Hi, is Buster a dog or a cat? I am sorry he went blind. We have a cat who was diagnosed with diabetes last month, she also gets injections (PZI insulin) twice daily. She has stabilized, no more glucose in the urine, and her blood tests are very good.

Buster is our dog. He's been stabilized for a long time now. He does really well considering this illness. He still loves to play.

How did you find out your cat had diabetes?

With Buster we noticed that he was drinking a lot of water and I mean a lot of water. He was having a lot of wetting accidents in the house. He would be asleep on the floor belly up and start to urinate and wouldn't even wake up. I thought he was starting to lose his mind. Then I noticed when I would give him a bath to clean him up his fur would be really sticky where he had wet himself.
When I took him to the vet he ran some tests and told me that it was a kidney infection. I questioned him then about diabetes and he told me no that it was just a kidney infection. This was on a Monday and he wouldn't have the test results in until Thursday. So I took him home. That Thursday I called and called and no test results. Friday morning I was getting ready to go to work and Buster couldn't even lift his head up, he was throwing up blood and really unresponsive. So I ran him to a different vet and she immediately ran a blood and urine panel and found that his glucose was in the 400's and started him on an IV and gave him insulin. It took about 5 hours before we noticed a difference. Ever since that day he gets two shots. Over the years the amounts have gone up. When we first started he received 1/2 unit in the morning and one full in the evening. Now it's 5 1/2 morning and night. He's a little poodle that is our baby. The year we got him was the same year we found out we couldn't have kids so he kind of became our baby.
This was just devastating but now that we have adjusting we do just fine.

Our cat has had asthma for years, and required regular steroid shots. We were told that this increased her diabetes risk, but not by much. She always drank a lot due to the steroid shots, so that wasn't a red flag to us. But I suddenly noticed that she walked as though she was losing strength in her rear legs. I took her to the vet right away, and they diagnosed her with diabetes after 2 blood tests and a urine test. I guess the weakness is called "diabetic neuropathy". It should reverse after a few months of insulin regulation. She gets one unit in the morning, one at night. We had her on one unit a day, but it did not regulate her very well.

Do dogs go into remission? I am on a feline diabetes forum, and many of the cats have gone into remission after weeks or months of insulin injections.

I was afraid of giving the injections, but after doing them a few times, there's nothing to them. It does not even bother me anymore. Having to give shots every 12 hours is a bit tricky, but we aren't party animals anyway, so that helps. :o)

He's had diabetes for 4 and 1/2 years. As far as I know they don't go into remission. It's gradually gotten worse over the years.

We give him his shot at 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. We have to be consistant and right on time. We have learned tips and tricks over the years to make it easier.
We have also gotten to be pro's at giving him his shot. I can go in when he's sound asleep and give him his shot without even waking him. :0)

We struggle off and on with constipation which is a common side effect with diabetes. We have learn green beans are a natural stimulant. Plus he love them.

He can not have any beef or pork. He's on a strict diet and I have to really watch that no one "sneaks" him a treat. My FIL did this one time with a bite of honey glazed jerky and I had to start him on an IV to get the sugar out of his system. He thought he was just giving him a small treat and it almost killed him.

It gets easier and you get over the initial shock. I remember feeling so guilty when he was first diagnosed. I thought it was something we did. I have a ton of books on canine diabetes and have read everything I can get my hands on over the internet. Mostly it because of the breed but some had to do with his diet.

We were told shortly after he lost his eye sight that they might have to remove his eyes completely because the pressure sometimes can cause severe headaches that can cripple them. We have been really lucky and have never had this problem. That would of been the end of us. He used to have the cutest little brown eyes. Now they are a solid milky white.

Please keep in touch and let me know how things are going. When this happened to us we didn't know anyone else that had these issues and I just remember feeling so afraid and alone.

Take care and let me know how things are going.