Maine Coon Cat Has Been Diagnosed With Cat Diabetes

A subscriber to a message board about horses writes that his brothers maine coon cat has been diagnosed with cat diabetes and he was wondering whether anyone else has gone through this experience:-

“My brother’s Maine Coon cat has diabetes (he’s about 8-10 years of age and was a rescue) – and I was wondering if anyone else has gone through this with their cat(s) and could share their experiences / advice. This is new for my brother and he’s pretty worried, despite excellent vet care. Thanks!”

Like most illnesses, cat diabetes is something people know very little about unless they suddenly come up against it, either because their own cat is diagnosed with it or someone close to them has a cat that is diagnosed with it.

The thing to remember is that cat diabetes is an illness that can be managed quite well provided a few simple rules are followed and in many cases can even be reversed. Initially it does require some effort to learn the routines, but these become quite straight forward after a while.

” although diabetes is a serious disease, it CAN be treated….Your brother should look up Dr.Elizabeth Hodgkins ESQ..and read all he can, diabetes can be rather simple to turn around. FIRST and foremost, take the cat off any dry food.

Regardless of what anyone says, the the veterinary formulated foods for this disease do not help the disease. This is a subject close to my heart. Your brother does not have to go through what I have seen many cats go through, THIS CAN BE HELPED!!!!!!! “

The above advice is worth its weight in GOLD! Diet, in my opinion is the most important factor. Like  the writer says, you need to get your cat off dry food and high carbohydrate wet food.

Cats have not evolved to eat high carbohydrate grain food…so why do we give it to them?? Cats are meat eaters and the diet you feed should be as close as possible to what they would eat in the wild.

“Many vets including the one’s I work with don’t want to open their minds to any other options other than what they think is correct”

If you vet does not seem to be focusing too much on diet then take my advice and change surgery.

It is also important to remember that even if this maine coon cat has been diagnosed with cat diabetes, a change of diet will eventually help but dependent upon how far down the illness has developed the cat will probably need daily insulin shots.

When the disease starts to reverse, the amount of insulin can be gradually reduced and this is best carried out with advice from a vet. Therefore it is important to work with a vet that you get along with and is not closed minded.