Kelly Hicks
Member Since 2019
Hello! I'm new to this forum so I figured I'd introduce myself. 
We just got Aidan 2.5 weeks ago. He is a 4 year old tiger gray short hair, 10.8 pounds, and a complete sweetheart. He has been diabetic for somewhere around 6-8 months now and the shelter had a hard time managing his BG, so his levels were typically between 300-500, and he had issues with neuropathy (his legs have very little muscle from walking flat-footed for so long now), poor eyesight, and a lot of lethargy.
He has been with us for 2.5 weeks now and with his new diet (he is currently on 1.95oz of grain-free Nutro wet food and 1.3oz of Sheba wet food twice a day) he has bounced back very quickly. He was getting 3 units of Lantus a day at the shelter, but within the first week we brought him down to 1 unit a day and for the past 3 days now he has had no insulin. He has gained back normal use of his legs (he still needs to build back the muscle to walk properly, but he is running and jumping and has more spring to his walk), has clear eyesight, and acts much more like a 4 year old cat- playful and energetic! He is kind of like a toddler, you expect him to be slow but then he takes off and it's hard to keep up with him!
After we brought him home, we took him in to meet our vet (we have 2 other older kitties right now and one that recently passed) and she suggested that we aim to keep his sugars between 150-200. She said that it's safer for them to run too high than too low. However, my dad has been Type 1 diabetic for 30+ years and we are more than willing to put in time and effort to monitor and control our kitty's BG levels. We have been rigorous in monitoring Aidan's BG levels and adjusting his diet and insulin (much to Aidan's annoyance with all the poking and prodding, although he is incredibly patient), and he has had consistently normal BG. Right now, his 7 day average is 90 and his 14 day average is 99 (but that includes the time he got into the other cat's dry food and spiked to 300+
).
Anyway, we are hoping he is going into remission, even though it feels too quick, since he hasn't needed insulin for 3 days now. Even if he isn't, we are glad that he is doing so much better and that his personality is able to come through now that he isn't in a constant high BG fog! We love our sassy little man
Sorry for the super long post, we are just very excited to be able to help this wonderful kitty!
We just got Aidan 2.5 weeks ago. He is a 4 year old tiger gray short hair, 10.8 pounds, and a complete sweetheart. He has been diabetic for somewhere around 6-8 months now and the shelter had a hard time managing his BG, so his levels were typically between 300-500, and he had issues with neuropathy (his legs have very little muscle from walking flat-footed for so long now), poor eyesight, and a lot of lethargy.
He has been with us for 2.5 weeks now and with his new diet (he is currently on 1.95oz of grain-free Nutro wet food and 1.3oz of Sheba wet food twice a day) he has bounced back very quickly. He was getting 3 units of Lantus a day at the shelter, but within the first week we brought him down to 1 unit a day and for the past 3 days now he has had no insulin. He has gained back normal use of his legs (he still needs to build back the muscle to walk properly, but he is running and jumping and has more spring to his walk), has clear eyesight, and acts much more like a 4 year old cat- playful and energetic! He is kind of like a toddler, you expect him to be slow but then he takes off and it's hard to keep up with him!
After we brought him home, we took him in to meet our vet (we have 2 other older kitties right now and one that recently passed) and she suggested that we aim to keep his sugars between 150-200. She said that it's safer for them to run too high than too low. However, my dad has been Type 1 diabetic for 30+ years and we are more than willing to put in time and effort to monitor and control our kitty's BG levels. We have been rigorous in monitoring Aidan's BG levels and adjusting his diet and insulin (much to Aidan's annoyance with all the poking and prodding, although he is incredibly patient), and he has had consistently normal BG. Right now, his 7 day average is 90 and his 14 day average is 99 (but that includes the time he got into the other cat's dry food and spiked to 300+
).Anyway, we are hoping he is going into remission, even though it feels too quick, since he hasn't needed insulin for 3 days now. Even if he isn't, we are glad that he is doing so much better and that his personality is able to come through now that he isn't in a constant high BG fog! We love our sassy little man
Sorry for the super long post, we are just very excited to be able to help this wonderful kitty!
).
