Saturday, November 18, 2006


Since all of us go through the emotional and physical upheavals daily in dealing/living with Diabetes,
do any of you have pets that have this illness as well?
If so, are you treating your dog or cat with a basal injection of insulin (Lantus or Detemir) 1X Daily?
How do you go about testing your pet's glucose level and is it done more than 1-2X Daily?
Are you then covering any Hyperglycemia with short acting insulin and if so, what are the acceptable Glucose range in
These are some questions that I have been thinking about since dogs and cats do develop Diabetes.


Anonymous said...

Although I personally do not have an animal with diabetes, my neighbor did. The idea of managing diabetes in animals the way we attempt to do so in humans is largely non-existent since their lifespans are significantly shorter to begin with. Its impossible to test animals with any degree of frequency (although testing on the ear was the recommended manner). Also, animals' "normal" blood glucose differs from ours anyway.

Also, the issue of preventing so-called diabetes complications really doesn't happen either. I have never seen a dog or cat wear corrective eyeglasses, so preventing blindness, for example, really does not occur with any degree of regularity. I have also only heard of 1 cat on dialysis, and the animal did not even have diabetes. The fact is that most pet owners choose to euthanize their animals rather than force the animal to endure such a difficult treatment only to extend their lives by a few months. The expense alone make it prohibitive, and few animals will sit still for an hour while they are attached to a dialysis machine.

Having said that, my neighbor did say that she would adjust the animal's twice daily insulin dosage upwards slightly if the cat visited the litter box more frequently, but beyond that, there really was not much more to managing its condition.

BetterCell said...

Thank you for your response Scott. It is sad that there is a limited amount of flexibility involved regarding the care and treatment of animals with chronic disease.

cHoCoMiLkRoCkS said...

check out this site

BetterCell said...

Thankyou for the wonderful information you provided Chocomilkrocks. I did go to the Site and found that the photos as well as the step by step procedures in caring for a Cat with Diabetes were better and more informative than the advice given by most Vets. At least hers, comes from the Heart and not the cash register.
My cats and all animals deserve the best care possible for a number of reasons.
1. They were created before people came "on the scene".
2. They have rescued me numerous times from severe Hypoglycemia(Hypoglycemia Unawareness).
3. They do not care if you are unshaven or are wearing a dirty shirt.
4. They have saved people in Battles/War as well as within their own homes (Rescue Dogs and Cats).
5. They are able to communicate with you by their whole Being and Soul.
6. The List is Unending................

cHoCoMiLkRoCkS said...

Yeah it's a good site. how many cats do you have?

your list is so true.

and to answer your comment. read my latest entry :o)

BetterCell said...

I still have my three Cats......but only the Spirit of S....remains. Most of the time the Spirit of an Animal who you have bonded with and who has Passed is still Present, Felt and Powerful. They all continue to make sure that I eat something (and share w/them) when they "know"that my blood sugars are falling fast.

I find your Diet of interest. Basically Chocomilkrocks, it sounds to be made up of mostly Carboydrates. The fact that you are drinking large amounts of water might be having a positive effect (as well as your insulin) and exercise in keeping your blood sugars within acceptable levels. As we both know, all the above Variables are unpredictable and varies from person to person. If someone told me that by scratching my Earlobe I would achieve a 25 point drop in my blood sugar and I tried it and found that it worked.............Then that is what matters.

cHoCoMiLkRoCkS said...

cats are cool animals! my two are right pains though! one is on top of my computer screen now!

yeah i love the carbs. well i find it easier if i have carb with each meal.

but yeah so long as it works :)

Anonymous said...

I love carbs too. Unfortunately they don't love me and I've had to cut back tremendously on them since I was diagnosed with DT2 about 8 months ago.

Even this holiday I suffered as I made a healthy dinner, everyone ate and then we went to visit someone else...AND everyone but me ate again.

So obviously they weren't as satisfied as I thought with my carb free Thanksgiving meal...

So I just sat there drooling over everyone else's plate with mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc.,

Oh well, back to the original post.

I agree with Scott about animals shorter life span needing to be taken into account when considering any painful medical procedures...

My dog got kidney damage at 9 years old...and basically I managed to keep him alive about another 8 months or so (at a cost of anywhere from $5,000 to $7,000 over that period) through painful medical tests and other treatments...

I realize now that you have to weight the quality of their life as well...towards the last four months, he was too weak to even walk, so I just put papers down for him and moved his food/water dishes to his bed...he finally just refused to eat.

That was a difficult decision for me deciding to put him down, but at some point you have a responsibility to make the decision that an animal can't make...

If you are keeping an animal alive through painful treatments then I think you have to rethink the quality of their life and how much they'll have to go through...My dog used to shake uncontrollably everytime they came to take him for testing to test his kidney function, for instance, which towards the end was every visit about 4 weeks apart...

cHoCoMiLkRoCkS said...

i don't like meat, makes me gag, prehaps i'll try a protein shake?

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