Shadow Man

We have two cats, Thor and Princess Fuzzbutt.  Thor is the big orange male that we got from the shelter.  From the moment he came into the house he became my shadow man.    Chad has a few other nicknames for him too...but I won't go into those ; )

He follows me from room to room, sleeps beside me on the bed and wants hugs fairly often for a cat.  I have had cats in the past, and most have been your typical aloof type of guys.  Usually in the  near vicinity, but not at all that interested in much attention.

Well Thor is not one of those cats at all.  A while ago I noticed he was drinking quite a bit of water so I took him to the vet.  They called me and he was seriously diabetic.  It was such disheartening news, but once I got over it I thought well, he is a member of my family and I will do what I gotta do.  So we went to the vet office and she showed me how to give him injections of insulin.  The good news it is really easy to do, you just go under the skin in the scruff of the neck.  He never even notices it, but the bad news is it became a twice a day commitment.

So after a while of this routine I researched more about feline diabetes.  I read a lot about raw diets and low carb alternatives...after all cats are carnivores.  I had Thor on the low carb food from the vet but realized it was still high in carbs.  I did some research and started him on a Taste of the Wild dry food blend.  I would prefer to give soft or raw but he isn't at all interested in either of those options...another weird trait of his.  Within 3 months of this new food I was able to stop giving him needles.  How wonderful that was.

He has been in remission for almost 2 years now, but a reading recently showed it creeping up again.  So back to the internet to research again.  I have since found that the food I was giving had no grains but still things like sweet potatoes and peas which have carbs as well.  So now I have changed food again.  The lowest dry food out there I can find is Innova EVO.  It has only 8% carbs.  To give you an idea many of the quality dry cat food it at 30-40% carbs.  I found a helpful chart to help me breakdown the ingredients.

He has been on the new food for a week and he is dropping back down close to normal.  I am not sure how long I can keep solving this with food but every year he gets reprieve from the disease is wonderful.  Many cats are likely not as sensitive to carbs as he is but changing foods is a pretty easy thing to do for my little shadow man!

(Challenge Post Day #14)