Hello from Nashville

Hello! I'm Petey'smom. Petey is my 8yr old domestic shorthair/manx mix. He's had a rough time in life, bless him! He was originally adopted from our local animal control center but was returned by his "owners" after 7 years later because he "took a swipe" at the new puppy they got......oh, Petey was declawed, too so you know he didn't hurt the puppy! Once he was returned, he was immediately deemed "unadoptable" because he weighed 24 pounds!! Big and fat!! So obviously, his diet was not a concern to the previous owners. He was taken by a local rescue agency and put on strict diet and exercise (a water treadmill) and lost over 6 lbs and was able to come home with me. We've had him about a year and I noticed him drinking too much and peeing too much and his back legs were getting so weak he couldn't climb into the litter box. So off to the vet we Diabetic neuropathy. Now, usually neuropathy doesn't start until the disease is well advanced but, he isn't even sick! Weird, even the vet didn't know why. But we have him on 2 units of vetsulin twice a day and he's done well so far. We've cut out dry food and he really doesn't love the pate style food but he does eat it so, I think we're ok on that front.
I won't lie, I was completely freaked out when the vet first told me. I didn't really know that much about diabetes in general and so I went to the internet...and found you guys!!! I have read everything I can get my hands on and I can't wait to read through all these threads!!

 

Welcome from another Nashvillian! You have found a great resource here. Keep reading as much as you can, and don't hesitate to ask lots of questions. It's pretty overwhelming at first, but there's tons of support and accumulated wisdom here. Wishing you and Petey the best!

 

Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as Friskies pates. see Cat Info for more info,
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir
- And home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion, Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!)