It never occurred to me not to treat. I knew how treatable diabetes is. Yes it involves some sacrifices to treat a diabetic cat. I never had children and in many ways my cats are my kids. I believe that when I took them into my home I took on the responsibility of their care. My vet looked at me one day and said you must wonder what you did wrong to get two high maintenance cats (Fuzz has an auto-immune disorder). I said no. It never occurred to me that I did anything wrong. It has occurred to me that I have two special cats who needed an owner who wouldn't give up one them. I believe both of my cats picked me.

There were times it was really hard and stressful, but every time they snuggle with me or give me a headbutt or purr or knead me, I know I made the right decision to take care of them. They love me as much as I love them. Pico was not a very friendly cat prior to his dx. Since he became diabetic he is far more affectionate. I know that he realizes he needs me now and that what I'm doing for him helps him to feel better. He is so good about his blood tests and shots. And this is an 18 pound tabby with attitude, who I wasn't really sure in the beginning would adapt to all of these changes. But he did and is doing great. No regrets here. That's just my story but I expect if you ask others on the board, you'll hear similiar one's.

Then BAM. Finding out that she had diabetes just brought all this love and caring to the surface. I was confused and scared, believe me. I didn't think I could pay for her treatment, didn't think my self-involved free wheeling life could accommodate her shots, her needs. Thank GOODNESS I had a friend who has a diabetic cat and she said "OF COURSE YOU CAN DO IT"! Then I got hooked up with a caring and knowledgeable vet, and the final piece, the FDMB.

It hasn't all been easy - the first few months were very stressful, but the REWARDS!!!!! Pepa is truly my baby girl in every sense. We talk, we hang out, I touch her more. She is LOVING all the attention, too - and the insulin is making her feel great! She is her old self, purring and loving, bright alert and frisky.

The first night Pepa came home after being in the hospital with ketones (this was on diagnosis) I crawled into bed and she curled DEEP into my neck (normally she'll sit on my chest) and PURRED so loud and so hard, I started crying I was so happy to have her home and safe and well. That moment makes every other moment worth it. I'll never forget it.

Tammy Sue and I travel for a living, filling in at clinics and hospitals where a pediatrician is going to be out of town. We've lived in 25 different houses on 18 different jobs in the past 5 years. She has flown thousands of miles and driven even more. She's my constant companion. I don't know any people when I arrive on a new job, but I always have Tammy Sue. She's my buddy, my confidante, my official greeter, my alarm clock, my source of mirth, and my favorite pest. Was it worth the headache of getting her regulated? Yes!

Then he came down with what looked like lung cancer. Turned out to be an aspergillis infection. We treated him when the vet said 'well, he probably should be put down but there's one more thing we can try'.

Right before Christmas I had noticed he was losing weight and eating a lot. (Trying to figure out who's flooding the cat box and the floor around it is a hefty task when you have 7...and there was enough on the floor that I was blaming one of the 85 lb. dogs) I was going to take him in after the holidays but my husband caught him peeing in the dog dish and it was a LOT. The click went off in my head that said 'diabetes, oh good, it's something we can treat'. He was dx the day after Christmas.

After a really rocky start with the vet who had bought our old vet's practice (27 years with Cindy and oh how I wish she'd come back), a new vet who had to close her practice and lots and lots of help and support from the people here, Velcro is doing very well.

He's back to his 'you're just the peons that feed me, don't expect me to fawn all over you for it' attitude. Not a people cat, but himself.

I have to say that I wasn't afraid of giving the shots or of the diabetes itself at first but I did have a problem when Velcro was hiding from the shots under furniture that I'm not able to move. I was afraid that I'd have to put him down rather than see him die of the complications of unregulated bg (which can be horrendous). Evidently he has enough sense to know that the shots are keeping him healthy because he does come now for the shots...and then leaves again to be himself.

Guppy and Earl were both rescues and came to me as a "team." Guppy was dx'ed four years ago and spent one year on oral meds before needing to be switched to insulin shots. Earl was dx'd three years ago and we put him straight on insulin shots. Both of them have gone from being scruffy and skinny to being sleek and sexy boys again. Earl had a loooong honeymoon and we've only recently put him back on his shots.

