Feline Diabetes Treatment

If your cat has been diagnosed with diabetes, your veterinarian will probably recommend a treatment plan of diet changes and insulin injections.

Your vet will probably want your cat to have a diet low in carbohydrates and high in protein. You can either find this combination in a dry food or a wet food, which ever your cat prefers. There are a number of brand name food that meet this requirement that can be found at your local pet store.

If your cat is very ill or has a condition called ketosis, your vet may recommend hospitalization until the glucose level is under control. But if your cat is alert, eating and drinking without vomiting and is well-hydrated, it is ok to manage your cat and begin therapy at home.

Your vet will show you how to give insulin injections. It is probably best to give these shots along the cat’s sides as that is where the best blood supply is. Often the vet will recommend the scruff of the neck but that is where the blood supply is very poor.

Once you begin regular shots with your pet, you will need to monitor blood glucose levels. You can manage checking the levels with a glucometer just like adults use. Or you can monitor your cat with urine test strips. Either one of these methods will spare you the stress and expense of taking your cat into the vet to get testing done. You should also monitor your cats by noticing if the symptoms have been resolved as well as noticing if any complications are developing.

This is also not the time for you to become scared or depressed as all pets can pick up on their owners moods. Many cats have lived long and healthy lives after a diagnosis of diabetes – and there is no reason why your cat can’t too.