LilyandWhit
Member Since 2023
Hello!
My name is Whitney and Lily is my recently diagnosed with DM purrchild. I've been a cat mom to many wonderful kitties with other issues, but this is my first DM kitty in a two cat home. Kitty boy, Saroo is 6.5 years old (9 m/o stray that adopted me in 2017), she tolerates him (he is alpha), he wants to play with her all the time, she wants to play on her terms, so we work hard to keep him not bored.
For transparency here is her full history.
History:
Lily is 11.5 years old, currently about 9 lbs, but used to be 12 lbs (Jan 2023) (large kitty) and when we got her 6 years ago in August of 2018, she was 15 lbs.
Her previous owners were in their late 80s/early 90s when they got her and both passed away within a year of each other in 2017 (kitty dad)/2018 (kitty mom). When we took her in (a week after her kitty mom passed), we had no vet records, and a very sad kitty. It took 8 months for her to acclimate to living with us and she historically hides. While with them she was fed friskies gravy type foods. We transitioned her to a high protein/low carb diet of Weruva Chicken Frick-a-zee and Fancy Feast Turkey and Giblets Classic Pate around October/November of 2018.
In August of 2019, (after I was out of town for a week), she licked all her fur off her belly, the vet and I thought it was a skin issue, we began treating with Apoquel, which she was on for 18 months. She was great during the shutdown, because I was home (I'm a teacher) but the licking continued and she began chewing hotspots around stressors (fireworks, returning to teaching in person, if my schedule changed, etc.) which landed us at the vet roughly every 8-10 weeks for about 6 months for antibiotics and an occasional steroid shot (I was very cautious about this).
In March of 2021, further testing showed that she had struvite crystals in her urine and a very inflamed bladder lining. We began (and have continued) 100mg of Gabapentin 2x a day and Dasuquin 2x a day (until this past Mon -we have reduced to 1x a day). We also switched her food to Purina Pro Vet St/Ox wet and dry food (dry food has been an automatic feeder 4xs a day at 6 hour intervals - roughly 20 pieces per serving) wet food has been 1 can a day split into 2 feedings (6:30 AM/6:30 PM). We have maintained this for 2.5 years. She has also been on 5mg of prozac a day since July of 2021 to stop the biting/creation of hotspots. Totally different cat, now, not hiding and more social!
I took her to the vet 9/18 for a facial abscess (first one ever!) and discovered she had lost 2.7 lbs. (She isn't a kitty who likes being picked up and the initial weight loss wasn't as noticeable due to her body structure.) We did bloodwork and found that her blood sugar was high, further testing on Thursday came back with elevated pancreas numbers, so we began the process of insulin administration Tuesday 9/26 PM at 1u every 12 hours. We are using Lantus.
I'm using a Reli-On Glucometer (Alpha track 3 ordered and on it's way) and new food is on it's way - Purina Pro Vet DM as it will continue to reduce struvite formation. (though I still don't like some of the ingredients...)
As for home testing, I'm home today with plans to test at +3, +6, and +9 just to see what this 1 u is doing.
Initial reading Tuesday 7:07pm was 385, food @7:15, 1 u given at 7:45pm, +3 (11:35pm) was 344. Wed 6:45 AM was 406, fed @ 6:55, 1u given at 7:30, and had to leave for school. When I got home I tested at 6:50pm and she was at 393, fed at 7:05 - and she threw it all up within 20 mins (history of vomiting), called the e-vet and they said wait till she keeps food down, so I gave her food in increments from 8-8:30, then gave 1u at 9pm (but I forgot to test), checked before I went to bed at 12:15 am and she was at 412. This morning at 8:15am she was at 432. so we shall see what it looks like at +3.
Happy to have this forum!
-Whitney
My name is Whitney and Lily is my recently diagnosed with DM purrchild. I've been a cat mom to many wonderful kitties with other issues, but this is my first DM kitty in a two cat home. Kitty boy, Saroo is 6.5 years old (9 m/o stray that adopted me in 2017), she tolerates him (he is alpha), he wants to play with her all the time, she wants to play on her terms, so we work hard to keep him not bored.
For transparency here is her full history.
History:
Lily is 11.5 years old, currently about 9 lbs, but used to be 12 lbs (Jan 2023) (large kitty) and when we got her 6 years ago in August of 2018, she was 15 lbs.
Her previous owners were in their late 80s/early 90s when they got her and both passed away within a year of each other in 2017 (kitty dad)/2018 (kitty mom). When we took her in (a week after her kitty mom passed), we had no vet records, and a very sad kitty. It took 8 months for her to acclimate to living with us and she historically hides. While with them she was fed friskies gravy type foods. We transitioned her to a high protein/low carb diet of Weruva Chicken Frick-a-zee and Fancy Feast Turkey and Giblets Classic Pate around October/November of 2018.
In August of 2019, (after I was out of town for a week), she licked all her fur off her belly, the vet and I thought it was a skin issue, we began treating with Apoquel, which she was on for 18 months. She was great during the shutdown, because I was home (I'm a teacher) but the licking continued and she began chewing hotspots around stressors (fireworks, returning to teaching in person, if my schedule changed, etc.) which landed us at the vet roughly every 8-10 weeks for about 6 months for antibiotics and an occasional steroid shot (I was very cautious about this).
In March of 2021, further testing showed that she had struvite crystals in her urine and a very inflamed bladder lining. We began (and have continued) 100mg of Gabapentin 2x a day and Dasuquin 2x a day (until this past Mon -we have reduced to 1x a day). We also switched her food to Purina Pro Vet St/Ox wet and dry food (dry food has been an automatic feeder 4xs a day at 6 hour intervals - roughly 20 pieces per serving) wet food has been 1 can a day split into 2 feedings (6:30 AM/6:30 PM). We have maintained this for 2.5 years. She has also been on 5mg of prozac a day since July of 2021 to stop the biting/creation of hotspots. Totally different cat, now, not hiding and more social!
I took her to the vet 9/18 for a facial abscess (first one ever!) and discovered she had lost 2.7 lbs. (She isn't a kitty who likes being picked up and the initial weight loss wasn't as noticeable due to her body structure.) We did bloodwork and found that her blood sugar was high, further testing on Thursday came back with elevated pancreas numbers, so we began the process of insulin administration Tuesday 9/26 PM at 1u every 12 hours. We are using Lantus.
I'm using a Reli-On Glucometer (Alpha track 3 ordered and on it's way) and new food is on it's way - Purina Pro Vet DM as it will continue to reduce struvite formation. (though I still don't like some of the ingredients...)
As for home testing, I'm home today with plans to test at +3, +6, and +9 just to see what this 1 u is doing.
Initial reading Tuesday 7:07pm was 385, food @7:15, 1 u given at 7:45pm, +3 (11:35pm) was 344. Wed 6:45 AM was 406, fed @ 6:55, 1u given at 7:30, and had to leave for school. When I got home I tested at 6:50pm and she was at 393, fed at 7:05 - and she threw it all up within 20 mins (history of vomiting), called the e-vet and they said wait till she keeps food down, so I gave her food in increments from 8-8:30, then gave 1u at 9pm (but I forgot to test), checked before I went to bed at 12:15 am and she was at 412. This morning at 8:15am she was at 432. so we shall see what it looks like at +3.
Happy to have this forum!
-Whitney
Last edited:
I'll edit my post and see if I can link it. 
This is why I felt it necessary to try the Purina DM. What we are currently feeding is med carb (13%). I've been following this chart for all my cats since 2016. The inflamed bladder has been a constant challenge. 