Your Cat Has Been Diagnosed With Cat Diabetes

Your cat has been diagnosed with cat diabetes and your vet is recommending loads of tests, what do you do? Following on from my  article yesterday on in which I was amazed that a vet had appeared to misdiagnose cat diabetes, I today came across a posting from a cash strapped cat owner, who is asking whether all the tests recommended by the vet are really necessary for her cat who has just been diagnosed with cat diabetes.

“My 7 1/2 year old was just diagnosed with diabetes – tonight.  He is staying overnight at the vet’s office for an IV drip, and will hopefully be out in a day or two.  My vet is a very nice, helpful doctor, but he’s not the most reliable when it comes to costs.”

The owner is concerned because previously she had been persuaded into running a bunch of unrelated tests for her that ended in no diagnosis for her other cat. This time she had been forced to go to the same vet because the diabetic cat had taken a turn for the worse and it was the only one one that was open at the time and was close by.

The vet has diagnosed her cat with cat diabetes but is also recommending ultrasounds and x-rays. The cat is being kept in overnight on a drip and the owner is not quite sure what to do.

The implication here is that perhaps these tests are not quite necessary and the vet is trying to make money.  Possibly, but maybe if your cat has been diagnosed with cat diabetes there are some other reasons why he is recommending the tests.

I’d speak to the vet and quite openly inform him that there are financial constraints and ask whether these tests absolutely necessary or are they just a precaution. You normally find that once diabetic treatment is started, cats perk up pretty quickly so it should be easy to tell quite soon whether there are other conditions present that need to be investigated.

So the advice is unless there are specific reasons for the other tests, it is best to wait for the results of the insulin therapy. Then if cat diabetes is not the only problem and further investigations are required, you could search for a cheaper vet.

Additionally in order to keep ongoing costs down, learn how to take blood sugar levels at home.

 Your cat has been diagnosed with cat diabetes and are these tests necessary?

If your cat been diagnosed with cat diabetes, this may be a shock to your system, so remember that this is becoming more and more common and there are routine conventional drugs and therapies that can be used to treat and to a large extent normalise the cat’s life.

Of course there may be complications and other factors, so please don’t be afraid to discuss whatever treatment is recommended with your vet. If you do not receive adequate replies make a nuisance of yourself and if you still get no joy then change your vet.