Monday, June 6, 2011

Diabetes in Cats-A Guest Blog By Heather Reynolds of Trupanion



Heather Reynolds is a pet lover and internet journalist at Trupanion, North America’s fastest growing pet insurance company. Trupanion offers 90% coverage of veterinary bills with no payout limits. Enrolled pets receive lifetime coverage for diagnostic tests, surgeries, and medications if they become sick or injured.

A report recently released by Banfield Pet Hospital found that there is a rise in diabetes among pets in America. Unfortunately, cats are the most affected. The study of 450,000 cats showed a 16% increase of the disease.

Diabetes occurs when the pet cannot control its blood sugar level. As with humans, there are two types. Type 1, also known as juvenile diabetes, is a chronic disease where the pancreas is unable to produce enough insulin to help control blood sugar levels. Type 2 is adult-onset diabetes and is non-insulin dependent. Dogs are more prone to Type 1 while cats are more prone to Type 2.

The main signs of diabetes are:

·         Excessive eating
·         Excessive drinking
·         Excessive urination
·         Weight loss

If you notice these symptoms in your cat, it’s important to visit the veterinarian. To determine if the cat is diabetic, the vet will conduct a medical history check, physical exam, blood count, blood glucose test, and urine analysis. If the tests come back positive, treatment will begin, which usually consists of long-term medication and regular vet visits for re-examination.

If diabetes is not treated, the results can be quite debilitating, including:

·         Organ failure
·         Urinary tract infections
·         Hormone disturbances
·         Weight loss
·         Cataracts
·         Blindness
·         Neuropathy

Neuropathy weakens the pet and can severely impact mobility, causing them to walk on the hocks of their back legs or wrists of their front legs. They will also often lie down more frequently, and will not be able to jump up and down like normal – potentially leading to injuries as they try.

Trupanion covers diabetes treatment as long as the pet had full policy coverage before the first signs or symptoms of the condition were noted.

34 comments:

  1. Mom notice the symptoms too, Look like almost normal but its not !
    I hope we all here are healthy and never ever get this evil diabetes !!!
    Love
    xoxo

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  2. Aunty Caren,
    My Mama says obesity means diabetes...so she's put us all on diet. Even svelte Angelina....sigh.... purrr....meow!

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  3. Thank you for a very informative blog on diabetes. We will print this off and keep it for future reference. Mummies friends kitty has diabetes, but with medication she is a happy, healthy kitty. Mummy says I have excessive eating, but she said that is because I am a piggy wig :)xx

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  4. Lots of information on feline diabetes and life-saving help and care from the thousands-strong community at felinediabetes.com, saving diabetic cats since 1996.

    Important note: Most diabetic cats can be saved and kept perfectly healthy at low expense, once their proper diet and insulin dose is determined. Don't give up!

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  5. @Mr.Puddy your Mom is very smart that she knows the symptoms, it is very important! xoxo

    @Steve and Jock thanks for stopping by and for sharing your info!

    @Princess Jasmine, I am glad that you liked this. Heather always does such a good job. Cody is a "piggy wig" too. He always has been! lol

    @Cat-from-Sydney, your Mom is very smart! Better to be pro-active and watch the diet first! xoxo

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  6. I know several kitties on Twitter that have it. The vet is watching my weight, and I've been told to lose a good pound in an effort to keep me from getting it. But diets are hard!

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  7. Thanks for the information! It's so important for us to know more about them so we can keep our pets healthy and we will be wealthy too(in the sense that we don't have to spend a lot of money on our pets' medical bills)
    A win-win situation : )

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  8. That is why we are trying to get a trimmer version of Ms.Rosie, I worry about this! Thanks for the great info!!

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  9. Pet Diabetes is rising... at an alarming rate.

    In this post I discuss 'why' ... it's regarding canines but applies even more to felines.

    http://www.diabetes-warrior.net/2010/11/07/fast-food-causing-canine-diabetes/

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  10. Dear Caren, this is a great post! Mommy is printing it and putting it with the other cat info.
    Kisses
    Nellie

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  11. Thanks for sharing such important information, you never know who will see it at just the right time!

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  12. I hope that doesn't happen to me. I already battle two diseases.

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  13. I had a diabetic kitty, he was diagnosed at 11 and lived to be 18! He was very good about his morning shot, I think he knew it made him better. And he enjoyed the treats afterwards, of course!

