Diabetic Cat
Answered by: Kerry Hackett
Question from: Penny Thomas
Posted on: May 27, 2007

I have an 11 year old cat who was just diagnosed as a diabetic. I have not started insulin because we are gone alot from home and asking someone else to give her an injection is impossible. However, someone else giving her a pill or liquid might be okay. So my question is: are there any herbs that lower the glucose levels in cats? I have found a few online but wonder if they really work? I have started her on food from the vets for diabetes and it seems to have helped abit.

To start, please see the posting on this website (www.richters.com) entitled, "Cat and Diabetes". Diabetes is often highly influenced by diet so this would be a good area to begin. Please see the work of Richard Pitcairn, "Natural Health for Dogs and Cats", "The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat" and "Cats Naturally" by Juliette de Bairacli Levy and "The Barf Diet" by Ian Billinghurst for further information and recipes.

I cannot comment on the online products you mention as I do not know what they are nor their history of efficacy in cats. There are herbs that have an effect on blood glucose levels but working with them requires a fair bit of time and attention in dosing and monitoring blood sugar. Given you are not home very much, you might want to start by reading the books mentioned above to have a better idea of what is involved in the best health care for your adopted cat and follow that with changing her food (gradually) to a good, homemade diet as described by these same books. You may find Dr. Pitcairn’s book especially useful in this regard.

Back to | Q & A Index

Copyright © 1997-2024 Otto Richter and Sons Limited. All rights reserved.