Do You Ever Feel Guilty or Like It's Your Fault

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babyg

babyg

Member Since 2019
Hi,

I've been reading on this site for over a year now so I'm not really new to here, but this is my first time posting and likely the only post I'll make as I'm not really a social media kind of person. But I've been wondering this for quite a while and feel like it's time to finally ask, if any of you ever feel guilty or wonder if it's your fault your cat got diabetes? I personally agonize over it all the time, thinking maybe if I had fed my cat canned food all those years instead of dry...maybe if I wouldn't have let her get tubby...etc. I know I never would have purposefully done anything to cause the disease and that I did the best I knew at the time and vets never told me I was doing anything wrong or to change anything, but still... It's hard enough seeing your furbaby have a medical condition and go through stuff, but even worse when you think you might have caused it to begin with. I probably will never have the answers in this lifetime as to why my cat got diabetes, but just wondering if I'm the only one who wonders if I'm to blame.

Btw, I've learned so much on this site and you guys have helped me and my cat more than you'll ever know. Thank you.
 
Hi!! You're definitely not alone in the feeling im sure. I know myself i definitely feel guilty at times. But then at other times i try to be kind to myself and tell myself im doing the best i can and that i picked up on signs that something wasnt right and acted on it. My regular vet told me that since i have strictly indoor cats it wasnt necessary to go in for yearly physicals so i never do unless i notice an issue. We noticed my guy losing weight and eating funny so we thought oh he needs a tooth out. The day of the dental we found out it was much worse than just the tooth and he was DKA. He's now been diagnosed for a month and while he's not pulling in the greatest numbers i've seen such an improvement overall in his behavior and appearance. A lot of people would look at the care involved or the medical bills and decide it was time to let go. But hes a fighter, im a fighter, and i like to think not once is he thinking that its my fault he's sick but he's appreciative that il helping him to feel better again.
Im sure you also did everything that you thought was best for your little baby like a lot of us and its definitely not your fault when you had no reason to think you werent doing the best. I like to live for the moment. Cant go back and change anything but have the opportunity now to make it better :)
 
babyg said:
I probably will never have the answers in this lifetime as to why my cat got diabetes, but just wondering if I'm the only one who wonders if I'm to blame.
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Very few of us know why our cats became diabetic. A lot of cats eat dry food their entire lives and do not get diabetes. A lot of tubby cats do not have diabetes. But we have made the decision to do what we (and that includes you) can to treat it.

I'm not a social media person either. This forum is the only and most important social media I have. Please post if you have any other questions or concerns or want someone to look at your cat's numbers. And welcome.
 
@babyg
I think we all feel guilty about the food we have fed our cats in years gone by.
Unless you have a reason to look into it further, most of us believed the large food companies that peddle the high carb dry food and the vets who told us we should feed the high carb prescription foods.
I have leant a massive amount about cats since I have had a diabetic cat. I have had cats all my life but it is only in the last 10 years that I have realised I didn’t know much about them really.
Now I only feed my cats a low carb diet. I discourage anyone who will listen, not to feed dry cat food. I keep my cats slim and I always research things now ( made much easier by the internet) . As long as we learn as we go, that is all we can expect of ourselves.

Please don’t be a stranger here. I’m not a really social media person either. I think this site is far more than a social media site....it is a amazing community of experienced people helping others who have diabetic cats.
 
@Luxe I don’t want to hijack this thread of Babyg’s so would you like to start a thread of your own as I would love to be able to talk to you about OJ? Just copy and paste what you have written above.
Bron
 
At some point I do feel guilty. I didn't know better, and therefore it can't be my fault. There's a lot of things I could have done differently, food, exercise, more focus on a healthy weight.
I don't know if I could have prevented her from getting this disease, but knowing what I know now ill do my best in the future. No steroids unless it's really necessary, and no future pets get dryfood ever again.

I've learned to be critical of what my vet is telling me, doing my own research on things instead of blindly trusting what I'm told.
I've learned to trust my own gut feeling.
That dryfood is invented to make it easier on us humans. That feeding raw is no biggie. I've also learned to read the ingredients of food more carefully.
I've never written this much English ever, and I was terrible in the beginning.

Not that I'm glad that my cat is sick. But I've learned a heck of a lot from it. Even about myself, what I am capable of.
And I've found this great community, that's made a huge difference in my life. At some point I'm glad it was my cat who got diabetes, not everyone can or will treat it. It didn't cost a life this time, I've just gotten my old cat back.

So I've turned it around and focusing on the positive side of things.
 
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