| Elmo:Feline | |
|---|---|
| Male black domestic short hair | |
| http:// | |
| Born | Apr-1988 |
| Dx | Jan-2006 |
| Oral meds | : |
| Regulated | Feb-2006 |
|
Regulated between 100 and 250 | |
|
Diabetes was probably prednisone induced | |
| Remission | Feb-2006 |
| Insulin | Humulin N |
Elmo is a beautiful black domestic short haired cat. His 18th birthday was the first of April (our best guess). He was rescued from under a car in A.F. military housing in Virginia as a half grown kitten. He enjoyed robust good health most of his life other than terrible teeth (he's down to 3 or 4 now).
Elmo's 4th anniversary with CRF was in May. He had a horrible crash, but stabilized very nicely and has maintained well on 100ml of LRS daily for many years. He dropped from being a 13 pound cat to around 10 pounds from the kidney issues; a slim weight, but looked good. He started losing weight the summer of 2005 and my vet diagnosed IBD and put him on pred. In November his bloodwork numbers were all fine (BG in the 90s), kidney numbers at the low end of high. He started to go down hill in the following weeks. He became increasingly lethargic and was losing weight rapidly. My vet checked his kidney numbers in December and they were the same. She made some dietary suggestions and had me bring him back in a few weeks. By the next visit (January 13, 2006) he looked terrible. While we were waiting for the complete blood panel results we were discussing hospice care and when to call it a night. She was smiling ear to ear when she came back with his results. A blood sugar over 600; something we can treat. I started him on insulin (1U), started changing his diet and started weaning him off the pred. I learned about home testing from the feline diabetes board and bought a meter and strips. The first week of testing was very frustrating. His readings were almost all too high to even register on the meter. My vet increased him to 2U after running a curve and I continued to switch Elmo from Purina NF and RC senior to canned Wellness and the low carb FF he already loved. (I was feeding a dollop of FF each morning to see that the cats were all interested in food)
Elmo's blood sugar readings started to be all over the map and he had a preshot reading of 57 last Thursday (2/9/06). I held off giving him his morning shot the next day and he hasn't had insulin since. His readings rather abruptly fell into the 95-100 range the second week of February. He sees the vet tomorrow (2/14) and we'll see how his kidneys are doing on the diet change.
2/24-Elmo's doing well, kidney numbers about the same-2.6 (2.4 high end of normal) I'm checking BG every two days and all readings have stayed under 100. We are enjoying the 'honeymoon/remission' and Elmo is feeling the best he has in a long time (more active and very purry). He loves the FF and Wellness canned foods, but is still painfully thin. I hope we can get a little more weight on him in the coming weeks.
3/5-Honeymoon continues. Most BGs between 55 and 70. His 'sister' Electra is at the emergency vet with a bladder infection.
9/15/06-All kitties doing well. They all love the FF and Wellness smorgasbord.
Elmo remains in remission (65 last check), too thin, but is eating well and happy. Who'd have thought he'd live to see 18 1/2 after his kidneys started going bad at 14 years old. He looks great for an ancient CRF, IBD, diabetic cat with a grade 3 heart murmur. Every day is a gift and a miracle.
1/6/06
The miracle continues. Elmo is still in remission. :) My sweet old boy may see 19 this April. BG 99 at the vet's office, he was stressed out and pi**ed off and still normal. :-)
9/17/08 Elmo has remained in remission. He's still with us at almost 20 1/2, we've been battling mast cell tumors for a while now, but he remains a purry, sweet and amazing boy.