Help with a diabetic senior cat

Hi everyone. My neice, Danielle, just left me a VM saying their senior cat, Max, has been dx with diabetes. In fact, he was in the hospital from Tuesday until today, Saturday! She asked me if I knew anything about diabetes..and insulin injections. Sadly, I don't. While I medicate Tex twice a day, it is oral meds.

I left her a voice message telling her the above, and letting her know that while I don't know anything, I bet someone on here does....so....can anyone tell us what/how/when/etc., we should/can be doing, how to do the injections, what is the reaction, etc??


Thanks!
Johanna

I have been goggling for links...maybe these links might help

http://www.tuohey1.freeserve.co.uk/susie/intro.htm

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/Public/FHC/diabetes.html

http://www.felinediabetes.com/

The above site has a message board...

http://www.catdr.com/cat_care_diabetes.htm

The above site is very detailed

Here is a quote from Jen Luckenbach (I hope you don't mind me quoting you Jen) when I asked about diabetic cats care, for someone I knew.....

I treated Y.Lee for diabetes for 6 months before he gave up and stopped eating. He needed regular blood screenings at first to determine the amount of insulin, but not really that much EXTENSIVE care. He required an insulin shot twice a day. And except for the fact that you needed to administer them at 12 hour intervals, there was nothing demanding about this. Most people that work full time can manage feeding/medicating at 12 hour intervals.
He needed a special diet, but again there was nothing overly demanding about this.
The insulin and needle/syringe costs were nominal. The special food is probably only SLIGHTLY more expensive than average food. The blood tests however can mount up. But once the cat is regulated, these costs go down.
I only worked with one diabetic, I suppose it is possible that others need more care, but really, it was not that much of an imposition on us humans to treat Y. Lee.

My Mr. B, a senior, male kitty was diagnosed last year. His initial sugar was very high, over 400. After a few months on daily insulin (he started off on 4 units humulin lente, q. 12 hrs) he converted to a non diabetic state and is now managed on a Rx diet alone (Purina Diabetic Management) and his blood sugar remains in the 75-90 range! There is a small percentage of diabetic kitties that will do that; convert back to a non diabetic state. Pam's Trevor is another success story:)

At first I took him for blood testing a few times weekly as insulin dosages may need to be adjusted frequently, especially in the beginning as the kitty stablizes. It's especially important to monitor for signs of insulin shock (too much insulin) as that is a life threatening emergency. It is better to err on the side of too little insulin than too much. But Danielle's vet will discuss that with her, I'm sure. After a week or two, I started home boood testing (not hard at all; a tiny ear prick) and that was a great comfort, being able to monitor and chart his blood values on a daily basis. At the vet's, the cost of a routine blood sugar was appx. 10.00

Besides my vet the Feline Diabetes website (link posted below..I think it 's the same PIF posted) was invaluable in helping me to deal with all aspects of diagnosis and care and they have a wonderful, supportive forum for parents of "sugar kitties!" Any question you might have is answered there. There's also a vet monitoring the board to help answer questions. Even though I've treated/dealt with human patients in my nursing care, I was clueless re: how diabetic kitties were treated, and me and Mr. B got through it! I hope this helps and I wish all best for Max and Danielle! Nowadays, diabetes is very treatable in dogs and cats:)

http://www.felinediabetes.com/index.html

Thanks, guys. I am going to forward this page to Danielle.

I am glad Sandra saw this thread. She was ENORMOUSLY HELPFUL to me when Trevor was first diagnosed. Yes my boy was one of the lucky ones. He too spent a week in the hospital to get regulated, and then I only had to give him insulin for a couple of weeks. That was last summer and since then he has been maintained solely on Purina DM (the same as Mr. B) and is doing just fine! :) A good side effect of this food is that Trevor has slimmed down to a steady 16 lbs. (he was 19-20 lbs.) at one point, and his fur is gorgeous and, believe it or not, he is shedding a lot less. I kid you not! Tell Danielle to take heart. Hearing that diagnosis is scary at first but, one day at a time, and it can be managed. :)