shannonthecatlady
Member Since 2020
Hi, I'm Shannon and I have a cat named Dobby (named after the character from the tv series "Peep Show", not Harry Potter, everyone always asks lol). According to my vet, Dobby is a bit of a medical mystery, and I'm really curious if anyone has heard about anything like this.
I adopted Dobby when she was 4 months old. She seemed like a very normal, healthy kitten, even on track to be a very large cat according to her first vet. I did notice from day 1 she had a ravenous appetite, but I hadn't had a kitten since childhood and I didn't remember what was normal for a kitten to eat - I just figured it was because she was growing. Then when she was closer to a year old I noticed her drinking increased drastically - I'd put down a bowl of water and it would be gone in a matter of hours - and with that her urination increased. Then her weight plummetted. I took her to the vet, and when I mentioned concern about diabetes (my family dog had been diagnosed with diabetes a few years before so I knew the symptoms) he basically shrugged it off and said she was too young. She kept getting sicker over the next few weeks, so I took her to a second vet. That vet tested her blood sugar - boom, we had a diabetes diagnosis. Due to her age and the fact she was so skinny, I was told it was type 1.
So with that she was put on insulin, and things continued on pretty normally from there. Her weight bounced back quickly, her energy levels got back to normal, everything seemed good. She did end up needing nearly all her teeth pulled a few years ago, which the vet said was likely due to her diabetes, but otherwise she was a happy, normal cat.
Then last year, right before she turned 7, I was getting ready to go on a day trip and was just getting ready to feed Dobby before heading out. Normally when she hears me walk toward the kitchen in the morning she darts after me, but this time she was nowhere to be found. I looked around for her, and found her huddled under her cat tree, in the far corner of the room, just looking absolutely terrified and disoriented. Nothing had happened, she'd been fine 5 minutes before. So I cancelled my plans, called the vet and they told me to bring her in right away.
The first thing he did of course was check her blood sugar. Now keep in mind I hadn't given her insulin in about 15 hours at that point, so if anything it should have been high, but it was low, VERY low. Otherwise she was fine, no issues with her organs and her bloodwork came back normal. My vet told me to keep her off insulin for 3 days and I'd bring her back in that 3rd day for a checkup.
After 3 days her blood sugar was completely normal. So he told me to keep her off insulin unless I noticed major issues. Its been 9 months since then, she just had a vet appointment the other day, and her blood sugar is still in the normal range. She's in remission.
That was when the vet told me how bizarre her whole case was. He said he's actually mentioned it to a few other vet friends and they find it equally as weird. Type 1 diabetics aren't supposed to go into remission. Everything about her case screams type 1 diabetes, except for the fact that she just decided not to be diabetic anymore.
Does anyone have a cat like this? I know my cat is weird, I just didn't realize she was a medical marvel.
I adopted Dobby when she was 4 months old. She seemed like a very normal, healthy kitten, even on track to be a very large cat according to her first vet. I did notice from day 1 she had a ravenous appetite, but I hadn't had a kitten since childhood and I didn't remember what was normal for a kitten to eat - I just figured it was because she was growing. Then when she was closer to a year old I noticed her drinking increased drastically - I'd put down a bowl of water and it would be gone in a matter of hours - and with that her urination increased. Then her weight plummetted. I took her to the vet, and when I mentioned concern about diabetes (my family dog had been diagnosed with diabetes a few years before so I knew the symptoms) he basically shrugged it off and said she was too young. She kept getting sicker over the next few weeks, so I took her to a second vet. That vet tested her blood sugar - boom, we had a diabetes diagnosis. Due to her age and the fact she was so skinny, I was told it was type 1.
So with that she was put on insulin, and things continued on pretty normally from there. Her weight bounced back quickly, her energy levels got back to normal, everything seemed good. She did end up needing nearly all her teeth pulled a few years ago, which the vet said was likely due to her diabetes, but otherwise she was a happy, normal cat.
Then last year, right before she turned 7, I was getting ready to go on a day trip and was just getting ready to feed Dobby before heading out. Normally when she hears me walk toward the kitchen in the morning she darts after me, but this time she was nowhere to be found. I looked around for her, and found her huddled under her cat tree, in the far corner of the room, just looking absolutely terrified and disoriented. Nothing had happened, she'd been fine 5 minutes before. So I cancelled my plans, called the vet and they told me to bring her in right away.
The first thing he did of course was check her blood sugar. Now keep in mind I hadn't given her insulin in about 15 hours at that point, so if anything it should have been high, but it was low, VERY low. Otherwise she was fine, no issues with her organs and her bloodwork came back normal. My vet told me to keep her off insulin for 3 days and I'd bring her back in that 3rd day for a checkup.
After 3 days her blood sugar was completely normal. So he told me to keep her off insulin unless I noticed major issues. Its been 9 months since then, she just had a vet appointment the other day, and her blood sugar is still in the normal range. She's in remission.
That was when the vet told me how bizarre her whole case was. He said he's actually mentioned it to a few other vet friends and they find it equally as weird. Type 1 diabetics aren't supposed to go into remission. Everything about her case screams type 1 diabetes, except for the fact that she just decided not to be diabetic anymore.
Does anyone have a cat like this? I know my cat is weird, I just didn't realize she was a medical marvel.
