Viznja
Member Since 2014
Hello,
My name is Lisa and my cat's name is Baybee Porkchop Kitty. He answers to each name separately or all. (His name was originally Porkchop but he was so cute when he was a baby, that he was called the other names too and they were added to his birth certificate, born 9/09, 5 years old).
Just to give you a little background:
He had appt at the vet in May 2014, he weighed approx 15 lbs. Even though this seems big, he was not fat ... he was very active and not an outdoor cat. Nothing out of the ordinary, other than he had worms, ugh .. which he was given a pill for and no longer has them.
At the beginning of August 2014, I noticed a few things that seemed a little off. I smelled cat urine (my previous cat hated leather and synthetic leathers and she chose to urinate on bean bag chairs as well as all of my nice shoes .. so, I knew when I walked into my apartment one day what the smell was). Since I had moved in here in February, every thing was fine. Kitty stopped chasing me in the morning and herding me to the kitchen to feed him and stopped sleeping at the end of my bed. He started sleeping on the floor in the bathroom next to the tub .. I thought maybe he was hot (at first) and made sure the A/C was on in my bedroom so he would be comfortable while I was at work. My son kitty-sat Kitty while I spent 2 weeks at my mother's out of state as my Grandmother passed not too long ago and she needed me. My son said he wasn't acting himself and he was urinating frequently, but in his box. He was changing the litter almost twice a day because Kitty would fill the entire box with urine. When I returned, I made an appointment as once he told me how much Kitty was urinating .. my first thought was "diabetes". I am familiar with diabetes as my 9 year old granddaughter was diagnosed just prior to turning 8 years old. (She's very upset that Kitty has diabetes and can't wait to "talk" to him to let him know he's going to be okay).
Kitty eats 1/4 can of Friskies wet food (he would eat most of them, flaked, bits, filets, shredded, pate, etc) in the morning and approx has 1 cup of 9 lives dry food in case he's hungry while I'm at work, which usually lasts all day and night before I go to bed. I replenish his bowl so he has something to eat during the night.
Fast Forward:
Kitty lost 3 lbs and on 9/13/14 since being diagnosed, I was told to continue feeding him as I was (and not to change his food .. silly me, didn't think about the wet food and the difference in carbs until I read up on it yesterday @-) ) and start with 2 units, schedule an appointment for a curve [which I don't understand the meaning of] the following week to see how he was doing. I know his blood sugar was in the 400's but I don't remember the exact number .. all the numbers are a blur right now, sorry. (all the abbreviations right now don't make sense to me either, until I have it down pat, I may ask stupid questions). When I brought him in, they never told me NOT to give him his insulin nor feed him at a specific time .. so that was a wasted trip. The follow Friday I was to leave him at the vet all day so they can check his sugar (this is what I call it as that is the term we use with my granddaughter) .. this time they asked that I feed him and give the insulin about an hour or more prior to me bringing him in. They had to up his units to 3 now.
Kitty is starting to act normal now .. although is still urinating more than usual. I will be calling the doctor to make an appointment again because I feel they should be checking in with me and they are not. (My old vet checked after an appointment and this just doesn't feel right to me). I don't test Kitty's sugar, although the doctor said I could and how but didn't get into any more detail than that. I have read Lisa Pierson's write up about Feline Diabetes which lead me here. It's easy to determine the amount of units of insulin for a human after counting carbs, etc. I was given papers to read, which weren't much help and not that I need a support system but I really don't want to call the doctor every day with questions. I would love to start Kitty on wet food diet as I know the dry is full of carbs ... I will be calling the doctor to have Kitty's insulin changed before doing this (and I'll make sure to get his numbers). My daughter has extra glucometers if I need one, I would just have to get a prescription for the strips or so she said .. I could be wrong but I thought I saw them in Wal-Mart over the counter.
Anyway .. Kitty doesn't mind the insulin injections and I use a pen. He's on Lantus Solostar/Insulin Glargine. Apparently, it didn't come in a pen form before, the pharmacist also has a cat with diabetes and was able to request it, so they carry them that way now.
