OK - so not really a nursing question, but with so many people here, maybe someone out there will have some answers!
Does anyone have any experience with diabetes and cats?
My neighbour's cat has just been diagnosed with diabetes. She is giving him insulin shots once a day. She is dealing with that OK. Her biggest challenge is the litter box.
The cat is still drinking lots and of course, peeing lots. Adn the litter box smells horrible!
I've told her that if it is like human diabetes, this should improve over time as the diabetes gets under control better. Is this accurate?
Any experience out there with this?
Thanks!
PS - I'm cat sitting this weekend - have to go over and give the shots once a day - and I'm nervous! Crazy, eh? I can give shots to people but am nervous about giving a little cat a shot! :)
i don't know about you, but if this were me, i'd have that cat to a vet today for a checkup and exam, ask a lot of questions and be expecting that it's going to cost a lot. that wouldn't even begin to address how i was going to deal with my neighbor.
i would definitely refer your friend to the feline diabetes website for a vet referral in her area. sadly many vets aren't all that up to date on feline diabetes or even cats in general. it really shouldn't cost a lot of money for an exam and consult. heck i'll do it for free: have the vet do a senior bood panel, change the cat's food to all canned, use a long lasting insulin like pzi or lantus, start insulin bid and hometest. :)
the fructosamine tests are rarely even necessary if the person is hometesting every day.
The one thing I do know in terms of prevention...only wet food! Cats should not be eating dry food because the low protein / high cereal content leads to overweight and obesity, which places them at risk for diabetes. Both of mine aren't even a year old, and my vet already noticed a tiny bit of tummy hanging down from them. She said to nip it in the bud and that the dry stuff had to go. Inconvenient...yes...but I love them so much and want to keep them in the best of health for many years to come. I'm slowly weaning them off of dry completely.
wow...
is this common knowledge?
any other posters feed their cats only canned food?
need to check this out so i can make some changes...
Specializes in Nursing Home ,Dementia Care,Neurology..
My cat is 15 and ,up until a year ago,only ate dry food.I always make sure she has plenty of water with it.She now eats some meat but will never eat a whole,small,tub.So far she is not showing any signs of diabetes.
any other posters feed their cats only canned food?
need to check this out so i can make some changes...
leslie
It is similar to how unnecessary it is to vaccinate every year, well known in the veterinary community but not so well known to the general public. There also seems to be an aversion to learning new information from many pet owners. "Dry food is easy, cheap and we've had cats for 100 years that only ate dry and did great." Yes and years ago we all smoked and drank while pregnant, as we get more knowledge we need to examine what has always worked and adjust.
Here is a vet's website that is for client education. If anyone prefers there are more scientific articles out there, this is not new stuff. http://catinfo.org/
Cats are obligate carnivores, they have no dietary need for carbohydrates which dry food is largely made up of. It doesn't really cause diabetes but like in humans there are many factors like genetics, obesity and poor diet. Many can be diet regulated if you do it early while their pancreas is still functioning.
Another benefit of feeding all canned food is it helps keep them hydrated which benefits their renal system which can be an achilles heel for cats. Also to dispel the myth that dry food is good for their teeth: their teeth are not made to grind and if anyone who has cats ever notices their piles of barf...not much is chewed, lol. I have read that in fact the abnormal biting pattern can actually be worse for their teeth. Imo their dental status is largely genetic. I have some that need a dental cleaning every 2 years and a couple that go for 5 or 6 years before they have significant tartar bulid up.
Lots of good information given here. I strongly recommend a feline specialist as opposed to a general vet if you have a diabetic cat.
A plus to feeding only canned food is that "hairballs" have been totally eliminated from my two cats (one diabetic and elderly and 1 mid aged non diabetic). My feline specialist says hairballs are totally abnormal and indicate problems with the GI tract......usually from eating high carb diets.
any other posters feed their cats only canned food?
need to check this out so i can make some changes...
leslie
Actually, my vet, who only treats cats, recommends feeding wet food sparingly because it causes tooth decay. But maybe in cats with diabetes, the benefits of the wet food diet outweighs the risks of tooth decay.
Actually, my vet, who only treats cats, recommends feeding wet food sparingly because it causes tooth decay. But maybe in cats with diabetes, the benefits of the wet food diet outweighs the risks of tooth decay.
if you read the link jules provided (http://www.catinfo.org), it dispels the myth of tooth decay w/canned food.
Oops, I got on the phone in the middle of posting and missed that link. Great info! I can now feel less guilt when I feed my cats wet food twice a day. They like it so much more than the dry. Both my cats have health problems, are on prescription cat food, and are underweight, so I do anything I can to get them to eat.
Actually, my vet, who only treats cats, recommends feeding wet food sparingly because it causes tooth decay. But maybe in cats with diabetes, the benefits of the wet food diet outweighs the risks of tooth decay.
As with human medicine it is important to be your own advocate, or in this case your kitty's advocate.
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
disease in animals has been studied extensively long before it gets treated in humans! the question is one of how much money are you willing to spend treating diabetes in your pet. cats get many of the same signs, symptoms and complications of diabetes as humans do. the difference is that they can't talk and tell you about many of the symptoms--you have to observe them. there are still a lot of vets and owners who would rather treat conservatively and some who will euthanize. i, personally, wasn't prepared to end my cat's life. the vet who diagnosed my cat wasn't going to do anything for her and i changed vets immediately and took her to a clinic of younger vets who do more aggressive blood testing and talked about diets. they told me, when i asked about low carb diets, that the cat food industry is changing. all cat food within the next 10 years, they say, will be low carb and low ash. there are canned and dry formulas specifically made for diabetic cats that you can only purchase through a vets office. mine doesn't like either types. like we do with humans, i keep her on a consistent diet of the food she likes at the same dose of insulin that keeps her blood glucose controlled. i keep karo syrup on hand in case of an insulin reaction, but she has never had one. i have a glucometer so i can check her blood sugar if i need to. i was a medical nurse for years and had a lot of diabetic patients and have insulin resistance myself. being a cat, which is a mammal, and having diabetes doesn't change treatment all that much, just the way treatment is going to be accomplished. we have a greater responsibility in caring for pets because they cannot speak for themselves and depend on us to provide for them safely and lovingly.
i gave my baby insulin then went to work one day. she threw up, had seizures, went into a coma, went to the animal hospital, and cost me a ton of money.
that's an insulin reaction, no different from an insulin reaction that a human gets! without medical insurance our medical care would cost a ton of money too. don't know what vets you were dealing with, but every one i've been to in the last 10 years has never done a thing with any of my animals without advising me of the cost and getting an ok from me first.
Oops, I got on the phone in the middle of posting and missed that link. Great info! I can now feel less guilt when I feed my cats wet food twice a day. They like it so much more than the dry. Both my cats have health problems, are on prescription cat food, and are underweight, so I do anything I can to get them to eat.
Awwww your babies are smart! Mine begged for the dry years back when I made the switch. Here is a good link for nutritional information on different brands of cat food.
Jules A, MSN
8,864 Posts
i would definitely refer your friend to the feline diabetes website for a vet referral in her area. sadly many vets aren't all that up to date on feline diabetes or even cats in general. it really shouldn't cost a lot of money for an exam and consult. heck i'll do it for free: have the vet do a senior bood panel, change the cat's food to all canned, use a long lasting insulin like pzi or lantus, start insulin bid and hometest. :)
the fructosamine tests are rarely even necessary if the person is hometesting every day.