Chessie is an FDMB miracle kitty. About a year ago someone posted here about Chessie needing a home. He was in Virginia at that time and I said that if nobody closer stepped in that we'd take him...never thinking it would actually happen! (We're in Montreal, Que.) But the Sugarcat Express got into the picture and a few short weeks later Chessie was brought here by his Auntie Janet (& Fitz (GA)) He was the skinniest, sickest little guy I've ever seen. When he arrived here he weighed just under six pounds and was only about three years old. His bgs were through the roof and we switched him onto a variety of different insulins trying to find the one that would work for him. By November his weight had gone up to just over 11 lbs. and we started to seriously work at getting him regulated.

He went through a severe bout of DKA last winter and spent a few days at an intensive care clinic here...then we brought him home and I got a crash course from my beloved Dr. Gorgeous on how to deal w/ ketones. After about a week of doing what we're doing now his ketones were clear and he started getting better. That's when we switched to PZI and his numbers started coming down slooowly. And here we are today!

The bond that has developed between me and all three of them is indescribable. There is such a sense of trust and love in those big kitty eyes that it melts my heart. Even w/ all the various invasive things I do to Chess he still comes when I call "Chessie, test time, sweetie!" and jumps on my lap to be tested. (well, he hasn't the last couple of days but he has good reasons not to!)

The rewards of treating a sugarcat are so special. To see a raggedy furred skinny critter transform into a shiny coated, healthy cat is an indescribable joy. All pets trust their owners to an extent...but sugarcats depend on us for their very lives and they KNOW this and they SHOW that love so clearly.

It is a lot of work, and often there's heartbreak involved...but for me the reward of hearing Chessie softly purr as he snuggles on my lap, or seeing Earl flaked out upside down on the couch, or having Guppy come give me headbutts when I'm sad..I could go on and on and on, but you get the idea. The reward of gaining their trust and earning their love outweighs all the difficulties a hundred kazillion fold.

For myself there's simply no question about treating or not treating them. I took them in, warts and diabetes and all, and they are my responsibility...and my joy, and my sorrow. It's a gift from the Goddess to be able to help them, to make them well, and to share their lives....I know when it's time for them to go to the Bridge I will cry enough to flood the banks of the river under the Bridge, but I will not regret a single moment of the time we do have together.

They're my boys and I love them all the more for being sugarcats.

We found Miracle on a very cold day in March of this year. He was sleeping on our porch and I startled him by going outside. As he jumped off out deck, I saw he was terribly injured. # days later my husband was petting him and we were able to bring him into the house to see what had happened. He was missing an eye, and appeared to have been hit by a car as he had 2 very broken legs on his right side. I took him to the clinic the next day, hoping he was Neg for all the dreaded diseases so maybe I could help him. He was and I also got the shock of my life when the x-rays came back. He had not been hit by a car, he had been shot with a shot gun. This is what had done all the damage to his legs and caused the loss of his eye. I was sure that there were infections present as well, judging from the radio density of the injury to his bones. So, because some disgusting sort of human tried to hurt this guy, I decided he needed to see the kindest side of humanity he could. We neutered him and fixed his eye so that it would not be a source of infection and I brought him home the next day. I just loved him and cared for him as best I could until the eye healed. Over the next 3 weeks he just got progressively thinner and just went down hill.

I took him to the clinic because I noticed some drainage from his eye which had been sutured shut. While we were there I asked them to run a blood panel, more looking for the infection confirmation than anything. they agreed and did that. I called the next day but no one had read the report and Scotty was out for the afternoon. I was very concerned at that point because he smelled funny, was eating like a huge pig and just sleeping with his water bowl. I recognized the symptoms, but could not put my finger on the prob. I said this to the clinic but no one had the report so I had to wait. Mean while he just crashed on me. stopped eating that night and just drank water till he couldn't any more. His breath smelled awful as did his urine. Very different from a normal cat. The next morning, I started to call the clinic at 8 and did not stop till I spoke to Scotty. I called 27 times before they figured that maybe it would be easier to let me talk to him! That happened at 10:00 and by 11 I was in the clinic. Scotty told me on the phone that all his results were in the normal range but his glucose, that was over 400! When he got glucose out of his mouth it hit me like a brick, Diabetes! I had seen this before, in a friend of mine that eventually died as a result. I hung up threw the cat in the car and turned a 30 min trip into a 17 min trip. He was in DKA, and Scotty was not sure he would live the day. He spent 10 days in the hosp before I just took him home. He was not doing well there and I know I could do an intensive care thing at home. It took me 7 days just to get them to start him back on his antibiotics and that was grudgingly. I took him info I got from here on the effect of infection on BG's and that's when he started him on them again. That was the Saturday before I took him home. I could do what they were doing except for the blood work, so Scotty finally let me have him.

