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- Jun 25, 2006
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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
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