My 9-year-old cat, Missy, was diagnosed on 02/19 with diabetes. I noticed that she was drinking water and passing urine in huge quantities. Her coat was looking rough, she wasn't eating much, and she just wanted to sit on my shoulder and not move. I was afraid she'd be diagnosed with diabetes and yep, she was.
Our situation: One human, four-cat household. Missy is the "second child" and basically is deaf. The oldest cat is 14, male, and is on a special food for oxylate stones. Missy liked to snitch his food and since it is formulated to encourage the cat to drink more and thus urinate more my vain hope was that this was the cause of her initial drinking/urinating. The other two "children" are two female siblings, 3-years-old, no health issues and normal food.
Missy was adopted as a stray. She was a "mystery cat" of no known original so on the first visit to the vet, when asked for a name, she got the moniker "Missy". We "guesstimated" her age to be about one year at the time she joined the household. She had evidence of frostbite on one ear so we thought she might have spent the winter outside the previous year. She was such a friendly cat that I thought it was a shame to leave her a stray. She had respiratory problems that did not clear up after treatment with antibiotics. She was diagnosed with allergies to dust mites and dust in general. She was on a regimen of antigen injections for about 5 years, and that was stopped about a year ago when it didn't seem to have any long-term benefit. She was also receiving steroid shots intermittently when her scratching made her life miserable. The last such inject was about 2 months ago, as best as I can recall. The vet had told me that sometimes a cat would develop diabetes from steroid shots. He tried to keep the number of them limited, and tried to find alternatives to steroidal injections (special food, allergy shots).
After spending over $3000 on emergency surgery for my male cat's blocked urinary tract less than a year ago, my first reaction was "Oh, no! I can't afford this!" I could give a laundry list of all of my other "life events" but let's just say that I was already overwhelmed with responsibilities and now this additional issue put me over the edge.
On Saturday I boarded my cat at the vet's office to allow myself time to breathe. My schedule is very unpredictable and I worry that I will be unable properly care for Missy. My first instinct was definitely *NOT* to put her to sleep, but I am feeling rather numb right now.
The information I have at present is:
- Missy's blood glucose was 453.
- She'd lost about 25% of her body weight in 2 months.
- Urinalysis results are still pending, should have them on Monday.
- Vet is recommending starting treatment by first changing the diet to Hills M/D, allow the adjustment to the new diet, then begin figuring out the insulin dosage.
I currently feed my cats dry food. They have all been allowed to "graze" during the day. The vet is saying I will need to go to a feeding schedule: put out the food, give a certain amount of time, then put it away for everyone.
I've read that many people discourage feeding the Hills M/D, particularly the dry "kibble". Has anyone had any success with it? My vet said first and foremost the issue is to get Missy to eat.
Our situation: One human, four-cat household. Missy is the "second child" and basically is deaf. The oldest cat is 14, male, and is on a special food for oxylate stones. Missy liked to snitch his food and since it is formulated to encourage the cat to drink more and thus urinate more my vain hope was that this was the cause of her initial drinking/urinating. The other two "children" are two female siblings, 3-years-old, no health issues and normal food.
Missy was adopted as a stray. She was a "mystery cat" of no known original so on the first visit to the vet, when asked for a name, she got the moniker "Missy". We "guesstimated" her age to be about one year at the time she joined the household. She had evidence of frostbite on one ear so we thought she might have spent the winter outside the previous year. She was such a friendly cat that I thought it was a shame to leave her a stray. She had respiratory problems that did not clear up after treatment with antibiotics. She was diagnosed with allergies to dust mites and dust in general. She was on a regimen of antigen injections for about 5 years, and that was stopped about a year ago when it didn't seem to have any long-term benefit. She was also receiving steroid shots intermittently when her scratching made her life miserable. The last such inject was about 2 months ago, as best as I can recall. The vet had told me that sometimes a cat would develop diabetes from steroid shots. He tried to keep the number of them limited, and tried to find alternatives to steroidal injections (special food, allergy shots).
After spending over $3000 on emergency surgery for my male cat's blocked urinary tract less than a year ago, my first reaction was "Oh, no! I can't afford this!" I could give a laundry list of all of my other "life events" but let's just say that I was already overwhelmed with responsibilities and now this additional issue put me over the edge.
On Saturday I boarded my cat at the vet's office to allow myself time to breathe. My schedule is very unpredictable and I worry that I will be unable properly care for Missy. My first instinct was definitely *NOT* to put her to sleep, but I am feeling rather numb right now.
The information I have at present is:
- Missy's blood glucose was 453.
- She'd lost about 25% of her body weight in 2 months.
- Urinalysis results are still pending, should have them on Monday.
- Vet is recommending starting treatment by first changing the diet to Hills M/D, allow the adjustment to the new diet, then begin figuring out the insulin dosage.
I currently feed my cats dry food. They have all been allowed to "graze" during the day. The vet is saying I will need to go to a feeding schedule: put out the food, give a certain amount of time, then put it away for everyone.
I've read that many people discourage feeding the Hills M/D, particularly the dry "kibble". Has anyone had any success with it? My vet said first and foremost the issue is to get Missy to eat.
OK……..breathe………. :RAHCAT 
