Mila, the Diabetic Cat - Diagnosed for 1 yr, just starting insulin.

I've had a long, and tumultuous relationship with Feline Diabetes that reached a climax a few weeks ago, when I was told that my cat may be on death's door.

Mila is ~10 years old, I've had her for six. I adopted her from the SPCA because she had been there the longest out of any cat - 18 months!! She came right into my arms and from there it was true love.



A year ago, she showed the usual signs. Dropped weight, drinking rapidly, urinating all the time. I took her to the vet, suspecting diabetes, and he confirmed. Her sugar was 330 at the time. I was free-feeding dry food and switched to wet pate. the vet did NOT recommend insulin, stating that it was too low to start, and he wanted to stick to diet. I was given a glucose test machine and told to check her sugar regularly, and then down to semi-regularly.

Her sugar has gone up and down in that year but not dramatically; as low as 220 and as high as 390. 80% of the time it was between 300-350. Vet and I routinely discussed insulin, especially these past several months, even a once a day dose, and he stated that it wasn't necessary but I could start if I wanted to. I wanted her to gain weight, mostly (she went from 14lbs to 8 and then to 7). I continously passed on it even though I wanted to due to constrictions in my own finances.

Suddenly about a month ago, she stopped eating, was lethargic, lost further weight. This went on for about 2 weeks before going to the vet. Bloodwork indicated that her liver enzymes were raising steadily and he suspected cancer, or acute liver failure. Her sugar had climbed to 480, the highest it had ever been. I was set up with a veterinary specialist and told to count my days with her.

No liver failure, no cancer, nothing - just damage done to her body by diabetes running amok. Specialist told me I should have started insulin at diagnosis. Now she's been on insulin for a little less than half a week. Her sugar has gone up and down since then, but hasn't gone above 430. (it went from 298 to 430 to 320 in a few days, so i"m just riding the roller coaster...).

Right now, her appetite has returned BUT she's rejecting wet food. Everything from Friskies to Tiki Cat, pate to gravy. So to get her to eat something, I started out on garbage Friskies food (you know the kind...first 4 ingredients are corn), and have transitioned to Purina One dry kitten food (40% protein). Still not great I'm aware, but beforehand, but it's a stepping stone, and before she would go days and days without eating.

My next step is to transition to Dr. Elsey's dry Chicken so it's less guilt until I can get her to eat wet again. Does anyone have good reviews about this food? My calculations say it is about 6-7% carbs and high protein.

My goal for her is to gain weight and get her sugar under control. I'm very fortunate that her sugar, in this past year, has not skyrocketed to the 600 or 700 level. She's a tough girl. This is all a bit difficult for me because I live alone, I'm on a very tight budget due to my own health issues, but she is worth it.

Thank you for listening to my rant haha

 

Welcome to the board Mila's pet parent! My, my, poor Mila. I think it would be a very good idea for you to just copy your post and start a new thread in the Main Forum. I would really like to have as many eyes on this issue as possible, and this Welcome forum is just a "hello" and a starting point.
Get a signature set up telling us about Mila, here's a link to get that done: SIGNATURE
As soon as you can, also get the spreadsheet going. This is a fantastic tool for tracking when you shoot the insulin, how much, and the BG levels before shooting, as well as at different times of the day. It's going to help other members evaluate and give advice about how to help Mila. SPREADSHEET
There are some very knowledgeable and experienced members here, and the entire community is very caring. We are here to help.

 

Its really great food, my cats use it and so did bella till I started just giving him wet, but they all loved it
It's very upsetting that the vet didnt start ur cat on insulin sooner
Please let the people on here help u, they are awesome