Life span post diagnosis

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chuckstables

chuckstables

Member Since 2022
Hi guys,

I made the mistake of thinking about what would happen if sam died.

Currently i’m struggling with my mental health. I started using heroin when i was 15; got clean at 18 and have been doing well since then. Still; i worry a LOT and get depressed a LOT.

I can’t stop thinking about the complete devastation i’d feel if he died. He’s doing fantastic now; only took 2 IU of glargine 2x per day to lower his fructosamine to the low 400’s (on caninsulin it was 550 or so). Since going to 3 2x daily his energy went up to something around what he used to be; his hind legs are still weak, but he’s a totally different cat now.

Despite all this i can’t help but wonder how long i’ll have with him? I was just 15 or 16 when we got him; he’s ALWAYS been my cat; i’m almost 28 now. I took him last year when i moved out. He loves me; and i love him.

How long do cats responding well tend to live? He’s 11.5 years old. He went from 9.5 lbs 2 months ago to 12 today. I saw online people saying the average is a couple years?

I just love him so much. He is my companion and the only other friend that lives with me. Just me and sam. I just get terrified of losing him. I wish i was born a couple hundred thousand years later when we’ll have mastered medicine and genetics and we’ll have conquered disease and aging.
 
I am sorry you are struggling with your mental health and get depressed a lot.
Diabetic cats that are treated with insulin and a low carb diet usually do well. An average of a couple of years is rubbish. Most diabetic cats live a normal life and eventually die from something else …not diabetes. We have diabetic cats here who are 20 years old and older.
We all hate to think about losing our beloved kitties. That is normal. If you can, try not to think about things like that but enjoy him.
There are things you can do that will make sure he remains fit and well.
  • Feed him a low carb diet. Two main meals and snacks during the cycles
  • Test the blood glucose if you are not already doing that
  • You need to test before every dose to ensure it is safe to give the insulin and then test again during the cycle to see how low the dose is taking Sam.
  • Set up a hypo kit in case you need it
  • Set up a spreadsheet and enter the data so we can help you with dosing.
  • Post here regularly so we can help you.
HELP US HELP YOU has information about the spreadsheet, hypo kit and other useful information for you. If you need help with the SS let us know and we can help you.
Hope to see more of you posting and asking questions.
 
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Many diabetic cats live for years. The important thing is to get them regulated by feeding a low carb diet, giving the correct insulin dose and home testing. We can help you learn everything you will need to know.

There are a lot of resources on this site including the experience from our members. Whenever you have any questions please let us know. We are here to help you.
 
I can testify that Minnie died from a combination of cardiomyopathy and intestinal cancer. Not from her diabetes. And even then, most pets who go through a cardiac arrest episode like hers only live another year, she lived 2. I think that like with any other disease, if you keep them on the treatment and diet they need, they’ll do well.

I can also honestly say I fell into a black hole of disparo when my 1st cat Deanna passed. I had just lost my dad and it hit me really hard. I couldn’t get out of bed for 2 days and when I did on the 3rd day, I found Minnie and Bobo in a shoe box. My mind and heart started to move slowly away from grief and towards these helpless kittens who needed me. The best remedy for the sorrow of losing a pet is another one who needs you. I hope this helps :bighug:
 
With satisfactory BG control I say that something else will end their life. I have had two that were on insulin for over 10 years. One succumbed to heart problems and the other to a stroke. Concercer got some other as did kidney failure.
 
Thanks guys,

I try not to think about it. I was surprised and so happy when i was told he has diabetes since i’d been mentally preparing myself to be told he had kidney failure and was going to die.

He’s on 3 IU of lantus 2x per day, and i feed him half of his calories from an 18% carb dry food (purina DM), the other half is from purina DM wetfood, which has at most 0.5% carbs based on the %by weight info.

I would do home testing, but financially i’m kind of walking a tight rope. I have a job with super good benefits (i get 51 paid days off per year if you include holidays, earned time off (you get 1/2 hour of paid time off per shift worked), and vacation), but the pay isnt great because of deductions for pension, disability insurance, union dues, etc. I was trying to find a BRAVO meter but i can’t seem to find one, as those strips are the cheapest. I live in Canada in BC.
 
