Almost a year ago to the date, I was posting about our sick kitty, Abbey. Well, I'm sad to say that old age has caught up with our other cat, Reily. Just last week, Reily was diagnosed with feline diabetes. For the past few weeks Reily has had an increased desire to drink water which has lead to increased urination. We knew something was up and feared the worst because we lost Abbey a year ago with very similar symptoms. On Tuesday, Reily went to see the vet and had his blood and urine drawn. The test reveled that Reily did not have kidney failure like his sister Abbey, but instead has diabetes. In diabetic animals, glucose cannot adequately enter cells, causing it to accumulate in high levels in the bloodstream and in the urine. A normal cats glucose level is around 80. Reily's was 500! Insulin helps glucose enter most body cells in order to keep a cat happy and healthy. Since Reily's body is not producing enough insulin, from this point forward, we will be giving him 2 shots of insulin a day and wet cat food only. 
We saw the vet again today to pick up our vial of insulin and to be shown how to inject Reily. This is going to take some getting used to!! We are scheduled to check back in with the vet in 2 weeks to see if the dose is correct for such a large cat (18 pounds folks), and to take the next step in home care... ear pricks just like a person would prick their finger. Sounds painful, but all the needles are so small that Reily doesn't even know he's been given anything. He's our "fat boy" and we are really hoping to get this under control so that he possibly can live a few more years. Only time will tell...?