Not sure what I'm doing but figured I'd start here and see what help/words of advice, if any, and go from there. (My apologies in advance if this is a little long or I talk in circles, I have a habit of doing that even though I proof-read ;-) )
Thanks,
Lisa and Kitty
My name is Lisa and my cat's name is Baybee Porkchop Kitty. He answers to each name separately or all. (His name was originally Porkchop but he was so cute when he was a baby, that he was called the other names too and they were added to his birth certificate, born 9/09, 5 years old).
Just to give you a little background:
He had appt at the vet in May 2014, he weighed approx 15 lbs. Even though this seems big, he was not fat ... he was very active and not an outdoor cat. Nothing out of the ordinary, other than he had worms, ugh .. which he was given a pill for and no longer has them.
At the beginning of August 2014, I noticed a few things that seemed a little off. I smelled cat urine (my previous cat hated leather and synthetic leathers and she chose to urinate on bean bag chairs as well as all of my nice shoes .. so, I knew when I walked into my apartment one day what the smell was). Since I had moved in here in February, every thing was fine. Kitty stopped chasing me in the morning and herding me to the kitchen to feed him and stopped sleeping at the end of my bed. He started sleeping on the floor in the bathroom next to the tub .. I thought maybe he was hot (at first) and made sure the A/C was on in my bedroom so he would be comfortable while I was at work. My son kitty-sat Kitty while I spent 2 weeks at my mother's out of state as my Grandmother passed not too long ago and she needed me. My son said he wasn't acting himself and he was urinating frequently, but in his box. He was changing the litter almost twice a day because Kitty would fill the entire box with urine. When I returned, I made an appointment as once he told me how much Kitty was urinating .. my first thought was "diabetes". I am familiar with diabetes as my 9 year old granddaughter was diagnosed just prior to turning 8 years old. (She's very upset that Kitty has diabetes and can't wait to "talk" to him to let him know he's going to be okay).
Kitty eats 1/4 can of Friskies wet food (he would eat most of them, flaked, bits, filets, shredded, pate, etc) in the morning and approx has 1 cup of 9 lives dry food in case he's hungry while I'm at work, which usually lasts all day and night before I go to bed. I replenish his bowl so he has something to eat during the night.
Fast Forward:
Kitty lost 3 lbs and on 9/13/14 since being diagnosed, I was told to continue feeding him as I was (and not to change his food .. silly me, didn't think about the wet food and the difference in carbs until I read up on it yesterday @-) ) and start with 2 units, schedule an appointment for a curve [which I don't understand the meaning of] the following week to see how he was doing. I know his blood sugar was in the 400's but I don't remember the exact number .. all the numbers are a blur right now, sorry. (all the abbreviations right now don't make sense to me either, until I have it down pat, I may ask stupid questions). When I brought him in, they never told me NOT to give him his insulin nor feed him at a specific time .. so that was a wasted trip. The follow Friday I was to leave him at the vet all day so they can check his sugar (this is what I call it as that is the term we use with my granddaughter) .. this time they asked that I feed him and give the insulin about an hour or more prior to me bringing him in. They had to up his units to 3 now.
Kitty is starting to act normal now .. although is still urinating more than usual. I will be calling the doctor to make an appointment again because I feel they should be checking in with me and they are not. (My old vet checked after an appointment and this just doesn't feel right to me). I don't test Kitty's sugar, although the doctor said I could and how but didn't get into any more detail than that. I have read Lisa Pierson's write up about Feline Diabetes which lead me here. It's easy to determine the amount of units of insulin for a human after counting carbs, etc. I was given papers to read, which weren't much help and not that I need a support system but I really don't want to call the doctor every day with questions. I would love to start Kitty on wet food diet as I know the dry is full of carbs ... I will be calling the doctor to have Kitty's insulin changed before doing this (and I'll make sure to get his numbers). My daughter has extra glucometers if I need one, I would just have to get a prescription for the strips or so she said .. I could be wrong but I thought I saw them in Wal-Mart over the counter.
Anyway .. Kitty doesn't mind the insulin injections and I use a pen. He's on Lantus Solostar/Insulin Glargine. Apparently, it didn't come in a pen form before, the pharmacist also has a cat with diabetes and was able to request it, so they carry them that way now.
Not sure what I'm doing but figured I'd start here and see what help/words of advice, if any, and go from there. (My apologies in advance if this is a little long or I talk in circles, I have a habit of doing that even though I proof-read ;-) )
Thanks,
Lisa and Kitty
