Suzanne & Cobb(GA)
Member Since 2013
Yesterday
WOW! Can you believe it has been a year? When Cobb and I first arrived here a year ago, did you ever think his spreadsheet would look the way it does today?
Gosh...when I joined FDMB a year ago I had been lurking for months. I didn't understand what these condos were. I didn't get the +1, +2, etc. And I was thinking, there is no way I can test Cobb that much. We struggled at getting any kind of blood for a curve every couple of weeks. Then with Matty, and job hunting...let's just say, it was a rough time. And I had run out of patience with Cobb and his high numbers. To say "high" doesn't even adequately explain it. This cat was stuck in 500+ numbers for MONTHS. Probably longer than that. I know how lucky we are to have avoided DKA. But we weren't seeing the meter move at all. I got here, and everyone emphasized the importance of the wet, low carb food. "But he's on the diabetic prescription food the vet said he NEEDED." Yep...that was my reply to each suggestion. I remember we switched him...figuring it would do nothing, and up pops a 170 on the meter. Of course, I flipped out. He then trended down into the 300s where he stayed until we found his IAA. Yuck. Anyway, I remember telling Matt I had found this site and these "cat ladies" (now a term of endearment :lol: ) said we needed to make all of these changes. I told him I would try it through the end of the year and if nothing changed, we would discuss letting Cobb go. He was miserable. We were miserable. There was no end in sight. Slowly but surely we started seeing some progress. Litter box changes mainly. We went from using 2 40lb boxes of cat litter A WEEK to one 10 lb box every 2 weeks (now). We also noticed Cobb wasn't laying under the bed all of the time. He was venturing out -- even sniffing the (at the time) baby. He was letting us poke his ear without much objection. There was a huge change in his demeanor. Needless to say, we were seeing small, but significant changes.
And here we are today. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that Cobb would not be with us without the help we received here. There are far too many people to thank, but a handful stand out in my mind. Chris and BJ: for finding us on the Health page and calling in reinforcements, telling me to be patient and that people were looking at the curve numbers that I did have to provide (at least I had kept a record of them!). Marje and Sienne: for helping us with dosing advice until it became clear that Cobb was a high dose cat for reasons other than the dry food the vet insisted was okay. :roll: And I am so so so thankful for my 4 angels, Julie, Wendy, Sandy, and Donaleen: without your support and encouragement, I know I would have given up this fight months ago. Thank you for sticking it out with me while I stubbornly put off testing Cobb for IAA. Thank you for being understanding when I elected to skip the acro test. Thank you for being there through some of those first late night dips when I was freaking out about numbers under 100. Thank you for checking in on us, even when there isn't really much going on and we're just going through the strokes daily. And thank you for holding on tight through this latest wild ride of reductions.
I cannot believe Cobb is back into single digit doses. I know without your persistence and encouragement he wouldn't still be here with us today. So, thank you...from the bottom of my heart...thank you!
~Suzanne
WOW! Can you believe it has been a year? When Cobb and I first arrived here a year ago, did you ever think his spreadsheet would look the way it does today?
Gosh...when I joined FDMB a year ago I had been lurking for months. I didn't understand what these condos were. I didn't get the +1, +2, etc. And I was thinking, there is no way I can test Cobb that much. We struggled at getting any kind of blood for a curve every couple of weeks. Then with Matty, and job hunting...let's just say, it was a rough time. And I had run out of patience with Cobb and his high numbers. To say "high" doesn't even adequately explain it. This cat was stuck in 500+ numbers for MONTHS. Probably longer than that. I know how lucky we are to have avoided DKA. But we weren't seeing the meter move at all. I got here, and everyone emphasized the importance of the wet, low carb food. "But he's on the diabetic prescription food the vet said he NEEDED." Yep...that was my reply to each suggestion. I remember we switched him...figuring it would do nothing, and up pops a 170 on the meter. Of course, I flipped out. He then trended down into the 300s where he stayed until we found his IAA. Yuck. Anyway, I remember telling Matt I had found this site and these "cat ladies" (now a term of endearment :lol: ) said we needed to make all of these changes. I told him I would try it through the end of the year and if nothing changed, we would discuss letting Cobb go. He was miserable. We were miserable. There was no end in sight. Slowly but surely we started seeing some progress. Litter box changes mainly. We went from using 2 40lb boxes of cat litter A WEEK to one 10 lb box every 2 weeks (now). We also noticed Cobb wasn't laying under the bed all of the time. He was venturing out -- even sniffing the (at the time) baby. He was letting us poke his ear without much objection. There was a huge change in his demeanor. Needless to say, we were seeing small, but significant changes.
And here we are today. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that Cobb would not be with us without the help we received here. There are far too many people to thank, but a handful stand out in my mind. Chris and BJ: for finding us on the Health page and calling in reinforcements, telling me to be patient and that people were looking at the curve numbers that I did have to provide (at least I had kept a record of them!). Marje and Sienne: for helping us with dosing advice until it became clear that Cobb was a high dose cat for reasons other than the dry food the vet insisted was okay. :roll: And I am so so so thankful for my 4 angels, Julie, Wendy, Sandy, and Donaleen: without your support and encouragement, I know I would have given up this fight months ago. Thank you for sticking it out with me while I stubbornly put off testing Cobb for IAA. Thank you for being understanding when I elected to skip the acro test. Thank you for being there through some of those first late night dips when I was freaking out about numbers under 100. Thank you for checking in on us, even when there isn't really much going on and we're just going through the strokes daily. And thank you for holding on tight through this latest wild ride of reductions.
I cannot believe Cobb is back into single digit doses. I know without your persistence and encouragement he wouldn't still be here with us today. So, thank you...from the bottom of my heart...thank you!
~Suzanne
