Friday, August 28, 2009

SAM THE WONDER CAT IS FEELING MUCH BETTER!

Several months ago, Sam the Wonder Cat was diagnosed with feline diabetes which explained why he had developed the habit of peeing on the carpeting throughout the house! (Yes, I finally got it all cleaned up). Since he has been on his insulin shots, twice daily, and his special diabetic kitty food, there has been some improvement, but he was still a fairly depressed kitty.

I was doing some online shopping about a week ago and lo and behold, I found a special cat box designed for diabetic kitties that is constructed in such a way that the caregiver can easily test the cat's blood sugar without drawing blood (mine or his). I immediately put in an order and it arrived earlier this week. In the meantime, I began corresponding with someone in their customer service department and I mentioned Sam's rather listless behavior. She suggested that his food might be at fault since all cats, but particularly diabetic cats, require a carb-free diet that is filled with high quality protein. She recommended a cat food called "Taste of the Wild" which is NOT carried by any of the local pet stores. It is, however, available from a store called Tractor Supply reasonably close to my house.

I picked up a sack of this new food last Friday night. It is much less expensive than the diabetic cat food and it definitely is higher in protein - no carbs, no wheat gluten, no fillers like corn. It's venison and smoked salmon. I should eat so good! I poured some of this new diet into Sam's dish and to my delight, he nearly fell face forward into his food dish and he's been loving this new food ever since. His coat no longer looks dismally matted and greasey and his eyes are bright and happy. There is, however, one new problem that has developed!

Sam is feeling so good that he is trying to follow me out the door when I leave for work. This morning he was dodging behind me, running faster than I could grab him en route into the front yard - it took me a full 5 minutes to get him corraled in the house with the front door closed and locked and me safely in Joyce's carpool van to head to work. By the time I got into her car, she was laughing so hard I had to join her! Time to go buy a squirt bottle to discourage lurking around the front door.

In addition to all of the above, he has taken to playing his chase games at 4 a.m. and I am the trampoline of choice. I really don't need him springing forth off my hip as he races up and over the bed, meowing the entire time, running out the kitty door onto the deck! Still, I'm delighted that he's feeling so good. He is my beloved baby.

2 comments:

Sissy Willis said...

How wonderful. So glad he is enjoying life and lifting your spirits with his animal spirits! What's with this expensive diabetic-cat food that doesn't have what cats like/need, anyway?

Gayle Miller said...

I have no idea. Taste of the Wild is venison and smoked salmon and no carbs at all. It's like $22 per 20 pound sack and the 4-pound sack of DM (diabetic food) is $37!