Rebecca & Jose
Member Since 2014
Hi everyone! My name is Rebecca.
My family rescued Jose from a cat shelter when he was about 2 years old. He lived in my family's home with other cats and a dog until he was diagnosed in July of 2011. After his diagnosis I took on full responsibility for his care and moved him to my apartment in the town where I was going to college. I switched his diet from free fed dry kibble to a canned low carb high protein diet. Because of a drastic change in diet and a lack of knowledge he unfortunately had one episode of hypoglycemia resulting in a seizure. Soon after that his diet and insulin became regulated. He gradually lost some weight and was an active and healthy kitty (aside from the diabetes).
This past year I graduated and Jose and I moved back into my parent's house. My parents now have 6 cats that are free fed a dry kibble all day. Because of the access to this food, Jose's insulin dosages increased. When we first end moved back in, Jose began urinating outside of the litter boxes as we'll. This was never an issue before. After being tested for a UTI and finding it to be negative I decided he needed his own litter box that no other cats use. This transition back proved to be quite stressful for the both of us :sad:
Trying to regain control of his diet and to lower his stress from the many cats, I moved us into the basement and now keep the door shut to keep the other cats away from his food and litter box and to keep him away from their food. This has helped a lot! :razz: Although this has helped, his insulin needs are still higher than they were when we lived alone. I believe this has been because of his increased weight and he does come upstairs occasionally throughout the day and will snack on the dry kibble.
I have now started to research a better quality diet such as a raw diet. I have also looked into making my own raw cat food at home. Along with this I have started to think about doing at home glucose testing to monitor his levels better. Since he was diagnosed I brought him to the vet for glucose curves every 3 to 5 weeks until his levels were under control and then ever 6 months after that until I noticed any changes.
I consider myself a young responsible cat owner doing much more than I know many of my college peers would have. Jose is my baby and I try to do as much as I can to keep him as healthy as possible. When he was first diagnosed I had my heart set on getting him off the juice but it hasn't worked out yet. I'm really hoping that I can lower his dosages with whatever new diet I try next.
I welcome any advice and am willing to give advice to new diabetic cat parents as we'll :smile:
My family rescued Jose from a cat shelter when he was about 2 years old. He lived in my family's home with other cats and a dog until he was diagnosed in July of 2011. After his diagnosis I took on full responsibility for his care and moved him to my apartment in the town where I was going to college. I switched his diet from free fed dry kibble to a canned low carb high protein diet. Because of a drastic change in diet and a lack of knowledge he unfortunately had one episode of hypoglycemia resulting in a seizure. Soon after that his diet and insulin became regulated. He gradually lost some weight and was an active and healthy kitty (aside from the diabetes).
This past year I graduated and Jose and I moved back into my parent's house. My parents now have 6 cats that are free fed a dry kibble all day. Because of the access to this food, Jose's insulin dosages increased. When we first end moved back in, Jose began urinating outside of the litter boxes as we'll. This was never an issue before. After being tested for a UTI and finding it to be negative I decided he needed his own litter box that no other cats use. This transition back proved to be quite stressful for the both of us :sad:
Trying to regain control of his diet and to lower his stress from the many cats, I moved us into the basement and now keep the door shut to keep the other cats away from his food and litter box and to keep him away from their food. This has helped a lot! :razz: Although this has helped, his insulin needs are still higher than they were when we lived alone. I believe this has been because of his increased weight and he does come upstairs occasionally throughout the day and will snack on the dry kibble.
I have now started to research a better quality diet such as a raw diet. I have also looked into making my own raw cat food at home. Along with this I have started to think about doing at home glucose testing to monitor his levels better. Since he was diagnosed I brought him to the vet for glucose curves every 3 to 5 weeks until his levels were under control and then ever 6 months after that until I noticed any changes.
I consider myself a young responsible cat owner doing much more than I know many of my college peers would have. Jose is my baby and I try to do as much as I can to keep him as healthy as possible. When he was first diagnosed I had my heart set on getting him off the juice but it hasn't worked out yet. I'm really hoping that I can lower his dosages with whatever new diet I try next.
I welcome any advice and am willing to give advice to new diabetic cat parents as we'll :smile:
