Cat's length of life?

Just kind of wondering out loud and maybe there is no one answer but I wondered how long might a cat with diabetes live? Mine has been on lantus for 4 years now. She is almost 15 and to my knowledge has no other health problems except some arthritis. She doesn't do much more than sleep or eat anymore, but she's still plodding away every day. She did follow me into the basement a few days ago which she hadn't done in over a year. It's hard for her to climb stairs because she is a little arthritic. When she first was diagnosed it was pretty rocky and she had ketoacidosis but pulled thru that. I thought she was a goner then. In the mornings when I don't hear her meow before we get up I always think she may have passed in the night so I check on her and I guess she's not hungry yet and just purrs sitting in her blanket. I dread the day when she is no longer here but am just curious how long they can go with this condition. Thanx.

 

A diabetic cat that's being treated can live as long as any other cat. We've had cats here that lived good lives into their 20's.

The better controlled their blood glucose is, the less damage that's being done to the other organs, so it's best to keep them as close to normal numbers as you can.

 

A well managed cat can live a full and normal life. Some cats here have been insulin-dependent over a decade which is pretty impressive.

Are you treating the arthritis?

 

With good care, and just a little luck, a diabetic cat can live as long and as happily as a non-diabetic.
My Bertie was diagnosed at age 8 and lived to be 20. He even finally went into remission after nearly 11 years on insulin. He lived for a further year and a half after that before passing away last year from causes unrelated to the diabetes.

Many older kitties get a bit arthritic (and so do us humans, haha!).
Some kitties seem to benefit from supplements such as chondroitin and glucosamine, or green mussel powder. Some kitties may even need painkillers. My Bertie was on painkillers for the last 6 months of his life.

The diabetic kitty I adopted just over a year ago also has arthritis, and she was really struggling to walk at first when she came here, not least because she was obese too... She has improved though just with weight loss, and with a little bit of encouragement to exercise a wee bit (especially helpful were large catnip toys that she can grip onto and kick with her back legs).
She really struggled with stairs at first, but now manages much better, albeit in a rather funny 'bunny rabbit hopping' sort of way, haha! And I have ramps for her to help her climb up onto some things, and to help her get down from the bed (my bed, that is!).

Are you testing blood glucose at home? Do you know what your kitty's blood glucose levels are like? ...Just wondering if there is some possibility of diabetic neuropathy in addition to the arthritis if the blood glucose levels are high..?

Eliz

 

We have some stuff from the vet to mix with her food for arthritis but she licks the liquid out of the pate so I don't guess she gets a lot of it. The vet gave her a shot once for it but a new vet working for the same outfit said the shots can cause kidney failure so he gave us the capsules.

 

Glad to know she can go on for a while yet. We can't get her to exercise anymore she mostly sleeps and eats. She doesn't jump on the couch to look outside anymore either. She has become a floor cat for sure. We never did test her blood sugar at home. She hates to be touched (except when SHE wants petted) so we don't cause her any more stress with pin sticks. She seems to be doing fine at 6 units of lantus per day. She stayed overnite at the vets for something so they did a test and said she may be going into remission but by the next day her sugar was up so they said nope keep giving her lantus. She eats pate and some expensive Purina DM. I said she's going to have to get a job to help pay for her upkeep.

 

Look into Adequan, it's used off-label for cats (there's only the dog and horse kinds) and it's a game-changer. It's administered anywhere from once a month to once a week, just as-needed, and you give it sub-Q just like insulin. My poor fella couldn't bend down to eat and was barely moving and now he's zooming up and down the trees and wrestling with the kittens again. She may just be hurting too much to be getting exercise.

I know you're bound to get a couple novel-length replies to this purely out of concern, but home testing is the answer to keeping those costs down and getting into remission. 6 units is double the norm for a typical diabetic with no additional issues. There's a plethora of information here to help you cut costs (food, insulin, etc) but I'm not here to tell you to change what you've been doing since you didn't ask, just that there's better options out there if you're interested.

 

My cat is almost 17, diagnosed 4 years ago. Let me suggest adequan shots for the arthritis. Makes my cat feel much better. This was her today enjoying the front yard.

 

Witn was 19 when she passed. She had been diabetic for several years, but it was kidney disease that took her. She had the kidney disease several years before being diagnosed as diabetic.

I have had 4 diabetic cats. None of them I lost because of their diabetes.

 

I am no way an expert and obviously dont know your kitty but 6 units of Lantus without testing? Sorry if I'm being a worry wart but thats a lot of insulin.

