Originally Posted by PersianKitty

I have one that is diabetic and one that has epilepsy. Both are managed well with meds. The diabetic cat is 10 years old and was diagnosed about 18 months ago.

My diabetic kitty gets an insulin shot twice a day. They are very easy to give. It took a while to get the dosage right. It meant checking his blood sugars several times over the course of 12 hours when we were tracking it. The blood sugar test for kitties uses the same little monitors as humans use. Only difference is where you get the spot of blood from. In a cat, it is from a vein that runs around their ear just inside of the edge. The vet showed me how to take it.

He has had some diabetic neuropathy in his hind legs because of it. Cats normally walk on their toes, but with the neuropathy in cats it effects the nerves in their hind legs (not the blood vessels as in humans). He walks more on his whole 'foot' from toe to the first joint back on his leg. He'd been like that for about a year and suddenly in the last few weeks I've noticed him almost back to walking normal.

Prognosis in diabetic cats is good as long as their blood sugar levels are kept in check and they receive proper checkups every few months.

PK