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  1. AnneMuskoka

    AnneMuskoka New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2018
    Bandit is a 7.75 year old DSH, a kitten my daughter rescued (his Mom was a feral cat that was hit on the road.) He was the only surviving kitten of a litter of 5, although 3 were found starving in an old barn nearby, he was the only one that pulled through. We fed him cat milk and my Jack Russell Terror adopted him. The vet called him a cog or dat because he growled and bit and weighed in at 18lbs at a year! My husband said Bandit was food-obsessed because he was starved when we found him. He is an "only" cat, was supposed to be re-homed, but I'm sure you can guess what happened next.
    He grew on us, and was pampered indoors (we always had indoor/outdoor cats) and ate any time he wanted...that ever so convenient Whiskas dry and handfuls of Temptations.
    He was an extremely clean cat. My daughters both adopted 2 dogs each last fall (3 puppies and one senior that came to visit) and suddenly I was finding puddles of pee around the house....at first only when the dogs visited then after. Naturally I figured the puppies produced the giant puddles (we called it pee parties) and then I figured my dog was re-marking the spots and then....I saw my cat go over and make a puddle so large it was inconceivable.
    At first I tried new litter, Dr. Elseys cat attract and of course the twice daily scooping. After all, this was new behaviour. After about 4 months of this behaviour (after all, I had no idea cats had diabetes), it was time to get the vet involved.
    Then I started to read threads that described the same symptoms, and I took him to the vet. My description gave the vet most of what she needed, confirmed by testing. His Blood glucose was 23.6 and no ketones were present.
    I also heard from a lot of friends that a great many pet-parents choose to put their kitty down because of the diagnosis, and that a great many more treat successfully at home and even achieve remission.
    My vet advised to start Lantus glargine right away and gave me instructions. We started at 2 units 2 times a day and transitioned to wet food over a couple of days. I transitioned my dog to wet also, once a day. I read labels on pet food and compared many different brands and sub-brands. We started with Purina Diabetic Management, went to Friskies pate (dabbled in Fancy Feast pate, which made him barf immediately) and now mostly use Presidents Choice Turkey and Giblets pate. We are up to 5 units 2X day and 3 small cans of wet food daily, and treats are either tuna (packed in water) or dried chicken breast.
    I'm a member of the feline diabetes support group on Facebook. I have the google spreadsheet to track his blood glucose and usually do curves on weekends.
    I am joining this group as I find I have questions that I'd like some opinions on with dosing and blood levels that are not appropriate for that group (as they are more complicated.)
    Thanks, and pretty much that's it in a nutshell!
     
    JeffJ likes this.
  2. Idjit's mom

    Idjit's mom Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2018
    Welcome to FDMB Anne and Bandit. I am so glad to read that you are home testing and helping keep Bandit safe. It would be helpful if you would create a signature so that pertinent information that you included in your post is available to members that will respond to your questions. The signature will display with each post and can be updated at any time. Please use this link to read about the signature and how to make it:
    http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/
    We also use spreadsheets to track doses and BG, and that information is here:
    http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/suggestions-tech-support-testing-area.6/

    There is a Lantus Forum and that's where you can ask questions about dosing and get some input from knowledgeable and experienced members. :cat:
     
    AnneMuskoka likes this.
  3. FurBabiesMama

    FurBabiesMama Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2017
  4. AnneMuskoka

    AnneMuskoka New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2018
    Thank you!!
     
  5. JanetNJ

    JanetNJ Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2016
    Welcome!
     
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