We have a saying about diabetes "It's usually not the diabetes that kills an animal, it's the inconvenience."
Controlling diabetes in animal is, in theory, not difficult. But it is rigorous and time consuming. A small amount of cases can be controlled by diet and oral medicines. The majority of cases will have to be treated with injectable insulin.

The first step is to take multiple blood tests to establish a blood sugar baseline. When insulin is started, more blood tests are used to determine the dose of insulin needed to best control the diabetes. After the dose is determined, a tightly controlled schedule of meals, insulin injections, and testing has to be followed on a daily basis. This necessary because when the insulin is given, the blood sugar drops and then slowly climbs during the day. The timing of the meals, shots, and tests are so that the blood sugar is evened out through the day, without it getting dangerously low or too high to be healthy.

Much of the success of the treatment rests both on the owner and on the individual animal. If the owner is will to follow the necessary routine they can have an animal that will lead a relatively healthy life. Of course some animals will tolerate the injections and blood test (performed with a lancet, just like human diabetics) better than others. Thus your personal assessment of the animal's demeanor will be a factor as well.

Good luck

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"Nothing expresses the brutal grandeur of rectal polyps and anal fistulae quite like the mother-tongue of Goethe."

Ask israphael:

Dear israphael,

My fawn has become uncontrollably randy in the last couple of weeks. I, myself, had my date cancel on me at the last minute. I was wondering if it would be, you know, too weird to, uh, give it the old...ahem...one, two, as it were.

Sincerely,

Big Ed of Big Ed's Tires

Honestly, though, what can be done for a older cat going deaf? One of my cat's is 17, and has basically lost all her hearing. A couple of months ago, she could still hear high tones, so if I whistled real loud, she'd perk up. But now, she doesn't even hear that.

Are there cat hearing aids? Or some medication or treatment for it? She's the sweetest thing.

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I ate a hooker half a bottle of knife.

Our vet said that daily testing would not be necessary. Instead, he said that we should watch for signs of lethargy. If she gets very lethargic, we are supposed to give her honey to get her blood sugar back up.

Is our vet a quack or his advice just an alternate theory on diabetic pet care?

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"And Wirthling isn't worth the paper he isn't printed on."

[quote]Our vet said that daily testing would not be necessary. Instead, he said that we should watch for signs of lethargy. If she gets very lethargic, we are supposed to give her honey to get her blood sugar back up.

Is our vet a quack or his advice just an alternate theory on diabetic pet care?[/quote]

I would go with the recommendations of your vet, he/she is far more familiar with with your cat.

There are many opinions on how often (and if) home blood testing should be performed. Some veterinarians do in in fact suggest on daily testing. That to me seems like overkill. Others suggest that if an animal's diabetes is well controlled there is little need for blood tests, save for periodic ones (approx. once a month) to determine if the dose is still correct. Others take a middle road and suggest testing once a week. These differing opinions represent different takes on how tightly blood sugar should be monitored. Considerations on how difficult the animal is to work with and how difficult it is to control a given case must be factored in. However, even in well controlled case, blood tests maybe needed to be performed for situations such as change in diet, change of insulin preparation being used, and illness.

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"Nothing expresses the brutal grandeur of rectal polyps and anal fistulae quite like the mother-tongue of Goethe."

Thanks, israphael.

Another question: To measure the cat's sugar levels, does one use the same kind of glucometer that human diabetics use?

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"And Wirthling isn't worth the paper he isn't printed on."

[quote]Thanks, israphael.

Another question: To measure the cat's sugar levels, does one use the same kind of glucometer that human diabetics use?[/quote]

Yes. Here is a site that gives an overview of home blood sugar testing.

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"Nothing expresses the brutal grandeur of rectal polyps and anal fistulae quite like the mother-tongue of Goethe."

Argh. I have enough trouble getting medicine down the cat's throat. When Henry was in kidney failure, the vet said if he got better (which he didn't), we might be able to take him home and maintain him for a while on subcutaneous fluids. And I'm thinking, I can barely remember to drink a glass of water now and then, and I'm gonna maintain the cat on subcutaneous fluids. Some people do it for a long time, though.

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What others say about boorite!

hey boofus...I can completely relate. Breezy The Hell cat just up and started dying at the end of September. By the time I got her to the vet the next morning at 7 am...she was already in the process of shutting down, her lungs had collapsed, so I had to put her to sleep. I didn't want to do an autopsy, I couldn't deal with it. But after researching her symptoms, she too appears to have died of renal failure.

She was 8...had the hairball thing going on since she was a Norwegian Forest Cat...but I too thought it was normal. She just seemed like she was settling into old age and getting slower. Then *poof*..all in one day..the vomiting..the hanging over the waterbowl..the loss of all motor functions. I felt like an idiot for not noticing a lot more of the symptoms sooner. I've held off getting another kitten yet though.

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Women are fisher's of men because we all know.... The small ones you throw back. The medium ones you eat. The large ones you mount.

