Trez
Member Since 2021
Hello, my name is Trez. My cat Marcello is an 8-year-old American Shorthair (just guessing on his breed.) I have attached a picture of him taken in March 2021.
This is a very long post, but I am feeling very anxious about this whole situation and want to write out everything. Thank you in advance for reading and any replies.
Some background on Marcello: He was abandoned as a kitten (probably just a few months old) at a PetSmart in late 2012. The person who found him intended to keep him, but they had two large dogs as well and decided they could not take care of him. They posted online that they were giving away a white kitten with pink ears and pink nose. I adopted Marcello in December 2012.
He has always been a big cat. When he became a full-grown adult, he towered over my other cats. He was always heavy, but never looked like a "fat cat" to me—like his weight was distributed evenly. I have always fed my cats dry food and considered wet food a "once in a while" treat. Lately, I was giving them each half of a Sheba cuts every day when I got home from work at 5:30, and they mostly just wanted to eat the gravy.
I moved into a studio apartment in September 2019, and eventually noticed that Marcello had gained weight. I believe it is because my old house was bigger and he got more exercise just from walking the expanse of the house, but his physical activity greatly diminished once we moved into my 629 sq. ft. studio apartment. At one point last year, he weighed 20 lbs—but my vet never seemed alarmed by this. When I lived in my old house, Marcello weighed around 17 lbs.
I had been feeding Marcello and my other cat Rachael Ray indoor cat food for a while. I wanted to switch to a better kibble anyway, and decided to try Science Diet weight loss kibble because I was concerned about his weight (looking back, I wish I had switched to wet food only back then). Marcello ate that for about a month or so. I never intended him to eat it forever anyway. Afterward, I transitioned he and my other cat to simply Science Diet indoor 7+. My other cat is only 3 years old and not overweight, but I have always employed the free-feeding method with a big bowl they can eat from throughout the day (more on this later).
Additionally, and I feel terrible that I can't remember when exactly, but at some point last year, (2020) I started noticing discharge in Marcello's eye (just one eye at the time). I initially didn't think much of it, because most cats get gunk in their eyes from time to time. But when it persisted, I eventually took him to the vet in October 2020 and he was prescribed an ointment to be applied twice a day. He also got his yearly vaccinations at that time.
It helped for a bit, but the discharge came back after I stopped applying the ointment. In recent weeks, I noticed the discharge in both of his eyes. It was usually dark in color, but sometimes just brown or yellow. And more recently, I became very anxious about him. I have lost cats before from sudden illnesses, and I guess they were on my mind. There was nothing urgent or immediately upsetting about his behavior, but little things set me on edge. But I was never sure if I was overthinking it or if it was something to actually worry about. I was worried about the discharge in his eyes, but thought maybe it was from spring allergies. He got some dried mucus around his nose, but I thought that was also from allergies. He's been shedding a little more than usual, but his white cat hair is all over my apartment all of the time anyway, and plus it's getting warmer so most cats are shedding a lot. Lastly, he was vomiting clear liquid—he has done this before, but it was happening more frequently. But none of it was immediately alarming, because he was otherwise his normal, happy self, still cuddling with me and purring and eating/drinking/using the litter box normally. If he's been drinking more water lately, I just figured it was because most cats drink more as they age (I have a 15-year-old cat still living at my old house who drinks a LOT of water). Marcello's not as playful as my younger cat, but he still likes casual playing (though he doesn't often get up for it).
But I knew I wouldn't stop thinking about it unless I got a clear answer. I finally decided to just take him to the vet for a nose-to-tail checkup just so I could ease my anxiety. For reference, I have always taken my cats for yearly checkups and vaccinations, and his last visit was October 2020. So this was only half a year after his last visit.
Also: Most notably, last Friday, Marcello had a strange moment I've never seen happen before. He was lying on my bed, and suddenly seemed a little uncomfortable. He was lifting one of his front legs like it was hurt. I thought maybe he was having a stomach ache, because he's a big baby and doesn't tolerate pain like most cats who just hide it. I pet him, and it only lasted about thirty seconds, and then he was fine. At the time, I didn't know what to think of it. I watched a video of a cat seizure, and I do not believe that's what it was. And, I am ashamed, but I actually forgot to mention this to my vet, because I had a laundry list of other things I told him at the appointment.
