Help for Oscar

[Serena]

Good morning,

My mother's rescue cat Oscar has recently been diagnosed with diabetes.
We do not know how old he is exactly - my mother has had him for about 11 years now. He was previously owned by a married couple who got divorced and no longer wanted him - they told us he's 2 years old, the vet however reckoged that he was much older so he's at least 13. Oscar was overweight when we first got him and was obsessed with food - he would barely sleep but instead follow us around and beg relentlessly. We did mange to bring his weight done some and keep it stable. Some years ago he was diagnosed with kidney insufficiency and many times we thought he wasn't gonna make it. However with the help of homoeopathic remedies he's been managing. Although very affectionate when begging he's always been very difficult with vets or us touching him to examin. During this past, very hot year he's gotten very skinny and lost almost all his mobility We put this down to the progressing kidney problems but when we called in the vet to try to have a look at him she did a urine test
and said that he's also got very bad diabetes and quite likely Thyroid problems. She said that insulin treatment could improve him significantly but can't see how we can administer it with him being so difficult! Of course I'd like to try but also don't want to make it worse for him so my question is has anyone got experience with extreme cases like this and what would you recommed?

 

[Maggies Mom Debby]

I just have a little time to answer right now. But some people find they can give insulin when their cat is eating and the cat doesn't really notice. Your other problem would be home testing his glucose, which is the best way to make sure it's safe to give your cat insulin.

I hope some other can come up with some ideas for treating Oscar.

 

[BJM]

Welcome to FDMB.

Low carb, renal-friendly, cat food will be the first step. Friskies Special Diet pates meet those criteria. You also might cross reference the list at Cat Info and the list at Feline CRF.

Now the tough part: to give shots, you'll need to be a bit sneaky and/or creative.
Some folks give the shot while the cat is eating.
Otherwise, you'll need to restrain him, probably with a kitty burrito approach. This is where you lay him on a towel and wrap the ends around him so he can't escape.
To improve your success with this, give him a low carb treat every time you give insulin, or test.

Testing is critical for safety.
With blood testing likely difficult, you will want to monitor some softer signs of glucose control. See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for many of these - measuring food and water intake and output, dehydration and weight checks. Also, start with a low insulin dose to begin and very gradually work up to avoid hypoglycemia, which can kill quickly.

 

[phlika29]

Hi and welcome.

There have been people who have managed to give insulin to very difficult cats but it can take some patience in finding a method that works. The needles are actually tiny and so is the dose and so i found remi didn't really notice it going in. I would distract him by either giving him lots of loving at the same time and also give him a low carb treat afterwards. In the end he associated testing and injecting as something good.

Other people lock themselves aways in the bathroom, etc. perhaps ask this question on the main forum where more people will see your question.

Re the weakness I would ask the vet to test for low potassium and this is related to diabetes or you might like to start a MethylCobalamin supplement as untreated diabetes can lead to diabetic neuropathy and this is helped by this supplement. If you search this term on the main forum you will find threads that talk about where to buy it from.