AGREE

 

The vet gave us cosequin capsules for her arthritis. Doesn't seem to work as good as a shot but they won't give her that anymore. She does look like walking does bother her somewhat. Every time we have had her at the vet for a glucose test they keep saying 3 units 2wice a day is what she needs. I always thought that was a lot especially since we have her on a diet. Maybe that is why she doesn't do much anymore. Sluggish from low sugar? My Mom had a cat that passed at 21 and he was still active. She kept his litter box in the basement and he ran down and back up with no problem at his age. Ours goes from blanket to food dish to water dish to litter box and back to blanket and sleep. Makes me feel better knowing she can last a long time yet even though I have put my life on hold for her. We have not taken a trip together since she needed the shots. My wife will go on trips with her daughters and I stay home with kitty. My wife says we can let the vet have her while we go somewhere but I will not do that to her. She hates the vet and I don't want to stress her out and leave her for a few days. Plus we take care of some outdoor feral cats too. Everyone thinks I'm an idiot for doing that but she is better off at home with me taking care of her.

 

Where do you get adequin at?

 

It's prescription, I got mine through my vet's online store but you can get it elsewhere. Chewy.com has it as well but it comes in a 2-pack. One vial lasts a long time for a cat. I was using cosequin as well and it didn't really do anything either. There is a loading dose where you give dosage twice a week for a month, and then you only do once a month. Some cats react immediately, others don't show improvement until the loading dose is completed.

It could be a combination of the arthritis and not feeling well due to inadequate insulin dosage. Depending on protocol the dose can go up or down as often as every few days. The pancreas when nursed correctly is able to repair itself, and as it gets better you reduce the dose. An occasional trip to the vet doesn't show you those numbers so it's impractical to determine a dose based solely on that. If you wanted to get into testing, even just a week's worth of numbers would be enough for the members here to look at and determine if she needs an increase or decrease. I daresay I think she'd prefer you poking her each day than taking those extra trips to the vet. Most cats look forward to testing time because testing time = treats!

 

Allivet has it the cheapest but no matter where you get it, it requires a script from the vet.

 

What kind of treats do you give? We used to give the ones in the bags or bottles but my wife says they have sugar in them so we stopped. She does get deli turkey and sometimes that's all we can get her to eat before her shot. She seems hungrier in the morning and not so much at evening.

 

Two things that struck me..Do you think her numbers might be skewed any due to Vet stress? BG numbers can rise from stress.
I know us feeding feral drove Trouble nuts. Maybe make sure she cant see you feeding the ferals?
I'm sorry if i missed an already related discussion.
jeanne

 

I buy unseasoned chicken, bake it, pull it into treat-sized pieces and freeze the excess. There's also Purebites which are freeze-dried treats. They are one ingredient (usually chicken or turkey) and are diabetic friendly. Cheese works too or bonito flakes, whatever she's coo coo for cocoa puffs for. I think I've seen some people offer carby treats as a "high value" treat but I've no experience with that.

 

We gave Trouble temptations. He'd get one one on the test spot and one after the test. I have to admit he STILL hated it but it did make me feel better to watch him enjoying it after all was said and done.

 

High carb.

Your cat could be so sluggish because the BG is too high. People feel awful and do not want to do anything when their blood glucose is running high.

 

Yes Temptations are too high but (for Trouble anyway) one or two didnt mess with his readings. I should have included that ...My BAD

 

Oh she knows we feed ferals. She always wants what we give them and she can't have it. We got to where we feed them the same soft pate food she gets. Sometimes in the morning she won't touch her soft food but when she sees me get food ready for the outside cats she starts meowing her head off, so I give her the EXACT same thing she already has and won't touch and she gobbles it up. Whatever works I guess.

 

HEE HEE I do that with my Zoe almost daily.

 

Yeah my wife yelled at me for giving her Temptations so I had to stop. Only treat she really is the deli turkey. I sometimes will sneak her a few pieces of the hard food we give the outside cats and she loves it but I dare not let my wife see me do it.

 

We used to get chicken breasts and boil them at the vet's recommendation but it seems to give her diarrhea so had to stop that too.

 

No best not to rock that boat. Trouble absolutely hated testing temptations were the only thing he craved so he pretty much behaved to get them
BTW he eventually went OTJ just from us removing his dry food.

 

Poor girl! I've heard boiling takes out the nutrients in chicken vs baking but wouldn't know if that'd make any difference to the diarrhea. What does she like to eat the most?
My Panic loves her chicken (she likes it raw too), she liked the Purebites freeze-dried and their tuna trays but they got too expensive to keep buying. We tried bonito flakes but she didn't care for them (none of the cats did!) so we let the dogs finish them. That's okay though because they're super stinky lol. Panic doesn't require treats for testing though, she's highly indifferent to it. She'll see me laying out the testing supplies and just look oblivious to what's about to happen.

