Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Our World - Feline diabetes

In August we noticed that our cat Buster was drinking a lot more water than usual. His back legs were also splaying outward as he walked, like his back legs were on something slippery. So a trip to the vet was scheduled. The vet took one look and said he wanted to check his glucose levels. Turns out it was high. Feline diabetes seems to affect the nerves in the hips, making for the unusual walk. So now he gets a twice daily dose of insulin - the same kind people with diabetes use, just a much smaller dose. And he is on a special feline diet. Buster seems to be feeling better and the vet said the problem with the back legs usually gets better in time.


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous looking cat. Glad you caught the diabetes in time.

Arija said...

Poor kitty, does he understand about the shots? Not very pleasant when you don't know what is going on.
Such a lovely kitty cat too.

Penelope Notes said...

What lovely blue eyes your cat has and lucky to have you as caregivers. I don’t envy you trying to maintain the insulin doses as pets can be wary of such things. Hope Buster's stride improves over time.

Sylvia K said...

Such a beautiful cat, Lew! Hope he gets better quickly! What would we do without our four-legged friends?? Hope you both have a great day!

Sylvia

Marie said...

I did not know that animals could have diabetes. Good luck to her. She is such a beautiful cat.

genie said...

Oh, my goodness....this is amazing. Poor kitty. I have never heard of a diabetic cat, but there are more and more diabetic middle school students at my school each year....most of them overweight. Kitty does not appear to have that particular problem. Have a feeling this is an expensive illness...sin the future we are all going to have to consider taking our health insurance on our animals at birth. Our vet bills are out the ceiling. Thanks goodness you had a good vet who caught it. Hope he/she continues to improve. genie

eileeninmd said...

I am happy Buster is feeling better. It is sad to see he has to take insulin but if it makes him better that is the important thing. I hope you have a great day, Lew!

betty-NZ said...

It's wonderful that they could help Buster. I'm sure he's glad, too.