New Member - Introduction & Questions

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TabbyCatMom

TabbyCatMom

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Hello everyone,

Pam and Two-Two here and am new to the group. I was born 2/22 and named my Tabby girl Two-Two and here I thought this was our year 2022 :(

My 16y/o Tabby was diagnosed: diabetes and CKD within the last 3 weeks (1/7 diabetes and 1/22 CKD). It happened fast. I will try to keep it succinct but need help with renal and diabetes food - and Insulin & testing BG at home protocol:

6/1/21: She went in for a senior check-up and she was healthy - no bad labs to report

1/5/22: she had a UTI and was peeing blood clots - went to emergency Vet and they diagnosed her with diabetes. Fructosamine 536

*We started her on Antibiotics for 10 days for UTI.

*We switched to foods < 10% carbs all wet food (1/3 of small can) 4x per day: 8am, 1pm, 5pm, 8pm. Vet recommended Hill M/D (16% carbs!!??) she eats it sometimes but can be picky

1/7/22: Started her on Vetsulin .5 - 9am and 9pm 1 HR after feeding

1/21/22: Went to reg. Vet to get Fructosamoine test - it was 550 this time. Doc said let’s try Glargine and I agree. Also, he diagnosed her as stage 3 CKD creatine 2.7. I have not picked up the Glargine yet as Pharm had to order it.

1/22/22: she started peeing blood clots again - brought her in for urine culture and IV antibiotics - she hates taking oral meds and I may not have been consistent with first round of antibiotics because she spits them out or claws me and is very stressful for her.

Doc recommended Renal diet - we bought a huge bag of dry Hill K/D and wet K/D. Everything in me said: this is too high in carbs and cats need protein! So we give it to her in her round of foods she likes: Fancy feast, Tiki cat, Wellness Chicken but no more dry.

I went ahead and got the SubQ water supplement and she only let me give her 50 ml two days in a row. Doc recommends 100 every 2 days. She is peeing significant amounts of fluids so I am concerned. They also gave us the Purina hydration packets which she loves

I have attached labs. Thank you in advance!!!
 
Hi Pam and Two-two and welcome to the FDMB!! My name is Kyle, my best buddy Hendrick was just diagnosed a few weeks ago so I am new to this also. What a journey we have begun.

Can you put some information in your signature such as the age of your kitty, insulin type, food you're feeding, any recent diagnosis such as CKD, etc? This will help members here help you.

See: https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-use-the-fdmb-the-basics.130682/

And setting up your signature: https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/

This group is very numbers driven, is it strongly encouraged that you set up a spreadsheet and populate it with blood glucose values from hometesting the BG -- which is also strongly encouraged.

Check this out:
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/

And hometesting tips:

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/


I just learned how to hometest myself last week, basically, and now I'm doing it several times a day, often solo as my wife is at work and I work from home. Here's me doing a solo test today 5 hours after his insulin dose:

 
Glad you are switching to glargine, it's can good insulin
To better help you can you go to this link
Here is a link helping us to help you link. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help.

If you need help setting up our spreadsheet just ask, we have a member who will set it up for you

Feel free to ask as many questions as you want to
 
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As far as the food goes
For kitties with kidney disease and diabetes



. First number is carb percentage, second is mgs of phosphorus/100 cals, all less than 10% carb and less than 250 mg phos:

Weruva Truluxe Steak Frites can 6% 118
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen La Isla Bonita can 3% 166
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Pates Meowiss Bueller pouch 7% 174
Weruva Truluxe Glam 'N Punk can 0.6% 180
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Fowl Ball can 4% 180
Weruva Classic Pates Jeopurrdy Licious pouch 4% 187
Weruva Classic Pates Family Food pouch 0% 191
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Pates Cattyshack pouch 9% 211
BFF PLAY Tuna & Salmon Shhh... pouch 3% 223
BFF PLAY Tuna & Turkey Totes! pouch 2% 226
BFF PLAY Tuna & Chicken Chill Out pouch 2% 226
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Pates Cat to the Future pouch 8% 235
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Pates The Breakfast Cat pouch 9.7% 235
Weruva Classic Pates Meal of Fortune pouch 8% 236
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Lamburgini can 8% 236
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Double Dip can 8% 248

You want carbs under 10% and phosphorus ideally low 200's or less.



Here is another list posted by one of our members
Weruva slide and serve pate foods Family Food (.97 phosphorus and 0 carb).

