Diana and Merlin (GA)
Member
Hello everyone.
My cat Merlin was just diagnosed today as being diabetic. He went into the vet's yesterday because he'd lost a significant amount of weight, as well as drinking water/more voiding. The vet did his exam but initially thought it was hypothyroidism, still she ordered a full blood panel and called me when she got the results of his test.
His BG was 375. So this morning I got his insulin (Lantus) as well as his syringes. He's 1U twice daily and he has his first curve coming up on this Thursday. After getting his insulin, we both went to the vet's office and learned how to administer his insulin. (He was not really enthused with this part as we practiced on him with sterile water.) Then came home to enjoy his new food (Purina DM) and his first shot of insulin.
*pant pant* Now for all the background on my little man:
I like to say I adopted him, but if I'm really honest, it was a mutual adoption 5 and a half years ago from a Petsmart. I saw this lanky black cat who was shamelessly trying to get my attention. I resisted, as I had just moved into the area, but came back to visit him every week for the next three weeks. Every visit I told my roommate about that little black cat until she finally told me to go and adopt him already.
So I did. On his papers I'd found out that he'd been "released" to the animal shelter and then to Petsmart 6, almost 7 months before I adopted him. Well, that was the end of that! He came home and promptly adopted my dog Myah and got his name, Merlin.
A year later, I packed up, moved out and across the country, with Myah and Merlin with me. Merlin liked riding in the car, but mostly he liked using Myah as his pillow and who knew? He made a good chin rest for her too. On the way to the new abode, we stopped and picked up Neferteri (also known as Teri) an Egyptian Mau rescue to take home.
A few days after arriving though, Merlin had his first overnight stay at the vet's office with what they believe to be pancreatitis. They were a bit befuddled considering his age and symptoms, but he didn't get really better until he finally came back home.
He was fine after that until about 20 months ago. I noticed him going to the litter box... and not urinating. Just straining. I lost a cat once when I was 9 to crystals in the bladder and I knew not urinating was extremely serious. We went to the emergency vet and they were able to remove a 3 mm plug from him. He came home and a couple of weeks later, he stayed in the litterbox, straining for so long that Teri buried him in it. We went back to the emergency vet and a couple of days later, he had PU surgery done. Came home, he thoroughly enjoyed all the TLC he got for his post op and life went on as normal.
Until this. I'm still learning and reading a lot, but I'm really looking forward to seeing my little guy feeling better.
For those of you that are curious, prior to this he was being fed Evo, both the Turkey and Chicken formula as well as the Herring and Salmon formula and getting treats of raw food (mostly chicken). Last year at his annual he weight 13.5 lbs, he weighed 9.5 on Friday. He's never been a "fat" cat, always very lean and muscular. I thought he was about a year old when I got him, but the vet believes that he might have 4 or 5. He is an indoor only cat.
So, hello!
My cat Merlin was just diagnosed today as being diabetic. He went into the vet's yesterday because he'd lost a significant amount of weight, as well as drinking water/more voiding. The vet did his exam but initially thought it was hypothyroidism, still she ordered a full blood panel and called me when she got the results of his test.
His BG was 375. So this morning I got his insulin (Lantus) as well as his syringes. He's 1U twice daily and he has his first curve coming up on this Thursday. After getting his insulin, we both went to the vet's office and learned how to administer his insulin. (He was not really enthused with this part as we practiced on him with sterile water.) Then came home to enjoy his new food (Purina DM) and his first shot of insulin.
*pant pant* Now for all the background on my little man:
I like to say I adopted him, but if I'm really honest, it was a mutual adoption 5 and a half years ago from a Petsmart. I saw this lanky black cat who was shamelessly trying to get my attention. I resisted, as I had just moved into the area, but came back to visit him every week for the next three weeks. Every visit I told my roommate about that little black cat until she finally told me to go and adopt him already.
So I did. On his papers I'd found out that he'd been "released" to the animal shelter and then to Petsmart 6, almost 7 months before I adopted him. Well, that was the end of that! He came home and promptly adopted my dog Myah and got his name, Merlin.
A year later, I packed up, moved out and across the country, with Myah and Merlin with me. Merlin liked riding in the car, but mostly he liked using Myah as his pillow and who knew? He made a good chin rest for her too. On the way to the new abode, we stopped and picked up Neferteri (also known as Teri) an Egyptian Mau rescue to take home.
A few days after arriving though, Merlin had his first overnight stay at the vet's office with what they believe to be pancreatitis. They were a bit befuddled considering his age and symptoms, but he didn't get really better until he finally came back home.
He was fine after that until about 20 months ago. I noticed him going to the litter box... and not urinating. Just straining. I lost a cat once when I was 9 to crystals in the bladder and I knew not urinating was extremely serious. We went to the emergency vet and they were able to remove a 3 mm plug from him. He came home and a couple of weeks later, he stayed in the litterbox, straining for so long that Teri buried him in it. We went back to the emergency vet and a couple of days later, he had PU surgery done. Came home, he thoroughly enjoyed all the TLC he got for his post op and life went on as normal.
Until this. I'm still learning and reading a lot, but I'm really looking forward to seeing my little guy feeling better.
For those of you that are curious, prior to this he was being fed Evo, both the Turkey and Chicken formula as well as the Herring and Salmon formula and getting treats of raw food (mostly chicken). Last year at his annual he weight 13.5 lbs, he weighed 9.5 on Friday. He's never been a "fat" cat, always very lean and muscular. I thought he was about a year old when I got him, but the vet believes that he might have 4 or 5. He is an indoor only cat.
So, hello!
We joked that he went from Rufus to Ruby overnight with no complications. It's wonderful to know that, as drastic as it may seem at the time, there are ways to save our beloved furbabies. Diabetes is no exception! It sounds like you've got a great attitude toward this, and I'd bet you (and Merlin! [Meryl?]) will do fine. So, Welcome.