sanrun
Member
Hello, to all the newbies here. I had 3 diabetic kitties at one time - Stubby, Jessie and Cecil. I discovered this board when Stubby was DX in 2005, but didn't post or hang around much. I figured my vet knew how to treat FD, well I found out she didn't. Sadly, Stubby paid for my mistake. We never found the right dose for him, because I wasn't hometesting. My vet didn't agree with it, how stupid....I guess, I wanted to believe it wasn't necessary. I started hometesting Jessie & Cecil and they both started doing bettter. Jessie was a lucky kittie, because she was able to go OTJ.
Cecil's insulin needs just kept going up and he quickly became a high dose kitty. I dragged my feet on getting the Acro test done, because there didn't seem to be any treatment for it other than an expensive and risky radiation treatment. Most people just shot big doses of insulin, which I was doing. Then, I heard about Dr. Lunn's study at CSU and read Maddie's journey. I had the Acro test done, because of the new treatments being done at CSU. I was very hopefully, all of Cecil's bloodwork look good and he seemed to be healthy despite the Acro and diabetes. He had lost a little bit of his spunk, but I thought it was because of all the high BG numbers he was running. I decided to take Cecil to CSU for the new treatments, I was nervous about making the trip and kept wondering if it was the right thing to do. He was doing ok and at that time and there hadn't been that many kitties, who went through the treatments. Plus, traveling from IN to CO in Janurary with a cat isn't a fun trip! Cecil was such a good boy about everthing. Best cat to treat FD and really anything. He was really calm and easy going, I've never had a cat like him. I hate to pick favorites and all my cats are special to me in some way, but I had a real soft spot for him.
The trip out to CO went ok, it was slow going at times because of the snowy roads. I didn't feel that great and was pretty stressed, so I knew it would be a tough trip. The one good thing, was that I was going to met Wendi and Milo. I'm so glad they went the same week. The morning Cecil was to have his CT scan done, he starting have breathing problems. He never did this, so I was really upset. At first, I thought he was stressed from the trip. But, he was clearly having a crisis. I rushed him to CSU early and they took right away. After, stabilizing him they did some tests and came back with the bad news. Cecil had end stage HCM and was given only 6 months. I was shocked and distraught. I posted the news on th board and got tons of support from everyone. It was a long sad drive home. For the next six months, I took things a day at a time. He was going well on the heart meds and was doing farily well. Then, he started having problems with constipation and fluid building up in his lungs. When, he started having breathing problmes in June, I kenw it was time to let him go. :cry: Two months later, I has to let Jessie go after she was DX with a tumor in her near her heart :cry:
Tough summer at our house. This fall I took in a new friend for Dottie, his name is Skippy. He ran in front of my sister's friend's car, she stopped, opend the door and he jumped in! Of, course my sister couldn't wait to call me. I convinced my DH that we needed another kitty and Skippy got a new home. He is something else, lol..
Well, that's our story. I miss posting here, but I don't miss giving shots and testing! It was pretty challenging dealing with FD and scheduling my life around testing and shots, but I would do it again if I had to. I believe if a cat can be treated for something and have a good quality of life then I always go for it!
Sandy Dottie & Skippy :twisted:
Cecil's insulin needs just kept going up and he quickly became a high dose kitty. I dragged my feet on getting the Acro test done, because there didn't seem to be any treatment for it other than an expensive and risky radiation treatment. Most people just shot big doses of insulin, which I was doing. Then, I heard about Dr. Lunn's study at CSU and read Maddie's journey. I had the Acro test done, because of the new treatments being done at CSU. I was very hopefully, all of Cecil's bloodwork look good and he seemed to be healthy despite the Acro and diabetes. He had lost a little bit of his spunk, but I thought it was because of all the high BG numbers he was running. I decided to take Cecil to CSU for the new treatments, I was nervous about making the trip and kept wondering if it was the right thing to do. He was doing ok and at that time and there hadn't been that many kitties, who went through the treatments. Plus, traveling from IN to CO in Janurary with a cat isn't a fun trip! Cecil was such a good boy about everthing. Best cat to treat FD and really anything. He was really calm and easy going, I've never had a cat like him. I hate to pick favorites and all my cats are special to me in some way, but I had a real soft spot for him.
The trip out to CO went ok, it was slow going at times because of the snowy roads. I didn't feel that great and was pretty stressed, so I knew it would be a tough trip. The one good thing, was that I was going to met Wendi and Milo. I'm so glad they went the same week. The morning Cecil was to have his CT scan done, he starting have breathing problems. He never did this, so I was really upset. At first, I thought he was stressed from the trip. But, he was clearly having a crisis. I rushed him to CSU early and they took right away. After, stabilizing him they did some tests and came back with the bad news. Cecil had end stage HCM and was given only 6 months. I was shocked and distraught. I posted the news on th board and got tons of support from everyone. It was a long sad drive home. For the next six months, I took things a day at a time. He was going well on the heart meds and was doing farily well. Then, he started having problems with constipation and fluid building up in his lungs. When, he started having breathing problmes in June, I kenw it was time to let him go. :cry: Two months later, I has to let Jessie go after she was DX with a tumor in her near her heart :cry:
Tough summer at our house. This fall I took in a new friend for Dottie, his name is Skippy. He ran in front of my sister's friend's car, she stopped, opend the door and he jumped in! Of, course my sister couldn't wait to call me. I convinced my DH that we needed another kitty and Skippy got a new home. He is something else, lol..
Well, that's our story. I miss posting here, but I don't miss giving shots and testing! It was pretty challenging dealing with FD and scheduling my life around testing and shots, but I would do it again if I had to. I believe if a cat can be treated for something and have a good quality of life then I always go for it!
Sandy Dottie & Skippy :twisted:
