Rachel Newton with Kramer, Kramer
Credit: Rachel Newton (2)
NEED TO KNOW
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Rachel Newton adopted her cat, Kramer, in 2020, and they’ve been inseparable ever since
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Kramer was diagnosed with diabetes in early 2026 after showing symptoms like excessive thirst, increased urination and weight loss
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Newton manages Kramer’s condition with insulin injections and a glucose monitor, telling PEOPLE he’s now back to his playful self
Rachel Newton adopted her cat, Kramer, in May 2020 from a rescue outside of Pittsburgh.
Kramer was one of the largest male cats from a semi-feral colony, but Newton took a chance on him, and now tells PEOPLE that “it absolutely paid off, we’re attached at the hip!”
For five years, everything went seamlessly, but in November 2025, Newton noticed that Kramer was extremely thirsty, constantly drinking water and urinating more than usual. When she called her vet, they reviewed Kramer’s bloodwork from that August, which appeared normal, but told her to keep an eye on him.
“By the end of January 2026, he was still peeing and drinking a lot and had a big appetite, and he had lost about 2 lbs in less than a month, which is very abnormal for a cat,” Newton, 28, recalls. “I called my vet, and she had me make an appointment ASAP.”
Kramer the cat
Credit: Rachel Newton
“I brought him in, and they ran some bloodwork and took a urine sample. His urine was normal, but his glucose came back really high (I think around 450),” she says. “Cats’ blood sugar can spike when they’re stressed, but he’s always stressed at the vet, and his glucose has never been high, which concerned my vet.”
Additional testing led to a diagnosis that Newton wasn’t fully prepared for.
“She then ran a fructosamine test to determine his average glucose over a given period. That also came back high, so that helped them determine it was in fact diabetes,” Newton shares.
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She shares that the vets were “incredibly kind and explanatory with the diagnosis.”
“It was obviously very upsetting and stressful to hear my cat had diabetes! Apparently, it’s very common in cats, especially when they’re older, neutered, overweight males (which Kramer is),” she says.
Kramer’s vets explained there were a couple of treatment options, including regular insulin injections and oral insulin, a relatively new option. Newton picked the injections for Kramer and says he’s “unbothered” by them.
Newton says that Kramer is now on Vetsulin — an intermediate-acting insulin used to manage diabetes mellitus in dogs and cats — and “gets an insulin injection every 12 hours, so twice a day.”
The vet also shaved off a patch of fur on Kramer’s upper back for “a Freestyle Libre monitor, which is actually a human glucose monitor.”
She explains that, “instead of pricking the ear for glucose readings, it connects to an app, and they can get readings every hour and see their glucose curve.”
“I have the app, and it will alert me if his sugar is too high or too low,” Newton shares.
“Since he was just diagnosed a month ago, my vet is using the readings to determine what his correct insulin dosage should be going forward,” she notes. “The monitor lasts about two weeks. Unfortunately, he did scratch his first one off, but he just got a new one, and they placed it on his side where he can’t scratch it!”
Kramer the cat
Credit: Rachel Newton
While Kramer only started taking insulin a few weeks ago, Newton shares that she’s noticed his water intake and urine output have decreased, and his appetite is back to normal. She’s happy to share that he’s adjusting well and is back to his “normal playful self.”
One thing she does want to stress is the “importance of keeping an eye on your pets.”
“My vet said it’s great that we caught his diabetes quickly, as most cat parents don’t notice anything until their cat is already in diabetic ketoacidosis,” she says. “You know your pet best, and if you notice something is off, make sure to call your vet!”
She understands that a diabetes diagnosis for a pet is “stressful” and “overwhelming at first,” but emphasizes that it is “very manageable.”
“We’ve gotten into a routine now, just make sure you have people who can help you out in case you have to go out of town or something,” she says. “There are affordable options for treatment, and if you have a good vet who can work with you on a treatment plan, you and your cat will do just fine.”
Read the original article on People
