 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Twenty-five percent of all middle-aged over-weight cats will develop diabetes. This
devastating disease involves the pancreas’s inability to produce insulin which regulates the
amount of sugar or glucose in the bloodstream. Diabetic cats drink a lot of water, urinate a
great deal, eat and eat and eat and still lose weight. You may notice your pet doesn’t want to
jump anymore or “walks funny”. Cats at this point are not in the critical stage of their disease
and there is time to get it under control. In the final stages of the disease, the diabetic cat
stops eating, vomits, becomes dehydrated and becomes extremely depressed. End-stage
diabetes is very difficult, time consuming and expensive to treat.
The diagnosis is fairly straight forward. After the original exam, blood and urine are
collected. A diabetic cat will have high levels of sugar in both blood and urine. Diabetes is
confirmed with a test called the fructosamine level. Once the diagnosis of diabetes is
established, the decision to treat has to be made.
This decision is based on your lifestyle, how easy your pet is to handle and if there are other
diseases present. Other blood tests will determine if there are problems with the pancreas,
adrenal glands or pituitary gland that will make it difficult to treat. If your cat is grouchy, it may
not tolerate all the handling necessary to treat this problem. Frequent traveling, demanding
family and job responsibilities may make treating this problem not an option.
If you decide to treat, what’s next? First, there will be a series of appointments to identify
other problems, instructions on how to administer the insulin, and finally instructions on how
to perform a glucose curve. Your pet will be started on a very low dose of insulin twice daily
and a special diet very high in protein and low in carbohydrates. Low carbohydrate diets are
a crucial part in the treatment of diabetes. Once insulin has been given for 10-14 days, you
will do a glucose curve at home to determine the proper dosage of insulin to give. A glucose
curve is made by testing blood every 2-3 hours over a 48 hour period. It is best to do this
when you have help for obvious reasons.
Problems can occur at times when treating diabetic cats. The most serious is when the
blood sugar drops very low and stays there. The common signs are staggering, depression,
a glazed look on the face and finally seizures and coma. Once you’ve seen the early signs
you will recognize them quickly in the future and can intervene by administering oral sugar
solutions like maple syrup before the problem becomes serious. Fortunately, this situation is
uncommon. Diabetic cats are more prone to infections, especially in the bladder and
occasionally will need to be treated for these.
Once regulated on insulin, it is not uncommon for the diabetic cat to go into remission. This
means your pet no longer needs any insulin and you don’t have to give the injections
anymore. This may be a permanent situation or only temporary. Checking blood sugar levels
periodically at home will help identify this problem.
Persistently diabetic cats need periodic examinations (about every four months) with blood
work to determine how well the disease is controlled. They also need periodic checking of
blood sugar levels at home. Taking blood samples from your pet at home isn’t hard and
most cats tolerate this procedure very well. Human glucose meters obtained at any
drugstore are used and require very little blood. The blood is obtained from the ear flap and
the technique will be explained at one of your early clinic appointments when you learn how
to perform a glucose curve.
A diabetic cat requires a strong commitment on your part. However, it’s not as scary as it
may seem and most cats do well for a number of years after diagnosis.
devastating disease involves the pancreas’s inability to produce insulin which regulates the
amount of sugar or glucose in the bloodstream. Diabetic cats drink a lot of water, urinate a
great deal, eat and eat and eat and still lose weight. You may notice your pet doesn’t want to
jump anymore or “walks funny”. Cats at this point are not in the critical stage of their disease
and there is time to get it under control. In the final stages of the disease, the diabetic cat
stops eating, vomits, becomes dehydrated and becomes extremely depressed. End-stage
diabetes is very difficult, time consuming and expensive to treat.
The diagnosis is fairly straight forward. After the original exam, blood and urine are
collected. A diabetic cat will have high levels of sugar in both blood and urine. Diabetes is
confirmed with a test called the fructosamine level. Once the diagnosis of diabetes is
established, the decision to treat has to be made.
This decision is based on your lifestyle, how easy your pet is to handle and if there are other
diseases present. Other blood tests will determine if there are problems with the pancreas,
adrenal glands or pituitary gland that will make it difficult to treat. If your cat is grouchy, it may
not tolerate all the handling necessary to treat this problem. Frequent traveling, demanding
family and job responsibilities may make treating this problem not an option.
If you decide to treat, what’s next? First, there will be a series of appointments to identify
other problems, instructions on how to administer the insulin, and finally instructions on how
to perform a glucose curve. Your pet will be started on a very low dose of insulin twice daily
and a special diet very high in protein and low in carbohydrates. Low carbohydrate diets are
a crucial part in the treatment of diabetes. Once insulin has been given for 10-14 days, you
will do a glucose curve at home to determine the proper dosage of insulin to give. A glucose
curve is made by testing blood every 2-3 hours over a 48 hour period. It is best to do this
when you have help for obvious reasons.
Problems can occur at times when treating diabetic cats. The most serious is when the
blood sugar drops very low and stays there. The common signs are staggering, depression,
a glazed look on the face and finally seizures and coma. Once you’ve seen the early signs
you will recognize them quickly in the future and can intervene by administering oral sugar
solutions like maple syrup before the problem becomes serious. Fortunately, this situation is
uncommon. Diabetic cats are more prone to infections, especially in the bladder and
occasionally will need to be treated for these.
Once regulated on insulin, it is not uncommon for the diabetic cat to go into remission. This
means your pet no longer needs any insulin and you don’t have to give the injections
anymore. This may be a permanent situation or only temporary. Checking blood sugar levels
periodically at home will help identify this problem.
Persistently diabetic cats need periodic examinations (about every four months) with blood
work to determine how well the disease is controlled. They also need periodic checking of
blood sugar levels at home. Taking blood samples from your pet at home isn’t hard and
most cats tolerate this procedure very well. Human glucose meters obtained at any
drugstore are used and require very little blood. The blood is obtained from the ear flap and
the technique will be explained at one of your early clinic appointments when you learn how
to perform a glucose curve.
A diabetic cat requires a strong commitment on your part. However, it’s not as scary as it
may seem and most cats do well for a number of years after diagnosis.
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Diabetes |