| Joe -
I have a 14-year-old male Siamese who is diabetic. It appears that
diabetes in cats is also congenital; however, it is still one of
the cat diseases that they don't know everything about. It is very
hard to regulate a cat.
The symptoms are the same as they are in humans--direct line from
the water bowl to the pan and/or eating a lot and losing weight.
If your cat is an indoor cat, purchase some Clinitest strips--those
are the test strips for diabetics where it checks the various levels
in the urine, and *try* to catch your cat in the pan. This is not
as easy as it sounds, because if they're like Munchkin, you'll get
a *hairy eyeball* look, as if to say, "Excuse m-e-e-e, what do you
think you're doing?" One of the test elements is for sugar, and
depending on the color the paper turns (like litmus paper), you
can tell if the sugar level is way off. If so, call your vet and
arrange for the cat to go in to be checked. They do sugar levels,
kidney function tests, urinalysis, etc., and will try and regulate
the cat.
Munchkin is on the following schedule: eats breakfast at 7 a.m.
and gets his 5 units of insulin (He actually purrs with the shots
- either he's dumb or he loves us!). The food comes up before I
leave for work, and he doesn't get fed until around 6 p.m. or so.
We usually leave the food down until we go to sleep, but never leave
the food out all night or all day. This is very important, because
they need to be on a schedule which doesn't vary at all, and no
snacks! Of course, if you go away overnight or on vacation, you
need to have someone who can keep the cat on this schedule. Because
Munchkin is an indoor cat, we can see how's he's doing from the
water level in his mug! My cats only drink out of mugs or glasses--no
bowls for them. He has been diabetic since February, and originally
started out on 3 1/2 units of insulin daily, but it has increased
to 5 units. Cats are very hard to regulate, and my vet is very
surprised that Munch is doing so well. He does appear to drink
more at night, and if this continues we will do a blood sugar on
him at various hours during the night to see where his sugar peaks.
We may need to give him another shot at 10 p.m. of regular insulin.
The insulin that he uses now is the long-acting type (N.P.H.), which
humans use for a 12 to 24-hour period; however, it doesn't seem
to last as long with cats. There is another type of insuling on
the market, PZI, but our vet doesn't seem too impressed with it
on cats.
I can't stress enough how important it is to get the cat on a schedule
and keep it there. If the cat doesn't eat breakfast, which is the
most important meal for a diabetic, the cat will have an insulin
reaction, just like humans. This really takes the *stuffing* out
of them for about 24 hours. Munch has has three of these, and they're
not fun. You need to get either orange juice and/or honey mixed
with water into the cat fast, so his sugar level will rise. They
have very poor muscle tone for about 6 hours, and just lie around
looking listless.
Even though we have 2 cats, and currently are cat-sitting for our
cat's daughters while my in-laws are away until April, they all
seem to sense that Munch has to eat first and that there is no food
during the day or during the night! One of the daughters is showing
signs of possible diabetes (drinking more than usual), and we will
test her when we can catch her in the pan!
I hope this helps. If you need any more information, you can write
directly to me. Be sure that your vet handles diabetics or is in
close contact with Angell Memorial Hospital's diabetic specialists
or another excellent teaching insitution like Angell Memorial.
Good luck!
Joan
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| Joe,
I only have one thing to add to what Joan said, but take it for
what it is worth as I was not the owner of the diabetic cat.
My syster owned a diabetic cat named Roscoe. He became diabetic
at age 8 and lived to the ripe old age of 18. I had once asked
her to describe the procedures required to tread a diabetic cat
(I believed that my cat might also be diabetic). What she described
was just about what Joan described with one exception. She had
indicated that her doctor had told her to take the test at the litter
pan every day to tell the cats sugars. She said, however, that
it got to the point that she could tell just by Roscoe's behavure
whether he needed more or less meidcation. She also said that more
than one Vet had given old Roscoe up for a gonner, yet he lived
a good and contented 10 years with the illness.
Hope I was of some small help.
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| i have a diabetic cat, also (see note 138) - she's 16, and doing very
well - she's on only 1.5 units per day, and our vet never advocated
testing her urine - she goes for blood checks, though, every 3 months
- i would stress strongly to any diabetic animal owner to keep handy
a jar of KARO syrup for emergencies - this is essentially pure liquid
sugar, and before meagan was fully regulated, when her insulin was too
high, this saved her life - its a very scary thing (unregulated diabetes)
but once it's controlled and the routine is established, it's really not
a problem! meagan was diagnosed probably 2 years ago...
karen
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| Be very careful about any type of infections, i.e. gums, skin, etc.
Just like humans, when a diabetic cat gets an infection it warrants
more attention than usual. Case in point...
Last week, Munchkin went into a severe insulin shock with convulsions!
Boy, were we concerned, even though I spent over 10 years in the
medical field and my husband is still in that field - even though
you have the knowledge, when it's your own it's different...
Munchkin developed non-infectious, bacterial hepatitis - that really
played havoc with his insulin requirements. So, he's on amoxicillin
twice a day for 10 days, and greatly improved.
He was hospitalized during the day for 3 days, came home at night
because he won't eat for anyone, and came home with his left forearm
strapped to a board because the IV catheter was left in his arm
so the vet could reconnect it the following day. Well, he played
this for all he was worth! While his two "slaves" were up, he had
to be carried everywhere--to the pan, from the pan, etc., the food
brought to him, and hand-fed! Of course, when we were sleeping,
he was up and around with the other cats. The last day he spent
in the hospital, he got under the covers to snuggle with me around
5 a.m. (his usual thing), and every time I started to nod off, he
poked me in the face with this board! I honestly thought it was
a fluke the first time, so I pretended to sleep. Whomp in the face!!
Just like kids, you know when they're feeling better by their actions,
but I guess he has us figured out, right?
So, just a note of caution to diabetic cat owners...be careful of
any behavior changes, more so than in non-diabetic cats, and check
the cat's teeth and gums regularly because any type of infection
there can spred up the roots, into the sinuses, etc.
Regards,
J.
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