Jeopurrdy Chicken (0.97 P 6.1 carb)

What a Crock 0.71 phosphorus and 8 carb lots of gravy so she loved it.

Goody stew shoes 0.71 phosphorus, 8.5 carb. This one was a big hit

Weruva Steak Frites (0.57 phosphorus 5.5 carb although I take out any big pieces of potatoes to try to limit the carbs just a bit)

Weruva LA isla Bonita - phosphorus 0.77 carb 4.5 (used to like, not a favorite anymore)

Glam and punk 1% carb, 0.93 phosphorous.

Weruva paw lickin chicken 3.3 carb 0.82 p

Press your lunch 5.9 carb. 0.82 phosphorous

Bff play Laugh Out Loud chicken and lamb 7.7 carb, 0.82 phosphorous

BFF play destiny (chicken and duck) 0.87 phosphorus 7.7 carb

Bff play chicken cherish 0.71 phosphorus 7.6 carb

Bff play best buds chicken and beef 7.9 carb 0.9 phosphorus

Bff play chicken Checkmate. 7.7 carb 0.7 phos

On the Cat Wok 3.8 carb 0.74 phos
 
TabbyCatMom said:
and Insulin & testing BG at home protocol:
Click to expand...
Here is the link for lantus/gargline
Read all the yellow sticky's
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-levemir-biosimilars.9/

As far as home testing you can buy a human meter, that's what our numbers are based on, most likely you vet is using a pet meter and the strips are very expensive
If you have a Walmart by you pick up
The
Relion Premier Classic same price 9 dollars, 17.88 for 100 test strips.
Also get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
Some cotton rounds


Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up
c2b8079a-b471-4fa6-ac36-9ac1c8d6dcca-jpeg.57072
fec17d29-5ab4-44a8-912b-3a91944c3954-jpeg.57073

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capilares, it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand
I find it better to see where I'm aiming

Here is a video one of our members did
VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar
 
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Diane Tyler's Mom said:
As far as the food goes
For kitties with kidney disease and diabetes

OMG This is amazing1 Just ordered some from Chewy!

. First number is carb percentage, second is mgs of phosphorus/100 cals, all less than 10% carb and less than 250 mg phos:

Weruva Truluxe Steak Frites can 6% 118
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen La Isla Bonita can 3% 166
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Pates Meowiss Bueller pouch 7% 174
Weruva Truluxe Glam 'N Punk can 0.6% 180
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Fowl Ball can 4% 180
Weruva Classic Pates Jeopurrdy Licious pouch 4% 187
Weruva Classic Pates Family Food pouch 0% 191
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Pates Cattyshack pouch 9% 211
BFF PLAY Tuna & Salmon Shhh... pouch 3% 223
BFF PLAY Tuna & Turkey Totes! pouch 2% 226
BFF PLAY Tuna & Chicken Chill Out pouch 2% 226
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Pates Cat to the Future pouch 8% 235
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Pates The Breakfast Cat pouch 9.7% 235
Weruva Classic Pates Meal of Fortune pouch 8% 236
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Lamburgini can 8% 236
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Double Dip can 8% 248

You want carbs under 10% and phosphorus ideally low 200's or less.



Here is another list posted by one of our members
Weruva slide and serve pate foods Family Food (.97 phosphorus and 0 carb).

Jeopurrdy Chicken (0.97 P 6.1 carb)

What a Crock 0.71 phosphorus and 8 carb lots of gravy so she loved it.

Goody stew shoes 0.71 phosphorus, 8.5 carb. This one was a big hit

Weruva Steak Frites (0.57 phosphorus 5.5 carb although I take out any big pieces of potatoes to try to limit the carbs just a bit)

Weruva LA isla Bonita - phosphorus 0.77 carb 4.5 (used to like, not a favorite anymore)

Glam and punk 1% carb, 0.93 phosphorous.

Weruva paw lickin chicken 3.3 carb 0.82 p

Press your lunch 5.9 carb. 0.82 phosphorous

Bff play Laugh Out Loud chicken and lamb 7.7 carb, 0.82 phosphorous

BFF play destiny (chicken and duck) 0.87 phosphorus 7.7 carb

Bff play chicken cherish 0.71 phosphorus 7.6 carb

Bff play best buds chicken and beef 7.9 carb 0.9 phosphorus

Bff play chicken Checkmate. 7.7 carb 0.7 phos

On the Cat Wok 3.8 carb 0.74 phos
Click to expand...
 
