Thank you, Lantus Land!!!!!!
Thank you, everyone, for celebrating with me!!! Today, Kitty is OTJ after
15 months! Kind of a miracle. And he suffered through the wrong dosing for four long months, which makes this day even more miraculous.
We plan to party ALL NIGHT, Stu's cuisine, Maui's niptinis, and dancing by all... but :YMSIGH: Kitty asked me to give a little speech. It's kind of long -- after 15 months on Lantus, it would have to be! So I thought I'd get it out of the way now, so the partying can continue.
Kitty wants you to know his story, because
it is the story of a cat whose life was saved by FDMB.
Kitty was diagnosed with diabetes and a kidney infection in late January 2009. His vet put him on Lantus – once a day, with instructions to shoot at “around” the same time, feed prescription dry food, and yes, roll the bottle.
Home testing was never mentioned. Instead, I put my sweet boy, who hates cars, into his carrier twice a week, drove half an hour each way, and held him while he had blood drawn. Some days Kitty’s numbers were okay; some days they were horrible. The vet couldn’t understand why Kitty wasn’t regulated. So he raised his dose – over and over, until he had me giving 10 units once a day.
Yes,
10.
It still makes me cry to think I put Kitty through this, just because I had put blind faith in a vet, and was too intimidated by feline biology to ask questions. But finally, I recognized a glazed look on Kitty’s face as a warning. Looking back, he must have been in hypo, yet somehow he survived.
So I did the unthinkable: I went against the vet's advice. I found an out-of-state vet consultant who advised me to step Kitty’s dose down, and suggested that I look at the articles on FDMB.
The day of my first post (June 8, 2009) was the beginning of Kitty’s recovery. Looking back at that first thread now (
http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/r ... ?8,1706376), I can’t believe how many of you spent so much time patiently coaching a stranger who had zero knowledge.
That was the day of Jill's first post to me. As CynCyn said then,
“You live close to Jill & Alex. I can NOT TELL YOU how freaking great this fact is.” How right she was! Jill came to my home, with some extra syringes and a baggie of Liv-A-Littles, and taught me how to test.
Jill, you have been my Kitty’s angel ever since. I am forever grateful for your patience, your knowledge and your kindness. Kitty would not be OTJ today without you.
This is your victory.
And on the very first day, Hillary – thank you, Hillary! – pulled me out of the dumps and started showing me what to do. She even sent me her phone number, to let me know I wasn’t alone. And most important, she let me know that I had found people I could trust.
How can I thank everyone without leaving anyone out? Jojo, fear of your wet noodles kept me up at night testing, thank goodness! Libby and Sienne, you have been my guiding lights. Helene, thank you for being my conscience! Cassandra, wherever you are, I was so heartened by your gold stars. And to D and Noisy: I salute you both. (D, you are a photoshop master! :mrgreen: )
To my Lantus Land family: this sweet, gentle kitty is alive because of all of you. I would have lost him if I hadn’t found this wonderfully giving, knowledgeable, supportive community, where ignorant newbies can grow up to become the strong beans their furbabies deserve.
My Kitty is strong, too. Many times, I wondered whether he could hope for remission, after such high doses for so long. But I felt that if he could survive what he was put through, he deserved everything I could do for him – every plate of food served directly to his face at 2 a.m., every wasted syringe in search of the perfect dose – to give him his chance. I hope this lasts, but whatever happens, with your help, I’ve done my best to give it to him.
So thank you, Lantus Land. I will see you often! You are my family now.
I have to go cry happy tears now, and tell Kitty for the umpteenth time that he gets to be shot-free. Imagine that.