Hi all,
I'm new here and thought I would introduce myself and my sweet foster.
My name is Ronda and I am a foster mom and volunteer with Fancy Cats Rescue Team. I typically try to help with the more special needs kitties... both mentally or physically. My foster's name is Dakota (Cody) in which I think he has been posted on here before by one of our other volunteers (Denise).
Dakota is an ultra sweet ultra handsome de-clawed 8 year old male Norwegian Forest Cat (mix), at least that is what his breed seems to be to me. He was diagnosed with diabetes before he came to my home. He and his brother were owner releases and a bit neglected because they were separated from people for a good bit while they tried to find them a new home. They were taken in by a lady but she was not prepared to foster a special needs cat and although he was diagnosed it was not treated until I was asked to step in. The lady could not handle the thought of doing insulin injections. So I came and took him to my home. I immediately began his insulin injections. His perscription was 2 units twice a day after eating. Although I have dealt with various special needs I had no experience with diabetes so I began reading anything and everything I could get my hands on about it and how to care for him properly. I switched his food gradually but as fast as I could to a mostly canned food diet of either Innova EVo 95% Beef or Duck. I also allowed him to have two handfuls of Go Natural hard food to help maintain his teeth. His food schedule was 3/4 of a 5.5oz can twice a day, once at 4 AM and again at 4 PM. When he first came to me he was extremely underweight to where I could feel his spine and could see his tail bone protuding. When he began to gain his weight back I reduced his food to 1/2 a can per feeding session.
He was the easiest (and still is) kitty in the world to medicate (give his injections). He seemed to know that I was trying to help him and immediately trusted and loved up to me. After his breakfast I would sit on the floor and he would immediately run over get on my lap and start kneading until I gave him his insulin of 2 units of Lantus. I allowed him to see and smell the needle and I thought I could have heard him start to purr louder. At any rate, he is also the easiest kitty I have ever dealt with in doing a spot check of his BG levels. He sees me breakout the meter and he runs over to me and gets on my lap. Such a wonderful and sweet boy. After about two weeks of this routine I took him to get a curve test by the vet as I had found it was never done for him. It turned out the dosage was off and so we upped it to 3 units in the morning and 2 in the evening. During that time we also discoverd a growth on his ear and had it removed once he was stable in the insulin. I then suspected he was becoming more regulated and asked for the vet to check. He confirmed my suspicions and we reduced his insulin back to 2 units per feeding session. Again he was doing so well, he no longer drank excessively or peed a lot. His appetite was WONDERFUL and he loved his soft food diet. He was on a hard food only diet at the previous homes. So we had another check and saw a low BG so we lowered it again to 1 unit per feeding. So I was getting my hopes up that he had become possibly regulated and may not need insulin anymore. After a two week stint on only 1 unit per session we checked again and saw again it was continuiously low so we tried OTJ for one week. To my dismay, when checked again his BG was a 400+. I immediately started his Lantus again but this time only 1 unit per day. My vet requested we try this and that I do a curve test at home.
I have not done a curve test before but I am willing to try.
So this brings me today. We really need to find a forever home for this sweet loving affection snuggly cuddle craving boy. His favorite thing to do is to lay on my chest, nuzzle into my neck and start kneading my shoulders. He drools a little while kneading but it is drools of delight.
I joined here in hopes of finding as much information as I can on how to best care for Dakota and for any future kitties I may foster that has this issue. I also am hoping that I might find some good leads on anyone that may be interested in possibly giving this sweetie a forever home.
HI!!!! confused_cat
I'm new here and thought I would introduce myself and my sweet foster.
My name is Ronda and I am a foster mom and volunteer with Fancy Cats Rescue Team. I typically try to help with the more special needs kitties... both mentally or physically. My foster's name is Dakota (Cody) in which I think he has been posted on here before by one of our other volunteers (Denise).
Dakota is an ultra sweet ultra handsome de-clawed 8 year old male Norwegian Forest Cat (mix), at least that is what his breed seems to be to me. He was diagnosed with diabetes before he came to my home. He and his brother were owner releases and a bit neglected because they were separated from people for a good bit while they tried to find them a new home. They were taken in by a lady but she was not prepared to foster a special needs cat and although he was diagnosed it was not treated until I was asked to step in. The lady could not handle the thought of doing insulin injections. So I came and took him to my home. I immediately began his insulin injections. His perscription was 2 units twice a day after eating. Although I have dealt with various special needs I had no experience with diabetes so I began reading anything and everything I could get my hands on about it and how to care for him properly. I switched his food gradually but as fast as I could to a mostly canned food diet of either Innova EVo 95% Beef or Duck. I also allowed him to have two handfuls of Go Natural hard food to help maintain his teeth. His food schedule was 3/4 of a 5.5oz can twice a day, once at 4 AM and again at 4 PM. When he first came to me he was extremely underweight to where I could feel his spine and could see his tail bone protuding. When he began to gain his weight back I reduced his food to 1/2 a can per feeding session.
He was the easiest (and still is) kitty in the world to medicate (give his injections). He seemed to know that I was trying to help him and immediately trusted and loved up to me. After his breakfast I would sit on the floor and he would immediately run over get on my lap and start kneading until I gave him his insulin of 2 units of Lantus. I allowed him to see and smell the needle and I thought I could have heard him start to purr louder. At any rate, he is also the easiest kitty I have ever dealt with in doing a spot check of his BG levels. He sees me breakout the meter and he runs over to me and gets on my lap. Such a wonderful and sweet boy. After about two weeks of this routine I took him to get a curve test by the vet as I had found it was never done for him. It turned out the dosage was off and so we upped it to 3 units in the morning and 2 in the evening. During that time we also discoverd a growth on his ear and had it removed once he was stable in the insulin. I then suspected he was becoming more regulated and asked for the vet to check. He confirmed my suspicions and we reduced his insulin back to 2 units per feeding session. Again he was doing so well, he no longer drank excessively or peed a lot. His appetite was WONDERFUL and he loved his soft food diet. He was on a hard food only diet at the previous homes. So we had another check and saw a low BG so we lowered it again to 1 unit per feeding. So I was getting my hopes up that he had become possibly regulated and may not need insulin anymore. After a two week stint on only 1 unit per session we checked again and saw again it was continuiously low so we tried OTJ for one week. To my dismay, when checked again his BG was a 400+. I immediately started his Lantus again but this time only 1 unit per day. My vet requested we try this and that I do a curve test at home.
I have not done a curve test before but I am willing to try.
So this brings me today. We really need to find a forever home for this sweet loving affection snuggly cuddle craving boy. His favorite thing to do is to lay on my chest, nuzzle into my neck and start kneading my shoulders. He drools a little while kneading but it is drools of delight.
I joined here in hopes of finding as much information as I can on how to best care for Dakota and for any future kitties I may foster that has this issue. I also am hoping that I might find some good leads on anyone that may be interested in possibly giving this sweetie a forever home.
HI!!!! confused_cat