This is the part where we're so happy for you and yet so envious LOL

 

She was not eating so the vet had us do the chicken breasts. Problem was she would mess up her litter box, stink the whole house up, and with poop stuck to her fur and hanging off her butt she would tear thru the house smearing it on everything she got near. Toss her in the tub, let her flail and howl like a banshee and wash her off. Didn't take long for us to stop the chicken.

 

I've reread this thread and noticed we still dont know your precious kitties name. Please fill in that blank if you dont mind.
My Trouble passed away MANY years ago but not from diabetes.
And my kitty(Zoe) now is pretty healthy but I have the same problem with the run away poops. Time for us BOTH to give them the military haircut to their backsides! Oh the indignity! The day I found Zoe laying on my Hudson Bay blanket with that "smell" well suffice to say I was
Have you tried fortiflora? I use that sometimes when Zoe is "off" and it helps those soft poops. Sometimes Parmesan cheese sprinkled on the top of food will engage a kitty to eat.
Sending positive vibes!
jeanne

 

Her name is Snickers. We adopted her in 2006 when she was not quite a year old. She'll be 15 this summer. Been on insulin 4 years. She is not a people cat and does not sit in laps or even want to touch us. Except when she want petted, on her own schedule. And she HATES being picked up. This is an old pic of her.

 

Adequan shouts for arthritis are the best. You give the shots at home just liked insulin. There’s a loading dose in the beginning of I think twice a week for 8 weeks then once a month. My cat gets the shot once a week usually though our she limps. Makes a huge difference in her quality of life.

Treats, try pure bites freeze dried chicken. There are other flavors as well. I get the big bag ment for dogs because it's cheaper and the same thing.

Of you aren't sure if the dose is good, the only way to know for sure is to test at home. I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

OH MY! Snickers is the spitting image of my Skeeter! WITH the same disposition! Skeeter left us many years ago but she too hated being touched. The resemblance is uncanny. Sending to you both!

 

She was the only one in the cage that was laying back to herself while the other kittens were hollering for attention. I figured her demeanor matched mine. So I picked her. Next time I'll get one that sticks it's paws out trying to nab you!

 

Awwwwwwwww

 

Our cat does not like any other cats in the house either. My wife once went to the feed store that had some cats for adoption from the local no kill shelter. She brought home a little male kitty. He was a pistol and full of energy. Snickers went into the basement and wouldn't come back up. After 2 days the wife took him back to the store. I felt so bad for the little fella. I stopped in there on my way back to work from lunch to tell them to keep the adoption fee and consider it a donation. Well he saw me and ran up and started rubbing on me and purring. Then I REALLY felt bad for leaving him there. I never forgot him but I do know he was adopted out shortly after that. Don't know what it is but them cats really get to me. Even when something happens to our ferals that we can get close to it really hurts.

 

My Skeeter was the last of a litter. I decided to not get "Attached" because I knew she was going to be adopted out. Well...We ran out of adopters and Skeeter stayed with us . She never did warm up to us because of my decision. Sigh I'll never forgive myself for that. So I commiserate with you on almost the same level.

 

When we adopted our cat, she lived with me before my wife moved in. I was not used to having an animal in the house. Out on the farm everything was outside. She was a stand-off-ish cat to begin with. I had to leave her alone while I was at work. She camped out in my recliner and I turned the radio onto some smooth jazz to keep her company while I was gone. She was high strung and one day I came home and she knocked a lamp on the floor and broke it. I yelled at her and she hid under the dining room table and cried. Well then I felt bad and coaxed her out with treats. I thought that's it. I'm taking her back I can't deal with her. Well I started looking at her adoption papers and saw that she had been adopted twice before and brought back to the shelter. I decided I was not going to return her. This was going to be her home whether she liked it or not. Don't know if she ever liked it but she's still here 14 years later.

 

AwwwwwwwwwAll our mis-steps come back to haunt us dont they? Sigh I would do it differently had I known. But Skeeter did have a good safe life with us. So I hope her little spirit forgives me and we will see each other again "One fine day" .

 

I think anything under 17 years old without underlying conditions is unfair, my record is 23. Our two sugar cats had a long list of genetic problems but diabetes had little to do with their overall health.
Leroy went for a walk on his birthday (too old and too smart to run away). Pretty handsome for 23 years don't you think?

 

YES!