Is It More Humane To Put A Fat Cat With Diabetes Down Or To Give It Insulin Shots Twice A Day?
Posted in Definition on 01. Mar, 2010
My cat Maggie was diagnosed a few months a go with diabetes; she is sluggish, and whenever she tries to get down from a high place she just kind of flumps down onto the floor. Help?
ask you vet – can she be helped bit insulin injections? Does she seem content and free from pain?
You are the onlyperson who can make the decision, based on what you see every day. Personally, I would let the cat live if she seems to be free from severe pain.
If your cat is not that old I would recommend giving it the shots. My mother in law’s dog had diabetes and she gave him insulin shots twice a day. They aren’t really in pain, its just like a human that ghas diabetes. I think that if you love the cat at all you will do anything to keep your cat alive. Once on the medicine the animal is like normal. I have 2 cats and if they just had diabetes I would do anything for them. I wouldn’t put the cat down, he or she could live a long life if you help it. Could you put your family down just because they had diabetes? Prolly not, so I hope that you do whatever you can for cat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A friend had two cats (brothers) who both had diabetes. Their insulin requirements were different, but regular visits with the vet (which can be expensive) were the only way to determine the correct course of action. I recommend that you check with your vet, and book an appointment for an assessment. Age, insulin needs, etc. all need to be evaluated and, hopefully, a regime can be found that will effectively treat the condition. Sometimes it just requires adjusting the levels of medication but, again, only the vet can determine this for sure.
Diabetes is NO reason to put a cat down. It is EASILY treatable. Give her the injections…it is not really a very stressful procedure. The needles are very tiny and if you do it correctly the cat will not even know it is getting a shot. If you want a pet that will never get sick…then you really should not be a pet owner.
Give it the insulin shots. Thats Humane!
my cat was a diabetic, and we gave him insulin shots for a while, but we realized he wasn’t getting any better and he was suffering, so we decided to put him down. i say if she is suffering to put her down.
I have a diabetic cat also, he is 14 and in pretty good health. He lost a lot of weight at the begining. He use to weigh 20 pounds. He now weighs 14 pounds. The vet told me I had 3 choices, the two you stated and to feed them when they tell you they are hungry. I have dry food out all the time, I also feed him the canned food when he tells me he is hungry. They will drink a lot of water and pee a lot. It has been 2-3 years now. He is still doing good. I figured I would make what time he had left a happy time. He gets whatever he wants. If he starts getting bad, I will put him down. I wouldn’t want him to suffer for my sake. Try to make it so you cat makes 2 smaller jumps to get to what it is she is trying to get to. Cat’s are the only know being on earth that can cure themselves on diabetes.
You said she was diagnosed, but have you gone ahead and gotten her on insulin?????
If you’re waiting, this disease causes cataracts which take the sight of the cat away, and their body gets extremely painful. Getting her regulated on insulin will bring her back to normal and she can live a normal life.
It didn’t take long at all for our cat to stabalize, and he’s on two shots a day, 2 units for each shot with Lantus. It comes to something like $20 a month in cost, I priced it out long term because the insulin is bought in batches and the syringes come in packs of 100. Possibly a little less than $20 a month actually.
The best thing I have researched for a cat with diabetes, is to order frozen raw food, and get a book on the subject. It is just as expensive as regular diet, only more time consuming.
But, I have heard MIRACLES happen to animal’s health when switched to a balanced raw food regimen-it seems like you love your cat-it’s be worth it to try both insulin and the raw food-you may be surprised to find that you cat will live longer, and may not need shots twice daily.
Good luck with your baby.
Would you kill a child/human just because they had diabetes? You should know the answer to that. It’s not fair to take the cats life away especially if it is a fairly simple treatment. Animals fight to survive so please don’t destroy her hope of survival. Besides you will get used to the shots in no time, and cats and dogs tend to get over shots quickly, just give her lots of love afterwards.
Your vet is the best person to devise both a diet program and a treatment program. I assume you love your cat, and want to do the best for her. A diet program takes patience, and requires a vet supervision for best results, especially when dealing with a diabetic cat. It can also be successful. Once you get the knack of insulin shots (and by that, it involves monitoring blood levels to set the dosage) things get rather routine.
(since this forum is unmoderated, expect to get some truly tasteless responses to your question.)
Treat the illness until the quality of life dips below a level that seems humane to you and your vet. Then the compassionate thing will be to put the animal down. Until then, have them treat you how to give the injections in the least painful way possible.
Make sure she’s on the right dosage of insulin – take her to the vet every few months and have them keep her over night and monitor her blood-sugar levels to check on that. If she’s getting the right dosage of insulin, she should feel pretty much fine (although still fat, so probably still a bit sluggish).
I just went through this about 6 months ago.
I was giving Chili her insulin 2 x a day.
I learned from my vet that cats are very hard to regulate
(insulin) and it sounds like your cat needs to have her insulin adjusted.
I ended up putting Chili to sleep- she was 10- one morning she was heaving around just like convulsions and I guess
it was just her time.
To be perfectly honest, I believe that within the year you’ll probably need to put her down, anyway, unless you go to
pretty great lengths with care and vet-assisted treatment.
It seems to me like diabetes is the beginning of the end.
My grandma has a housecat that was a stray she’s had for a few years. .it was diagnosed with diabetes and she gave it shots twice a day. If she was capable of doing it then. . maybe you should too. Besides Im pretty sure after about a month she went back to the vet & was able to quit having to give it those shots twice a day.
You have to decide how much pain her disease is causing her. If its more than less, and she will be living a life of pain, then I would without a doubt start thinking about euthanasia. Too many people hold on for too long, and you really have to consider what choice will make her happier.
Good Luck!