How To Know If Your Cat Has Feline Diabetes And How To Treat It
Cats are beautiful, affectionate animals that bring a lot of love and joy into your home. They are much more independent than dogs, but that does not stop them from showing how much they care about you.
They’ll twine around your legs or rub their face against you while you’re preparing food, just to let you know they are there. They’ll hop into your lap while you watch television or amuse you by chasing and batting around a catnip toy that you give them to play with.
Just like all pets, cats need to be watched for signs of illness, such as feline diabetes. This disease is just as dangerous for cats as it is for humans and if left untreated, could become deadly.
The pancreas not secreting the natural insulin that the body needs to control blood sugar causes diabetes. Uncontrolled blood sugar will then build up in the blood stream and can cause serious effects such as stroke. It also lowers the immune system and desensitizes the extremities. When your cat hurts its paw, it will be reflected by the way it walks. The combination of the side effects can make your pet unable to feel when they have cuts that need to be treated. By not giving signs of pain, you won’t realize that the cat needs to be treated and infection can occur.
There are signs that may indicate that your cat has contracted diabetes, such as constantly drinking water. Diabetes causes extreme thirst and your cat may be drinking tons of water in an effort to satisfy it. Another sign is a decrease in weight as well as its fur losing its luster. Your veterinarian will be able to determine if the cause of these symptoms is feline diabetes.
The good news is that this illness can be successfully treated with insulin shots and a structured diet. Care must be taken that the shot never be given prior to the cat’s meal. This could result in too much insulin in the blood stream and cause a stroke. Even if you feed your cat before administering the shot, you must still watch it closely, since the prescribed dosage may need adjusting. If you notice that your cat is vomiting and has a low amount of energy, return to the vet because the dosage may not be high enough.
Treating your cat for diabetes will help it to lead a longer life, with less threat for the serious side effects that the disease can cause. If your cat has this disease, keep it inside where there is less chance of injury. Give your cat lots of affection since having to get needles can be traumatizing and be sure to follow the eating plan that your vet prescribes. This way, not only are you helping your cat to live a long and healthy life, you are ensuring that it will continue to twine around your legs and love you for years to come.
Gregg Hall
http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/how-to-know-if-your-cat-has-feline-diabetes-and-how-to-treat-it-63356.html
admin on January 24th 2010 in Diabetes Diet Meal Plan
MikeC responded on 24 Jan 2010 at 10:42 am #
Is there a medical explanation for treated & regulated feline diabetes to progress to diabetic ketoacidosis?
With great sadness we recently decided to euthanize our 15 year old diabetic kittie when she came down with diabetic ketoacidosis and deteriorated very quickly. She had been on insulin for about a year. Everything seemed fine, then she stopped eating and was gone two days later. I talked to the vet during the ordeal and have looked unsuccessfully for a medical description of how this progression occurs. It won’t help us now, but I am just trying to make sense of what happened.
Ken responded on 24 Jan 2010 at 3:44 pm #
Mike I am very sorry you went through this. I wish i could have met you earlier cause I could have helped you. Even dka can be treated successfully although it is very expensive. This occurs to to lack of insulin, infection or not eating. Most times it happens because the cat is not regulated.
The cat is basically eating it’s own body since it cannot process the food correctly. fats are broken down in the body too quickly fo the body to get id of the ketones
I am positive the vet did not give you the tools you needed to treat you cat successfully. (Not his fault many vets aren’t up to date)
I am deeply sorry for you loss
References :
vet tech 2 responded on 24 Jan 2010 at 3:46 pm #
i am very sorry for your loss. while nothing i can say can bring your baby back i hope it helps.
regulating diabetic kitties is an art not a science. each cat is different. while you can have a cat that is perfectly regulated things can change at a moments notice and send them into dka. i don’t think your vet really did any thing wrong. dks is treatable but is not always successful.
References :