Feline diabetes

A few days ago, my cat Poupée was diagnosed with feline diabetes. To me, this was a relief. Her symptoms could have been caused by kidney failure, and I'd already lost a cat to kidney failure two years ago. Having another cat with kidney failure would be devastating.

She had the usual signs: drinking a lot (three bowls of water a day), peeing a lot, being sleepy all the time. So the vet told me to start giving her injections of Lantus. I was surprised, but relieved, that I didn't have to give her a particular cat-specific type of insulin. I don't have a job right now, and the government program that pays for part of the cost of my prescription drugs wouldn't pay for medication for a cat.

I can give Poupée my own Lantus. I can even use my own insulin pen. I'm actually much more comfortable with pens these days than I am with syringes. I tried using a syringe on Poupée, and she squirmed away from me. So the next day I used my pen, and she seemed to be more comfortable with that. So as long as she's taking an even number of units of Lantus, I can use my pen. (The pen only goes in increments of two.)

Diabetic kitties should have their blood sugar tested, but so far I have failed at this. You're supposed to use your lancing device (the one you would use to poke your fingers as a human diabetic) to poke the kitty's ear. Well, I've tried, and Poupée has been amazingly tolerant of my efforts to get blood from her ear, but so far I haven't succeeded. I'd really like to know what her blood sugar is like and how her insulin is affecting her. At least she's not drinking nearly as much water as she was before she went on insulin.

Poupée also has to go on a low-carb diet, which means all the cats in my household have to go on a low-carb diet. She's eating Purina diet cat food. The vet calls it the "catkins" diet.

I think for many people it's a big deal when their cat is diagnosed with diabetes. Maybe because I've had diabetes for almost my entire life, it's not such a big deal for me. Granted, it cost me a lot of money to get her diagnosis in the first place, but at least I can share my own diabetes supplies with Poupée so they won't cost me any extra. Sure, I would prefer it if my kitty didn't have diabetes, just like I'd prefer not to have diabetes myself. But at least it can be treated, for both of us.