A few weeks ago I posted an article about my long time friend and companion, Petunia, being diagnosed with feline diabetes.  She also had a urinary tract infection and a tooth that needed to be pulled.

The doctor's recommendation was a strict diet consisting of Hill's Prescription Diet M/D, one third of a can of food in the morning and 3/8 cup of dry food in the evening and 2 units of Vetsulin U-40 cat insulin shots (one in the morning and one in the evening).  Then for the bad tooth and the urinary tract infection, I had to give her one dose of Calvomax drops, an antibiotic.

Today was her follow up visit.  We dropped her off first thing this morning and then had to pick her up this afternoon.  The vet wanted to keep her all day so he could run glucose tests on her.  Keeping her all day ensured that he could check her after she had calmed down.  Sometimes, cats can get very stressed which can cause an insulin spike at the time of the visit.  By keeping them there all day, they can be tested over a period of time and get a more accurate reading.

The results were pretty good but not as good as I had hoped.  Her urinary tract infection had cleared up and her tooth seems to not be infected but the vet didn't go in to great detail on that.  Her blood sugar was still rather high, but had improved a lot over the last three weeks (about half what it tested for the first time).  She had also gained 2 pounds back, which is a lot for a cat!  She's now a slim and trim 13 pounds.  However, the vet doesn't want to remove her tooth until her blood sugar has stabilized so he recommended keeping her on the same diet (something she will have to do for the rest of her life) and to increase her insulin shots from 2 units to 3 units per shot.  He feels that will be enough to get her regulated.  Then once we reach that stage, he will set up an appointment to have that tooth extracted.

I have to say, I've been very pleased with Dr. Shipman at the Buckner Animal Clinic.  He seems very cautious and attentive to detail.  He also seems to sympathize with Petunia and myself as well.  Plus, I can access Petunia's profile on their website to check on all the foods and medicines she takes, as well as status of health and findings from her visits.

So the next step is to keep administering the shots with 1 more unit of insulin, maintain the diet and take her back in 3 weeks for a follow up visit.  If her blood sugar has stabilized, then we will be ready to have the tooth extracted and hopefully have her feeling much better for a long, healthy, happy life.

I will update again after her next visit.

Also, I wanted to add, that she takes the shots very well and almost doesn't even seem to notice them.  This has made me feel a whole better about having to give her daily injections.