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  14. @Mario Oh I know diets are hard! I am supposed to be losing weight too! Mom doesn't feed me as often as I would like to eat and I am still fat, Love, Cody

    @Katnip Lounge that is wonderful news! If it is treated properly the kitties can live to be a ripe old age!

    @Admiral Hestorb I hope not too!

    @Brian yep! So true!! Heather is always right on it!

    @Nellie I am so glad your Mommy thought this was useful! That is good news! Thank your Mommy for the other comment on the Meme lol. You mean your Mommy and my Mommy are twins? Love, Cody

    @The Whiskeratti, you are welcome! Thanks to Heather!

    @Steve, thanks for stopping by, we appreciate it!

    @Bloggin, Rosie isn't fat, she's just fluffy!!! lol :)

    @Priscilla that is sooooooo true!!!!! Couldn't have said it better!

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  15. Merci pour ces précieuses informations , elles nous serons très utiles
    Pour toi : un prix sur mon blog
    http://leschatsdesacha.blogspot.com/2011/06/un-prix-cest-jour-de-fete.html
    Bonne semaine
    A++Sacha

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  16. Good article. Simple yet informative description of Diabetes. I have a 16 year old diabetic named Gus. The hardest part was the first year after diagnosis. We did weekly visis to the vets just to get the dose of insulin correct and get our cat stabilized. If the dose got to high, he would go into seizures....such a helpless and guilty feeling when it happens!!!!

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  17. So happy to hear that so many of you are keeping an eye on your kitties so that you can avoid this condition. Prevention in key! Always enjoy the discussion that goes on here. :)

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  18. Mom is always worried about that in us and so when Kirzon was loosing weight that is one thing the vet did check for - luckily he was ok this time and hopefully he will be in the future too!

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  19. Great information in this post! Thanks for letting us know the signs.

    Nubbin wiggles,
    Oskar (& Chloe & Moe too)

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  20. @Sacha, thanks for stopping by! I don't speak French but I have decided to assume that you left a nice comment! :)

    @Oskar thanks so much! Heather always does an amazing job! ((((hugs))))

    @Amy thank goodness Kirzon is ok!! Very happy to hear that. Thanks for stopping by I know you are super busy. I have to get over to your blog more often too! (((hugs)))

    @Heather THANK YOU and THANK YOU for yet ANOTHER amazing article full of information that is important to all of us!

    @Lisa thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your story about Gus. I can't imagine what that had to be like. You had to be terrified and I bet your heart was breaking. Since you mentioned that Gus was 16 when he was diagnosed and it took a year to straighten things out I am hopeful that Gus is now 17 or 18 or something? Amazing!!! (((((hugs))))

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  21. Thank you for the information! I did not know cats are the ones who are most affected. We need to watch our kids...being healthy is the best thing!!

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  22. Another great post Caren with informative information.

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  23. @Tamago you are most welcome! It is thanks to Heather once again! Yes! Being healthy is the best thing!!

    @Denise thank you my friend!!! Heather did a fabulous job!

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  24. Well, I am naturally quite svelte....too bad my Human cannot say the same, MOL!

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  25. We're all clear - thank goodness!

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  26. Love the photo of the little kitty.

    Thanks to Heather for the information about diabetes in cats. Cats can get so many illnesses that are the same as or similar to what we humans cat get.

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  27. Thanks for sharing these tips for what to look for! Mama says she will be watching sammy-Joe carefully. She noticed he was drinking a TON of water last night... but she wasn't sure if it was because he was thirsty, or because us doggies were upstairs and Sammy was drinking out of OUR water bowl. (He has his own water bowl in his fort, and he doesn't seem to chug the water from there, but when he sneaks out to drink OUR water, he practically needs a straw to slurp it up!)

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  28. Very informative post. I wonder...is the onset of type two linked to obesity as it in humans?

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  29. thanks all for everyone's input!

    @Trixie etc...Cody does EXACTLY what Sammy-Joe does. He will NOT drink out of his own bowl and will only drink out of Dakota's. He waits til Dakota isn't around then he drinks it like crazy just like Sammy-Joe! I don't think you have to worry!

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  30. Thank You very much for this information...

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  31. Explained in Simple words, Will observe the above mentioned characteristics with my pets.

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  32. Excellent and informative post. My beautiful cat Sandy has had diabetes for 5 years now (she is 15) and she is still going strong. Seems feline diabetes is on the increase here in the UK too

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