A cat owner has melted hearts on social media after sharing her diabetic cat’s morning routine in a video that has since gone viral.
The post shared on TikTok in July under the username @ryercat shows the orange cat, called Rylie, getting his blood tested in the morning before being able to eat his breakfast.
His owner Melanie told Newsweek: “Rylie is 2 years old, and it all started out with rashes, hives, and red bumps in and around his ears and around his entire face including lips and whiskers. I took him to many different vets to get different opinions and to try to find answers to what the rashes were, but no one could diagnose him and said it was just some sort of allergies. This happened four to five months ago now.”
Getty Images
Melanie added: “The vets just kept prescribing him steroids, which then induced diabetes after we found out from bloodwork. He is now diabetic, and we have to give him insulin twice a day, as well as check his blood-sugar levels throughout the day. His rashes went away for a month or two, but, just recently, his rashes and inflammation came back.
“He has been to a dermatologist specialist as well, and we have ruled out several things it could be; however, still no answers,” Melanie said.
In the viral video, as Rylie wakes up and, like every day, demands his food, Melanie can be heard saying: “Good morning, do you want breakfast? We’ve got to test your blood first before we give you breakfast and insulin? OK? Good boy!”
As his owner checks his blood, Rylie can be seen fully complying, trusting that his owner knows best for him. Melanie can be heard saying: “You’re pretty high. You’re 432, which is equivalent to 24 mmol/l, which again is 24, and an average cat should be between 4.4 and 8.”
After Rylie’s blood check is done, it’s finally time for his breakfast, which consists of raw kangaroo and lamb meat, and some liver tonic that his owner adds to his food. Finally, after finishing his breakfast, Rylie gets his daily shot of insulin, before receiving a couple of treats as a reward for being such a good boy.
Melanie said that a lot more has happened to him since the clip: “He is currently hospitalized in the ICU for three days due to possibly going into DKA [diabetic ketoacidosis], which is fatal. The cost alone just for this is roughly $6,000 to $10,000.” Melanie added that she has started a GoFundMe campaign on her TikTok bio to help cover Rylie’s treatment expenses.
DKA is a medical emergency caused by severe complications of diabetes mellitus. Pet MD says it happens when a diabetic patient develops a secondary medical condition that places additional stress on the cells and the body.
Dr. Joanna Woodnutt, veterinarian and founder at Petlearnia, told Newsweek that feline diabetes can be hugely helped with diet, although she wouldn’t personally advise a raw-meat diet.
Woodnutt said: “Unlike dogs, who have to have insulin injections for life after a diabetes diagnosis, cats can go into remission if their diabetes is handled correctly, and a huge part of that is diet. Low-carb diets have been scientifically proven to help in cases of feline diabetes, as they cause less of a blood-sugar peak as they are digested. So, a high-protein, low-carb diet is definitely recommended for cats with diabetes.
“However, this doesn’t necessarily mean the diet should be raw, and personally I’d advise against it. Raw diets have a higher pathogen risk than cooked diets, and illness will destabilize diabetes,” Woodnutt added.
“Although some people think that raw is more digestible, this isn’t necessarily true—while some nutrients are digested more easily, others are not—and there are no scientifically proven benefits to raw diets in any cat, let alone cats with diabetes. Raw diets are often very high in fat, and cats with diabetes need weight management in order to reach remission.
“So, my recommendations when feeding a diabetic cat are to choose a high-protein, low-carb, moderate-fat diet. Wet food is also recommended. In these cases, pet parents could feed either a high-quality prescription diabetic diet or a home-cooked or commercial-cooked diet that meets the criteria,” Woodnutt said.
The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 1.4 million views and more than 202,200 likes on the platform.
One user, WhoThemCats, commented: “Oh my god he is such a well-mannered gentleman. didn’t even flinch.” And buckmoonmagick wrote: “I love how you show him everything you use first, keeping him in the loop, he’s the goodest boi & tell him I said pstpstpst!”
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.