I think my boyfriend's cat has diabetes

[arabellathecat]

My boyfriend's cat has being drinking a ton of water & urinating a lot (it smells strong like 'old lady' pee.) I told him he needs to take Smokey to the vet but he says he can't afford it - he recently lost his job - is there any way of determining if Smokey has diabetes without a visit to the vet? Or is there a low cost test to determine this? We both live in a very expensive big city - vet's visits usually cost for basic things $150 & up - I think that's why he afraid to take the cat to the vet. Is there a home testing kit and what special diet/care does having a diabetic cat entail. Thanks in advance from a huge cat lover! Rhonda

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

You may eventually need to go to a vet for insulin. What you can do now is to get a human glucometer and test the cat's blood glucose levels. You can get free testing supplies from this site. Click on the picture at the top of the page.

The other thing to do right away is to be sure you are feeding wet, low carb food. Dry food can be very high carb. Lots of people on a budget feed Fancy Feast or Friskies pates or classics. See this website by a vet: www.catinfo.org. The other thing that could be causing the urination and drinking water is a urinary track infection. Can you watch her in the box - does she act like she is pain? Does she pee in tiny dribbles? If she has a UTI, you will need to take her to a vet.

 

[Wendy&Tiggy(GA)]

While waiting on your free meter, you could go get urine test strips such as keto-diastix that test his urine for sugar. If there is sugar in it thats a sure sign of diabetes. Most pharmacies sell them, sometimes behind the counter.

A low carb canned wet food will be good for him if it is diabetes, and even if its not!

Wendy

 

[BJM]

Lots of urine may also be hyperthyroidism, and renal disease. What about looking for a vet in the suburbs, rather than in the city? Many smaller rescues and shelters know of lower cost vets because they have to stretch their dollars.

Some humane groups may provide low cost vetting based on need (ie proof of income required)

 

[Kiri]

Those are the symptoms that Asterix was having. NASTY litter box. They think he can go into remission because I caught it early, so if he does have diabetes it's better to know sooner rather than later--you will end up spending less money than if you wait until he's really truly super sick.

Shop around. I live in a big city and mistakenly went to the ASPCA for a while thinking that of course they'd be inexpensive, but it turns out that the vet office that is a block from my house (important, when one of your cats is a 20 pounder) is actually way cheaper and easier to deal with

Also depending on your bf and your credit rating you might be eligible for Care Credit, which is a credit card that only works at vet and doctors' offices. I paid for everything with Care Credit because even though my cats are insured I still have to pay up front.

 

[terriy]

I use Credit Care and boy is it a life saver!! Some visits are unexpected and you can use it to purchase the insulin and supplies as well!