Diabetic cat?

It is very hard. I had a cat that was diabetic and it was very hard on me because I had to give her human insulin and I would cry a lot because I had to give her the shots and they were not working because they were the human insulin shots and at times the shots would not work and I was on the phone all the time with the vet. The last shot didn't work so she went into a diabetic seizure and I cried and she died in my arms and I will never get over it. I know what you are going through and it is a hard decision to make. I hope you make the right one because your cat is family and it will hurt . I feel for you right now because I went through the same thing and it is hard. Good Luck.

1

My 15 year old cat has been diabetic for 2 years now. I started out giving her 2 shots a day (5 units each shot) and am now down to 2 units just once a day. With proper care she's lived the last two years as a happy healthy cat. I would recommend trying to find a home for her. There are plenty of people out there that are willing to take on special needs animals. Maybe your vet or the local humane society could help you find someone.

As a side note, I also had to put a cat to sleep a few years ago. It was without question the worse experience of my life. I will NEVER do that again!!

Personally, I would not put a cat down for having diabetes. A co-worker of mine did that with her cat and I was dumbfounded. It is a very manageable disease. The only downside is that I'm sure it's expensive.

I understand that your lifestyle can't accommodate this disease, though. I would see if maybe you had a friend or family member that would be willing to take this cat on if you absolutely can't.

From my understanding, though, giving insulin shots isn't all that hard. Another co-worker had a diabetic dog. She had to get daily urine tests and give insulin at least once a day. She said once she learned how to do it, it was fine. She also adopted this dog from one of our local shelters. The people wouldn't let her take the dog home until she had come into the shelter numerous times to learn how to give the shots and did them herself.

A 12 year old cat still has plenty of life left in them. Even with diabetes, they can continue to do well.

*edit*

Even if you have to kennel her while you're gone, there are lots of places that will give insulin. Since feline diabetes is on the rise, many animal care workers know how and routinely give insulin shots.

Wow, what a tough decision! If it were me, I'd check with the vet to see if there's a once-a-day treatment you can use, or try to see if you could get another cat friend to come over at least some of the days to help out with the medicine. Or, you could also pay a cat-sitter if you live in an area that has that. Many of them will give medication.

See how she does with what you can do, and make your decision to give her up for adoption or put her to sleep based on her quality of life. If she's pretty happy and healthy now, you can still have her around until she can't enjoy her life anymore. Good luck!

The reason that those are the two options the vet gave you is that without the treatments the cat's life will be filled with illness, discomfort and even pain. If you are unable to provide the treatments that will prevent her from living a brief life filled with suffering before finally dying, let her go. She has given you love all this time. I know it is hard, but you owe her proper care, which includes a painless death when possible and needed.

Do you know how advanced the diabetes is? I advise trying to find her another home, as she could receive the attention & observation she needs. If you're lucky enough to have a friend or family willing to adopt her, I'd strongly encourage them to seek out more info about treatment. The Vet/Nutritionist who manages the site www.catinfo.org is Extremely experienced in this area. She has seen great progress & turnaround thru altered diet alone (No Dry Food! -It is overwhelmingly implicated in diabetes onset). Her site is informative, but she also does phone consultations (she's out of CA). If no family/friend available, I'd seek out an agency whose volunteers foster cats while caring for them & looking for good homes - look in ph. book or online. They will often give the extra special care ill kitties need. Bless you.

She has been with you for 12 years, that's wonderful. But it's probably time to put her down. If you cannot give the insulin to her as required and have no one that can come and do it, then its probably time to put her down.

Let me say this--this is not a deadly disease, it is diabetes! People manage it and we would not "put down" a person for it, would we? No way.

If you can't take care of the cat, it's understandable. But putting it to sleep for diabetes is not right. Please find an alternative.

You can try to find local friends & family who might be more willing & able to properly treat this cat, for the remainder of her life.

You should definitely look into other options like that, before considering euthanizing her.