Chris & China (GA)
Member Since 2013
Yesterday's condo
Yeah! Back in the lagoon at +6..now stay there China baby!
1 year ago today, we got the diagnosis of diabetes. It was a Friday afternoon..3:30pm. China weighed 8.8lbs and her BG was 447. The vet couldn't get a urine and wanted to check for ketones, and since the next morning was "shot clinic" (special price on routine shots that day) I was planning on bringing the drooler anyway, so I had him keep her overnight to try for the urine and would pick her up the next morning.
I spent the entire night online, looking for information so when I returned in the morning, I'd know what to ask, what to listen to and what NOT to. Every search I did lead me to the FDMB so I signed up and started reading. Learned that everything I thought I knew about feline nutrition was bunk, and that the first thing I needed to do was get her onto canned, which also meant switching the household over to canned too. I was very lucky in that all my cats thought they'd won the lottery when the canned food came out! I don't know what I would have done if I'd had cats that refused to consider canned food edible!!
Of course the vet told me to put her on W/D dry, that "insulin was a hassle and if he could keep her in the 300's he'd be happy" and when I asked about what I'd learned, got one of his "eye rolls" and him saying (in a most condescending voice) "oh yes, Christine, this is the very first diabetic cat I've EVER seen in my 50 years of practice", so I knew it'd do no good to argue.
Was told to switch to the W/D and bring her back in a week for another test...haven't been back since (and to show you how much they REALLY care, have never received a call asking how she was doing either)
So we were on our own for awhile. Tried calling several other vets over the next few weeks and most of them were equally un-educated. No, I didn't need to buy the W/D dry, but yes, they had dry that would be fine and they just so happen to have some there to sell me!! (yeah, right)....kept calling....Don't ever listen to people on the internet! They'll kill your cat!! (she seems to be doing really great!)
Eventually found one who agreed that China needed to be on insulin, but he'd have to order it. By this time, I knew he was thinking of ProZinc and didn't know that there were other choices, but at least when I mentioned to him that we could use Lantus or Levemir and they were available anywhere, he was open to the idea but admitted he didn't know much about them. Finally saw him (and he was nice enough to take the bloodwork that had already been done instead of re-doing it) and after the best exam she'd ever had (we were there almost an hour with exam and discussion) we left with a prescription for Lantus (the bill was $30).
Now he did say to start her at 3 units once/day but I'd already learned otherwise so I told him I wasn't comfortable with that, and that I'd read it should be twice/day. Instead of telling me how wrong I was, he just said "do what you are most comfortable with, but I think she's going to need at least 3 units and probably more" Oh well!
Fast forward to today! She's never been on a dose higher than 1.5 unit. She's now at 15.6 lbs (and a little TOO "fluffy") I'd say she's "Tightly regulated" since the vast majority of her tests are below renal threshold. She's once again playing the games she used to play (sometimes to my chagrin), spending time preening in the sun, I'm scooping a LOT less dirty, soaked litter, and she's doing awesome!
For this special day, I bought her a gift! It's Da Bird!! She LOVES it!! (and hopefully, it'll help with that uhhh "fluffiness" problem....LOL)
Would I rather not have a diabetic cat? Sure! Your life revolves around clocks, shots, tests and worry. You have very little social life unless you can squeeze it in between testing times. Sometimes bills don't get paid because you need to buy strips instead. Every time they sneeze, cough or look at you funny, you worry about what's wrong with them this time. If they're laying in a different position, are they "meatloafing"? Not hungry this morning? Are they developing DKA? If they go yowling through the house, are they in pain?
The good parts? You learn you can love them more than you ever thought you could. We all love our kitties, but the relationship you develop with your sugarcat is so much closer than you could have imagined it could be. You find that you're not alone either. This message board has not only saved my sanity at times, but has been my best friend. When one of us loses a kitty, it hurts us all. When one of our kitties goes OTJ, we all celebrate! And we're all TRULY happy for them, not upset that it's "Not our cat" (yet).
So here's to the next year China. May you continue to be as healthy as you can, as happy as you are, and as stable as I can get you.