THANKS! I'll do my signature now. Great job on taking that BG. He is so calm (: Not like my girl!


Hendrick's mom and dad said:
Hi Pam and Two-two and welcome to the FDMB!! My name is Kyle, my best buddy Hendrick was just diagnosed a few weeks ago so I am new to this also. What a journey we have begun.

Can you put some information in your signature such as the age of your kitty, insulin type, food you're feeding, any recent diagnosis such as CKD, etc? This will help members here help you.

See: https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-use-the-fdmb-the-basics.130682/

And setting up your signature: https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/editing-your-signature-profile-and-preferences.130340/

This group is very numbers driven, is it strongly encouraged that you set up a spreadsheet and populate it with blood glucose values from hometesting the BG -- which is also strongly encouraged.

Check this out:
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/

And hometesting tips:

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/


I just learned how to hometest myself last week, basically, and now I'm doing it several times a day, often solo as my wife is at work and I work from home. Here's me doing a solo test today 5 hours after his insulin dose:

Click to expand...
 
Diane covered it!

No need to feed the specialty foods because of CKD. The list/targets for carbs/phos Diane gave us perfect. You could also feed raw/homemade if that's something that appeals to you (you may find it cheaper that buying commercial, and it's not as daunting as it sounds).

I'm glad to see the switch to glargine/Lantus. I cringe every time I see someone here started on Vetsulin by vet, I help them through using Vetsulin if they want to stick with it and 9.9 out of 10 times we spend a month or two trying to make it work and it just doesn't. Then they'll switch, and night and day difference. If you're in the US, semglee is a cheaper alternative that's biosimilar to Lantus/glargine.
 
I have uploaded her labs. Sorry so many files. Next time I'll ask for a single document. These are from an App they share results in.

Thanks everyone - I am updating her spreadsheet and will post that in our signature!!
(:


TabbyCatMom said:
Hello everyone,

Pam and Two-Two here and am new to the group. I was born 2/22 and named my Tabby girl Two-Two and here I thought this was our year 2022 :(

My 16y/o Tabby was diagnosed: diabetes and CKD within the last 3 weeks (1/7 diabetes and 1/22 CKD). It happened fast. I will try to keep it succinct but need help with renal and diabetes food - and Insulin & testing BG at home protocol:

6/1/21: She went in for a senior check-up and she was healthy - no bad labs to report

1/5/22: she had a UTI and was peeing blood clots - went to emergency Vet and they diagnosed her with diabetes. Fructosamine 536

*We started her on Antibiotics for 10 days for UTI.

*We switched to foods < 10% carbs all wet food (1/3 of small can) 4x per day: 8am, 1pm, 5pm, 8pm. Vet recommended Hill M/D (16% carbs!!??) she eats it sometimes but can be picky

1/7/22: Started her on Vetsulin .5 - 9am and 9pm 1 HR after feeding

1/21/22: Went to reg. Vet to get Fructosamoine test - it was 550 this time. Doc said let’s try Glargine and I agree. Also, he diagnosed her as stage 3 CKD creatine 2.7. I have not picked up the Glargine yet as Pharm had to order it.

1/22/22: she started peeing blood clots again - brought her in for urine culture and IV antibiotics - she hates taking oral meds and I may not have been consistent with first round of antibiotics because she spits them out or claws me and is very stressful for her.

Doc recommended Renal diet - we bought a huge bag of dry Hill K/D and wet K/D. Everything in me said: this is too high in carbs and cats need protein! So we give it to her in her round of foods she likes: Fancy feast, Tiki cat, Wellness Chicken but no more dry.

I went ahead and got the SubQ water supplement and she only let me give her 50 ml two days in a row. Doc recommends 100 every 2 days. She is peeing significant amounts of fluids so I am concerned. They also gave us the Purina hydration packets which she loves

I have attached labs. Thank you in advance!!!
Click to expand...
 

