We are owned by 5 cats. Cash is half Siamese that one of our patients gave us. He is 17 now and we got him when he was 7 or 8 and is just a super cat. Last year this time he was diagnosed with severe diabetes and we were certain we were going to loose him. DH finally stumbled upon a forum for diabetic cat owners and somebody there turned him on to a zero carb food for old cats called Young Again. We were at our wit's end trying to keep him going. He was up to 12 units of insulin a day and still running accuchecks in the 500+ range. Within a few weeks, he was off insulin, gaining weight and acting normal. Our big challenge with him now is keeping him out of the other cat's food which will cause his blood sugar to spike again. The vet told us to shoot for a blood sugar under 300 for him. Now it's under 100. We'll take it. Given he's an old cat we are shooting for quality of life. The only ill effect we notice with him is that he can't jump up as high as he used to but hey, neither can I lol.
The other 4 are a big taffy colored neutered male, all 18 plus pounds of him, and three females. the oldest of the three was lost for a month, getting loose and disappearing until one day she showed up at our sliding glass doors as though nothing had happened. She is spayed and when we took her to the vet afterwards, we found that she had only lost an ounce and developed a taste for earth worms. The other two are a little grey and a little calico. The grey is just a sweety and a sister to the big taffy male who gives cuddles and kisses and a little psycho calico who is truly nuttier than a fruit cake.
We never turn an animal down when it comes to our door. We figure God had guided them to us for a reason.
In our household cat and dog hair are both a condiment and a fashion statement.