Cat Info Center

Caring For Your Diabetic Cat

If your cat has just been diagnosed with diabetes, you might be afraid of what the future holds for your beloved pet. The good news is that cats can live long, healthy lives after being diagnosed with diabetes.  The trick is that you, as a pet owner, must be dedicated to care for your cat during his or her illness. Diabetes is not a death sentence for pets.  Here is some information to help you understand what you need to do to help your diabetic cat.

Regular Medical Care: After your cat has been diagnosed with diabetes, it is imperative that you visit your veterinarian on a regular basis. Your cat will need regular checkups to check the blood sugar levels and to make sure that he or she is receiving the right amount of insulin. When your cat goes in for a check up, the vet will ask that you do not feed your cat twelve hours part to the checkup. While your cat is at the check up, your veterinarian will draw blood and check blood sugar levels. People that have diabetes are able to check their blood sugar at home. However, this is not possible with cats unless you buy a glucose monitoring system. Your will probably ask that you bring your cat in every three months for this type of checkup.

Getting your Cat Insulin: When your cat has diabetes, it is your responsibility to make sure that your cat receives the proper dose of insulin twice a day. The amount of insulin that your cat will need will vary according to your cat’s individual condition.  Most cats will receive between three and five units of insulin two times per day.  It is important that you establish a routine for your cat.  Your cat needs to receive insulin 12 hours apart.  Most people that have diabetic cats will give their cat and insulin shot at the same time every morning and at the same time every evening.

It is not difficult to learn to give your cat insulin injections.  Your veterinarian will walk you through the process, and then you can repeat this at home. Usually your veterinarian will recommend that you give your cat injections between the shoulder blades in the scruff of the neck. With patience and practice, your cat will barely feel the injections. In fact, most diabetic cats know when it is time to get their injection and they may actually remind you by meowing.

Stocking the Right Supplies: It is important that you have the right supplies on hand to help treat your diabetic cat. You will need a vial of insulin as prescribed by your veterinarian, syringes and alcohol swabs.  It is always a good idea to order your insulin when you are about halfway empty. It may take a couple days for your veterinarian to order your insulin. Your veterinarian might also recommend getting your diabetic cat vitamin supplements and seating him or a special prescription diet such as Science Diet W/D. You must be able to see your cat immediately after he or she receives their injection.  It is also a good idea to have some numbers to your veterinarian into at least two 24-hour emergency vet clinics available with you at all times just in case your cat needs help.

Many people who owned diabetic cats worried about the costs that this condition incurs. It certainly does cost money to take care of a diabetic cat. A vial of insulin will cost you approximately $85 and will last you about two months. A box of 100 Syringes will cost about $30 and will last you 50 days, as you should use a new syringe for each injection. Prescription food will cost you about $40 for a 20-pound bag. However, it is important to remember that your cat is a part of your family. Most pet owners do not hesitate spending this kind of money on their pets.

Patience and Love: Above of all when you have a diabetic cat, you need a lot of patience and a lot of love.  It is not always easy to care for sick and ailing cat.  However, with the right care, you can expect your diabetic cat to have many more years of happy life.

Fencing Your Cat In

Cats get up to a lot of mischief so it is a good idea to check their surroundings to see that they will be safe at all times. It’s a lot easier to do if the cat lives inside most of the time, but it will be necessary for it to get out in the fresh air and sunshine to remain healthy. If you’re living in an apartment then a balcony can be sufficient but you need to make sure that it won’t be able to fall off the balcony as sometimes when cats go into a deep sleep, lying in the sun, they can move without thinking and fall off the things they are resting on.

Having a yard fenced with a cat proof fence will give you peace of mind knowing that your cat can’t get out and other animals such as dogs won’t be able to get in an attack your pet.

You need to consider the fact that cats are very good climbers and will find it relatively easy to get over most fences so some form of barrier might need to be placed on top of the fence to stop this from happening.

If you do have a fenced property, then a cat door will give your cat the freedom to go in and out of the house and not feel like it is trapped inside all the time.

To keep your cat occupied, whether it is living inside or out, always have things that will give it an opportunity to climb and have secure lookouts over the property or house.

The happier your cat is with its environment the less likely it is to stray. Having said that, a happy cat will wander off to other properties, as cats are very inquisitive and like to go searching for adventure.

Getting a collar, or tattoo might be necessary if your cat tends to wander as this will help people to return it to its rightful home if it goes missing.

Cat Behavior Problems

Cat behavior problems are a lot more common than many people believe.

There is always a solution, but this can quite often take quite a lot of work, and the longer these behavioral problems are left the harder they are to correct.

It will take consistent effort and the use of the right techniques to get your cat to behave as expected. These behavioral problems can be anything from urinating inside the house to aggressive action towards you and other people.

Knowing what to do will eliminate a lot of the frustration that is involved in trying to train or retrain a cat, and will ensure that you get the desired results as fast as possible.

Not only will you be happier and have a happier household, but your cat will also have a happier life if it doesn’t have these behavioral problems because often they stem from problems that need to be addressed for your cat’s happiness.

Urinating and aggressive behavior can often be associated with your cat feeling insecure about itself and its surroundings. Consider whether there are other cats or threats to your pet and try to eliminate these first to see if they help to curb or cure the problem.

Often the elimination of any threats towards your cat will result in your pet being comfortable with its surroundings and not feel that it is necessary to mark its territory or to be aggressive towards other pets and people. Sometimes it can be a jealousy problem if there is more than one pet in the family and the cat with the problem feels like it is not getting enough attention.

Even as a change of location can affect stress levels for people, the same can happen to cats, so any changes in their environment can have a marked effect on the way that they act and time will need to be spent on them to ensure that they feel secure.