Hello @Shaz51 and others visiting the forum here. I’m so glad you started up this discussion thread @Shaz51 as I can see it’s been a much needed thread for forum users.
I’ve come here as I now have an interesting situation that has just recently occurred in my life regarding diabetes and mental health. I’ve just learnt as of Tuesday that my car Mitz is now a diabetic - she’s 7 and had to have an emergency vet visit and treatment on Monday night which resulted in her being diagnosed with ketoacidosis - aka DKA- along with pancreatitis and tricarditis. Believe me when I say my mental health has been on the slide since Monday night when she had to stay overnight in an emergency pet centre and then spend the last 2 days at our local vet getting treatment for all of her conditions, including getting her BGLs tested regularly and being put on insulin therapy with blood tests on top of all of this. Apparently diabetes is very common in cats but can also be very expensive to diagnose and treat. I’ve so far spent over $4000 in vet fees over the last 3 days on treatment with more expenses to come, such as specialised diabetic cat food at $50 a bag and buying her insulin and needles to go with her treatment. Just out of interest, the insulin required is the same as human insulin with Mitz requiring 2 units 2 times a day after breakfast and dinner. I’m lucky that my housemate is diabetic and understands the treatment of this as it’s very hard to get my head around and very stressful. I thought I was going to lose her on Tuesday night as she hadn’t eaten in 15 hours and that needed to change if she was going to stand a chance of any recovery. Luckily she chose to eat on Tuesday night at home and is slowly trying to make herself better, with daily vet visits and treatments. I now also have to learn how to inject her twice a day with insulin and how to test for ketones in her urine as well as anything else that goes along with dealing with a diabetic cat. What I do know is that I’m now having to board her with a vet nurse who has a cat boarding facility when I go away on my cruise next month to the Great Barrier Reef instead of with my sister as she can’t hand me this new medical care of Mitz.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that diabetes in humans is hard with everything that goes with the health condition and I admire everyone greatly for dealing with it everyday. I just didn’t expect to have to learn how to deal with diabetes in a cat and the expense it has had on my mental health. The good news is that we were told that cats can get rid of it so I’m hoping that Mitz had this happen to her. Fingers crossed!
Thanks very much for reading this post. I know it’s a little bit irrelevant as it doesn’t relate to humans but I just felt the need to put it up as a way of informing others and helping myself.
Take care.
Judi9877😊🌻
