When Peaches was diagnosed he had no real signs that I noticed besides weight loss. His regular vet placed him on Humulin N for the next 2 years. I had never heard of home-testing so I just followed the vets advice. He had one coma like episode about 5 months after being diagnosed, which I didn't think he would recover from, but he did. He had been "fine" since. No real problems, just continued taking him to the vet for his monthly glucose curves. I noticed his personality was not the same after being diagnosed, but I figured it was the Diabetes, not the insulin. I know now it was not the Diabetes, but that he was not regulated on N.
The eye opener for me happened in November 2005. A vet in my regular vets practice found some infections they needed to take care of as well as a tooth needed to be pulled and his insulin lowered. They preformed all of those and still Peaches was not right. I returned him to the vet and he was admitted and taken care of there for about 5 days until I had to transfer him to an internal specilist because he was getting worse and the vet that saw him was not specialized enough to handle him. My regular vet was on vacation which was highly disappointing for me since he would of known what was wrong with Peaches. The internal specialist figured him out within hours: Pancreatitis, DKA, kidney infection, too high of sugar, dehydration among just a few I can recall right now. The specialist changed his insulin to Lantus and explained to me why N is not a useful insulin for cats...all the highs and lows.
Peaches and I have been through a lot together so it is hard for me to just say enough is enough in regards to his health. He is one of the last pets I have that helps link me with my mom. Financially, this Diabetes has caused me alot of strain, but emotionally it is worse. I hate having these ups and downs: will he be ok or not? People have said I have spent too much money on "just a cat", but are any of our cats "just cats". I do not have children yet, so my pets are my children. I can't just let them go because I can't afford to fix them. If they can get better, it is my responsibility to help them through it: financially and emotionally.
Not home-testing with Humulin N was the worst thing I could have done for him. While my vet is awesome, he is just not specialized enough to understand what a Diabetic cat needs. The specialist and the Feline Diabetes Message Board have helped me realize all of the wonderful things I can do to help my Peachie- which was to take over his care myself...take control of this disease! Lantus has done wonders for Peaches. He is now back to the cat I knew before the diagnosis.
He currently eats Fancy Feast canned food. I have tried some of the other foods, like Wellness and Merrick, but his numbers seem to jump when he eats anything other than his usual Fancy Feast.
Here are his most recent blood glucose readings: http://www.felinediabetes.com/phorum5/profile.php?7,2253