We have a very special cat named Star. She was a stray that we took in, in July of 2000. She has had so many problems in her life. When the Vet gave her an x-ray he found that every bone in her back had once been broken or cracked. So we suspect that she had been abused. Because of this, she has a paralyzed tail, had prolapse of the rectum and needed two surgeries, and also doesn't have full control of her bladder and often gets crystals in her urine.
We recently took her for routine blood work and it came back that she may be Diabetic now. Her glucose level was 258. The Vet wants us to feed her this special food and go back in a month for more blood work to see if she will need insulin shots.
What makes this all even worse than it is, is that we lost our dog on October 21st of 2005. Our dog, Snowy, was also Diabetic and died from complications of this peacefully in her sleep on October 21st. Snowy was diagnosed with Diabetes in February of 2005. She needed insulin shots twice a day. Things got really bad at the end, she went blind and had so many problems due to the Diabetes.
Now it is like the nightmare is beginning again. We are still grieving Snowy and now we find out that Star probably has the same condition.
We are not sure exactly how old Star is. But we estimate that she is probably about 8 years old.
I read somewhere that Diabetic cats live a lot longer than Diabetic dogs. I was wondering if anyone knows if this is true. Or if anyone has any tips on Diabetes in cats.
Star has been through so much in her life, please pray for her. Please.
We are not ready to let another pet go.
Thank you so much,
Wendy

My only experiance of this is when my dog Jude was diagnosed with Diabetes

i tried and tried to get a urine sample - it was a joke and i gave up.

i decided (maybe it was intuition who knows) not to give her insulin but watch her diet and not let the old lady next door feed her any more buscuits.

Anyway nothing progressed and about a year later i took her back to the same vet and asked him to test her again to make sure she was ok, which he did and he said she was not diabetic

i dont think it can come and go can it? anyway thankfully i never started her on insulin as if i had she would have had to take it permenately.

I would advise you to get a second opinion and watch what she eats before hand, my understanding of a test i had to have myself is that something you ate upto six months ago can affect a diabetes test.

Then of course if you must you must but it suprised me the two results i had.

Love Sue

Thank you very much Sue.
I will definitely follow your advice and watch what she eats and then get her tested.
I did feed her a few hours before the test so maybe that affected it.
I will let you know what happens.
Thank you for all of the advice.
Love and prayers,
Wendy

If Star does prove to be diabetic, it can sometimes be successfully controlled with insulin shots. My sister has had a diabetic cat who has been on insulin now for 5 years and is doing pretty good. She also watches the cat's diet carefully.

As Sue said, have it rechecked by another vet if possible since they do make mistakes and there are occasionally false positives due to the diet.

Our best wishes for Star. She has had a rough life and is very lucky to have such a loving family now. She certainly deserves a good life after all she has been through.

Take care,
Ken Albin

Thank You Ken.
That is very reassuring to know that your sister's cat has had Diabetes for 5 years and is still doing well. That really gives me hope.
I guess we were in shock and maybe panicked because of what happened to Snowy. She died about 8 months after she was diagnosed with it. Of course Snowy was a dog and a lot older than Star. So we should take that into consideration.
We have to take her back in a few weeks for another test. If our Vet says she is Diabetic I think I will get a second opinion before giving her insulin.
Thank you for all of the great advice. I feel so much better.
You guys are great!!!
Thank You,
Love and Prayers,
Wendy