sammy: first, you should rule out any medical issues with the cat, but it sounds like, because of its diabetes, it has been screened by the vet. Then I'd say that the cat waking your daughter up at night is due to the cat wanting attention. The cat has your daughter trained to wake up when it is feeling like it wants to play or have companionship. Each time your daughter gets up when the cat wakes it, it reinforces the behavior. Keep the cat out of the bedroom and tell your daughter not to respond to it at all. This should work after a few nights. As to costs, vet care is expensive. Shop around for vets and look into university clinics if you have one around you. Make sure your daughter is asking questions about what level of care is really necessary and what is simply being recommended as an option. Around here (the Midwest) a full blood screen for a cat is about $125.00. I have two cats. Good luck!

Stress can cause blood glucose to spike, so it is very important to minimize stress to a diabetic animal. Isolating the cat in a crate in a separate room will almost certainly stress the cat and negatively impact his health and blood glucose levels.

Remember that cats are noctural by nature, so increased activity at night is perfectly natural for him. If, however, his insistence on waking your daughter is a new behavior, she should have him checked by the vet. Cats only have just so many ways of telling us that they aren't feeling well, and this cat's insistence on nighttime company may be his way of telling your daughter that something's not right with him.

One of my cats was recently diagnosed with diabetes, and my housemate also happens to be diabetic, so I am well acquainted with the costs involved in managing this disease. Your daughter can save a great deal of money on blood tests by buying a blood glucose meter and testing supplies, and learning to test her cat's blood glucose at home. At home BG testing has the added benefit of allowing your daughter to more closely monitor her cat's BG levels and response to insulin doses. BG tests at the vet's office can often be extremely inaccurate because the stress of the trip to the vet's office can cause a cat's BG to spike way above normal levels.

When my cat was initially diagnosed with diabetes, I had taken him to the vet because he was in extreme pain from a urinary tract problem unrelated to diabetes. Not only was Noddy in extreme pain on his way to the vet, but the car ride itself terrified him for the 1+ hrs to the vet. When I had the vet run a diagnostic blood panel, Noddy's BG tested at 460, and the vet diagnosed diabetes and put him on insulin (and antibiotics for the urinary problem). A couple of weeks later, Noddy experienced two severe and dangerous bouts of hypoglycemia (BG 16 and 35 respectively) , and my vet took him off of insulin. I tested his BG here at home twice a day for several days, and his levels remained within normal range even without insulin.

One of two things had occurred with Noddy:

1) He was never diabetic to begin with, and his high BG at the time of diagnosis was the result of his extreme pain, stress, and probable urinary tract infection at that time.

2) He was diabetic but went into spontaneous remission, which is a known phenomenon in some diabetic cats. If a cat goes into spontaneous remission while receiving insulin, he will become hypoglycemic, which can be fatal if not caught and treated very quickly. This is another reason why at-home BG testing is a good idea. Your daughter will be able to monitor BG levels to make sure her cat is not receiving too much insulin and risking hypoglycemia.

Your daughter may even be able to acquire a BG meter and testing supplies through her local Freecycle group (http://www.freecycle.org/). She can read all about at home BG testing procedures on her cat at the link provided below.

All the best,

Laurie

Here is a link that might be useful: feline blood glucose testing

She does do the testing at home. She said the insulin price has gone up, and when she takes him to the Vet, the Vet wants to check out his whole body, not just the pancreas or parts affected by the diabetes.

The cat has had diabetes for years and years, but recently the price of insuling has more than doubled.

Thank you for your input.

Marita, I also live in the midwest, but she lives in California where things are so much higher. She cannot find Vets that will accept the cat without doing the expensive test.

Sammy

Has your daughter tested his BG when he wakes her up in the middle of the night? That might give a clue to his behavior if his BG is either high or low at those times.

Laurie

I do so much appreciate the suggestions here, but wonder if any of you have established routines or traditions that are helpful to controlling your cat.

