My cat was meant to have dental surgery today but the vet called me & said her glucose levels were sky high & that this could be a sign of diabetes. She said did I want to proceed with the surgery or postpone it & get her tested for diabetes. For my cats sake I chose to find out so now have to wait a week for the results & go from there.
The only good thing was everything else was fine with her & for a 9 yr old that's great. I'm so worried now though all I can think about is "my cat has diabetes" & how terrible it is. I just don't want her to be ill & I'm also worried about the cost of medication Eve though I do have insurance but they prob wouldn't even pay out.

No one got a diabetic cat then?

What level of insurance have you got? Have you checked the policy to see if it is covered?

Check if you've got Lifetime cover and if you have any annual limits (mine is limited to £5000 per year per condition for life).

I had an asthmatic cat and once she was diagnosed the insurance company covered the costs in full (she had a check every 3 months and a prescription every month and they even paid for the diagnostic costs) for the rest of her life (still miss you lil one RIP). We just had to pay our excess once every year, the premium didnt even increase too dramatically).

Give them a ring, you may be pleasantly surprised.

In terms of the diabetes, I believe its perfectly treatable and the treatment is quite effective and doesn't affect quality of life or life expectancy.

Good Luck to you and kitty.

Rest assured you've done the right thing by getting her tested.

I'm with argos & I think she has gold cover. I think it would only cover for 12months not life. Though even that would be better than nothing. I've never made a claim in all the 9yrs I've had her.

I would ring them and check, although their website does seem to say its only for 12 months. It really shows the benefit in paying the extra to get lifetime cover.

Diabetes can be treated and managed via diet in which case its possible you might not need to shell out for pills/injections (fingers crossed) and your 12 months insurance may well cover diagnosis and initial treatment to get it under control and managed.

There are insurance companies that cover pre existing conditions - at a premium - but I think most of them only take the risk on if kitty has been symptom free for 12 or 24 months.

Anyone know about the actual monthly cost after initial diagnosis? That's what I'm most worried about. It being £100s. I do have a job but my wage is up & down all the time. Just scared I'll find it hard. Also I'm worried about comitting to injecting her twice a day at the same time. How can I do this when I have work? I start different times on weekends too & can finish different times depending on workload etc. I'm just absolutely terrified that I won't be able to manage caing for her no matter how much I want to. Any advice would be great.

Without the diagnosis its impossible to say, your vet will discuss treatment options with you

http://www.felinediabetes.com/

Seems to have some info which might set your mind at rest OP

My cat was diagnosed with diabetes recently, like you I was really worried about having to inject him twice a day. I have been injecting him for 10 days now and I must say it is nowhere near as difficult as I feared it would be. Unfortunately though, the correct level of insulin required to control his diabetes has not been reached yet. The amount of insulin required varies for each individual animal. Giving too much insulin is dangerous so they start you off on a very low dose and you have to keep testing the cat's urine for the glucose level to see if the insulin you are giving has lowered the amount of glucose present in the urine.

When I first started injecting him I was told to give him just one unit of insulin, it didn't alter the result of the urine test so the vet told me to increase it to three units, still no change so was told to increase it to five units, which is what he is on at the moment, if when I test his urine tomorrow morning the glucose level is still high then I have to increase it to six units.

It is a bit frustrating that the poor old boy has been getting injections for 10 days and still the diabetes is uncontrolled. However, it is very important that not too much insulin is given, that is why they start you off on a very low dose and gradually increase it until the right level is reached to control the diabetes.

As for the monthly cost, not all vet practices charge the same but it shouldn't cost you in the 100's, if it does I would change my vet if I were you.
I can tell you what I had to pay for everything I needed for the first month..

For a months supply of needles/syringes, testing strips, sharpsguard container and insulin it cost me £40.

It really isn't as bad as you think...I hope I have managed to put your mind at rest a bit.

Thank you for replying. Hope your cat is gonna do ok I think I'm just overwhelmed by it all. I've never had any health issues with my cat before but now she's getting older I guess I have to face up to it. I think once I know & have spoken properly to the vets & sorted it all out I will be fine.

I missed a phonecall earlier & they said they'd call back & they haven't & now I'm even more worried . Why can't they just leave a message saying either way. I'm scared now there's something else she wants to talk to me about. Hate this waiting. My heart raced just calling them back & waiting for a phonecall all afternoon. Don't know how I will actually deal with hearing something bad no matter how prepared I feel

Any news, OP? Btw if your cat is diabetic and the insurance company will only cover the first 12 months, have a look online to see if you can get insulin etc cheaper than you would from the vet. I've saved a fortune in the past by paying for a prescription from the vet then buying medication online.

No still not heard a thing still so stressed over it all. I need to know so I can move on either way but part of me just doesn't want to hear she is. I've looked online for insulin costs & needles etc but I don't have a clue how much it's gonna cost me each month right now.

What was the call on Saturday about?

Did they call you back as promised? If not did you call them?

I got a call this morning and she doesn't have diabetes & everything is ok I'm so happy and relieved but obv still thinking she could get this in the future but for now she's good

Good news indeed

My cat recently had a suspected hernia, when I got the call saying she hadn't it was a huge relief!

Can't believe sometimes the stress these bundles of fur put us through. They ain't got a clue have they. But I'm gonna look into upping her insurance cover & trying to save a bit more money for her future care cos money was my main worry esp long term

Definitely look for lifetime cover, its well worth the extra premiums.

Check out Animal Friends Insurance, that's who I use and they were absolutely fantastic dealing with our little asthmatic cat (RIP little one &#128546. Very reasonable prices and have the bonus of being 100% ethical - all of their profits are donated to animal charities.