Possible Adoption of Cat with Diabetes

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higgins

Member Since 2016
I am looking into adopting another cat for my family and have come across a wonderful cat who is 6 years old. The issue with this cat is he has been diagnosed with diabetes and his foster home is currently working to get it under control (he has two insulin shots a day).

I am not completely put off by this as I am comfortable administering the meds and tracking. I have helped a friend with their cat who has diabetes and I give shots when they are away on vacation. My question here is, if it is wise to bring them into my busy household; would it cause too much stress for the cat, complicating the diabetes?

I currently have a 12 year old calico, who is pretty healthy and I also have a 18 month old puppy (lab/collie mix who is about 30 lbs and won't get much bigger). The puppy may cause stress as she is still learning her manners and likes to play. (the cat rescue has said this cat is great with other cats, but hasn't been around dogs, so they aren't sure how he will react to dogs. They noted though that he is a very easy going guy who would probably do fine with dogs)

In addition, I have two children (ages 8 and 10) and I am a foster parent. My home is open to a foster child ranging in age from 4-10yrs old, so there may be a new child every once and a while to introduce to the new cat as well.

What are your thoughts? Would it be too stressful and potentially harmful to bring the cat into our home?
Also, I work full time outside of the house, so I am not home all day for the cat.

Let me know your honest opinions, I am very interested in this cat, but don't want to bring it into a potentially overwhelming situation that may make it worse instead of better.

TIA
 
Adopting an already diabetic cat is more challenging since newly introduced cats are under stress and that that can result in elevated BG values. Also sometimes at first the cat will not eat in a new environment and that makes giving insulin harder since if not eating enough then a reduced dose or no insulin is called for.
I have adopted 15 diabetic cats and some did not eat at first. Some get get along well with my other cats and my dog. My latest diabetic, BunBun who I adopted about a month ago hates my dog Raggy (20 pounds) and Raggy just stays a distance. I had that happen with another diabetic cats years ago too.
At first you should keep the new cat in a room by itself so it can be acclimated with minimum stress.
 
Thank you for considering adopting an FD! As a foster for FDs, great adopters are what make what we do worthwhile. How well the kitty will do in your house will depend on his personality. Most cats teach puppies right away who is boss ;) You can find out how much he has been exposed to children too. That's what is great about foster homes, they can usually tell a good fit. I know I've has some fosters who would not do good with kids and some that would love all the attention and playmates. This guy sounds like he'd be fine with kids if he is very easy going.

My current fosters are #5 & #6. They have always come into a houseful of other cats. Some did fabulous, some beat my cats, peed on my walls and pooped on my couch :eek: Most adjust just fine in time.

I think the rescue will work with you to make sure you are a good fit for him because they want it to work for you both.
 
Thank you so much for the replies!

The lady who is currently fostering him emailed me and gave me a bit more info and said she thought he would be a good fit as he is a very calm and "chill" guy. I was just worried about the stress, and it having an impact on his overall health. Sounds like once he is adjusted to his new home he will be fine and I will be monitoring him closely obviously to make sure he is doing well and getting the insulin he needs, etc.

I am sure I will be posting more on here. Looks like I won't be able to bring him home until at least next weekend, but I will be visiting this site lots to learn more!
 
Congrats on thinking about adopting a Sugar cat...If the new guy is a calm and chill personality he should fit right in given a little time to relax and decompress. I have adopted 6 over the last 7 years, I also have 15 civies (non-diabetics) and 127lb hound. To date (knock wood) I have never had a problem with any of them fitting into this small zoo. As Larry as already said it can be a little tricky at first as any cat is going to be stressed out for a few days in a new environment which can raise the diabetic's blood sugar, and they also might not eat real well or at all at first so you have to be pretty vigilant with your testing. But one of the nice things about adopting a Sugar is that because you are testing and giving shots twice a day you are more hands on with them than you might be with a non-diabetic in the early days so they start developing a bond with you more quickly. As well as I sometimes think mine have actually had an easier time adapting to my family because of the more hand on attention from me because I transfer my scent to them more quickly than say the 2 kittens that I rescued so they smell to my other cats like mom when they all finally meet face to face.

Mel and The Fur Gang
 
That's awesome of you, not only to want to adopt a diabetic kitty bit for being a foster parent to human children on top of that.

I don't doubt your abilities but I would want to make sure you're prepared for a potentially rough first couple of weeks. When Diego was first diagnosed, we went through just about everything. He wouldn't eat, he had stomach upset for a few days, then constipation for almost a week, and he's been my cat exclusively for 12 years so he wasn't even new to my home. It was one of the most stressful months of my life, and I haven't lived a gentle life :-/ I go to school and I work so I'm not able to be with him all the time either. This weekend, I am training my dad on the do's and don'ts of cat diabetes so that in my absence he'd be able to come over and help me with him occasionally. I've also had friends offer to come to my house on their lunch break to check on Diego. You may look into making an arrangement like.

As you can see it gets easier as you go and you get a lot of support. I didn't realize it was going to be that hard in the beginning though. If you brace yourself and prepare yourself, I think you'll have a better time than I did but it's worth mentioning that at first it can be less than stellar.
 
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@higgins -

All going well, things should be much more manageable because you'll already have some of your ducks in a row. Your kitty is already being treated with insulin and hopefully his foster mum will have things fairly well under control in that department before you bring him home, and you've got some time to learn a bit in advance. You actually have some tremendous advantages over a lot of new members who arrive here just after diagnosis and who have everything coming at them all at once.

Do you know what your kitty-in-waiting is eating at his foster mum's? If it's wet, low carb food that's great. If it isn't wet, low carb food it might help you greatly if kitty's foster mum could do a food transition prior to your bringing him home (would be easier in his current environment). I suggest this because a lot of the tricky stuff in the early days can be down to diet changes more than the actual insulin side of things. Dietary/GI hiccups can make insulin administration a little tricky but once the GI issues resolve things are much more straightforward.


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Critter Mom said:
@higgins -
Do you know what your kitty-in-waiting is eating at his foster mum's? If it's wet, low carb food that's great. If it isn't wet, low carb food it might help you greatly if kitty's foster mum could do a food transition prior to your bringing him home (would be easier in his current environment).
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He is on Hills d/m canned food. She said he eats well and likes the new food but did warn me right now he is eating a lot and will probably try to eat the dogs food and my other cats so I'll have to watch that (they both eat dry food and graze throughout the day).

His foster mom said they are still trying to get the insulin right but the vet has ok'd the adoption.

We've decided to do a trial run for a couple weeks to see how things go. The foster mom is going away for a couple weeks so it works out well for her. They want to be sure it is the right fit (as do I) so I will be picking him up next weekend. Until then I'll be researching more and getting an area set up for the adjustment phase.
 
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