Cats and dogs are quite different, I know, and I wanted to send my daughter some good suggestions. I don't really understand why the Vets insist on the complete blood test if she doesn't want it, and wish the medications were more reasonable.

Sammy

LOL! You weren't kidding when you said you don't know anything about cats! Cats can't be controlled. Cats are control freaks. That's one of the things we love about them - their independent natures.

That said, cats do like to adhere to a schedule, preferably of their own making (though they will follow to a manmade schedule within reason). Cats do not, however, appreciate change - any type of change - and may exhibit unwelcome behaviors when change is imposed upon them.

Cat caretakers learn to work around our cats' idiosyncrasies. We also have to become kitty psychologists, delving deeply into their psyches to try to unlock the mysteries of their behavior and devise strategies to correct the behaviors we find unacceptable. Matching wits with a feline is no easy task.

If your daughter determines that her cat's BG is not prompting his late night insistence on companionship, she can try a few tricks to hopefully keep him better satisfied overnight.

Playing with the cat vigorously for at least 30 mins right before bedtime may help tucker him out so he'll be willing to call it a night.

Leaving the TV on very low volume at night may give the cat enough visual and auditory stimulation to keep him happy.

Sprinkling catnip leaves in a little pile on the kitchen floor just before bedtime may help mellow him out.

Giving him a light meal right before bedtime should prevent him from waking her in the middle of the night to be fed.

Special "bedtime toys" that are put out only at night may help keep him occupied. Little fabric balls stuffed with catnip can be chased around without making too much noise.

In short, your daughter needs to try to divert her cat's attention away from her overnight without stressing him by locking him away in a crate. Even if the isolation of a crate or being placed in a separate room doesn't adversely affect his BG, it may promote undesirable behaviors like soiling outside of the litterbox. It's just never a good idea to upset a cat, even a perfectly healthy one.

Laurie

Laurie, she said that the night business is not as regular as I had thought. You have given me wonderful suggestions to pass on to her. Thanks.

Why would anyone want to have a cat? Cat owners say that about dog owners, I am sure. Cats are cute, but I am a dog lover, and that is good since I would have very high expectations of a cat.

SAmmy

I have both cats and dogs. I love all of my 4-legged kids, but I must admit that I feel a special connection with the cats. I enjoy their challenging natures and appreciate and understand their seemingly aloof attitudes. Perhaps it's just that my own psychological makeup is more catlike than doglike. I "get" cats. They are complex and fascinating creatures.

Most dogs, on the other hand, are about as complicated as a piece of white bread. They're easy companions - loving, devoted, usually eager to please, and very adaptable. They want to do things our way.

Even among the dogs, though, the individuals with whom I have the strongest connections are the most highly intelligent, independently thinking, challenging, alpha dogs.

The same holds true of horses, too. I always prefer to work with horses who are exceptionally intelligent and challenging.

I just love animals who make me think.

Laurie

Sammy,

I just reread your initial post, and for some inconceivable reason, I overlooked the most obvious fix for your daughter's problem. You titled this thread, "How do you train a cat?" when a more appropriate title would have been, "My daughter's cat has her trained!"

Remember, now, that cats are nocturnal - most active at night. Your daughter is sleeping at the same time her cat is genetically programmed to be the most active. He gets bored, wants company, and wakes her up. She responds by getting up and trying to figure out how to make him happy. He's gotten exactly what he wanted. She goes back to bed. He gets bored again and wakes her up again. She gets up and tries to make him happy again, and again he's gotten exactly what he wanted. He has trained your daughter exceptionally well!

If your daughter wants to convince her cat to stop waking her up at night, she has to stop giving him the payoff. No more getting out of bed to see what the cat wants. If the cat no longer gets the response he desires, he'll eventually quit trying. If your daughter is consistent about refusing to respond, and if she offers the other alternatives I suggested earlier, her boy will quit wasting his time trying to wake her up ... sooner or later.

