What type of pet do you own? Does your pet need a special vet?

[Vivid_29]

How can you tell if a cat has diabetes? Do they eat all the time, never get full and get fat?

 

~V

[moimeme]

They eat all the time, drink lots of water, and urinate a lot more than usual. They don't get fat, they lose weight. Most of the same symptoms as for people.

[UCFKevin]

Nope. Not Willy Wonka.

 

Think female character.

[ladyangel]

Willie is a female character in The Dragonslayers.

[2SidestoStories]

Kev: My guess as to your cat's name:

 

Think...Indiana Jones?

 

<shrug> That's my immediate response though!

[ldybg51]

Yeah, thats the only female willie I can come up with also.

[End of my rope]

I have red nosed American Pit Bull Terrier. She's one of the most loving dog's I've ever had the pleasure to know. APBT's have a bad rap, it's not their fault though, it's the people who own them and raise them the wrong way. Just like a child, you teach them to fight and condone it then that's what they're gonna go. Teach them to love and that's what they'll do instead.

[faux]

Right now I only have my pet cat, Tiger Lily. She's absolutely wonderful.

 

I used to have two rose-haired tarantulas years ago, several hermit crabs, anoles, a gerbil, and at one point kept a praying mantis for a period of time. Come to think of mantids, I also had several hundred at one time by accident: An egg case hatched in my room.

[UCFKevin]

Dingdingding!

 

Willie from Temple of Doom.

[morrigan]

I've got two dogs and one cat, all strays. My one dog is a chesapeake bay retriever-mutt mix, and the other is a german shepherd--they're both addicted to going on walks. Simba, my cat (my sister named her that) is a domestic tyrant that bullies my dogs. When my dogs go outside, she has to be staked out in the yard on a leash so she can enjoy the outdoors as well.

[wideawake]

Originally posted by moimeme

I've had cats all my life, and I've yet to meet an independent, apathetic one. They've all been devoted pets that clearly wanted and needed affection. When they have a choice of anything in the house to sit or sleep on, including softer and warmer surfaces, they will choose something of mine to sit or sleep on. They become visibly upset if I'm away and sometimes one gets jealous if I'm paying attention to the other.

 

Bingo, you just described my cats to a T.

 

I've got two cats (male and female) and two large sporting dogs.

 

All four hang out together, sleep together, drink from the same water dish (cats have thier own but much prefer dogs'...I have no idea why).

 

The female cat is VERY affectionate with the dogs, and will rub up against them and get them to play with her at times.

 

I'd love to get another dog (my guys are getting older now....) but I just don't have the room in the house or enough property right now....some day though when I buy that old 1850's farmhouse and grab about 5 acres of old growth land!

[End of my rope]

I used to have two rose-haired tarantulas years ago

 

****SHIVER****

 

SPIDERS!?!

[lostforwords]

id rather yank my own eye out of its socket than even touch or go near a tarantula..... GOD *SHIVERS*

 

i am blessed to have 3 beaurtiful birmese cats...... 2 females 1 male all fixed AND declawed and all 3 remain in the house..... very very beautiful cats..... as well we have a new addition to the family and thats Sparky my sons pet hamster..... so thats cookie, scoobin doobin, snoochie boochies and sparky ROFL

[Samson]

id rather yank my own eye out of its socket than even touch or go near a tarantula

 

Where on earth do you get this stuff: Can you be anymore graphic LFW!!

 

we have a new addition to the family and thats Sparky

 

With three cats in the house, sounds like Sparky might be a "snack" instead of a "pet."

 

Anyway, as you can tell, I love animals and my own little French tea-cup poodle named "FiFi" is my pride and joy

 

Yeah, I'm kidding

[lostforwords]

LOL... i cant help it..... tarantulas or spiders period freak the crap out of me....

 

oddly enough you strike me as being a pomeranion kind of guy.... never would have suspected a toy poodle....

[faux]

Originally posted by lostforwords

id rather yank my own eye out of its socket than even touch or go near a tarantula..... GOD *SHIVERS*...

 

Tarantulas are so cute though! I actually purchased my spiders as a way to get over my severe arachnophobia. After I had learned a great deal about spiders, and learned to properly handle my tarantulas, I had a greater appreciation for arachnids. It's quite an exhilarating experience to have a spider the size of your hand crawling on you.

