Caring For Cats With Diabetes

By Cristian Stan

Getting your cat to a medical examination and finding out that it has diabetes can be quite shocking. Diabetes is a serious disease but it is manageable if you learn how to handle it.

When my 10 year old cat was drinking too much water and urinating all the time I took it to the doctor. The vet told me that it has feline diabetes. I was shocked.

What is diabetes?

The blood has sugar (glucose) and the level of sugar in the blood is strictly controlled by a hormone called insulin. The pancreas is making this insulin and if it can not produce enough, the disease that results is called diabetes. The symptoms of feline diabetes can differ from one cat to another. My cat was urinating much more than usual and was drinking a lot of water.

But other symptoms like weight loss, decreased appetite, lethargy and a bad looking fur coat can also appear. The cats that have diabetes and are not treated will be lethargic, will stop urinating and they will vomit a lot. If this disease is not controlled, the cat can die. But if you manage to treat your feline, then it will have a long and lovely life.

Most of the times, the cats that have diabetes must stay indoors and eat at regular intervals. Also, it is very important that you have with you and in the house cat insulin shots. The doctor will tell you if you have to give those shots once or twice a day. The vet will prescribe you the correct quantity.

In addition, before making the insulin shot you have to feed that cat or else it will suffer a hypoglycemic shock. Also, do not give the feline too much insulin. If the cat has a hypoglycemic shock then you have to put glucose in its mouth, on the tongue, or inside the cheeks. In time, the vet can also diminish the insulin quantity for your cat.

Visit Feline-Leukemia.Net for more information on Leukemia in cats and what causes Leukemia in cats.