Attachments

  • Doc Notes.PNG
    Doc Notes.PNG
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  • Two Chemistry 1:29:22.PNG
    Two Chemistry 1:29:22.PNG
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  • Two BUN 1:29:22.PNG
    Two BUN 1:29:22.PNG
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  • Two Glucose 1:29:22.PNG
    Two Glucose 1:29:22.PNG
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  • Two 1:29:22 Hemotology.PNG
    Two 1:29:22 Hemotology.PNG
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  • Two Creatine 1:29:22.PNG
    Two Creatine 1:29:22.PNG
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  • Two Glucose Strip 1:29:22.PNG
    Two Glucose Strip 1:29:22.PNG
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  • Two Hematology 1:29:22.PNG
    Two Hematology 1:29:22.PNG
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  • TWO-TWO 1:6:22 Hemotology.pdf
    TWO-TWO 1:6:22 Hemotology.pdf
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  • TWOTWO Urinalysis 1:6:22.pdf
    TWOTWO Urinalysis 1:6:22.pdf
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  • Two Two Thyroid 1:29:22.PNG
    Two Two Thyroid 1:29:22.PNG
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Last ones here from two visits on 1/6 then 1/29. She saw two vets b/c we rushed her in to the one available when she was peeing blood clots on the 6th. Her reg. Vet in the 29th.

TabbyCatMom said:
I have uploaded her labs. Sorry so many files. Next time I'll ask for a single document. These are from an App they share results in.

Thanks everyone - I am updating her spreadsheet and will post that in our signature!!
:)
Click to expand...
 

Attachments

Yeah thanks. I thought Lantus would be more expensive so good surprise. The Vetsulin wasn't helping so I feel like we wasted two weeks! Anyway, she got her first dose of Lantus last night - doc said go from 1.0 Vetsulin to 1.5 lantus but I decided to just do 1.0. Glad I did because 1 hr. after breakfast today her BG was 112! So I called the vet and he said no Insulin but I went ahead and fed her again using hill K/D (higher carb) because she was ravenous. Not sure if I should give her insulin again...or wait until 1 hr after dinner? Gonna try and get another BG reading today. Thanks!

FrostD said:
Diane covered it!

No need to feed the specialty foods because of CKD. The list/targets for carbs/phos Diane gave us perfect. You could also feed raw/homemade if that's something that appeals to you (you may find it cheaper that buying commercial, and it's not as daunting as it sounds).

I'm glad to see the switch to glargine/Lantus. I cringe every time I see someone here started on Vetsulin by vet, I help them through using Vetsulin if they want to stick with it and 9.9 out of 10 times we spend a month or two trying to make it work and it just doesn't. Then they'll switch, and night and day difference. If you're in the US, semglee is a cheaper alternative that's biosimilar to Lantus/glargine.
Click to expand...
 
TabbyCatMom said:
Yeah thanks. I thought Lantus would be more expensive so good surprise. The Vetsulin wasn't helping so I feel like we wasted two weeks! Anyway, she got her first dose of Lantus last night - doc said go from 1.0 Vetsulin to 1.5 lantus but I decided to just do 1.0. Glad I did because 1 hr. after breakfast today her BG was 112! So I called the vet and he said no Insulin but I went ahead and fed her again using hill K/D (higher carb) because she was ravenous. Not sure if I should give her insulin again...or wait until 1 hr after dinner? Gonna try and get another BG reading today. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Did you test before breakfast? That's a pretty low number at +1, combined with 1U she may have gone quite low today. Can you get another test now please?

Going to tag a handful of people who may be around at shot time tonight to assist if needed: @tiffmaxee @Bron and Sheba (GA) @Bandit's Mom

Also @Wendy&Neko , out of my depth here as well so curious your thoughts on all this
 
If you have any time, we'd appreciate getting spreadsheet set up. The links to how to set up the spreadsheet are listed in the second post. Let us know if you need help doing this. Most of us are pretty data driven here, and very used to looking at the spreadsheet to give us an idea what to suggest on dosing.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
If you have any time, we'd appreciate getting spreadsheet set up. The links to how to set up the spreadsheet are listed in the second post. Let us know if you need help doing this. Most of us are pretty data driven here, and very used to looking at the spreadsheet to give us an idea what to suggest on dosing.
Click to expand...
It's up!
 
TabbyCatMom said:
It's up!
Click to expand...
Great! Can you plug in tests for the last couple of weeks? I quickly looked at your posts and saw you were feeding dry renal food but your signature doesn’t list it. I think you are stopping that but when did Two-Two last eat renal food and also the dry food. Switching from dry food and high carb food can have a big effect on the bg in a positive way.
 
Last edited:
FrostD said:
Did you test before breakfast? That's a pretty low number at +1, combined with 1U she may have gone quite low today. Can you get another test now please?

