My Diabetic Cat

by Lori
(Winnipeg, Canada)

My 13 year old male Ragdoll cat was diagnosed with diabetes three weeks ago. I had noticed the signs – increase in drinking, decrease in appetite, increase in urination, and he became lethargic. My vet has seen him three times, once a week since his diagnosis. The first week, his sugars were at 34 and the vet recommended giving him 3 units of insulin, week 2 his sugars were still high at 32 and the recommendation was to increase his dose to 5 units. Week 3, he still tested high at just over 30. Again, the vet's recommendation was another increase to 6 units. Although I have seen some improvement – increase in appetite and decrease in water consumption, he still seems lethargic and is at times walking on his hocks. My cat had a urinary track infection when he was a kitten and I have been feeding him Hills C/D ever since. Since his diagnosis of diabetes, I have also started feeding him Hills M/D. I am desperate for suggestions on how to get him feeling better as he means the world to me. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated!!


Dear Lori,

I am extremely concerned about the rate at which your cat’s insulin is being increased. Increasing cat insulin in such large doses (the standard recommendation is to increase no more than one half unit at a time), after such short periods of time, and with only checking your cat’s blood glucose once a week can be extremely dangerous for your cat and could prove fatal. While some treatment protocols, such as the one described by Dr. Hodgkin’s at the Diabetic Cat Care website, suggest treating your cat as you would a human with diabetes, the cat’s blood glucose levels are being taken several times daily, making the process much safer for your kitty.

I would advise you to please take your precious cat to another veterinarian for a second opinion and to establish a more consistent treatment protocol, whichever protocol that may be, as soon as possible. Your cat’s life depends on it.

Having a diabetic cat is stressful. I certainly know this first hand, as I too am treating my own cat with feline diabetes. If you would like to read more about my own diabetic cat journey, and more about cat diabetes in general, you can do so here. The most important thing to remember in treating a cat with diabetes is that it can take time to get the disease under control. While of course we want our precious cats to feel better as soon as possible, time will ultimately provide relief for your kitty.

As for things you can do to help him along, prescription diabetic cat food is a good start. New research also suggests that canned cat food with a carbohydrate content of 5% or less can help drastically lower a diabetic cat’s blood sugar. For comprehensive charts of carbohydrate content in canned cat food, please visit this website. Also, if you are not already doing so, you should discuss giving your cat insulin twice daily, as insulin needs to be given at roughly 12-hour intervals to maintain proper blood glucose levels.

Also, if blood glucose levels do not start to improve, you can discuss different types of cat insulin with a veterinarian. Since different cats can metabolize different types of insulin differently, a change may be needed down the road. To read another reader’s question about cat insulin, please see this page.

Always make sure your kitty is eating well when giving insulin to prevent a possible hypoglycemic episode. And, always be sure to have a sugary solution on hand, such as maple syrup, to rub on his gums in the event that your kitty starts to show signs of his glucose levels being too low.

I wish you all the best with your beloved diabetic kitty’s treatment. Please visit the recommended websites and contact another veterinarian for a second opinion as soon as possible. Feel free to write again with any updates.

Sincerely,
Dr. Neely