Fostering a Diabetic Cat

Hi guys,

I'm new here & I'm going to be fostering a diabetic cat as of tomorrow night. I don't have a lot of details about him yet except that he receives insulin twice per day, he eats prescription canned & dry food from the vet , he's 8 years old & he is also deaf. His name is Merry

I'm fine with giving injections & checking blood sugar levels (I have experience with that & diabetic cat & dog clients who I have petsit for) and I know there's only so much I can do for Merry since he's just a foster but I would like to be able to get him onto better quality food once he's settled in. It's going to be tricky if I want to integrate him into my household as my cats have food out all the time, they eat good quality canned food but I pretty much feed them all day long whenever they ask which I don't think will be good for a diabetic kitty to be eating off schedule. Hopefully I can figure something out that will work for all of them.

I have read that cats can go into diabetic remission so it would be awesome if I could help this boy go into remission so he'd have an easier time getting adopted. I'm going to be doing a lot of reading to learn all I can but if anyone has any tips on anything, that would be great! No worries, I won't be changing anything at all until he's settled & not stressed from the move and he'll be in his own room for a couple weeks to give him a chance to get used to the scents of his new environment (I always segregate new kitties just to be safe & so it's less stressful for all of them).

Thanks!
Luanne

 

Thank you taking this super sweet baby in.

You are already ahead by knowing how to hometest and planning to change to wet food. You do want to avoid foods with gravy in them since they are higher in carbs. His insulin dose most likely will need to be lowered because of the diet change so it is very important that you monitor his levels when he starts eating the new food.

 

So sweet of you to foster a sugar baby! We'll be glad to help you, come on over to Main Health so more eyes can chime in

 

Thanks guys! Merry is here now. He just arrived about an hour ago He's a big boy but seems thin. I'm not sure she was feeding him enough. I'll post in the Main Health section, thks!

 

Welcome!