When Mark Winternheimer's 12 -year -old cat was diagnosed with diabetes last year, the treatment was discouraging: insulin injections twice a day, an implanted monitor and frequent visits to the veterinarian.
Despite his scruples, Winternheimer and his wife, Courtnee, from New Albany, Indiana, learned to apply their injections to Oliver.
"For us, they are part of the family," Winternheimer said about Oliver and her other two cats, she and Theo."One would not deny medical attention to another family member if available."
Now, a new pill that is taken once a day promises to facilitate the treatment of feline diabetes in newly diagnosed animals, without injections.
"A pill is a big step forward from a needle," said Dr. Audrey Cook, a veterinarian of cats at the Texas A & Amp University; m.
But there is a warning: the pill, called Bexacat, cannot be used in cats like Oliver, which had previously received insulin.
The greatest benefit can be the ease of use, according to experts.While many cat owners successfully treat their cats with insulin twice a day, sometimes for years, others battle.
The studies show that the owners sacrifice one in 10 cats to which diabetes were recently diagnosed.Another 10% of cats are sacrificed within a year, partly due to treatment difficulties.
“Some people are afraid to inject them insulin.Some do not have time to take care of their cats, ”said Dr. Catharine Scott-Moncrieff, a veterinarian from the University of Purdue that consulted Bexacat manufacturers about product tests.
The Department of Health and Sciences of The Associated Press receives support from the group of scientific and educational media from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
