The story of Khannie the cat and information about feline diabetes

Oct 28, 2022

Khannie Was Diagnosed 6 Months Ago (Spring 2022), A Few Days After Starting Insulin She Became Super Sick From An Unbreakable Very High Fever And Nearly Died. Being Diabetic And On Insulin Makes You Immunocompromised, The Doctor Couldn't Figure Out What Made Her Sick And Treatment Was Hardly Helping. Extreme Home Care And Monitoring For A Week Helped Get Her Better, But I Was Terrified To Leave Her Alone Because So Many Times I Thought I Would Leave The Room Or Fall Asleep And Wake Up To A Dead Cat. She Had Complications In The Beginning And Her Recovery Was Slow In The First Month, But She Turned Around When We Got Her Bg Stabilized And She Gained Weight Back To Normal, Her Energy And Demeanor Improved Greatly. She Takes Her Insulin Like Nothing, And While She May Never Go Into Remission, Being Regimentary With The Lifestyle Change And Treatment, She Will Be Able To Live A Long And Happy Life.

Pet Parent- Jen

About Feline Diabetes

Diabetes Mellitus is a condition in which the body cannot properly produce or respond to the hormone insulin. This results in elevated levels of the sugar glucose in the blood, which is the main source of energy for the body. Like the human body, the cells in a cat’s body need sugar in the form of glucose for energy. However, glucose in the blood requires insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, to “unlock” the door to cells. Insulin attaches to cells and signals when the time is right to absorb glucose. By absorbing glucose, cells in fat deposits, the liver, and the muscles get vital fuel while lowering levels of glucose in the blood.

In Type I diabetes, blood glucose concentrations are high because of a decrease in insulin production. In Type II diabetes, glucose levels are high because cells in the body do not respond appropriately to insulin. In both Type I and Type II diabetes, cells cannot access the nutrients they need even though there is plenty of sugar in the blood, because insulin can’t transport the sugar from the bloodstream into the cells that need it.

Cats with diabetes most commonly suffer from the Type II form of the disease. It is estimated that between 0.2 % and 1 % of cats will be diagnosed with diabetes during their lifetime.

* Sourced from the following: https://bit.ly/333yVlp