Hello everyone!
My fiancé and I are new to the site and have had two cats since 2005 (adopted litter mates at 9 weeks from a rescue shelter). To the best of our knowledge they are half Siamese and half tabby. One of them (Leo) has had little to no health concerns. The other (Sammy) was diagnosed with diabetes about 2.5 years ago. Adopting these two has been such a blessing as we think they are the best kitties ever! However things have been difficult over the last two years. Sammy was first diagnosed when we took him to the emergency vet believing he was blocked but turned out to be frequent urination due to diabetes. Long story short, we were given some hasty advice and while ashamed to admit, we did not do the proper research nor were we informed by our veterinarian about the implications. We had been giving "blind" insulin over the last two years based on veterinary tests and reports. Recently, Sammy was visiting the litter box far too frequently and straining. We rushed him to the nearest ER vet and learned he was blocked. After a pricy and emotionally gut wrenching experience we learned a great deal about urinary health but also diabetes. Since he has discharged we have been attempting home glucose tests and have been more successful these last few times. Before this most recent emergency we were giving two units of prozinc twice daily (every 12 hours) with a combination of wet and dry DM food. After educating ourselves we have switched exclusively to wet DM food. Since then we have been able to get a few at home glucose readings. And now we are stumped. Of course on Tuesday we will consult with our veterinarian, but recent numbers have us somewhat concerned. On sat (1/19) Sam was given 1 unit of insulin with .5 can of DM food at 8 am. At 7pm we were finally able to get enough blood for a glucose test. It was 144. We tried very hard for another reading at 7am but to no avail so we did not give insulin for fear of hypoglycemia. Sam was fed his normal .5 can DM at 8 am. Then we tried all day for another BG test, couldn't get enough blood. Then miraculously before his 8 pm dinner we finally drew enough blood and got a 122 result. An hour and a half later got a 149. We know we need to get a reading at peak hours but now need to get more lancets, which we will do tomorrow. But until then, is there something we should be doing differently? We learned from this site that these are fairly decent numbers but we are still worried. Any advice/ tips would be greatly appreciated. We are so happy to have found this community and look forward to learning more from all of you!
My fiancé and I are new to the site and have had two cats since 2005 (adopted litter mates at 9 weeks from a rescue shelter). To the best of our knowledge they are half Siamese and half tabby. One of them (Leo) has had little to no health concerns. The other (Sammy) was diagnosed with diabetes about 2.5 years ago. Adopting these two has been such a blessing as we think they are the best kitties ever! However things have been difficult over the last two years. Sammy was first diagnosed when we took him to the emergency vet believing he was blocked but turned out to be frequent urination due to diabetes. Long story short, we were given some hasty advice and while ashamed to admit, we did not do the proper research nor were we informed by our veterinarian about the implications. We had been giving "blind" insulin over the last two years based on veterinary tests and reports. Recently, Sammy was visiting the litter box far too frequently and straining. We rushed him to the nearest ER vet and learned he was blocked. After a pricy and emotionally gut wrenching experience we learned a great deal about urinary health but also diabetes. Since he has discharged we have been attempting home glucose tests and have been more successful these last few times. Before this most recent emergency we were giving two units of prozinc twice daily (every 12 hours) with a combination of wet and dry DM food. After educating ourselves we have switched exclusively to wet DM food. Since then we have been able to get a few at home glucose readings. And now we are stumped. Of course on Tuesday we will consult with our veterinarian, but recent numbers have us somewhat concerned. On sat (1/19) Sam was given 1 unit of insulin with .5 can of DM food at 8 am. At 7pm we were finally able to get enough blood for a glucose test. It was 144. We tried very hard for another reading at 7am but to no avail so we did not give insulin for fear of hypoglycemia. Sam was fed his normal .5 can DM at 8 am. Then we tried all day for another BG test, couldn't get enough blood. Then miraculously before his 8 pm dinner we finally drew enough blood and got a 122 result. An hour and a half later got a 149. We know we need to get a reading at peak hours but now need to get more lancets, which we will do tomorrow. But until then, is there something we should be doing differently? We learned from this site that these are fairly decent numbers but we are still worried. Any advice/ tips would be greatly appreciated. We are so happy to have found this community and look forward to learning more from all of you!
our vet was thinking that his diabetes had gone into remission. I am wondering what all of you think? Of course I know more data is needed... But was curious if anyone has experienced this before?