I spent most of Friday evening and Saturday morning researching cat food. I have two cats who have two different (almost contradictory needs). Stella, with her kidney issues, needs lower protein (25-30%) and medium amounts of carbohydrates. A diabetic cat like Ambush needs high protein and low carbohydrates (ideally below 20%). California Naturals, the kitty food they have been on, has a carbohydrate level of about 34% and a protein level of 36%....
Continue reading...Feline Diabetes
Ambushing the Vet
The vet visit with Ambush went very well. Laura was right: the vets at the clinic in Hillsborough are excellent. Overall, Ambush seems to be doing pretty well. He’s lost more weight (12 pounds instead of 13.8), so that needs to be monitored. We checked his urine to make sure he wasn’t in kitosis (nope, good thing). And overall he seems to be healty kitty. He is going to start the new insulin,...
Continue reading...What do you mean “no more PZI”?
Ambush is low on his insulin. He has approximately three doses of PZI left. I called the vet I visited in January and asked they said they didn’t have any more PZI. In fact, the manufacturer wasn’t producing it any more. My friend Laura in Hillsborough has a lot of experience with cats and works closely with feral colony management and kitty rescue. She recommended a vet in Hillsborough who she has been...
Continue reading...Ambush Update, Part the Third
I called the NC vet back last night to find out how severe Ambush’ murmur is. On a scale of 1-6, with six being the worst, she rates Ambush’s a five. Que scepticism. If it was a quiet murmur, I could understand maybe my vet in TN missing the murmur. But how do you miss something that is supposedly as loud as his would have to be to qualify as a 5/6? I...
Continue reading...Update on Ambush
I called my vet in Tennessee for a second opinion on the way in to work this morning. She said it is possible that another vet could hear a murmur that she missed. She also suggested getting a second opinion: 80% of the cats she diagnoses with murmurs really don’t require much treatment because it isn’t affecting the cats. She usually suggests to the owners that they go to UT vet hospital to...
Continue reading...Basette update
The vet called this morning with some good news! Basette’s morning glucose was 405 (much lower then the prior day’s 500+), and her lunch-time glucose was 339. She’s edging back towards a normal glucose level finally. The best news was that Basette was up and walking around the clinic. Not just a step or two — but the entire circumference of the back room. Her change in activity says more to me than...
Continue reading...Clavamox, glipizide, and tuna fish, oh my!
This past Tuesday, Basette went back to the vet for UTI test. Urine was sent off, and preliminary tests were available yesterday. No bacteria has been found so far. Further cultures will be done this weekend, and final results will be in on Monday. Apparently, sometimes insulin resistance can be caused by an infection, like a UTI. My vet and I were hoping that Basette’s insulin resistance might be caused by an infection....
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