Lori&Scout
Member Since 2012
Hello all,
Just checking in to say hi and let you know Nipper is doing much better. Hopefully someone with a very poorly cat will read this and take heart!
Long story short: She started showing symptoms of tummy upset in March 2014. She was diagnosed with diabetes in November 2014 and Pancreatitis this February.
From November to March, she was really ill. She went from a sturdy 13 lbs down to 9. She stopped using her litter box, grooming, playing, and took to lying on her side all day. When I got the pancreatitis diagnosis, I switched her to Lantus and put enzymes in her food to help her digest it. Since then I've increased her lantus dose to ridiculous levels (16U currently) because she is so insulin resistant. She's still never to my knowledge had a hypo, but there's always the risk that one day she'll suddenly become sensitive to the insulin and this high dose will kill her before I can react. It's a risk I have to take, but I think it's worth it for the quality of life she has now...
She's still not 100%, but much improved. She does use her litter box when I'm around, otherwise she is hit or miss. I leave a giant puppy pad down for her when I go out or go to bed and she is happy to use that. I'm sure it's painful for her to poo and that's why she's avoiding the box. She is grooming better but still not getting her belly or tail. I give her a bath every now and then to help her out. HOWEVER, she is playing! She loves playing in boxes and with toys on string. Her appetite is good and her tummy is sometimes ok, sometimes upset. She doesn't fuss at all about the injections and only fusses a little bit about blood tests. Her catsitters and my partner can all give her the insulin with no bother when I'm away. I also found a cattery who is willing to take her.
All this has been expensive and frustrating! But Nipper is a one in a million cat, and I'm glad I was able to take this on and get this extra time with her.
Wishing you all good luck, hugs, scritches for the kitties, and lots of thanks for your advice and compassion.
Lori, Nipper, and Scout
Just checking in to say hi and let you know Nipper is doing much better. Hopefully someone with a very poorly cat will read this and take heart!
Long story short: She started showing symptoms of tummy upset in March 2014. She was diagnosed with diabetes in November 2014 and Pancreatitis this February.
From November to March, she was really ill. She went from a sturdy 13 lbs down to 9. She stopped using her litter box, grooming, playing, and took to lying on her side all day. When I got the pancreatitis diagnosis, I switched her to Lantus and put enzymes in her food to help her digest it. Since then I've increased her lantus dose to ridiculous levels (16U currently) because she is so insulin resistant. She's still never to my knowledge had a hypo, but there's always the risk that one day she'll suddenly become sensitive to the insulin and this high dose will kill her before I can react. It's a risk I have to take, but I think it's worth it for the quality of life she has now...
She's still not 100%, but much improved. She does use her litter box when I'm around, otherwise she is hit or miss. I leave a giant puppy pad down for her when I go out or go to bed and she is happy to use that. I'm sure it's painful for her to poo and that's why she's avoiding the box. She is grooming better but still not getting her belly or tail. I give her a bath every now and then to help her out. HOWEVER, she is playing! She loves playing in boxes and with toys on string. Her appetite is good and her tummy is sometimes ok, sometimes upset. She doesn't fuss at all about the injections and only fusses a little bit about blood tests. Her catsitters and my partner can all give her the insulin with no bother when I'm away. I also found a cattery who is willing to take her.
All this has been expensive and frustrating! But Nipper is a one in a million cat, and I'm glad I was able to take this on and get this extra time with her.
Wishing you all good luck, hugs, scritches for the kitties, and lots of thanks for your advice and compassion.
Lori, Nipper, and Scout
