Hi all! Not new to feline diabetes, but new to it being one of my cats...

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Caroline17

Caroline17

Member Since 2016
Like my title says, I've rodeoed with diabetes both canine and feline in my former work as a vet tech. I have family members with diabetes and a horse who has issues with too much sugar in her diet. Well, I never had nearly as much respect for what other owners or people I knew went through.

My diabetic baby is Vonnegut. He's a newly 9 year old neutered brown tabby. I've had him since he was 2 days old and we formed an awesome bond while I bottle raised him. He's never really acted like a bottle baby though, always more like a dog... He's weird, I love him. He got very overweight (20 lbs when he should have been closer to 12) and I had a bear of a time getting weight off. Then he started dropping weight rapidly. I was working with a full service mobile clinic and they neglected to do a glucose test on him (in house that is, they did send out but glucose degrades over time). They felt his heart was the issue. I agreed to x-rays and an ultrasound of his heart. All good there so they said just up his food.

At this point I sought a second opinion. His sugar when tested in hospital was over 600 and at this point he weighed 10 lbs. We started him on insulin, which has been incredibly hard to regulate. Then we found underlying pancreatitis! Treating his pancreas has helped so much! Currently, he is on 4.5 units of ProZinc insulin twice a day, 1/4 tsp of pancrezyme twice a day, and low carb canned food.

Hello to everyone else! Give your kitties cuddle from Vonn and me!
 
Welcome to you and Vonnegut...a beautiful and interesting name. Is there a story to go with it?

As a vet tech, you have many of the basics necessary to "rodeo" with diabetes but as you are now finding out, every cat is dfferent and every day with our cats is different too. Sometimes these guys can be a bit difficult to sort out. Patience is the name of the game.

We can offer any assistance you need with all things diabetes related and many other issues common to our extra sweet furkids. We have a wonderful community here willing and able to help with anything or just provide some moral support.

I'm delighted to see you have joined us over on the Health forum and look forward to getting to know you and Vonnegut.
 
MrWorfMen's Mom said:
Welcome to you and Vonnegut...a beautiful and interesting name. Is there a story to go with it?

As a vet tech, you have many of the basics necessary to "rodeo" with diabetes but as you are now finding out, every cat is dfferent and every day with our cats is different too. Sometimes these guys can be a bit difficult to sort out. Patience is the name of the game.

We can offer any assistance you need with all things diabetes related and many other issues common to our extra sweet furkids. We have a wonderful community here willing and able to help with anything or just provide some moral support.

I'm delighted to see you have joined us over on the Health forum and look forward to getting to know you and Vonnegut.
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I love it! Your cat is named Menace! My other two boys are Dio and El Bad. So named because they are literally Satan and super naughty. As for Vonn, I named his whole litter after authors. Kurt Vonnegut is one of my all time favorites so it stuck.

I really appreciate the help I've gotten so far. It's helping me push to make some changes for the boy and helping me hang in there. All the pets I've known through clinics were well regulated and I only saw them for up to a few days. I have the tools but had absolutely no idea what really goes into dealing with feline diabetes day after day.
 
It's definitely a bonus to have some medical background dealing with these extra sweet creatures but it's not a black and white situation with a lot of them and it can be very frustrating. I am a retired R.N, so while I had a good handle on diabetes, what was needed, testing and giving insulin, my Menace who got her name by being just that .....a little menace, lived up to her name yet again by having a rare high dose condition. Menace was indeed aptly name as it seems your "Satan" and super naughty kitties are. I love when there is a story behind a pet's name. Vonnegut sounds so sophisticated! Would love to see a picture of your sweetie!

My civvie Worf was named after the Star Trek character because he was a feral found abandoned by his Mom at 5 days old and brought up by humans much like Vonnegut. My Worf definitely has the personality of the Star Trek character ...soft but very rough around the edges!

I know you will find this community very helpful! :D
 
HAHAHA! :woot: I have to admit I have never seen or read Slaughterhouse-Five and who the devil is Valerie Perrine? I can love a song and know all the lyrics but rarely remember who wrote or sung the song or read a good book and never pay a bit of attention to who wrote it. Remembering all that trivia was always my husband's job in our house! And before you jump to any conclusions, I don't read Harlequin romance novels either! :p
 
Yes, the only website where you don't have to lie about your age or what you found digging around in a litterbox. My wife must have thought I was on Ashley Madison the first week. "It's okay Honey, some guy's cat threw up something yellow and green and we're just trying to think of what it might be."
 
Noah & me said:
Yes, the only website where you don't have to lie about your age or what you found digging around in a litterbox. My wife must have thought I was on Ashley Madison the first week. "It's okay Honey, some guy's cat threw up something yellow and green and we're just trying to think of what it might be."
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My husband looks at me and goes, "You're talking/texting/thinking/insert verb here about animals again aren't you?" He then promptly tunes me out. Typically I help out all my friend via text when something happens with a pet. Now I have the internet to help too! At least Hubs tolerates me. If we have weird poop it is collected or left where it is so I can examine it. Same with puke. These are the things that make days fun and interesting.
 
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