He went to the vet on Tuesday this week (two days ago). My vet told me he is a normal, healthy cat, but if I wanted my fears alleviated, he recommended having a blood profile done, especially since Marcello is considered a senior cat now (even if he's a baby in my eyes). I paid for the blood work, brought him home from the vet and saw he was normal and happy, and figured everything was fine. The vet also gave me eye drops for Marcello's eyes, and I believe it has helped.
Well, Wednesday morning as I drove to work, my vet called me with the results of Marcello's blood work and told me he is diabetic. I think my vet was a little surprised, because otherwise, Marcello seems healthy and fine (to be honest, as I was driving in the rain and in shock from what I was hearing, I can't remember a lot of what my vet said). I actually can't even remember if he mentioned what his blood sugar was at. He informed me some basics about caring for diabetic cats and said to call the office back to schedule him to get his first dose of insulin, as well as for me to learn how to administer it. Marcello's appointment is tomorrow morning.
When I hung up, I started crying and panicking. I did not know how I was going to do this. I have always free-fed my cats, and now I would need to do scheduled feedings, and have to learn how to give my cat a very serious shot every day. I know nothing about diabetes in general. I am terrified of injecting him with insulin and possibly messing up the dosage. I was definitely spiraling.
My family told me to remain calm, there is a lot of research and resources on cat diabetes and these days it is relatively easy to manage. But I am anxious by nature, and spent all day yesterday watching videos about cat diabetes. That is when I learned many of the things presented in this forum, website, and other sites. I am very very hopeful—desperately hoping—that if I switch my cats to scheduled feedings, a high-protein, low carb wet food diet, that Marcello will not have to be dependent on insulin indefinitely. I am very scared of the thought of buying these things for him long-term—I fortunate to have a full-time job with a set schedule, but I also live alone and only have one source of income. I'm never going to give up on my cat, but I'm terrified of not having enough money to pay for what he needs. Plus, the pandemic has made me anxious about supply lines, because I have seen that wet cat food is a little bare on the shelves lately.
Yesterday on my way home from work, I immediately stocked up on some wet cat foods. I intend to start taking Marcello on walks so he can lose weight, so I bought a kitty harness and leash. And I removed my cats' large, free-feeding bowl of dry food. I started last night with a feeding at 6:30 pm, mixing the wet food with just a little bit of their kibble so it wouldn't be completely new to them. As usual, they mostly wanted to lick the gravy and did not eat all of it. This morning, I fed them at 6:30 am, and my younger cat didn't want any at all. I'm afraid he is probably going to be very hungry until I get home from work today.
But my other fears include: how will I know what's working for Marcello if I change his diet at the same time I am applying insulin? What if the diet helps, so the insulin just makes it worse? What if I mess up the dosage? I've never given anyone shots before. I'm terrified of Marcello having an episode because of something I did wrong. What if I am suddenly away from home, and there's no one to feed him or give him his shot? I want to get some prescribed wet food—I will monitor them when they eat twice a day, but what if my younger cat gets into Marcello's prescribed food? I emailed as much to my vet prior to the appointment.
And, as I mentioned earlier, he is a big baby. He doesn't hide his pain like most cats. It's going to feel terrible having to prick his ear and give him shots twice a day.
Right now, he is normal, happy, and healthy. Part of me naively wants to believe maybe he doesn't even have it, maybe it was just high blood sugar but not necessarily diabetes. I am trying to have hope that because this was caught early, and because I am immediately switching him to the new diet (but not so fast as to upset his stomach), there's a chance of him going into remission so that he will not need insulin. I'm very scared and anxious and have been crying constantly. I'm overwhelmed and feel like it's going to be so much work and that I won't be able to do it. I don't ever want to give up on him, but it's hard. And I haven't even started any treatment yet. I'm even scared for the first dose of insulin he will get from the vet.
I would appreciate any advice. His appointment is tomorrow morning and I'm so nervous. I'm trying to stay calm and do research in the meantime. I decided to join this forum so I could talk to some other diabetic cat owners. He's my baby, and I don't want him to suffer or worse, to lose him.
