I hate to admit it but I LOVE LOLCats!  The funny pictures and captions of cats makes me smile no matter how stressed out my day is!  I love the terrible grammar and silly sentiments!  Who would have guessed that I would have my own crazy LOLCats story?

Some of you may remember my cat from one of my early blog posts before I joined Bill on 1happydiabetic.com.  My cat can be pretty tolerant of me as you can tell!

On Friday, October 21, I received some scary news.  My cat, China, has Type II diabetes.  She is 13 years old and had started peeing on the carpet in our living room, drinking lots of water and scarfing all of the dog’s hard food. Because she didn’t lose weight, I didn’t put it together that she was showing me diabetic symptoms.  Part of me feels guilty for not seeing that she was feeling sick and part of me realizes that sometimes you just don’t see stuff like this coming.

As my husband picked China up from the veterinarian and he was given the news of the diagnosis.  Her blood sugar was 380!  He was sent home with a prescription for Humulin N insulin and syringes.  He was told she needs to be tested 1-2 times a day from her EAR!  We were going to have to stick a lancet in her ear to test her!  We were both reeling!

I have to be honest, it has been really hard for me to be positive about my cat having diabetes.  I am usually the most positive person you will ever find!  I went to Twitter to talk to the DOC Friday night about my feelings and I got so much support! 

So the first 2 days into the I haz diabeetus adventure we have failed miserably at testing China’s blood sugar.  Getting a drop of blood from the ears of a cat is really, really hard!  We have successfully given the cat some shots of Humulin N.  The cat is on an expensive diabetes meal planfrom the vet that is high protein, low carb. See a pic below of all of the cat’s diabeetus supplies and food:

I have to be real, I am struggling with this diagnosis.  My vet said as we get the insulin regiment tuned in for China she may have hypoglycemic episodes.  How in the world will my cat be able to tell me she feels funny and she might be having a low blood sugar?  Sure, I have a big bottle of Karo syrup to use if she goes low but how will I know?  I can’t test her as often as I test myself and the vet says I don’t need to.   So lots of guessing on where the cat’s blood sugar is which makes me really uncomfortable. The truth is, I am scared.  Rationally I know I am one of the best people on the planet to deal with what a cat with diabetes needs.  Emotionally I am not there yet.

So how am I keeping a good attitude through this stress?  Well, I am celebrating the little victories.  My cat doesn’t flinch when I give her a shot. Our first successful blood glucose test tonight yielded a wonderful 126 after 3 insulin shots since the diagnosis.  She loves her new special diabetes diet.  The cat seems happier and has not peed on my carpet again since the insulin started.    This is how I am staying positive and keeping an upbeat attitude, being realistic in my expectations of what I can do and what I can control.

And now, my new LOLCats picture: