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[Susan S]

Hi, I am Susan and my cat Bean has just been diagnosed with diabetes. This is quite new, just this week, and my vet has just ordered the insulin and syringes and I hope to get him started very soon. I have diabetes myself, but not insulin dependent, so some of the terms are not foreign to me.

Bean is a big cat and not a good patient. He never lets me pill him. I hear injections will be easier than that. He also is on special diet food for his urinary crystals, so diet is a bit tricky. He is a true finicky eater, eats both wet and dry food, but very particular about the wet food he will eat and so I buy pates.

I have loads of questions, but will spend some time this weekend trying to read information here which might help me some.

Thanks for this group.

 

[JanetNJ]

Bean is a big cat and not a good patient. He never lets me pill him. I hear injections will be easier than that.

I find injections much easier. I wish all cat meds were injectable.

Ask any questions you have.

 

[Critter Mom]

Hi Susan,

Welcome to yourself and Bean.

Bean is a big cat and not a good patient. He never lets me pill him. I hear injections will be easier than that.

I agree with Janet: giving an injection is much more straightforward than pilling.

Here's a good behavioural training video which might be of interest to you:

Also, this is a good one on pilling technique (fast forward to 4:45):

Maybe there might be some ideas you haven't already tried!

He also is on special diet food for his urinary crystals, so diet is a bit tricky. He is a true finicky eater, eats both wet and dry food, but very particular about the wet food he will eat and so I buy pates.

Here's a good vet-authored resource on feline urinary tract issues and diet:

https://catinfo.org/feline-urinary-tract-diseases/

The general recommendation for feline diabetics is to feed wet food that has lower than 10% of its calories coming from carbs. I see that Bean likes paté-style foods. Many US members here feed Fancy Feast and Friskies classic patés. Here's the US low carb food chart for you to look at:

https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

Anything in the list with >10% kcals from carbs is suitable for general feeding. If you're not in the US, let us know which country you're in and we may have a list of the low carb foods available where you are.

If you are considering changing Bean to exclusively low carb food, then it would be easier to complete the transition before he starts insulin. If he does start insulin treatment before any diet change it's crucial to intensively monitor blood glucose levels daily because the drop in carb load frequently results in the need to reduce the insulin dose. More info on safe diet transition here:

https://catinfo.org/feline-diabetes/

Here are some additional helpful resources:

Home testing links and tips

Testing and injection tips

The techniques in the behaviour training video above can also be adapted for blood glucose testing.


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