Hello! New to all of this :/

Hello! I'm the proud mom of Ginger, who is 9 years young. She was abandoned at four weeks and I bottle fed her with no intent on keeping her. In the end, I needed her as much as she needed me.

I took her to the vet yesterday and after explaining her symptoms, the vet immediately wanted to do urine and blood tests. Today I got the call that Ginger is diabetic. Not much more details were given but we have to go in for another appointment. The vet made it seem almost like her life might be cut in half but I know I'm committed to her care. She means the world to me.

 

Hi Ginger and Mom. Welcome to FDMB.

You've found a great place to learn about feline diabetes and how to care for Ginger's new health needs. The diagnosis can come as a bit of a shock and the early learning curve can be a bit steep so many of us feel overwhelmed and sometimes quite scared at first, but you'll find lots of help, advice and support here alongside the educational materials. Diabetes is most definitely do-able. (Indeed, with the right treatment and diet some cats can achieve diabetic remission where they can stay in regulated numbers without insulin injections provided they eat a diabetic-appropriate diet.) You'll be able to learn so much here to help you help your beloved Ginger. (Lovely photo, BTW! )

Can you tell us a little bit more about Ginger's symptoms and the food she was eating prior to diagnosis?

This made me smile; oft times it's the kitty that does the choosing!


Mogs
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If the diabetes is treated successfully, there's no difference in the life span of a diabetic cat and a non-diabetic cat. Bandit's been diabetic since 2009, and in remission for most of that time.

The three main steps that lead to successful treatment is having the cat on the right diet (low carb, canned---there are many commerical options), the right insulin (Lantus or Levemir), and the right dosing (.25-.5u adjustments based off of a minimum of thrice daily home testing). The majority of cats treated in this manner end up going into remission. Not all vets get all (or sometimes any) of these steps correct, so it's very important to be proactive when deciding on your cat's treatment path. I was fortunate that I had a vet that got the first two things right, but when we disagreed on the third I ended up switching to a vet that was easier to work with in that regard.

 

Hi Mogs,

She started to drink a lot of water and was urinating much more than I'd been used to. Her diet was a mix of wet and hard food. I had begun research on cat food before she was even diagnosed and started to make the push for wet food for her but while I was at work I'd find out later that my mother would give her more hard food than dry. Since her diagnosis we both talked about what this will mean for our precious cat and she's agreed to help. Ginger ate a mix of Fancy Feast wet and Purina Cat Chow Naturals.

Julia and Bandit,

Thank you so much for that information! It's a bit nerve wracking of where to start.

 

Heya Julia Good to see you here. You're in the right place, sooo much wisdom. They'll help you to get Ginger on the right path. WELCOME!