Going to tag a handful of people who may be around at shot time tonight to assist if needed: @tiffmaxee @Bron and Sheba (GA) @Bandit's Mom

Also @Wendy&Neko , out of my depth here as well so curious your thoughts on all this
Click to expand...
I did not give insulin after 112 reading this am. Just took a +3 and she is up to 433!
 
Also can you plug in the blood test results onto the labs tab on the spreadsheet? I am not seeing the numbers, just check marks.
 
Dates are helpful. Make sure the ranges are the same as on your labs. Btw were they done in house or sent out?
 
On your spreadsheet where it says Dosing Method (SLGS or TR) you have syringe
Here are the 2 dosing methods for lantus for you to choose from and follow
Each one will let you know when you will need to increase or decrease
You don't have to choose one now but it would be good to read up on it
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...-low-go-slow-slgs-tight-regulation-tr.210110/


Here is the link so you can read all about lantus, read all the yellow sticky's
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-levemir-biosimilars.9/
By the way Two-Two is adorable :cat:

Do you have the syringes with half unit markings? We adjust doses by 0.25 units
 
Last edited:
Do you not have a copy of blood tests results? All I see is urinalysis. Creatinine and BUN needed for CKD too. If there was an infection they could come down when cured.
 
As was mentioned, any data you have for the last week on doses given and blood tests will be very helpful. In the Remarks section you can note when you changed food. When cats change to/from higher carb food, it can make a big difference in the amount of insulin needed. We also mark the spreadsheets with a blank line to show when we switched to a different insulin type. Looks like last night was the first dose of Lantus?

Another question, can you post a picture of the syringe you used to dose the Lantus? Lantus needs U-100 syringes, whereas the Vetsulin uses U-40 syringes.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
On your spreadsheet where it says Dosing Method (SLGS or TR) you have syringe
Here are the 2 dosing methods for lantus for you to choose from and follow
Each one will let you know when you will need to increase or decrease
You don't have to choose one now but it would be good to read up on it
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...-low-go-slow-slgs-tight-regulation-tr.210110/


Here is the link so you can read all about lantus, read all the yellow sticky's
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-levemir-biosimilars.9/
By the way Two-Two is adorable :cat:

Do you have the syringes with half unit markings? We adjust doses by 0.25 units
Click to expand...
Oh! I was wondering what SLGS or TR meant. I'll take a look. What a relief I can follow this protocol. The Vet didn't give detailed suggestions.

I have the 3/10 ml, 8mm (5/16), 31 g...I think it has .25 marks
 
Wendy&Neko said:
As was mentioned, any data you have for the last week on doses given and blood tests will be very helpful. In the Remarks section you can note when you changed food. When cats change to/from higher carb food, it can make a big difference in the amount of insulin needed. We also mark the spreadsheets with a blank line to show when we switched to a different insulin type. Looks like last night was the first dose of Lantus?

Another question, can you post a picture of the syringe you used to dose the Lantus? Lantus needs U-100 syringes, whereas the Vetsulin uses U-40 syringes.
Click to expand...
Yes, I have U100!
She has always been grain free and no dry food often so the change in food was to <10% carbs
 
tiffmaxee said:
Dates are helpful. Make sure the ranges are the same as on your labs. Btw were they done in house or sent out?
Click to expand...

UPDATE: Urine culture came back and she is resistant to Amoxiclav (which she took for 10 days) then she got a Veraflox shot and it is resistant to that. Culture shows E. Coli. Doc is recommending Veraflox for 7 days. Oral liquid.

Any thoughts about this?
 
He said e. coli is resistant to Clavamox and Veraflox. So he is recommending Veraflox. I'm worried about giving her too many antibiotics. Her UTI seems better. He said she may improve a bit with the antiiotic shot (Veraflox) she got Sat. but we will need to treat again.
 
you're doing great and Two-Two is super cute. The first couple weeks after diagnosis are a whirlwind and my head hurt frequently trying to wrap my brain around this whole deal so take a deep breath now and then and also...treat yoself!
 
jaspkaur said:
I just wanted to stop by and say hi as well :) I hope Two-two and Duff can get through this together.
Click to expand...
Thank you! And oh sweet Duff! We also have a black kitty! Does Duff eat anything other than the Purina? Looks like you went up on insulin? Does he get any movement? Sending well wishes!
 
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