Thank you for reading!
This is a very long post, but I am feeling very anxious about this whole situation and want to write out everything. Thank you in advance for reading and any replies.
Some background on Marcello: He was abandoned as a kitten (probably just a few months old) at a PetSmart in late 2012. The person who found him intended to keep him, but they had two large dogs as well and decided they could not take care of him. They posted online that they were giving away a white kitten with pink ears and pink nose. I adopted Marcello in December 2012.
He has always been a big cat. When he became a full-grown adult, he towered over my other cats. He was always heavy, but never looked like a "fat cat" to me—like his weight was distributed evenly. I have always fed my cats dry food and considered wet food a "once in a while" treat. Lately, I was giving them each half of a Sheba cuts every day when I got home from work at 5:30, and they mostly just wanted to eat the gravy.
I moved into a studio apartment in September 2019, and eventually noticed that Marcello had gained weight. I believe it is because my old house was bigger and he got more exercise just from walking the expanse of the house, but his physical activity greatly diminished once we moved into my 629 sq. ft. studio apartment. At one point last year, he weighed 20 lbs—but my vet never seemed alarmed by this. When I lived in my old house, Marcello weighed around 17 lbs.
I had been feeding Marcello and my other cat Rachael Ray indoor cat food for a while. I wanted to switch to a better kibble anyway, and decided to try Science Diet weight loss kibble because I was concerned about his weight (looking back, I wish I had switched to wet food only back then). Marcello ate that for about a month or so. I never intended him to eat it forever anyway. Afterward, I transitioned he and my other cat to simply Science Diet indoor 7+. My other cat is only 3 years old and not overweight, but I have always employed the free-feeding method with a big bowl they can eat from throughout the day (more on this later).
Additionally, and I feel terrible that I can't remember when exactly, but at some point last year, (2020) I started noticing discharge in Marcello's eye (just one eye at the time). I initially didn't think much of it, because most cats get gunk in their eyes from time to time. But when it persisted, I eventually took him to the vet in October 2020 and he was prescribed an ointment to be applied twice a day. He also got his yearly vaccinations at that time.
It helped for a bit, but the discharge came back after I stopped applying the ointment. In recent weeks, I noticed the discharge in both of his eyes. It was usually dark in color, but sometimes just brown or yellow. And more recently, I became very anxious about him. I have lost cats before from sudden illnesses, and I guess they were on my mind. There was nothing urgent or immediately upsetting about his behavior, but little things set me on edge. But I was never sure if I was overthinking it or if it was something to actually worry about. I was worried about the discharge in his eyes, but thought maybe it was from spring allergies. He got some dried mucus around his nose, but I thought that was also from allergies. He's been shedding a little more than usual, but his white cat hair is all over my apartment all of the time anyway, and plus it's getting warmer so most cats are shedding a lot. Lastly, he was vomiting clear liquid—he has done this before, but it was happening more frequently. But none of it was immediately alarming, because he was otherwise his normal, happy self, still cuddling with me and purring and eating/drinking/using the litter box normally. If he's been drinking more water lately, I just figured it was because most cats drink more as they age (I have a 15-year-old cat still living at my old house who drinks a LOT of water). Marcello's not as playful as my younger cat, but he still likes casual playing (though he doesn't often get up for it).
But I knew I wouldn't stop thinking about it unless I got a clear answer. I finally decided to just take him to the vet for a nose-to-tail checkup just so I could ease my anxiety. For reference, I have always taken my cats for yearly checkups and vaccinations, and his last visit was October 2020. So this was only half a year after his last visit.
Also: Most notably, last Friday, Marcello had a strange moment I've never seen happen before. He was lying on my bed, and suddenly seemed a little uncomfortable. He was lifting one of his front legs like it was hurt. I thought maybe he was having a stomach ache, because he's a big baby and doesn't tolerate pain like most cats who just hide it. I pet him, and it only lasted about thirty seconds, and then he was fine. At the time, I didn't know what to think of it. I watched a video of a cat seizure, and I do not believe that's what it was. And, I am ashamed, but I actually forgot to mention this to my vet, because I had a laundry list of other things I told him at the appointment.
