Leanne Perrier
New Member
In early February 2020, my 15 yo cat Bella was diagnosed with Feline Diabetes. To say I was scared and overwhelmed was an understatement. And not to knock my vet at the time, but they didn't provide a lot of guidance short of "buy this prescription food and insulin and we'll show you how to inject it." Of course, being my nature, I jumped on the internet and attempted to learn absolutely EVERYTHING I could about feline diabetes. It was during that search that I found this website. I devoured all the information posted and quickly became fairly knowledgeable and confident about that knowledge. This website gave me all the information needed to quickly bring me up to speed on BG counts and curves, hypoglycemia, food carb counts, insulin, etc.
Ten days after diagnosis, with a food change and twice daily Lantus injections, we returned to the vet for a follow up and BG test (my Alphatrak was still on order - and not because my vet had suggested taking regular BG readings....). And wouldn't you know it, Bella appeared to be headed the way of remission. She did go into remission, and despite maybe a handful of regressions lasting at most a few months at a time, she spent more of the last 4.5 in remission than not. Furthermore, my parents cat was also diagnosed with Feline Diabetes in 2021, and using everything I learned from this website, I was able to guide their cat Rosy into long-lasting remission as well.
So by this point, you're probably now wondering what the point of this lengthy post is.....
This past Saturday, November 30th, 2024, our sweet Bella woke up from an afternoon nap unable to walk properly and suffering from what the vet surmised was likely a stroke or brain tumor that affected her vestibular system (balance and coordination). She was an incredible 19.5 yo and suffering from a couple other age-related ailments, so we made the difficult (but obvious) choice to have her euthanized. We were there with her, telling her we loved her, as she crossed the rainbow bridge.
I have absolutely NO doubt we were able to enjoy these last 4.5 years with her because of the knowledge and guidance provided by this website. So I just wanted to take a quick moment to say THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. I know that everyone is volunteering their time here to share their expertise, tackle potential life-threatening situations and provide information in general about the complicated world of Feline Diabetes. My girl lived (and actually made it to "Super Senior" status) as a result of your efforts. It's a scary world when you first receive that diagnosis, so keep doing what you're doing. You are saving kitty lives and giving kitty parents the knowledge and confidence needed to provide the best care they can to their sugar babies. Once again, THANK YOU.
With love and gratitude,
Leanne. Bella's Mommy.
Ten days after diagnosis, with a food change and twice daily Lantus injections, we returned to the vet for a follow up and BG test (my Alphatrak was still on order - and not because my vet had suggested taking regular BG readings....). And wouldn't you know it, Bella appeared to be headed the way of remission. She did go into remission, and despite maybe a handful of regressions lasting at most a few months at a time, she spent more of the last 4.5 in remission than not. Furthermore, my parents cat was also diagnosed with Feline Diabetes in 2021, and using everything I learned from this website, I was able to guide their cat Rosy into long-lasting remission as well.
So by this point, you're probably now wondering what the point of this lengthy post is.....
This past Saturday, November 30th, 2024, our sweet Bella woke up from an afternoon nap unable to walk properly and suffering from what the vet surmised was likely a stroke or brain tumor that affected her vestibular system (balance and coordination). She was an incredible 19.5 yo and suffering from a couple other age-related ailments, so we made the difficult (but obvious) choice to have her euthanized. We were there with her, telling her we loved her, as she crossed the rainbow bridge.
I have absolutely NO doubt we were able to enjoy these last 4.5 years with her because of the knowledge and guidance provided by this website. So I just wanted to take a quick moment to say THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. I know that everyone is volunteering their time here to share their expertise, tackle potential life-threatening situations and provide information in general about the complicated world of Feline Diabetes. My girl lived (and actually made it to "Super Senior" status) as a result of your efforts. It's a scary world when you first receive that diagnosis, so keep doing what you're doing. You are saving kitty lives and giving kitty parents the knowledge and confidence needed to provide the best care they can to their sugar babies. Once again, THANK YOU.
With love and gratitude,
Leanne. Bella's Mommy.
