Now, after a vet visit, I found out my favorite kitty - shhh, don't tell the other two - is diabetic. Not life threatening, and not a unique illness, but definitely a schedule changing one, and a dietary one too. The diet part won't be too hard, but the medical part is going to be tough. Insulin shots twice a day, every 12 hours. When I'm out of the house 3 days a week on school days from 6am to 10pm...I'm not sure yet how I'm going to be able to cover that.
Vet says we caught it pretty early; none of the other indicators they usually see are there, so that's a good sign. Drastic change in her food may be enough to control her blood sugar, but they want me to start her on the lowest dosage of insulin along with the food to see what happens. It's possible that she could go into remission...I never knew that could happen with feline diabetes. **Crossing my fingers**
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| My baby girl - MAIZE |
Hope you all are doing well, and for any mom's out there, Happy Mother's Day Sunday.
Bye for now.
L.
Good luck with your sweet kitty, who should be feeling significantly better with a monitored diet and a little insulin. The food alone might well do it.
ReplyDeleteKeep us updated.
Hugs!
Lisa
Thanks Lisa. I've done a lot of research on the topic in the last 24 hours, and it amazes me. Most cases can be contributed to diet. The biggest shock to me is the expense now involved with the change. Hoping I can get it under control and into remission, because the cost of good dietary food, insulin, and needles is staggering for someone who is tight on money already.
DeleteI'm glad to hear that your kitty's condition is manageable, diabetes can be a big problem for cats if you don't catch it early. And she is one gorgeous feline! What kind of food do they recommend? The store I worked at (where you dropped off your generous exchange gift) has a great variety of quality foods that will probably be a LOT less expensive than any "veterinary" brands they want you to feed her. If you get a chance, drop in and chat with Tom or Joe...they might be able to point you in a less expensive direction!
ReplyDeleteNever even thought of that. They suggested Hill's Prescription m/d. High protein, moderate fat, low carb - about $50 bucks for 8 1/2 lb. bag.
DeleteI'm not particularly thrilled that it contains L-Carnitine. My two girls are 10 and 11 lbs, and my boy (I think) is about 12. He is pretty large framed cat, so none are overweight. They all need to be switched together - mostly for a feeding issue. They have been fed together for over 6 years, so separating at this point would be close to impossible.
But it's the insulin and syringes that are gonna kill me - if we can't control her blood sugar with diet, medication will cost about $70-$80 a month. Ugh!