Hi and Welcome!!

Well regulated cats can live as long as any other cat so my suggestion is to focus on getting him regulated, home testing and low carb wet food are the key for that, so the sooner you can get him used to only low carb wet food the better and enjoy every day with him like you would if he didn't had diabetes, he will go back to his normal self eventually as his blood glucose gets into normal ranges.

I think now one can really tell you how long will he live, my cat Babu-Chiri was diagnosed with diabetes 6 years ago, he went into remission after some months of using insulin and at age 19 he's is doing just ok regulated with his diet alone, and even with a lot of other health issues which apparently he has chosen to ignore and enjoy life ( only me and the vet worry about them apparently since he just acts like nothing is wrong with him).
 
I will tag @Wendy&Neko and @Red & Rover (GA) as they live in Canada and they may be able to help you with getting a bravo meter.
If you can test you will find it will be a lot less stressful having to worry if he is OK or not as the numbers will tell you.
You are feeding a high carb dry food at the moment. If he will eat just a wet low carb food, there are much cheaper options out there for you to feed. However I would not change the food at all until you are testing the BGs as a lower carb diet can drop the BGs a lot. Wait until you are hometesting and then we can help you with the dosing. He will most likely need less insulin than he is currently getting when he changes over to a better diet.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
I will tag @Wendy&Neko and @Red & Rover (GA) as they live in Canada and they may be able to help you with getting a bravo meter.
If you can test you will find it will be a lot less stressful having to worry if he is OK or not as the numbers will tell you.
You are feeding a high carb dry food at the moment. If he will eat just a wet low carb food, there are much cheaper options out there for you to feed. However I would not change the food at all until you are testing the BGs as a lower carb diet can drop the BGs a lot. Wait until you are hometesting and then we can help you with the dosing. He will most likely need less insulin than he is currently getting when he changes over to a better diet.
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The dry food is the lowest carbs i could find; the old one he was eating was 28% carbs. Can i feed him normal wetfood then? I pay 3.80 for a can of that wet food. And he would go thru close to 2 cans a day most likely.

The reason i keep giving him dry food is convenience, the fact that he likes it, and cost. One 90 dollar bag would last 54 days if thats all hes eating, whereas a can of wetfood (he needs 1.5 a day if thats all he’s having) costs me 3.90 or so. Plus if you average out the carbs he’s below 10%, which i think is okay.

Any wet foods you could suggest though?
 
The only place you can find the Bravo meter (and it's strips) is online. https://diabetesexpress.ca/products/bravo-meter Back in the day, I cross border shopped for cheaper US test strips. I had a postal box just across the border.

My cat lived 5 years with diabetes, but she had a secondary condition that caused it, and ultimately gave her kidney disease, heart disease, and lymphoma.

For cheaper food, some people feed Fancy Feast or Friskies. This food list contains some of the options and lists the carbs. Generally the pate's are the lower carb options. In BC, if you have to feed dry (which isn't great for any cat, much less a diabetic), Petsmart sells Dr. Elsey's dry. I made my own food with the TC Feline premix (comes from Saltspring Island) and ground meat. It wasn't a huge amount of work, and cheaper than the more expensive cans of food. You do need freezer space.

I also want to echo what Bron said about not changing diet until you are home testing. The 18% food is probably increasing the amount of insulin he needs. You need to change diet slowly and safely.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
The only place you can find the Bravo meter (and it's strips) is online. https://diabetesexpress.ca/products/bravo-meter Back in the day, I cross border shopped for cheaper US test strips. I had a postal box just across the border.

My cat lived 5 years with diabetes, but she had a secondary condition that caused it, and ultimately gave her kidney disease, heart disease, and lymphoma.

For cheaper food, some people feed Fancy Feast or Friskies. This food list contains some of the options and lists the carbs. Generally the pate's are the lower carb options. In BC, if you have to feed dry (which isn't great for any cat, much less a diabetic), Petsmart sells Dr. Elsey's dry. I made my own food with the TC Feline premix (comes from Saltspring Island) and ground meat. It wasn't a huge amount of work, and cheaper than the more expensive cans of food. You do need freezer space.

