetic
cats can live to be about 20, so I'm hoping my baby lasts a while longer.
Since he began his treatment he has been a changed cat, up to his old
tricks.  He has had the odd minor hypo (I thought it was hiccups) and I have
been told to rub a small amount of honey round his gums if it happens again.
I hope this helps, you can email me direct if I can tell you anything else.

Good luck!

[... I delete ...]

I second your request, even though I am pretty late in commenting.
One of my cats has very elevated blood glucose.

I have not yet started insulin injections.  Somehow, I think that
Tasmania might become cooperative, but not with me:  my anti-
depressant medication causes me to tremble, and I'm taking another
drug for that, but *I* would not like to get any sort of injection
from me.

As yet unknown.

My concern is that I myself am Type II Diabetic.  My physician
(I think that any physician should be a vet first, but that
is another topic) prescribed glipizide (trade name glucotrol: it
sound like something I would use to kill glips with) and Actos.
These two drugs seem to be more or less controlling my diabetes.

I am a mammal; Tasmania is a mammal.  I am a male, so I am accustomed
to drugs for osteoporosis working only for human femals; simian
drugs might not work on felines.

The vet said that insulin injections were the only treatment.  I have
not asked her, but I wonder if the FDA isn't doing something
wretched here.  White mice are different from humans (primarily because
they have been bred to be susceptible to cancers.)

I am an omnivore, Tasmania is a carnivore, so our internal chemistries
are different.  Still, I don't see, offhand, why a diabetes treatment
for humans ought not work for a feline.

Thoughts?  

(It has been a year or so since I got my home Linux system up
enough to use 'nn' again; I apologize for my tardy postings.)