Silverman got something in the mail this week addressed to him. So did Mr. Duke.

The letters were from Costco Pharmacy, advising Silverman and Duke that there is another insulin in the same class as what they are currently using that can save them some money. Something called Levemir. Costco says that because Levemir is on its Preferred Drug List, it could save the cats as much as 30% or so.

Of course, Silverman and Duke can’t read, so we had a little problem with the mail. But we decided to drop a copy for their favorite vet at VCA Kaneohe and see if they have information about how this other insulin works with cats.

We’re waiting for any news.

And here it is, September already.

This isn’t big on the cat’s calendar. No school to start. No end of summer vacation. Just another month of Feline Fridays.

Here’s Ms. Kili out on the deck. I tried to tell her that the view would be better if she jumped up on the railing, but she didn’t seem much interested. She just wanted to check out the yard from this good vantage point.

It’s 5:19 a.m. Toby is standing on the table next to my computer, trying to rub his face on the corner of the screen. I don’t want those cat marks on the screen, so I try to gently push him away. He responds by biting my hand and scratching my arm. I withdraw, but threaten to stand and pick him up. He then tries a friendly bump with his head before returning to the screen. It’s a morning ritual.

Meanwhile, Romeo is scratching my leg and meowing for attention.

Duke has jumped into the next chair and purring loudly.

In the dark, I can hear other cats scurrying around as they prepare for the breakfast that will come very soon.

Time for today’s felines.

–->See all of today’s Feline Friday photos.

Well, isn’t every Feline Friday a pretty good Friday? Yes, but…maybe I’ll just sidestep the Good Friday stuff and get right to the cats.

This is Mr. Silverman out enjoying the view yesterday afternoon. Just click on Silverman’s picture to see all of today’s feline stars.

And if you happen to be a cat person following our adventure with feline diabetes, you can keep reading for an update on Mr. Silverman’s condition.

It turns out that Silverman is having a more difficult time than Duke. He’s older, probably about 13 years old. We’ve been having to slowly increase his insulin dose and then test the results. Then repeat. So far, we haven’t succeeded in reducing his blood glucose to save levels, and his insulin dosage has continued to increase.

He started out at two units of insulin, twice a day, and slowly increased as indicated by continued testing. When we hit six units, our vet began looking for some other condition that might be causing insulin resistance. For poor Mr. Silverman, that meant major dental work. He lost quite a few teeth in the process, but it didn’t provide the boost we were hoping for.

Last week, I took him back to VCA in Kaneohe for a fructosamine test, which gives a measurement of average blood glucose levels over 2-3 weeks. In Silverman’s case, the news was not good. Despite the hefty doses of insulin, his glucose control was rated “poor.” Not good.

I talked about the situation with our vet. She was very reluctant to raise his dose over the 6 units he was getting, but feels she doesn’t have much choice at this point. After more research that turned up other cases requiring high doses, she decided to move forward. So earlier this week it was bumped up to 7 units, morning and evening.

“After that,” Dr. Sakamoto said, “I just don’t know.”

My general impression is that Silverman has benefited from this latest increase. He seems to be just a little more active and isn’t quite so frantic about food. I guess you can be starving despite eating lots of food due to the diabetes, and that seemed to be where Silverman was headed. Now I’m slightly more optimistic that we can at least stop the continued decline in his condition. But we’re having to prepare ourselves for the worst case.

And so it goes on this Feline Friday.