I also want to echo what Bron said about not changing diet until you are home testing. The 18% food is probably increasing the amount of insulin he needs. You need to change diet slowly and safely.
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Thanks for the link, given that they're gonna charge 9 bucks for shipping, which lancets should I be using? I was thinking I could order them at the same time.
 
I found lancets cheapest at my local Safeway pharmacy (in BC too). To start, you want lancets with a 26-28 gauge. I don't think brand really matters, just look for a good price.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
I found lancets cheapest at my local Safeway pharmacy (in BC too). To start, you want lancets with a 26-28 gauge. I don't think brand really matters, just look for a good price.
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I just bought some lancets; just waiting for the meter to arrive. I also started giving him friskies chicken wet food, as it costs 90 cents vs 4 dollars when as far as i can tell there’s little difference.

The problem with his ears are as soon as his ear tufts are touched/moved his ear automatically goes 100% flat. Its like ear whiskers….
 
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Make sure you have lots of strips for the meter. Because they are only available online, you cannot dash out to a drugstore to get more.

chuckstables said:
The problem with his ears are as soon as his ear tufts are touched/moved his ear automatically goes 100% flat. Its like ear whiskers….
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Getting him used to his ears being touched will help. So will associating a special treat with the testing: freeze-dried treats, a bit of tuna, a bit of chicken. Whatever floats his boat.

Some cats flinch during testing. It's not from pain (cat's ears take a beating during cat fights – they are not as sensitive as you think). Usually the flinch is from the click sound that the lancet device makes. You may have better luck not using the device itself but freehanding. Don't be worried about poking right through. Cat claws do the same thing. The ear will heal.

Waving from Ontario but grew up in BC.
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
Make sure you have lots of strips for the meter. Because they are only available online, you cannot dash out to a drugstore to get more.


Getting him used to his ears being touched will help. So will associating a special treat with the testing: freeze-dried treats, a bit of tuna, a bit of chicken. Whatever floats his boat.

Some cats flinch during testing. It's not from pain (cat's ears take a beating during cat fights – they are not as sensitive as you think). Usually the flinch is from the click sound that the lancet device makes. You may have better luck not using the device itself but freehanding. Don't be worried about poking right through. Cat claws do the same thing. The ear will heal.

Waving from Ontario but grew up in BC.
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Thanks for your help as always. Quick question; i don’t have a lancet device, just the lancets. When you say freehandling do you mean just using the lancet without the device?
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
Yes.

The Bravo meter requires a 0.6 drop of blood. You can see what it looks like here (you may have to print off the first page to get the size right): http://main.diabetes.org/dforg/pdfs/2017/2017-cg-blood-glucose-meters.pdf
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Sounds good.

Also; i’m switching him gradually to an all wet food diet. I’m kind of broke because of this; I was told friskies pate is fine, it’s 78% moisture, 10% protein, 5% fat, 1% fibre, 3% ash, 0.05% taurine. So i gather that it’s 1.95% carbs by weight at most. So removing all non caloric contents you get about 7-8% from carbs (assuming protein and carbs have equal caloric content and fat is 2x protein/carbs in caloric density). Is this acceptable? It’s only 80 cents per can vs 4 dollars. I am struggling financially with all of this; it saves me 70-80 a month.
 
I think as long as you stick to the classic pate varieties, you are fine, as they are all under the 10% carb bar. Just don’t get any of the stuff in gravy. The list Wendy sent makes it really easy to compare brands and carb percentages. I know several of our members feed Friskies as well.
 
chuckstables said:
Sounds good.

