Cat struggles with multiple health problems

When Michael B. adopted Domestic Longhair cat, Todd, he had no idea the roller coaster he was stepping onto. Thankfully, his experience working in the veterinary field and having Embrace Pet Insurance helped prepare him. Michael shared Todd's story with us.

"We adopted Todd in 2012 after our cat passed away suddenly. He was so sweet at the shelter, but as time went on, he started to get grumpy. We didn't think anything of it, just assumed it was the "terrible twos." One night he started acting sick and wouldn't eat. Turns out he had a serious bladder infection. We decided then that we needed pet insurance. I did some research and decided on Embrace.

He had no issues for the next couple of years -- other than him still being a grump. At the time, I was working at a specialty veterinary hospital and fostered two kittens. Everything was great, but then both Todd and the one of the other cats started to get sick. They both had UTIs (urinary tract infections), but Todd was hit a little harder. When we brought him into our primary veterinarian, he had a fever of 104.4, which I knew was serious.

Unfortunately, he soon had another UTI that required medicine. Towards the end of the course of medicine, he started having diarrhea. We thought it would clear up on its own but it didn't stop completely. In early October, he vomited all night so we went to the emergency room. They gave him fluids, did an ultrasound, and kept him overnight. I was able to take him home the next morning.

Shortly after, the diarrhea came back. Again, we tried giving it time to clear up, but when it didn't, we went to an internist. The tests didn't show much, so we decided to try a hydrolyzed-protein diet. Shortly after the appointment, he started coughing. It was scary because it would last 30 seconds or more and we had never seen a cough quite like it. We brought him to the vet and the doctor said that his lungs sounded loud so they did chest x-rays. They saw what was most likely asthma. He was put on a bronchodilator (Terbutaline).

We saw improvements in his asthma with the medicine and environmental changes, but he was still having attacks and his diarrhea hadn't improved. He also stopped eating the special diet and started to lose weight, so we started prednisone to try to help with both issues. We then started metronidazole when the diarrhea wasn't completely cleared up. His medication list was long, which was overwhelming.

Routine blood work showed that his triglycerides were very high, but he didn't have symptoms. Due to the risk of pancreatitis, we started him on a fish oil supplement and about a month later his triglycerides were back to normal. His diarrhea started to get worse though, so we started him on a digestive supplement which helped.

Everything was normal for a few months until he lost a significant amount of weight and was drinking and urinating a lot. I took him to his internist who confirmed it was diabetes. We knew it was a risk with the prednisone, but it was still shocking.

Through all this Todd has been very happy and loving, so I feel it is all worth it. Without Embrace I still would have done everything for him, but it has been easier with the insurance. I have never had a problem submitting a claim or with any of the claims staff over the phone."