I had already found the board by then and had gotten a ton of useful info on diet and ketones so I felt like I was in good hands. We went on a roller coaster ride for the next 2 weeks. He has steadily improved from there. He goes outside, tries to raid the civi's cat food (which he has done twice) gets into the garbage, plays, preens purrs hugs me and hubby, loves us. He went with me to my parents house and stole all of my families hearts as well. He loves to lurk in the woods, clocking birds, and bugging. He loves to smack at the junebugs in the evening.

He gives us so much joy and he gets so much joy from his simple living that it keeps me humbled before his greatness. His simple hug has made this all worth while to me. The face that he no longer struggles for food or survival makes it worth while to him. God has blessed us with the opportunity to help each other and with his guidance each day, we manage to do well. I am truly blessed by this small but mighty Miracle that is our loving Miracle.

By January, she was showing some improvements as adjustments were made to her insulin dosage. She began sleeping with me again and getting into my lap. She was starting to perk up a little bit more with each passing week.

March 2002 - I had started hometesting in Feb and felt comfortable with the idea of changing her diet. The vet ok'd the switch to high protein/low fat diet and off we went. Kis's numbers got dramatically better in a short amount of time. She started playing some, looked perkier, drank and urinated much less and seemed to be much much happier. It was in March that I can remember clearly the day it struck me like a bolt of lightening - I have my Sweet Kismet back! I posted a message to the board about the fact that Kismet was playing with me again. The love and support from these great folks overflowed - sharing in my joy. Kismet celebrated her 13 birthday that month - something I never thought would happen.

June 2002 - Kis has become more active and energetic. She really seems to be enjoying life - every sweet moment that is so precious. I often watch her in the morning as she lay in front of the patio door. The look of contentment as she gazes out onto the yard is just priceless. I often see that special look in her eyes as she looks up at me that says "Thank you so very much Mommy .... I love you for taking care good care of me". I better stop here cause the tears are flowing ...... all I can say is that one look - it made the struggle worthwhile. She's worth it.

He was a stray kitten when we were forced to take him in. Pouncer was a total terror who detroyed the doorframes of our old house and did not leave any item alone if it was not tied down.

************ This is the long part ***************

When he was three or four years old, he had some sort of reaction to the Christmas tree. We do not know if he drank the water in the stand or just had some sort of allergic reaction. But he became very ill. The regular vet was out of town, and he was treated by one of the associates (a drooler person, who beat her dogs, no kidding, I saw it happen). She did a brief exam and told us he had FIP and urged us to...well, you know. The test results had not even been sent out.

We arranged a visit with a cat-specialist who was going to do a biopsy, and by some weird stroke, Nancy called the wrong number when she tried to reschedule the procedure. She ended up talking to a traveling vet, who did only cats and was good friends with our regular vet.

Pouncer was placed on Prednisone and immediately did better, but continued to have "attacks" which often required shots of steroids to bring him back. We eased him off the Pred after a pharmacist told us how dangerous it was.

In November of 1997, Pouncer began losing weight. The vet prescribed more Pred (we have since fired him and placed him on "the list"). Nancy brought up the diabetes idea, which was rejected. By January of 1998, Pouncer's back toes were bright red and obviously infected and very painful. We took him to a backup vet (while the vet was out of town), who ran the tests and confirmed the diabetes.

Pouncer began Lilly PZI in April of 1998 (we switched to UK PZI in October) and was declawed in the back to remove the infection in his toes. The type and cause of the infection was never discovered.

************ End of the long part ***************

Since 1998, Pouncer has improved considerably. He is healthy, his fur looks great. He does still have a few problem spots here and there (his teeth, one hypo attack assumed to be from back insulin) but overall these are a result of pre-1998. A cat we once doubted would live very long came back a couple of months ago with a glowing health report and he now has orders to live a long and healthy life.

The only quality of life issue in our household belongs to Nancy and myself. Since that time, we have not been away for more than three days (including our wedding) and we schedule everything around shots. But I would not trade it for the world, and neither would Nancy.

This is an inconvenient disease for the most part, but there is no reason that a cat cannot live a normal, happy life. Finding the right insulin and going slowly during regulation is the key. Too many vets try to rush the process and that rarely works.

And we finally found a great vet who gave us four additional months with Arly(GA) when the other vet gave up and regulated Pouncer better than he every had been. Plus the man is a true saint and does the job for the right reasons.