Living with... Cats and feline diabetes

I share my life with two wonderful cats - Lilly and Tigger.

This is the beautiful and brave Lilly:

This is the handsome and not so brave Tigger:

Living with cats means, that you do not have clothes without lots of cat hairs, you have scratches on walls and furniture - and you always have someone around to comfort you, when you're feeling down. It also means, that a few days away from home have to be planned in advance to make sure you can provide a sitter for your darlings. And while it is quite easy to find someone to feed and water them, most people don't really like the idea of cleaning litter boxes. So make sure you use a litter box filler, that is not only friendly to cat paws, but also to human noses (we use Greenwoods).

Living with my Lilly means strict adherence to her timetable. She is diabetic and her blood sugar needs to be tested regularly throughout the day (about 5 to 7 times). Every morning and every evening she needs to be injected with insulin and she has to have 5 to 6 meals at set intervals. While she has adapted very well to this regime, it does limit my freedom considerably. It is no problem for my neighbor to feed the cats, blood sugar testing can be omitted sometimes but insulin injections are always my job.

So you can be sure to find me at home every night between 7 and 8, no matter what. And no lie-ins for me either, not on sundays, not on holidays. Caring for a diabetic cat is not always easy, but very rewarding. Because that is, what keeps her alive and well.