It appears most people here have proper jobs like vets. Makes film critics seem a bit frivolous.

It appears most of us are unemployed - in America anyway.

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"Jelly-belly gigglin, dancin and a-wigglin, honey that's the way I am!" Janice the Muppet

[quote]Honestly, though, what can be done for a older cat going deaf? One of my cat's is 17, and has basically lost all her hearing. A couple of months ago, she could still hear high tones, so if I whistled real loud, she'd perk up. But now, she doesn't even hear that.

Are there cat hearing aids? Or some medication or treatment for it? She's the sweetest thing.[/quote] Any help on this, israphael?

I'm looking online, but with not much luck. I was looking for a veterinarian version of WebMD, so I tried a search for WebVD. Boy, what a can of worms that opened up.

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I ate a hooker half a bottle of knife.

[quote]Ask israphael:

Dear israphael,

My fawn has become uncontrollably randy in the last couple of weeks.[/quote]

Ed you know you can Miss Cleo anything. Let's look and see what the Tarot cards tell us. I see the One of Buttplugs. That means your fawn is seeing another man. She is seeing your podiatrist. But you know that already. You're just living in denial, you poor bastard.

I thought that was a good question, so I went looking up on the subject. What I got was a long list of possible causes but little to nothing in terms of treatment.

Because I've never seen your beastie and I know very little about him/her, I can't even begin to diagnose the problem. But, as you haven't mentioned other signs of neurological disease (circling, head pressing, etc.) or the fact that your cat enjoys listening to loud heavy metal music, I would venture a guess that old age is the likely cause. I am sure by now they have better diagnostics than I am familiar with. However it is most likely the only certain thing you will know after a round of expensive tests is that your cat is deaf.

As for practical advice I have very little. I hope your cat is an indoor cat as a deaf cat is at an disadvantage when dealing with car and dogs. Avoid startling your cat, as they might nip or scratch you if surprised. Approach it from the front, make sure he/she sees you or feels your footsteps before touching him/her.

I don't know of any hearing aids for animals, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. I sure someone out there is working on them as we speak. However, it is necessary to determine the type of deafness your animal has as it may not be amenable to treatment. Then again you have to consider the cost.

Not much help I'm afraid. Good luck with your elderly friend. I know what it is like, I once had a old blind cat that lived a long happy life.

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"Nothing expresses the brutal grandeur of rectal polyps and anal fistulae quite like the mother-tongue of Goethe."

Hi, Jael, glad to see you again, though I wish the topic were happier. I hope you adopt a cat or kitten soon.

This morning, I dropped off big cat Murray and kittens Pepper and Clovis at the vet for a week of boarding. I just about couldn't stand it. They were happy zipping around the apartment and lounging in the sunlight from the glass doors. Now they're going to be in kennels for a week.

I'm such a patsy for anything with paws.

Anyway, Murray got an interesting problem-- an abcess in his left front paw, right over where his thumb claw used to be. (His former owners apparently declawed him.) The dewclaw might have not been completely removed and a new, abnormal one might be growing in its place and causing an infection. Whee!

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What others say about boorite!

Next time you go away (and after my house is finished), I'd be happy to cat-sit for you. I would feed them and play with them and I wouldn't torture them very much...

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"And Wirthling isn't worth the paper he isn't printed on."

[quote]
Next time you go away (and after my house is finished), I'd be happy to cat-sit for you. I would feed them and play with them and I wouldn't torture them very much...[/quote]
Thanks! These cats are heavily into torture.

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What others say about boorite!

As for practical advice I have very little. I hope your cat is an indoor cat as a deaf cat is at an disadvantage when dealing with car and dogs. Avoid startling your cat, as they might nip or scratch you if surprised. Approach it from the front, make sure he/she sees you or feels your footsteps before touching him/her.

I don't know of any hearing aids for animals, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. I sure someone out there is working on them as we speak. However, it is necessary to determine the type of deafness your animal has as it may not be amenable to treatment. Then again you have to consider the cost.

Not much help I'm afraid. Good luck with your elderly friend. I know what it is like, I once had a old blind cat that lived a long happy life.
[/quote] Actually, that's very helpful. I was thinking there wasn't much I could do as far as treatment, either. It's just that it would be hard to live with myself if I find out in a couple of years that there was something I could have been doing for her all this time.

My kitty, Theresa, doesn't seem to give a damn. She's as happy as ever. (Maybe happier: the vacuum no longer bothers her. :) She is an inside cat, so no worries there. And even when I surprise her, she doesn't get nippy. Just not her nature.

The more I hear some of the unfortunate occurences and illnesses of everyone else's cats, the more grateful I feel about mine. My cat Morris lived 17 years before passing, my cat Theresa is 17 now, and my youngest cat, Baby, is ten years and going strong. (Knock on Spankling's wood.)

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I ate a hooker half a bottle of knife.

ouch ouch ouch

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"Jelly-belly gigglin, dancin and a-wigglin, honey that's the way I am!" Janice the Muppet