I've never had a diabetic cat, though I did do some research on the disease when one of my cats was erroneously diagnosed with diabetes. I found the link below to be extremely enlightening and encouraging during the brief period when I believed my boy was diabetic. I strongly recommend you read through the pages on that site, which is written by a veterinarian who specializes in treating and preventing feline diabetes.

Laurie

Here is a link that might be useful: Your Diabetic Cat

My mother's little bichon frise developed diabetes as she got older, and Yes, I often gave her insulin. It just becomes second nature and she did well with it. In fact, after she was diagnosed and on insulin, she felt and acted so much better. We got her insulin and syringes at the human druggist. It was so much cheaper there than through the vet and they were fine with that. It's just like with human diabetics. The key to control is consistency. Feed at the same time, same amount and don't be switching the food around. Be careful when activity levels change, or the pet gets sick. It affects insulin levels and blood sugars. We never monitered her dog at home, but the vet wanted to see her about once a month for a blood glucose and was satisfied if we kept hers around 130. Hypoglycemia is a concern (blood sugars falling too low) and a medical emergency, so you'll be educated on that and is why the vet wanted her blood sugars kept just on the high side of normal. You'll do fine after the first week or two and not give it a lot of thought.

Yep, get yourself to the Feline Diabetes message board - best online community ever!! You can learn so much about things like diy glucose testing and I ended up meeting so many people on that message board.

A few quick things that you should be thinking about asap - it's possible that your cat can be regulated simply by switching to a very low carb diet. By some estibmates up to 20% of diabetic cats can be regulated through diet alone! Much pet food is corn and grain based, and diabetes is skyrocketing in cats particularly because they (unlike dogs) are obligate carnivores, meaning they did not evolve to eat carbs, only miniscule amounts of grain and grass in the stomachs of their prey. It's like adult onset diabetes in humans - caused by diet, and can be fixed by diet. Look into this particularly if your cats glucose levels are not sky high but just too high to be healthy.

Also - you should know the needles are very fine and dont hurt the cat. I know becuase I tried one on me first before injecting the cat. It's only your restraining or handling of him that feels strange and he might pick up on your nervousness. Cats generall y soon learn that the shots make them feel better and its quite common for the cat to come and remind you at shot time that its time to give him a shot. My Basil used to do this all the time.

Many cats live long happy lives on insulin - good luck!

Thanks folks! Abby has no idea I am even poking him. He loves 'his" food and keeping him from the 3 other cats food has not been a problem. Re-training my Husband has not been so easy...he still thinks he needs to give Abner treats..we go for a blood test on Friday. This has not been as scarry as I thought it would be. His glucos was in the 400+range. His Tuesday appointment was fine and he was not dehydratd and as of today he is not peein outside of the box.

Hurrah!