 

I was really hoping to get a pink-toed tarantula, blue-hair, or Mexican red-knee but I did not have the $70–$200 to spend on a single spider. Pink-toes were within my reach once, but I can't remember why I didn't get one. I think I might have been put off by the toxicity of their hairs.

[lostforwords]

faux..... reading your post made teh hair stand up on the back of my neck and my skin crawl....... thanks dood

[ladyangel]

Originally posted by lostforwords

LOL... i cant help it..... tarantulas or spiders period freak the crap out of me....

 

oddly enough you strike me as being a pomeranion kind of guy.... never would have suspected a toy poodle....

Hey now LFW - I have a Pomeranian. She's the sweetest thing on earth!

 

I also have a Yorkie, a Toy Fox Terrier, and a half Chihuahua/half Toy Fox Terrier -- no laughing.

[lostforwords]

i used to have a pomeranian as well...... so i know how loveably cute they are... her name was toby and yes..... she was as black as her ass.....

[befuddled11]

Originally posted by moimeme

Um, thanks Befuddled. I read extensively on feline diabetes before seeing the vet. I didn't give you his full medical regimen; I thought this was a fairly fun discussion about pets. Trust me on this; he's fine. He isn't too thin; it's just that in comparison with his fat sister he looks thin. In fact, he's perfect.

 

Plus, the vet said that it's sufficient to monitor his signs (urinating, drinking water, weight, etc.) without doing extensive and frequent blood work. I do that and he's fine. They did a full blood screen just a few months ago. Some cats can only be maintained on the pills for a short time, yes, but there are some that don't have a serious case, I guess, that can. Do you also realize that they can spontaneously heal from diabetes?

 

I don't know if you know, or maybe you can't get it there, but Purina makes a diet specifically for cats with diabetes. The vet said that some cats can be controlled with the food alone My sweetie gets the food plus his meds and he's peachy. I know all his signs now and can tell if his sugar is getting too high.

 

Yeah, it was (and is) a fun discussion, I just know from the thousands of members on that feline diabetes forum that most have tried the meds and had only short-lived success, or their cats developed severe liver damage that turned into liver failure. Most Vets don't know how to teach people to manage feline diabetes. Most don't even know how to "home test" which is a darn shame because it takes only 10 seconds (literally) to check your cat's blood sugar at home....can be done any time of the day, gives accurate results and it's cheap. I guess Vets won't make as much money if they tell clients this. SInce my guy was diagnosed, I haven't taken him to the Vet once related to his diabetes....there's been no need to, though there's been some very close calls when his blood sugar dropped down very low. Had I not been able to check him myself (he had no symptoms, I was just being 'snoopy'), he would have been dead shortly.

 

a lot of people think the oral meds are harmless, but in fact, can cause life threatening hypoglycemia, just as insulin can.

 

And yes, I do know about the Purina line of food for diabetic cats. Tried the Purina DM dry food.....it gave my guy diarrhea. Not a very good quality food....tons of grains and corn and fillers in it. He's got a bit of an irritable bowel to begin with. I don't feed him any dry food now....just canned food twice a day. He started out with 2.5 units of insulin twice a day, now he's slowly down to 1.25 twice a day..that's a substantial decrease.

 

And while cats can "honeymoon" (have a period of time where their diabetes takes a "break"), it can never totally resolve and go away for good. Except in the case of a cat who's developed diabetes as a result of steroids (cortisone injections, etc)..."steroid induced diabetes." Those cats, once the steroids are totally out of their body, can return to a normal state. But other than that, it never goes away. Many of the cats on that forum, are in the 'honeymoon stage'..I'm hoping my guy will do that one day.....at the rate that I am decreasing his insulin, I feel hopeful one day he'll give me a break from all this!

[moimeme]

And yes, I do know about the Purina line of food for diabetic cats. Tried the Purina DM dry food.....it gave my guy diarrhea.

 

My guy's on the canned. Vet said the dry isn't great.

 

And while cats can "honeymoon" (have a period of time where their diabetes takes a "break"), it can never totally resolve and go away for good

 

I've had two vets tell me that there is spontaneous remission and that it's not that uncommon.