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Diabeticat
(Yes, I was waiting until I came up with a witty title before writing up this entry. It took one full week!)
Last week the veterinarian gave me the news that no Person-with-Pet wants to hear. Jimmy, my 12 year old cat, was diabetic.
DIABETIC!
How could this happen? Was it my fault? I thought only overweight, sedentary cats got it. He is such a good, handsome kitty that surely this must be a mistake! Cruel, cruel world! (Said while shaking fists at the heavens.)
A few weeks ago I started recognizing the systems. They were identical to mine 20 years ago: frequent bathroom breaks and excessive liquid consumption. He was going the bathroom everywhere and would drink an entire bowl of water in about a minute. After 3 weeks of this, I figured that this was not a behavioral issue, so I made an appointment at the vet.
His BG at that time was around 600 mg/dL, which for humans is about six times the normal level. He was probably hovering at this number for a few weeks and having been 600 before, I can tell you that it doesn’t feel so great. The feelings of thirst are unquenchable. (Ha! Did you see that?)
He’s starting out on 2 units daily of Lantus (which I used to take 32 units of daily before getting a pump) and switching to a lower carb, higher fiber diet. Even after a day of this, his water consumption is almost back to normal levels and the litter box has barely been used.
More updates after his checkup next week…
