More cat adventures
Jan. 9th, 2007 04:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deborahjrossWe're down to two cats, both girls who turn 14 this year: gray tortoiseshell Cleo and black-and-white tuxedo Ranae. Cleo has been hyperthyroid for years, but does very well on meds and is sleek and athletic. Ranae has always been slow-moving and stout, and now we have discovered she is diabetic.
After a minor freak-out on my part (all the info online on feline diabetes left me with the impression that treatment was expensive and onerous), I had a consult with the vet. Seems that current research has come a long way. Most feline diabetes is the insulin-resistance kind (Type II in humans) and can sometimes be managed with weight loss and diet alone. Even if you have to go to insulin (with my medical background, needles don't bother me), it's not nearly as big a deal as it is for humans, unless the cat has other problems and presents major blood sugar stabilization problems.
So, the first step is not a bunch of hideously expensive tests, but simply changing her diet to "kitty-Atkins" -- AKA Fancy Feast. We gave Ranae a few days to make the adjustment from free-feeding dry food to mealtimes-only wet food. Had to put the dry food on the mudroom counter, where only Cleo can reach it, and keep Cleo (and Oka, who thinks Fancy Feast smells soooo delicious!). Less than a week later, I see an improvement in Ranae. She's more active, her coat is improved, she is beginning to groom herself again. I think she's drinking and peeing less, but it's hard to tell. It's too soon to tell about the blood sugar, but I suspect that since she was on a high quality dry food, the difference is not just from better nutrition.
It would be amazing and great if this is all we have to do for her, but I am pleased and hopeful.
After a minor freak-out on my part (all the info online on feline diabetes left me with the impression that treatment was expensive and onerous), I had a consult with the vet. Seems that current research has come a long way. Most feline diabetes is the insulin-resistance kind (Type II in humans) and can sometimes be managed with weight loss and diet alone. Even if you have to go to insulin (with my medical background, needles don't bother me), it's not nearly as big a deal as it is for humans, unless the cat has other problems and presents major blood sugar stabilization problems.
So, the first step is not a bunch of hideously expensive tests, but simply changing her diet to "kitty-Atkins" -- AKA Fancy Feast. We gave Ranae a few days to make the adjustment from free-feeding dry food to mealtimes-only wet food. Had to put the dry food on the mudroom counter, where only Cleo can reach it, and keep Cleo (and Oka, who thinks Fancy Feast smells soooo delicious!). Less than a week later, I see an improvement in Ranae. She's more active, her coat is improved, she is beginning to groom herself again. I think she's drinking and peeing less, but it's hard to tell. It's too soon to tell about the blood sugar, but I suspect that since she was on a high quality dry food, the difference is not just from better nutrition.
It would be amazing and great if this is all we have to do for her, but I am pleased and hopeful.
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Date: 2007-01-10 02:00 am (UTC)