I'm wondering if there might be some alternative to rehoming him--that would be really hard on both of them.
Any suggestions appreciated!
How was the diabetes diagnosed? Was a fructosamine test done?
What brand of food is she feeding? And is it dry or canned?
Does the cat have any other medical issues, including dental problems?
It is heartbreaking to see the elderly be separated from their pets and I understand the desire to keep them together if at all possible. I would want the same. Sometimes a pet is one of the few things they have left and is a beloved family member and friend.
If your mom is starting into dementia, it might be hard for her to make too many changes to the current routine. For example, if she feeds dry cat food, it might be best to continue dry food, although maybe a low-carb version. Low-carb can have a dramatic effect on blood glucose levels, so if insulin shots aren’t an option (and I’d be very concerned about the safety of your mom giving shots if she has dementia), it would be worth having low-carb dry food delivered to her. One option might be Dr Elsey’s Clean Protein. My concern with switching to canned food (if the cat isn’t currently being fed canned) would be that your mom might get confused by new things and end up forgetting to feed the cat at all or leave canned food down for days without replacing it. Even if dry food isn’t ideal, sometimes a tweak (such as exchanging one dry food for another) is better than a full-blown change given the circumstances.
Another option might be to try to hire a vet tech to come to the home and test blood glucose (BG) values after changing to a low-carb food just to see if it helped lower the BG. On rare occasions, a diet change alone will suffice in making the cat diet controlled (i.e., no need for insulin shots). You could also inquire about the tech giving shots, but it might be a bit difficult to find someone willing to commit to the time and trips required. I did it for a friend, but it was a lot.
As for assisted living, as mentioned above, some facilities will allow you to bring a pet. A friend of mine went into assisted living last year and brought both of her cats. At that facility, there’s an option to pay a fee to have staff provide pet care (food, water, litter box cleaning, walking a dog, whatever), however I don’t know whether it would include administering medication. Given that many facilities are short staffed and overworked, I’m not sure I’d completely trust the staff to test and give insulin shots even if it’s offered, but it’s worth investigating.
We went down the dementia path with family as well. I hope you find a way to keep you mom and her cat together. Please let us know what happens.
