My boy Tux

My sleek black guy Tux is an elder gentleman, 15 years old going on 16, and rather docile and placid (though still a cat -- his patience is not infinite and he's still pointy at five ends!). He mostly spends his days sleeping on his heated cat bed now, as a gentleman of girth (he's 15-16 pounds) wear and tear has made his bones ache a little, and so he bakes one side, then flips and bakes the other, repeat. So I got back from my after-Thanksgiving vacation and both litterboxes were soaked with urine. Which of course is totally wrong -- I'd put down two litterboxes out of habit, but one litterbox sufficed for Tux and his old buddy George (since departed) for a week.

Yep, took Tux to the vet last Wednesday, blood was drawn, and Tux was diagnosed with diabetes. Blood level of 485, sugar in the urine, the works. Everything else was normal, well, except the long-term glucose, which was moderately elevated (don't recall the exact number). So apparently this just came on over the course of the past six months or so and we caught it before there was any real damage to kidneys / retinas / etc., no idea why it chose now, I've been slowly bringing his weight down (he got up to 20 pounds during George's final illness, because I had to free-feed George due to decreased appetite during his illness), I would have thought it would have chosen earlier while he was still a 20 pound porker. (Shrug). Cats.

Vet has put him on 2U of Lantus twice a day, and his diet has been changed to an all-meat (no grain, no vegetable starch filler) diet, mostly Nutro Natural Choice because I had cans in the cabinet left over from George's final illness. It seems to be working. He's back to the normal cat urination cycle of 3 or 4 times a day. Meanwhile he's getting lots of hugs and cuddles for his twice a day feeding and poking, though he's such a good boy that now when I start tenting up his skin to inject him, he just flops down on the opposite side of where I'm tenting so I can poke him without interfering with his eating . Good boy! Such a good cat! (lots of scritches).

 

Welcome! I’m glad Tux is cooperating with his treatment, it makes it so much easier!!!

 

Welcome!

 

You came to the right place. If you have any questions, ask on the Health forum.

Are you doing home testing? It helps to keep kitties safe. We can help you with that.

 

Welcome to the forum. Tux is such a spoiled elder gentleman. What a wonderful life for him.

Yes that is definitely diabetes. Diabetes is one of the most well understood conditions (for humans and cats) of many illnesses. That's the good thing. We can help you with many things, dosing advice, testing, foods, and other related illnesses. With good care, Tux could be around for years to come.

 

Tux is old. Something's going to take him out sooner or later. His pal George was taken by bone cancer, a year after suffering a stroke due to a bad heart and undiagnosed thyroid disease (swiftly diagnosed and treated with anti-thyroid medicine, since doing the nuclear cat thing to a 16 year old cat wasn't happening). I'm just trying to make Tux's remaining lifespan as comfortable as possible, just as I did with George. I'm just glad that the daily routine of dealing with his diabetes seems more stressful to me than to him, I swear I can almost see him roll his eyes at me like a teenager when I'm fussing over him.

 

He's spoiled, and you are worried and fussing. Yep - exactly as it should be for a pet and their parent

Welcome to you both!