He went to the vet on Tuesday this week (two days ago). My vet told me he is a normal, healthy cat, but if I wanted my fears alleviated, he recommended having a blood profile done, especially since Marcello is considered a senior cat now (even if he's a baby in my eyes). I paid for the blood work, brought him home from the vet and saw he was normal and happy, and figured everything was fine. The vet also gave me eye drops for Marcello's eyes, and I believe it has helped.
Well, Wednesday morning as I drove to work, my vet called me with the results of Marcello's blood work and told me he is diabetic. I think my vet was a little surprised, because otherwise, Marcello seems healthy and fine (to be honest, as I was driving in the rain and in shock from what I was hearing, I can't remember a lot of what my vet said). I actually can't even remember if he mentioned what his blood sugar was at. He informed me some basics about caring for diabetic cats and said to call the office back to schedule him to get his first dose of insulin, as well as for me to learn how to administer it. Marcello's appointment is tomorrow morning.
When I hung up, I started crying and panicking. I did not know how I was going to do this. I have always free-fed my cats, and now I would need to do scheduled feedings, and have to learn how to give my cat a very serious shot every day. I know nothing about diabetes in general. I am terrified of injecting him with insulin and possibly messing up the dosage. I was definitely spiraling.
My family told me to remain calm, there is a lot of research and resources on cat diabetes and these days it is relatively easy to manage. But I am anxious by nature, and spent all day yesterday watching videos about cat diabetes. That is when I learned many of the things presented in this forum, website, and other sites. I am very very hopeful—desperately hoping—that if I switch my cats to scheduled feedings, a high-protein, low carb wet food diet, that Marcello will not have to be dependent on insulin indefinitely. I am very scared of the thought of buying these things for him long-term—I fortunate to have a full-time job with a set schedule, but I also live alone and only have one source of income. I'm never going to give up on my cat, but I'm terrified of not having enough money to pay for what he needs. Plus, the pandemic has made me anxious about supply lines, because I have seen that wet cat food is a little bare on the shelves lately.
Yesterday on my way home from work, I immediately stocked up on some wet cat foods. I intend to start taking Marcello on walks so he can lose weight, so I bought a kitty harness and leash. And I removed my cats' large, free-feeding bowl of dry food. I started last night with a feeding at 6:30 pm, mixing the wet food with just a little bit of their kibble so it wouldn't be completely new to them. As usual, they mostly wanted to lick the gravy and did not eat all of it. This morning, I fed them at 6:30 am, and my younger cat didn't want any at all. I'm afraid he is probably going to be very hungry until I get home from work today.
But my other fears include: how will I know what's working for Marcello if I change his diet at the same time I am applying insulin? What if the diet helps, so the insulin just makes it worse? What if I mess up the dosage? I've never given anyone shots before. I'm terrified of Marcello having an episode because of something I did wrong. What if I am suddenly away from home, and there's no one to feed him or give him his shot? I want to get some prescribed wet food—I will monitor them when they eat twice a day, but what if my younger cat gets into Marcello's prescribed food? I emailed as much to my vet prior to the appointment.
And, as I mentioned earlier, he is a big baby. He doesn't hide his pain like most cats. It's going to feel terrible having to prick his ear and give him shots twice a day.
Right now, he is normal, happy, and healthy. Part of me naively wants to believe maybe he doesn't even have it, maybe it was just high blood sugar but not necessarily diabetes. I am trying to have hope that because this was caught early, and because I am immediately switching him to the new diet (but not so fast as to upset his stomach), there's a chance of him going into remission so that he will not need insulin. I'm very scared and anxious and have been crying constantly. I'm overwhelmed and feel like it's going to be so much work and that I won't be able to do it. I don't ever want to give up on him, but it's hard. And I haven't even started any treatment yet. I'm even scared for the first dose of insulin he will get from the vet.
I would appreciate any advice. His appointment is tomorrow morning and I'm so nervous. I'm trying to stay calm and do research in the meantime. I decided to join this forum so I could talk to some other diabetic cat owners. He's my baby, and I don't want him to suffer or worse, to lose him.
Thank you for reading!
For food, you want to find some food <10% carbs (most of us do <5% but ECID). There is a good food list here - 
