Diagnosis of the Day

There are so many statistics out there changing the way people look at food consumption in our country. People are consistently saying how the spike in Diabetes over the years has become pretty horrible due to poor food choices...blah, blah, blah. Genetics can play a part as well. And as it turns out, Diabetes is now officially something I have to deal with on a daily basis...with my cat. Our poor fat cat, Logan, was officially diagnosed with diabetes today. What you must know is that Logan is just a tad overweight. I was under the assumption he was severely overweight but the vet said that he's really not too bad. He's a big cat, but not overly fatty.

About a month ago I noticed that he was having some issues with water and, well...let's just say that the litter box was his best friend for non-urinary based issues. It only lasted about a week and I was just about to take him to the vet when it all cleared up and he seemed just dandy again. For the past week or so I noticed him drinking a lot more. I was concerned with stones, as I've had lots of cats in the past with issues like this. But upon further investigating, he was peeing just fine. I found him this morning asleep with his head draped over the water dish and knew that I had better get him in to the vet ASAP. I know you should never self-diagnose, but I was about 98% sure he had diabetes. All signs pointed to it in my head.

The vet said he had an intestinal issue for sure but that we might not want to rush into blood-work for sugar levels and stuff just yet as he might clear up with a round of antibiotics. Bless my vets. They are the opposite of most vets I've been to. They look for the cheapest route first. I love that place. He asked if I wanted to wait or test him and I said I was concerned about the diabetes enough to go ahead and test. Poor Logan. He's so fat that they couldn't find a good vein to take blood from very easily and he now looks like he's been butchered at the barber. The vet came back and said that I made a great call and he was impressed at my spot-on diagnosis. His levels were pretty bad and diabetes was the diagnosis. I was given the option of letting him deal with it as he slowly progressed over the next year until he'd have to be put down or to begin insulin injections twice a day for the rest of his life. Guess what I chose.

How could I have chose anything else? Look at that face and cute fat belly

Yep. I'm officially giving him insulin twice a day now and the prognosis is great. As long as we manage to keep dosing him, the vet said they can live into their twenties with diabetes. that's a whole lot of insulin over the years, but he's part of the family and Josh and I agreed that we wouldn't have decided any other way. Heck. I made the decision to start shots before I even talked to Josh as I knew what he'd say. He loves our cats just as much as me and so do the kids. I figure we have a kid with asthma and allergies. Why not a cat with diabetes? The funniest part is buying insulin at Wal-Mart and telling them the reason I just need one vile is that it's for my diabetic cat. I laughed when I said it. As for Logan? He's better already. Two shots into his system and he's already back to his fat and happy self. Gotta love those modern meds!