I would reiterate everything @LTS3 has already said (thanks for the tip about the thread!).
Our Casper was diagnosed with diabetes around last July, 2016. It was quite a shock but in retrospect made sense. We had him at the vet for his bi-annual wellness visit. He had turned 15 at that time a few months before. He had been steadily losing weight and it finally got to a point where it was clear that he was losing muscle mass in his hind quarters. His behavior had changed dramatically too - he was always a very social cat and had started to hide away from us and our other cat quite a bit. He stopped playing a game which he started with us years ago - a much loved bed time ritual. He didn't have the energy apparently.
He was also suddenly drinking huge amounts of water. And peeing huge puddles. I mentioned that to one of the vets who happens to be slightly more cat oriented than others in the practice (although, all are great vets) and she had literally just been through the same thing with one of her own pets, but a dog. She immediately recognized the symptoms and while we were there tested his glucose. It was way higher than it should be.
We were sent away with a crash course in administering his insulin and other instructions. He started on 1 unit and eventually after several more tests, leveled out at 3 units 2x a day of Vetsulin. Once he was stabilized he started behaving like his old self, was eating better and drinking a lot less.
A few months later, on a Friday night he had a hypoglecymic attack. I recognized it quickly. He was unsteady, nearly falling over, confused and his pupils were completely dilated. I first went to see if he'd eat something and gave kibble since it's high in carbs. He ate a bit, but then walked into the corner of the wall and I realized he couldn't see. I was going to give him something high in sugar to help combat the state he was in but knew we were really close to the ER hospital. That, was frightening and I called out to my fiance to get his carrier STAT. Within 5 minutes we had called an Uber to get us to the ER - and another few minutes were there. I was in no condition to drive and my partner doesn't so the cab was necessary.
I had called in advance so as soon as we came in they whisked Casper away to deal with him while getting info from us. As it turned out, he had gone into remission but, we had no idea since we were not home testing. FYI, home testing really is recommended but with out personal schedules out of the house for long hours it really wasn't possible. Instead, I chose to bring him into the vet every couple of weeks and let them do it with "curve" testing. Anyway, he must have gone into remission only within a day or so of this event, and since we didn't know, he got overloaded with insulin between what his body was making again and the injection we gave that night.
They kept him overnight to monitor him and I took him to our regular vet the next day where they retested him. Since then, he's been fine. They say that many times, especially if a cat is diagnosed older, remission is possible. Unfortunately, he was recently diagnosed with chronic kidney disease so it was only a short honeymoon period that we had with him.
I too would suggest you join the group mentioned above, the Feline Diabetes board and website. I can't begin to say how wonderful that community is and the help I got was invaluable. It really helps to be able to have somewhere to vent, chat, exchange ideas and information.
Our Casper was diagnosed with diabetes around last July, 2016. It was quite a shock but in retrospect made sense. We had him at the vet for his bi-annual wellness visit. He had turned 15 at that time a few months before. He had been steadily losing weight and it finally got to a point where it was clear that he was losing muscle mass in his hind quarters. His behavior had changed dramatically too - he was always a very social cat and had started to hide away from us and our other cat quite a bit. He stopped playing a game which he started with us years ago - a much loved bed time ritual. He didn't have the energy apparently.
He was also suddenly drinking huge amounts of water. And peeing huge puddles. I mentioned that to one of the vets who happens to be slightly more cat oriented than others in the practice (although, all are great vets) and she had literally just been through the same thing with one of her own pets, but a dog. She immediately recognized the symptoms and while we were there tested his glucose. It was way higher than it should be.
We were sent away with a crash course in administering his insulin and other instructions. He started on 1 unit and eventually after several more tests, leveled out at 3 units 2x a day of Vetsulin. Once he was stabilized he started behaving like his old self, was eating better and drinking a lot less.
A few months later, on a Friday night he had a hypoglecymic attack. I recognized it quickly. He was unsteady, nearly falling over, confused and his pupils were completely dilated. I first went to see if he'd eat something and gave kibble since it's high in carbs. He ate a bit, but then walked into the corner of the wall and I realized he couldn't see. I was going to give him something high in sugar to help combat the state he was in but knew we were really close to the ER hospital. That, was frightening and I called out to my fiance to get his carrier STAT. Within 5 minutes we had called an Uber to get us to the ER - and another few minutes were there. I was in no condition to drive and my partner doesn't so the cab was necessary.
I had called in advance so as soon as we came in they whisked Casper away to deal with him while getting info from us. As it turned out, he had gone into remission but, we had no idea since we were not home testing. FYI, home testing really is recommended but with out personal schedules out of the house for long hours it really wasn't possible. Instead, I chose to bring him into the vet every couple of weeks and let them do it with "curve" testing. Anyway, he must have gone into remission only within a day or so of this event, and since we didn't know, he got overloaded with insulin between what his body was making again and the injection we gave that night.
They kept him overnight to monitor him and I took him to our regular vet the next day where they retested him. Since then, he's been fine. They say that many times, especially if a cat is diagnosed older, remission is possible. Unfortunately, he was recently diagnosed with chronic kidney disease so it was only a short honeymoon period that we had with him.
I too would suggest you join the group mentioned above, the Feline Diabetes board and website. I can't begin to say how wonderful that community is and the help I got was invaluable. It really helps to be able to have somewhere to vent, chat, exchange ideas and information.
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