Also; i’m switching him gradually to an all wet food diet. I’m kind of broke because of this; I was told friskies pate is fine, it’s 78% moisture, 10% protein, 5% fat, 1% fibre, 3% ash, 0.05% taurine. So i gather that it’s 1.95% carbs by weight at most. So removing all non caloric contents you get about 7-8% from carbs (assuming protein and carbs have equal caloric content and fat is 2x protein/carbs in caloric density). Is this acceptable? It’s only 80 cents per can vs 4 dollars. I am struggling financially with all of this; it saves me 70-80 a month.
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Hi @chuckstables
This carb calculator might help you, just enter the Protein, Fat, Moisture, Fibre and Ash values into the boxes and press calculate to give the carb content of the food.
https://secure.balanceit.com/tools/_gaconverter/index.php
The values you gave for the Friskies works out at just under 12% carbs.

Friskies pate.JPG
 

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chuckstables said:
I just bought some lancets; just waiting for the meter to arrive. I also started giving him friskies chicken wet food, as it costs 90 cents vs 4 dollars when as far as i can tell there’s little difference.

The problem with his ears are as soon as his ear tufts are touched/moved his ear automatically goes 100% flat. Its like ear whiskers….
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As my veterinarian did, I use a small electric hair trimmer to reduce the hair on the pinner, inside of the outer ear. This helps a lot.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
I'm very proud of you :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
@chuckstables
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Thanks! Just found out that his brother Theo who lives with my parents has a large mass and fluid in his stomach. They think its cancer, but they’re gonna check on Wednesday with a specialist. I love him as well even if i haven’t lived with him in over a year.

Kind of doesn’t feel real. Just sitting with sam processing.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
I'm very sorry to hear that :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
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Thanks. It sucks. They decided that there’s no point spending money on a specialist; the vet said there’s nothing else that could cause the symptoms other than a large cancer of the stomach. She is putting him on a large dose of prednisone to hopefully ease his pain which is being caused by the fluid buildup and swelling, and give my parents a couple more months to say goodbye to him. If this doesn’t work she’s going to prescribe suboxone for palliative care, and when his quality of life score goes below a certain level then we will put him to sleep.

I’ll let you guys know it the prednisone helps; there’s a decent chance it will. This whole thing has made me appreciate Sam even more. I’m so lucky that it was just diabetes, and that he’s doing great now.
 
Hi chuckstables,

Applause for you getting clean. Mental health issues are hard. I got excruciating mental issue when I lost Monkey.

I understand the deep attachment and the fear of pet's inevitable departure. I don't mean to trigger your anxiety but
the sad fact is any life form can depart in any point of time, my diabetic Monkey and Penpen suddenly got deadly cancer and departed within few weeks. Before that, they looked completely fine, so it was totally unexpected.

We can only do our best to take care of them. Always treasure the time with them, play with them every day. So when the time comes there would be no regrets. I think this is a better approach to our mental health and life generally.
 
chuckstables said:
How long do cats responding well tend to live?
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Hi, first of all sending you a huge reassuring (((HUG))) :bighug:

My first diabetic kitty, Bertie, was diagnosed age 8 and lived to be 20. And for the first few years it was really hard to get his blood glucose under control. I actually thought we were a hopeless case! But things just got better over time. His blood glucose levels improved, his need for insulin reduced. And he went into remission (became diet-controlled diabetic) after nearly 11 years on insulin. Many cats do have the potential to go into remission, but it doesn't usually happen that late on... :smuggrin:

I adopted my current diabetic (as a diabetic) from a rescue when she was 12 years old. Bonbon wasn't doing at all well in the rescue and was in pretty poor shape. It wasn't looking too good for her, she'd twice been extremely ill. But I adopted her hoping that, if nothing else, maybe I could at least give her a nice summer, and some love. But, she's still with me four years later at the age of 16. And that's despite only having one functioning kidney (and that's not functioning 100%), high blood pressure, pancreatitis, and arthritis, in addition to the diabetes... She also went into remission, but came out of remission a year later and is back on insulin.

With good care, and just a bit of luck, diabetic kitties can live lives that are not shortened at all by their diabetes. But in my experience it's also important to take one day at a time and to treasure every precious day, feeling gratitude for what we have 'in this moment'. Worrying about the future can rob us of so much joy in the present.
(((More hugs)))

Eliz
 
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