For those of you who I haven't told yet, Taffy is a diabetic cat. The good news is that diabetes is not a death sentence for pets. It's a treatable disease. This really sank in when I started looking on the net for information and found an entire web site devoted to Feline Diabetes Mellitus at www.felinediabetes.com There is www message board which is populated by some of the kindest, most knowledgeable people who seem to be around whenever you need them. If you have a diabetic cat, that is the place to be.

That said, one of the things I do for Taffy is to administer insulin via injections. Taffy doesn't even notice the needle, but boy can you tell he likes getting the shot. He just perks right up shortly after getting it. Of course without keeping an eye on how the insulin acts in his body, it would be impossible to get the right amout of insulin for him, so I also check his blood sugar, by using a home glucometer, the Bayer Elite. This model is great. It uses very little blood, and actually sips it into the test strip by using capilliary action (remember high school biology with Phloem and Xylem?). Every so often I test Taffy throughout the day, and determine his Blood Glucose during an entire insulin cycle.

Here is Taffy's Blood Glucose curve from October 9, 2000. He was receiving 5u BID Caninsulin

Here is Taffy's Blood Glucose curve from November 3-4, 2000. He was receiving 2.5u BID Humulin L

Here is Taffy's Blood Glucose curve from December 9, 2000. He was receiving 2.5U BID Humulin U - I have no idea why this is so different from the Dec 9 version.

Here is Taffy's Blood Glucose curve from December 16, 2000. He was receiving 3u BID Humulin U

Here is Taffy's Blood Glucose curve from December 23, 2000. He was receiving the following medications BID:

1u Humulin R, 2.5u Humulin U, and 1/2 tablet Prandase(acarbose)

Here is an excel workbook that can easily be used to track your cat's blood glucose. My vet loves it when I simply fax him the info and we can discuss it on the phone.

Diabetic Cat Spreadsheet (warning for slow links - it's up to 400K)

Someone passed on this daily note calendar which I keep near the cat's food area. I hand enter notes each week, and type it up at the end of the week.

Daily Diary