


Diabetic Shock in a Cat

By Savannah Raine | Updated September 26, 2017

cat image by milemarsovac from Fotolia.com

Feline diabetes affects one in 400 cats, according to the Pawprints And Purrs Inc. website. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) occurs when a diabetic cat’s insulin level needs to be changed or if the cat gets too much insulin. The insulin triggers the cat’s body to continue producing glucose. This ultimately causes blood glucose levels to become dangerously low. The cat develops hypoglycemia (also known as insulin shock or diabetic shock). Hypoglycemia is life-threatening.





Prepare For Emergencies


Home Testing

Generally, home testing requires pricking the cat’s ear or paw pad and then analyzing the blood drop’s blood glucose level via a meter called a glucometer. “Advantages of home testing,” says the Feline Diabetes website, “include less stress to your cat, considerably decreased costs and time of monitoring compared to [veterinarian] visits, closer control of your cat’s blood glucose level by more frequent monitoring and possible avoidance of deadly hypoglycemic episodes.” You should discuss testing techniques and results with veterinarians before you change the amount of insulin you give to your cat.

Expert Insight

The Pawprints And Purrs Inc. website says, “A cat who has untreated diabetes will—sooner or later—become depressed, vomit, breathe more rapidly than normal, stop passing any urine at all, and will eventually go into a coma and die. If he gets too much insulin or doesn’t eat enough food, his blood sugar could dip [to] dangerously low levels (hypoglycemic shock), causing seizures and even death... Keep careful track of injections so that your cat doesn’t get a double dose... When in doubt, no insulin is better than too much.”

Photo Credits


Based in Ontario Canada and writing since 1984, Savannah Raine is a former investigative journalist and freelance magazine feature writer who operated her own publishing company until 1996. Raine holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto.
