Discovered yesterday that my cat has diabetes

[NL Clarke]

Good morning, all.

Yesterday morning, I got the news that our 11 - 12 year old neutered male cat, Shasta, has diabetes and I've pretty much been a nervous wreck since.

The weird thing about my experience is that we noticed an immediate improvement in Shasta's symptoms simply by putting him on a higher protein Rx canned food diet and taking away all of his dry food. The symptoms of extreme thirst and hunger and excessive urination are NOT apparent this morning, 24 hours after the dietary change - and those symptoms were what sent me to the vet in the first place.

Anyway, I have lots of questions/concerns and I'm looking forward to learning from the members of this group.

Thank you for being here!

Regards,
Nancy

 

[FurBabiesMama]

Welcome! Diabetes can be controlled by diet alone in some cats. If you get a glucose monitor and start testing at home, you will be able to keep an eye on his glucose levels.

 

[Idjit's mom]

Welcome Nancy & Shasta. Lots of information and support here on the board. Take a look around at the different forums and the info/stickies (yellow tags at the top of forums) that contain valuable information. You could take a look at the food chart, there are lower carbohydrate canned foods (than the so called Rx foods) that many members use, for example Fancy Feast Classics and Friskies pates. Idjit was on insulin for a very short time and achieved remission with the elimination of dry food. I am hopeful for Shasta. Home testing is a valuable tool for letting you know exactly how Shasta's blood glucose levels are, we test Idjit about every week or so still, just to be on the safe side.

 

[NL Clarke]

Thanks to you both for the welcome.

Regards,
Nancy