Yep, he had just one shot. He was losing some hair on his face due to
suspected allergies, and the (substitute) vet gave him a steroid shot. I
don't know if it was prednisone or what type. I didn't take him in
myself and the internist vet pointed it out to me later.

Anyway, he was originally fine expect for the problem on his face, then
within 3 weeks he started soaking the litter box. I petted him one day
and felt his spine and realized we had a serious problem. The vet did
blood tests and found the diabetes -- and he had lost 3 pounds in 3 weeks.

I think the search you did was on site articles instead of asking people
on the message board. When I was on the board, there were quite a number
of active participants with cats with steroid-induced diabetes. I just
posted a message on it and will let you know how they answer.

I don't feel guilty about the shot, but sad that it happened. He may
have developed diabetes later in life, but this set it in motion faster.
He was only 10 or 11. He had a horrible 1st year with it, including
bouts of pancreatitus, but was in control the 2nd year. Unfortunately,
he died of cancer, but I wonder if that would have developed so soon
without his system being compromised by everything else going on.

Rhonda

dgk wrote:

One shot caused diabetes? That really doesn't sound right. I took a
quick look at the site you mentioned in a following post and two cases
mentioned developing diabetes after nine months of steroid use, not a
single shot. Maybe I was looking at the wrong area?

I guess the shot might have brought it to the front, but I just can't
see one shot causing such a shift in body functioning.

Quite a few members of my extended family have had various forms of
intestinal inflamatory disease, which have traditionally been treated
with cortisone (prednisone). One of the key points of steroid
treatment is that the body's natural production of steroids decreases
when external steroids are introduced, so it is important to taper off
the medication rather than stop suddenly in order to prevent a rebound
affect. The important point is that the cat is already producing
steroids, and that an injection is not suddenly adding something that
wasn't there before. It's just more of it.

If you're feeling bad that a prednisone shot caused the diabetes, I
think you're not guilty as charged. I'd bet that the diabetes was
already there.