Fletcher has Diabetes

[dad2_2cats1dog]

Hello all!

I'm new here. My cat was just recently diagnosed as have having Type I diabetes. Just like in humans. The pancreas fails to produce insulin. The result is that there is too much sugar in the blood. With cats, the blood-sugar level should be around 170. Fletcher's blood-sugar level was over 600.

I guess you all are wondering how I came to take the cat to the vet. I could have put this in the "behavior" discussion but I'm satisfied that it belongs here.

Last weekend, Fletcher spent almost all day looking for water. It was out for him, of course. He would be there or catching the drips from the faucet in the bathtub. I set up a bowl for him there. He also seemed to have had to pee a lot. That was very evident in the cat box. And then there was the weight loss. Fletcher seemed to have become almost emaciated. Since that happens over time, I hadn't put all of the issues together. When he became totally lathargic, I realized that I had a sick cat on my hands. I had to connect all of the dots so that I could tell the vet why I thought he was really sick. The symptoms told the story. Excessive drinking of water; excessive urination; weight loss...

To make a long story shorter, Fletcher is now on twice-a-day insulin injections. The vet showed me how to do it. Pinch the skin around the shoulder area, insert the needle into the skin and inject the dose.

I can tell you that if your cat or dog is diagnosed as having diabetes, it's not cheap. $75 for a vial of insulin and another $35 for the syringes. I can tell you that after just three injections, Fletcher is showing signs of being normal again! It will take a week to figure out if the dosage is correct.

Anyway, I thought I'd mention this as a cat issue. I'm certainly willing to be the point person for questions involving diabetes in cats. Who knew?! It was news to me!

Bruce.
Alex, Fletcher and Jack the dog

 

[jennyr]

Thank you for sharing your story. I am glad that Fletcher is now on the road to a normal lifestyle, even if it is expensive for you and uncomfortable for him, having the injections. I would just like to ask how old he is? I must be on the lookout for diabetes later, as Wellington is on steroids for asthma that can cause it. It is a question of the lesser of two evils at the moment.

 

[dad2_2cats1dog]

Jenny,

In your response, you wrote:

Thank you for sharing your story. I am glad that Fletcher is now on the road to a normal lifestyle, even if it is expensive for you and uncomfortable for him, having the injections. I would just like to ask how old he is? I must be on the lookout for diabetes later, as Wellington is on steroids for asthma that can cause it. It is a question of the lesser of two evils at the moment.

Fletcher is about ten years old. He has not been on any medication for which I can place blame. As far as can tell, it was just one of those things. Stuff happens.

I'm not sure how to respond to your comment about the lesser of two evils. Give up the asthma medicine to avoid diabetes? Wellington could get it anyway. Fletcher did. He wasn't on meds. When they can figure out what causes diabetes and curing it in humans, we're on the road to curing it in our pets.

The lesser of two evils is to treat one disease at a time. And then decide when the money spent on the treatment is not going to save the cat's life. The lesser of two evils in Fletcher's case is that of all the possible reasons for why he was sick, diabetes was the most treatable. Had it been anything worse than that, I would have had no choice but to have him put down. I wouldn't have been able to afford the treatment options. As an example, my neighbor who normally watches my pets when I have to go out of town, informed me that if one of her pets required twice -daily injections, she would have it put down right away. She doesn't do needles. From a different perspective, if that cat's guardian couldn't afford the meds, putting the cat down may be the best option.

That's the "lesser of two evils" discussion that is the most important. No matter how much we love our cats, watching them suffer is not an option. If we can afford to treat them and give them a quality of life, then so be it. If not, let them go in peace.

Diabetes is treatable in cats. There is an attached expense. Since my original post, Fletcher is showing tremedous improvement with the insulin shots. I still have to check his blood-sugar level but by just watching him, his behavior is turning back to normal. He's no longer hunkered over a water dish constantly. His playful nature, along with his appetite, seems to be returning. Only time will tell if he's on the correct dosage of insulin. I'm a typical blue collar worker about a paycheck or two away from losing it all. For now, Fletcher deserves a chance to live. As long as I can still afford to provide it, Fletcher will have his insulin injections. I'm learning a lot in the process. That's what I'm sharing here.

Thanks for listening,

Bruce.