A word of caution, though. Since her cat is diabetic, it's important that she wakes up enough to make sure he looks OK and isn't alerting her because he's in some sort of physical distress.

Laurie

"Why would anyone want to have a cat? Cat owners say that about dog owners, I am sure. Cats are cute, but I am a dog lover, and that is good since I would have very high expectations of a cat. "

I have both cats and dogs. Cats are not for the insecure :-)

And yes, your daughter is trained. She needs to make sure the cat is medically sound, and if so, simply ignore the night time shenanigans. Getting up is just reinforcing the game. I've had a diabetic cat and didn't find the insulin or syringes expensive, but perhaps things have changed. Your daughter could have the vet write prescriptions and take them to Walmart to be filled. I'm sure insulin is on their $4 list of generics. If the bloodwork seems too frequent, she needs to talk to the vet about the reasons for that. I don't recall having frequent bloodwork done for my diabetic cat, but that doesn't mean there isn't a good reason for it with your daughter's cat, and I did her regular monitoring weekly at home.

Laurie and Cynthia, thank you. It does look like the problem is her paying attention to the cat at night. Unfortunately, her cat is old enough that I don't know if she can change it now.

I will pass on to her the alternatives you suggested, Laurie. Cynthia, just recently they stopped making the insulin she used to use, and now the price has increased about 3 times what it used to be. Also she needs a prescription for the syringes, and that makes them more expensive.

Sammy

As often happens, our elderly cat was dehydrated because of kidney failure and required subcutaneous fluids. When we started giving those at home twice a week he was more comfortable and slept better at night.

We saved money by going to our local compounding pharmacist for supplies.

Sammy, I don't understand why the prescription for syringes should make them more expensive. If anything, a prescription allows your daughter to shop for the best available price on syringes. Unless her vet charges some outrageous amount just to write the script?

I think the prescription forces her to go to the Vet more often, then he wants to do a complete blood test. Keep in mind that my daughter loves her cats dearly, but is really stuck with the cost. She and her husband have completed graduate school, and have moved. The expenses have been quite high, and their dream jobs have not been awaiting them. Many expenses that they did not have before they moved are hurting them. I think that they were established with a Vet who was sympathetic to their plight of being students, and of being poor. Now in a new city, nobody cares, and the cost of providing for their cats when they have limited income is astronomical.

I have suggested to her that perhaps she could get more sympathy at a Farm Bureau Co-op or whatever it would be called in California, than at a local vet. At this time they don't even have a car, so they are stuck with what they can get near their home. I just don't hear about people being forced to spend so much for cats.

Sammy

Sammy, I am linking a page below that may be of assistance to your daughter.

Before she pursues those options, though, she really should sit down with her vet and frankly discuss her financial concerns. Her vet should be willing to write refills on scripts so that she doesn't have to go back to him for something as basic as insulin syringes. She should never feel "forced" or extorted to subject her cat to excessive testing. Of course it is a matter of veterinary responsibility for the vet to insist on tests necessary to insure the need of any script before he writes it. But if your daughter feels the testing is excessive, unnecessary, or simply doesn't understand its purpose, she really needs to discuss it with the vet. If the vet can not or will not explain things to her satisfaction, then she needs to find another vet within walking or cab distance.

Some locations are known to have much higher veterinary costs than others, and your daughter has unfortunately moved to an area where costs are apparently extremely high. She might be able to locate a lower-cost clinic through the animal shelters and rescues in her area. She might even inquire at her nearest Petco or other large pet store chain which sometimes offers in-store veterinary services.

Laurie

Here is a link that might be useful: vet assistance

Laurie, thank you so much for your suggestions. My daughter's cats are costing her too much, and she is new enough to the area where she lives, that she cannot ask around to see what others are doing. There is no way she can circumvent the Vet because of the diabetes, so maybe she can get some help in those links.

Sammy