Yeah! Back in the lagoon at +6..now stay there China baby!
1 year ago today, we got the diagnosis of diabetes. It was a Friday afternoon..3:30pm. China weighed 8.8lbs and her BG was 447. The vet couldn't get a urine and wanted to check for ketones, and since the next morning was "shot clinic" (special price on routine shots that day) I was planning on bringing the drooler anyway, so I had him keep her overnight to try for the urine and would pick her up the next morning.
I spent the entire night online, looking for information so when I returned in the morning, I'd know what to ask, what to listen to and what NOT to. Every search I did lead me to the FDMB so I signed up and started reading. Learned that everything I thought I knew about feline nutrition was bunk, and that the first thing I needed to do was get her onto canned, which also meant switching the household over to canned too. I was very lucky in that all my cats thought they'd won the lottery when the canned food came out! I don't know what I would have done if I'd had cats that refused to consider canned food edible!!
Of course the vet told me to put her on W/D dry, that "insulin was a hassle and if he could keep her in the 300's he'd be happy" and when I asked about what I'd learned, got one of his "eye rolls" and him saying (in a most condescending voice) "oh yes, Christine, this is the very first diabetic cat I've EVER seen in my 50 years of practice", so I knew it'd do no good to argue.
Was told to switch to the W/D and bring her back in a week for another test...haven't been back since (and to show you how much they REALLY care, have never received a call asking how she was doing either)
So we were on our own for awhile. Tried calling several other vets over the next few weeks and most of them were equally un-educated. No, I didn't need to buy the W/D dry, but yes, they had dry that would be fine and they just so happen to have some there to sell me!! (yeah, right)....kept calling....Don't ever listen to people on the internet! They'll kill your cat!! (she seems to be doing really great!)
Eventually found one who agreed that China needed to be on insulin, but he'd have to order it. By this time, I knew he was thinking of ProZinc and didn't know that there were other choices, but at least when I mentioned to him that we could use Lantus or Levemir and they were available anywhere, he was open to the idea but admitted he didn't know much about them. Finally saw him (and he was nice enough to take the bloodwork that had already been done instead of re-doing it) and after the best exam she'd ever had (we were there almost an hour with exam and discussion) we left with a prescription for Lantus (the bill was $30).
Now he did say to start her at 3 units once/day but I'd already learned otherwise so I told him I wasn't comfortable with that, and that I'd read it should be twice/day. Instead of telling me how wrong I was, he just said "do what you are most comfortable with, but I think she's going to need at least 3 units and probably more" Oh well!
Fast forward to today! She's never been on a dose higher than 1.5 unit. She's now at 15.6 lbs (and a little TOO "fluffy") I'd say she's "Tightly regulated" since the vast majority of her tests are below renal threshold. She's once again playing the games she used to play (sometimes to my chagrin), spending time preening in the sun, I'm scooping a LOT less dirty, soaked litter, and she's doing awesome!
For this special day, I bought her a gift! It's Da Bird!! She LOVES it!! (and hopefully, it'll help with that uhhh "fluffiness" problem....LOL)
Would I rather not have a diabetic cat? Sure! Your life revolves around clocks, shots, tests and worry. You have very little social life unless you can squeeze it in between testing times. Sometimes bills don't get paid because you need to buy strips instead. Every time they sneeze, cough or look at you funny, you worry about what's wrong with them this time. If they're laying in a different position, are they "meatloafing"? Not hungry this morning? Are they developing DKA? If they go yowling through the house, are they in pain?
The good parts? You learn you can love them more than you ever thought you could. We all love our kitties, but the relationship you develop with your sugarcat is so much closer than you could have imagined it could be. You find that you're not alone either. This message board has not only saved my sanity at times, but has been my best friend. When one of us loses a kitty, it hurts us all. When one of our kitties goes OTJ, we all celebrate! And we're all TRULY happy for them, not upset that it's "Not our cat" (yet).
So here's to the next year China. May you continue to be as healthy as you can, as happy as you are, and as stable as I can get you.
