I'm back.

So almost 5 years to the date her brother, Rice, was diagnosed with diabetes, we find out Weetzie Bat has diabetes.

Weetzie is 17 years old, and a pretty sassy lady. She has early renal failure, which we've been keeping stable for the past 2 years. I said many times with Ricey that I was thankful it wasn't Weetzie because of her sassy nature. This diagnosis stomped on my heart so hard. Not only because we've been feeding Weetzie low carb food ever since Rice's diagnosis, so I felt like "Why???" But also because I also feared testing and administering insulin with her as she doesn't like to be held or fussed over and has an extra strong Spidey sense for my fear. Vet thinks some sort of pancreatic insufficiency must be genetic with her.

We are 3 days into her insulin and she's been pretty OK with me giving it to her. The testing wasn't really going well, but I read about clipnosis here and it seems to be working for her so far.

She is also opposite of her brother in that we brought him in because he was eating so much and losing weight, we brought her in because she hasn't been eating well at all. We assumed it was kidney issues, so imagine our surprise when the vet said diabetes. She still isn't eating well, but we are hoping when we get her blood sugar regulated she'll start to eat more.

Anyway, just wanted to say "hi" again and not that I'm glad to be back, but I am glad these boards exist. They were so helpful for me and Rice, and they're proving helpful once again for me and Weetzie.

 

Welcome back. Sorry for the repeat diagnosis, but your past experience will benefit Weetzie Bat, and you already know you will get help here.

 

Just an idea -- if she isn't eating well and some underlying pancreas issue is suspected, that could be making a dent in her appetite. Has she been checked for pancreatitis? Many cats (particularly old ones) have it, often without many symptoms. (My Quintus became diabetic following pancreatitis, and it seems to that dealing with the pancreatitis helped him get off insulin -- at least for the time being, fingers crossed.)

 

I will certainly ask the vet. They did a bunch of tests last week, but my mind started racing when I heard "diabetes" that I'm not sure if she said anything about pancreatitis.

She was just recently being treated for a UTI, we thought that may have had an effect on her appetite, but after two rounds of antibiotics, she still doesn't have a great appetite. Waiting on the urine culture to see if the infection is gone. She's also on pepcid, cerenia and mirtazapine with no luck.

Waiting for the vet to call me back today.