I just found out recently that my very dear friend, Petunia has type II diabetes.  I can't tell you how upset this made me as she has been my close companion for many years now.  However, after consulting with the vet, I feel pretty confident that with a strict diet and daily insulin injections, she can still live a long, happy life.

I thought I would write an on-going piece that will discuss our battle with feline diabetes, what we've done to treat it, and the effects.

So how did I determine that she had diabetes?  Well, as you can see in the photo below, Petunia has always been, what I like to refer to as, "a full figured gal".

Then, in late October, my girlfriend and I purchase our first house together.  At the time, I had already given my notice at the house I was renting, and I hadn't closed on the new house, so I had to move in with Jennifer until we could close.  Petunia and I moved in and we stayed there for roughly 4 weeks until we were able to close on the house.

During this time, I noticed that Petunia seemed to be losing weight and drinking a little more water.  I didn't really think too much of it because I figured it was mostly stress.  She also had no other outward signs.  She was eating well, she played around a lot and was still affectionate (please note that my definition of 'affectionate' might not be the same as you perceive it, Petunia has never been overly friendly to anyone).

The photo above of Petunia was taken in the new house a day or so after we moved in.  This was late October.  Several months went by and we were now in to February.  I couldn't help but notice that she had lost even more weight.  It wasn't so obvious to everyone else but since I'm her daddy, or her personal servant-however you want to look at it, I did take notice.  Another thing I noticed was, she was drinking A LOT of water and urinating much more frequently.  Her appetite was still the same though and she seemed to be normal in every other regard.

In this photo, you can see an obvious difference in size.  This was taken in January.

So my worrying and concern got the better of me and I took her to my vet.  She hadn't been since 2002 so I thought it was a good idea regardless.

The vet did a full medical work up on her including a urinalysis and even before that he told me he suspected diabetes just from the information I had given him.  He said this was very common in older, over weight kitties.  Petunia is now a gracious 12 years old.

So the vet ran a barrage of tests and afterwards, the prognosis was not good.  She had a urinary tract infection, a very bad tooth (that will have to be pulled at a later date) and she indeed did have Type II Diabetes.  Oh how my heart sank that I had to come to the terms that I had let her health decline to such a bad state.  I have to say though, that other than the loss of weight and drinking more water than normal, I just didn't think she was actually sick.

My vet was more than thorough with me on the regimen he suggested.  The first thing was to change her diet.  He recommended Hill's Prescription Diet M/D dry and can food.  Her daily diet now consists of 1/3 of a can of the Hill's M/D food in the morning and 1/2 cup of dry food in the evening.  This has been hard for Petunia and myself to deal with.  It seems so little food to me since she seems skinny now anyways (even though the vet said she is at 10 lbs which is ideal for her size), and Petunia always seems hungry.  I'm worried that this simply isn't enough but I will stick with it and see what the vet says at the next visit.

Next was the antibiotics to clear up her tooth and urinary tract infections.  He prescribed Clavomax drops twice a day and the supply he gave me should last about 10 days.  This is administered simply with a dropper and is supposed to taste like bubble gum.  Why a cat medicine tastes like bubble gum is beyond me, but I guess its better than tasting like medicine.  Anyways, I take the dropper and just squirt it in to her mouth.  She doesn't like it, but she does take it and it doesn't seem to make her sick.  Once this treatment is finished, then she goes back for a checkup and we will have to schedule an appointment to have her bad tooth extracted.

To treat the diabetes, he gave me Vetsulin U-40 cat insulin.  I have to give her 2 units in the morning and 2 at night, 12 hours apart.  Petunia actually takes the shots much better than I would have imagined, but its hard for me to give them to her.  Personally, I have no problems with shots what so ever having grown up taking allergy shots all my life.  I just don't like the idea of having to possibly hurt her.  However the vet ensured me that if done right, it will feel less worse than a flea bite.  She will most likely have to take these shots the rest of her life, but the vet said that there is a slim chance that if she improves drastically on her diet, that maybe the shots will no longer be necessary... I certainly hope that is the case.

My vet is Dr. Bradley Shipman at the Buckner Animal Clinic in Oldham County, Kentucky and I have to say I was terribly pleased with this experience with him.  He seemed genuinely concerned about Petunia and myself as well.

The first visit costed me $178 dollars, which honestly was much less than I was expecting.  This is the cost breakdown:

Exam & Office visit  $34.00

Complete Chemical Analysis  $59.00

Urinalysis  $27.00

Several Syringes  $5.60

Clavomax Antibiotics  $21.50

Hill's Prescription Diet M/D Dry Food 4 lbs.  $17.79

Hill's Prescription Diet M/D Can Food (6 cans)  $7.98

Vetsulin Cat Insulin  No charge (small vile to get me started)

So, basically to keep my dear friend in good health for the rest of her kitty years, I will probably be spending around $60 dollars per month on diet food and cat insulin.  I'm not terribly pleased about this, but I would be heart-broken at a premature loss of one of my best friends.

I will write a new blog post after the next vet visit and checkup.  I'm hoping this will be the right solution to keep her happy and healthy.