19 YO Cat Recently Dx with Diabetes

My husband took our cat to the vet last week after she started to have increased thirst and urination. The vet says she has diabetes and we have three choices. The first being treatment, the second being do nothing and the third euthanasia. After reading a lot of information on this website, I know that doing nothing really doesn't seem to be an option. Treatment, while it seems to the the obvious choice, also brings up many questions for us. Because of her age, if we treat her, how long will it actually prolong her life? And is it a good life or just surviving? Also, and this might sound selfish, but we do take trips, weekends away, and weeks away for vacation. I don't feel like we can ask someone to come and give our cat insulin shots while we are gone. I don't want to burden anyone. Our cat, is very independent. She likes to be left alone unless she wants "company" and if we try to show affection and she's not in the "mood" she will bite us. Trying to give her insulin shots may prove to be more of a challenge than we know. I also read on this site to switch her to wet food. We did a few days ago and everything she eats, she throws back up. I'm not sure if this will go away once her body adjusts to the wet food, but it doesn't seem like she's getting any nutrition.

My husband has had this cat since it was a baby, rescuing it, feeding it with a eye dropper because she was so small.

I don't want to put her down, but I want to make sure that treating her is actually going to give her quality of life and note just quantity of life to make us feel better. Any advice?

 

Hi. I'm sorry to her your kitty is not feeling well. IMHO, you have two choices, like you had said. (The "not doing nothing" is certainly not a choice--extremely inhumane--would cause so much suffering---I'm horrified to know a vet would suggest that--and I'm glad you've ruled that out.) Tough call. If it was me , would certainly & quickly get a second opinion. My cousin had a cat that had diabetes and lived to the age of 22.5 years. My cat, 10 years odl, was diagnosed a few months back. Thankfully, I don't work so I have a lot of time to tend him. And if we should go on a trip or vacation, I plan on taking him with us. I would never trust anyone (other than leaving him in my vet's care while I am gone) to take care of him, give him his shots and do his testing. You do realize that you have to take blood glucose tests, daily, as it is extremely dangerous to give insulin without taking tests at least before every shot (some insulin is given once per day and some is given every 12 hours). I don't know your cat's history or what she is used to eating, but I do know that switching solely to wet food, from a dry diet, should be done slowly--not all at once. Most of us here feed our cats very low carb wet or raw food, though I am not suggesting anything as far as feeding. I am going to find someone better qualified to answer your questions; I'll direct them to this post. One thing: what are your husband's feelings? Hang Tight. Kat

 

Cats can live perfectly normal happy life while being diabetic. I have two diabetic cats and unless I told people, they wouldn't even know. They can live a normal lifespan, play purr eat snooze and behave like a normal kitty!

Treating diabetes is also fairly easy to do. The shots have very short needles and most cats won't even notice the injection.. Even less so if being distracted with food at the time! We do recommend testing of blood but for difficult cats there are other methods. It's the most time intensive during the first few weeks but can ease off once you find a good dose.

Changing her food is a good idea but you may have to do it more gradually in order for her to be used to it. What food are you feeding her now, you may also want to try a different brand?

You may be able to skip the occasional shot or two, or find a pet sitter/friend, boarding kennel or neighbour who can give her it when you do go away, it's fairly easy and quick to do. Or if you caught it fast enough, a good proportion of cats do go into remission.

It's up to you, but if you decide to treat, we will be here to help you.

Wendy

 

At first he was absolutely devastated. He doesn't feel that we can properly take care of her and keep up with treatments, but he feels that not doing it is like giving up and turning his back on her. I am definitely supportive of whatever he decides, but I told him that ultimately the decision is his. I can't make that decision for him. We've been together for 12 years, so I have a history with her as well, but I don't have the attachment that he does.

We also have a beagle mix, she's 5 and very full of life. Our cat has recently become a lot less active, not sure if it is solely due to the diabetes or because of her age, but our dog loves to chase her around and play with her. Our cat, just lays there and hisses at her, sometimes she'll get up and chase after her and try to paw at the dog. I can't make the dog stop bothering her, but at the same time is that fair? I think they like to play with each other.

 

We bought a few cans of Fancy Feast Classics. We've only been giving her half a can at a time. Is there another kind we should try?

 

Actually could it be scarf and barf? Some cats love wet so much they eat it too fast and it just comes back up. How long is the delay after eating until throw up and is it digested or still pretty much food? If it is, try feeding smaller amounts more often or spread the food on a flat surface so she can't take big bites and it slows her down.

If not scarf and barf, You could try friskies pâtés or wellness grain free. Or go back to dry and slowly introduce wet over a week or two.

 

Hi

I can understand how your husband feels. My sugarcat, Bob, came to us as a tiny little kitten that we bottle fed. He was about 12 when he was diagnosed a year and a half ago. My wife and I faced the same decision, but it was more of question of time and money. She voted to PTS, I voted to treat. Bob won. :smile:

Like others have said, treating diabetes isn't as difficult as you might think. It is overwhelming at first. I understand that you have the added fact to consider that she is 19 years old. But before this, was she pretty healthy? My thinking is that were you to choose to treat her, you'll extend her life to where it was going to be in the first place. In other words, it won't add years to her life, but it won't take away any years either. If she becomes regulated, nobody looking at her would know that she had diabetes. Remission is also always a possibility.

You would need to give her two shots a day, but the shots are "nothing". Most cats don't even realize they are getting the shots. The doses are tiny, and so is the needle. We'd also highly recommend that you home-test her blood glucose 3 or 4 times a day, just like a human would do using the same meter as humans use.

What's troubling to me is that she's not keeping any of the canned food down. While some cats are resistant to the diet change, especially if they've eaten dry all their lives, most don't react that badly to the switch. You said fancy feast classics, which is a great choice. But what flavor or flavors? It seems "beef" doesn't agree with some cats. I found the poultry flavors worked really well for Bob and my civvie, Mullet. You could also do what others suggested, and try gradually transitioning and weaning her off the dry.

I really feel for you, because this is a difficult decision. I don't know that I've helped with that, but I hope so.

Carl

 

I have a kitten diagnosed at 6 months old as diabetic. I fully expect him to live a long, healthy life, just as human diabetics are able to do, and for me, a long, healthy life is beating the Guinness Book of World Records for oldest cat (there's no way to know I won't succeed until I actually fail!). So, that's why I personally don't really think age has much bearing on the diabetes diagnosis unless there are pre-existing, age-related health issues that need to be taken into consideration.

Barring any other health concerns with your cat, her quality-of-life should get better from having her hyperglycemia treated (i.e. by diet and/or insulin) and she might even start playing with the beagle again as her numbers come down. Yes, there is a very steep learning curve the first few weeks. But eventually, you fall into a pattern where testing and shooting is just as easy and time-consuming as opening a can of cat food. Only you and your husband know your cat's personality and health level so only you two will be able to determine if she'll be able to handle the changes required. The only bad decision either of you can possibly make would be to do nothing at all (I also can't believe the vet would even suggest that :cry: ).

The fact that you already switched her to a low carb, wet food diet is the first and one of the most important steps. As TheBowHuntress mentioned, she might even become a diet-controlled diabetic and not even need insulin! What kind of Fancy Feast are you feeding her? A lot of cats have allergies to beef and seafood and it might be that the dry you were feeding her before was chicken-based so you didn't know (that's how I found out my cat was allergic to beef).