Question about Tilly - peeing a lot and drinking more but acting normal?

[Nomilynn]

Tilly has diabetes. I will be going to the vet this afternoon to discuss what I have to do to manage it. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed at the moment, but I will know more after I speak with the vet.

[phesina]

Prayers and good wishes are being sent for you and Tilly.

[Freedom]

Check this thread, and my post, #4, has lots of info and support for you.

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...+forum+support

[Cataholic]

Its manageable, Naomi, hang in there, both of you!

[Nomilynn]

I went to the vet this afternoon and had an hour consult with the vet. He's really awesome. Tilly will be on 1 unit of insulin 2 times a day. She also really likes the new food that the vet wants her on. Luckily I can feed both Tilly and Nutmeg the same food. Nutmeg didn't eat all her serving though, which may be an issue because Nutmeg really misbehaves when she's hungry. I'm hoping that when she realizes that when she doesn't eat it she can't go back to it she will eat all her food at one time, but time will tell. So we are managing for the moment, and I'm trying not to be totally overwhelmed and stressed about it all. Thanks for all your prayers.

[Moesha]

My Morgan had diabetes. At first, I was overwhelmed. Partly because I had just had to say goodbye to a kitty with congestive heart failure. Morgan started with 10 units once a day and then went to 5 units twice a day. I changed his diet and for awhile he was on Purina DM and then I switched him to a grain free cat food. He'd also get a spoonful of canned food before he got his shots. If I forgot, he'd come and get me. He really wanted that canned food and didn't mind his shots at all. But with the change in diet and being very strict about what he ate, I was actually able to ween him off of the insulin completely. It took about 6 months though. We'd get his blood checked every 2 weeks and the vet kept reducing his insulin by 1 unit for each dosage. I know that is not the normal thing that happens, but it can. We were proof of that. But the main point of sharing this was to let you know that while it is stressful and overwhelming at the beginning, it is very manageable and we usually have more problem accepting it than our furkid. Make sure you have some Karo syrup on hand though just in case.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm sorry to hear that Tilly has diabetes but at least now you know what you're dealing with. I hope that you'll be able to keep it under control. Prayers and positive thoughts are being sent your way.

[TommyCat]

So sorry Tilly has diabetes; it is manageable and not a death sentence. It's a shock at first though, as I understand. Is Tilly on Lantus insulin? Maggie has been on Lantus a year and a half. Here is a good website if you want to learn more about feline diabetes. Just click on the topic diabetes. Prayers and good thoughts for you and Tilly.

www.catinfo.org

[smokey the elder]

There are a couple good web sites: www.felinediabetes.com and www.mycathasdiabetes.com.

Cats can go into remission; I've seen it happen, and there are loads of examples on felinediabetes.com. There's a diabetic in our rescue. It's interesting how different vets manage it. He's on Humulin, which is kind of surprising, but is doing well.

Good luck with Tilly!

[Nomilynn]

Thanks everyone. She is on Caninsulin, and is getting 1 unit 2x a day to start with. She's on Hills m/d because the vet wants her weight to come down to about 12 pounds (she's 14 right now).

I fed her last night and she loved the new food. I left out some of her old food too because I didn't want to shock her system, but then around 2:30am she threw up all her dinner I didn't offer her any more food because I wasn't sure what to do, but I stayed up for over an hour, just watching to see if she had a low blood sugar. She fell asleep long before me.

This morning she wanted her breakfast, but right after eating went to lay down and sleep, and I wondered if it was upsetting her tummy a bit. This food is higher in protein than what she's used to, and so I'm wondering if it's just a bit of an ajustment we need to make. The vet called this morning just to check in and I told him what happened, and asked if I could give her Pepcid A/C to try and settle her stomach and he said that would be fine. So, if she throws up her breakfast I will go to the drug store tonight and get her some Pepcid and see if that helps. Nutmeg, by the way, loved the new food and had no problems with it. The vet said that Nutmeg should also get her weight down because we don't want her to develop any health issues, so they are both on kitty diets right now. Once things are stable and they are at an appropriate weight, they will likely be switched to a senior food that is meant to maintain kidney health, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

She's had 2 shots so far and has been so good. She didn't even flinch or whimper. She just sat there and let me do it and then got down and gave herself a bath

[kuhio98]

Cats can go into remission; I've seen it happen, and there are loads of examples on felinediabetes.com. Good luck with Tilly!

Yes, I've seen this happen also. Jetsie (my Mom's cat) started off on a large injection once a day. After a few months, the dossage was cut in half. She did well for a year and then went into remission. Kitties are amazingly resiliant!

[Nomilynn]

Good news! Tilly didn't throw up her breakfast. I'm taking this as a really good sign Fingers and paws crossed that dinner stays down. I think I will get the Pepcid anyway, just in case, becauseit can't hurt to have it in the house.

Thanks for all the kind thoughts

[tokolosh]

Fingers and paws crossed that dinner stays down.

All the way up to the elbows for you

Finding out your cat has something chronic and scary like this is a real shock. And you got on it so fast you didn't even have time to adjust to the symptoms she was showing, by the sounds of it. It's a real blessing that she likes the new food though, even if it does sound like she's got some adjusting to do. The stuff they gave me for kidney cats was so repulsive I got the heaves opening the cans, never mind mashing the blocker powder into it - and Limpet wouldn't touch it at all. It looked like pseudo-chicken jellied in snot, and I ended up giving the whole half-case I'd bought to the SPCA. I hope some cat got the benefit of it.

Tilly sounds like she's being just about the best a cat could possibly be about all of this. She must be a real sweetheart

[TommyCat]

Hi,
Has your Vet mentioned home testing where you test her blood glucose before shooting the insulin. Someone mentioned www.felinediabetes.com website, which is an excellent site where you can learn a lot about her diabetes.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I've read that high protein diets are the best for diabetic cats and that canned food would be much better than dry because it has more protein in it and less carbs. Hopefully she'll continue to do well on the new food. Some cats will eat canned food too fast so then this causes them to throw it back up. My RB Sunny would do this so I had to mix his with some dry food and the problem was solved.

I also hope that you'll be able to get their weights down. I know how hard this can be when they act hungry all of the time. My Ziggy Stardust is a little over 14lbs but she is a very large cat. Last year she was 15.9lbs which is too heavy. My vet told me that she had to go on a diet. I had to feed her smaller portions of dry food and she was able to lose some weight.

I've found that by feeding cats several smaller portions, that his helps to keep them satisfied. I feed Storm, Sky, Pearl, & Ziggy Stardust a high protein dry and canned diet. They get no more than a 1/2 cup of Wellness Core dry and Storm & Ziggy eat about 1/2 of a can of Wellness grain free a day. Sky & Pearl only eat about 1/4 of a can a day. I feed them 2 small portions in the morning and 2 small portions in the evening.

Alani & Blaze didn't do well on Wellness Core because they need more fiber so they're on Chicken Soup For The Cat Lovers Soul Light Formula dry. They get some canned a few times a week because they can't handle it every day. Good luck with everything.