KaldannanAug 18, 2024

First off, I want to thank everyone whose incredible kindness helped me pay for both Toby's and Immi's vet bills. Toby's came out to $254 and change (forgot to take a picture of that), Immi's came out to $434.39.

Based on what I told the vet, she speculated Immi might be diabetic, which I hadn't considered, and the bloodwork results confirmed it.

#cats #CatsOfMastodon #diabetes #FelineDiabetes

Show threadKaldannan
Thankfully, we seem to have caught it relatively early enough that there's no damage to the rest of her organs — her thyroid values are also normal, thank fuck — though the vet guesstimated she's been diabetic for at least six months now. It is treatable with insulin, which means an insulin shot once every 12 hours for the rest of her life, and which means I need to have a staredown with my own health issues to be 100% certain I can commit to this.
Aug 18, 2024 at 4:07amWeb
Show threadKaldannanAug 18, 2024

The insulin and needles won't be the expensive part, as one vial will last two months on average. The bulk of the cost will come from repeated bloodwork panels to see whether the dose she's on is working for her, and this is what that'll look like at first.

#cats #CatsOfMastodon #diabetes #FelineDiabetes

Show threadKaldannanAug 18, 2024

The alternative is, well, putting her to sleep before she deteriorates too much further.

I'm not ready to lose her, and, even if she only gets another couple of years with me, I want to make sure those years are as good as I can make them. I owe at least that much to this small creature who gave me total, unconditional love and a reason to continue living Just One More Day despite the mess the rest of the world is in.

Show threadPaula StirlingAug 18, 2024
@Kaldannan you can buy your own glucose meter and test strips and test at home. It would give much more reliable results because there would be no stress of a vet trip and will save a fortune in the long run. That’s what I do with my diabetic boy
Show threadPetrichor7020Aug 18, 2024
@paulastirling @Kaldannan Can confirm this. Or cat is diabetic too and we measure his glucose ourselves. Obviously making your cat bleed is not fun. Even though ours is the sweetest guy, even he can get annoyed if you stick a needle in his ear and can't find enough blood to measure.
Show threadKaldannanAug 18, 2024
@petrichor7020 @paulastirling The printouts the vet gave me to read did mention this, yes. She also said doing so has the possibility of altering the bond with the cat, and doesn't want me to be associated with pain, whereas with the vet it'd be whatever.
Show threadPaula StirlingAug 18, 2024
@Kaldannan @petrichor7020 I always give my boy high protein treats after. But honestly he doesn’t seem bothered by getting tested by me. He resents me more for taking him to the vets!
Show threadAlan Miller  🇺🇦Aug 18, 2024
@Kaldannan I learned recently that you can use the same glucose monitoring devices from humans on cats (Freestyle, Dexcom, maybe some non FDA approved ones sold for fitness training?). Might be worth looking into. If so, third party adhesive rings are much better than included ones.
Show threadHasALizardAug 18, 2024
@Kaldannan We test our cat ourselves multiple times a day. Took a while to get the hang of it, but it's easy now unless he's In A Mood. We use a human meter (OneTouch Verio Flex, but if I was starting over I'd probably pick something with cheaper test strips). There are also some good support groups out there who can give good advice (without crossing over into vet territory). The forum at felinediabetes.com probably saved my cat's life early on.
Show threadKaldannanAug 18, 2024
@LisaHazard I'll look into those. Thank you!