Cat Has Chronic Renal Failure And Is Now Diagnosed With Cat Diabetes
An owner whose cat has chronic renal failure and is now diagnosed with cat diabetes is asking about what diet to give to the cat. Her research indicates that she should be considering a low carbohydrate diet for the diabetes but her current kidney diet appears to be high in carbohydrates. The cat is twenty years old and is on a number of drugs and supplements ans is quite obviously struggling during the day. The owner suspects that it is time for her to say goodbye to her beloved cat but as long as she is still able to sit in her lap and purr it’s very hard for her to make that decision.
The owner writes:-
“I’m kind of freaking out here because poor old Lucy is so old and has so many health problems that it is very hard to decide if or when it would be the kindest thing to let her go.
She will be 20 at the end of this month and I’ve been treating her for CRF with fluids and diet for about 2 years now. She also has low potassium and needs potassium pills every day to combat that.
She has such bad arthritis that it is difficult at this point to figure out how much of her mobility problems can be attributed to the arthritis and how much may stem from the very recently diagnosed diabetes (only diagnosed 2 days ago).
She was put on steroids last summer–minimal dosage possible–when she stopped eating as a last resort in an attempt to get her to eat again. That may or may not have contributed to her diabetes.
Part of the routine for her medications was to hand feed her some dry cat food every morning before she got her potassium pill because she had to have food in her stomach for that medication.
Our vet prescribed insulin (1 unit Lantus once daily) for first 3 days and tomorrow I’m supposed to test her urine (by putting glucotest in her litter box) and go to twice daily if she has elevated sugar in her urine.
He has not suggested home testing of her blood with glucometer–probably because he feels that we are walking a fine line between trying to keep her going and giving her some quality of life in her remaining days.
She is presently getting potassium pill every morning, steroid drops every other day, sub-Q fluids every 3-4 days, and Baytril pills every day for another week (UTI) plus the insulin injections.
She is not very mobile but still makes it to the litter box and the food bowl. She does still enjoy being flea combed and purrs away when I sit her in my lap and comb her. I suspect that it is time for me to say goodbye but as long as she is still able to sit in my lap and purr it’s very hard to make that decision.
Although sometimes I suspect she is purring to make ME feel better!! She is the most wonderful cat in the world and I’m lucky to have had her for as long as I have.”
Cat has chroinc renal failure and is now diagnosed with cat diabetes
There is some superb advice and some great links in the thread. The good news is that there are commercial diets that can be used to treat a cat that has chronic renal failure and is now diagnosed with cat diabetes. The secret appears to be a low carbohydrate and potassium diet. It also depends upon the severity of the chronic renal failure of course. In addition the owner needs to learn to test the cats blood sugar levels at home. Good monitoring and good care should ensure that this cat is able to live as comfortably as is possible.
