My cat Al is diabetic.

A week ago last Monday I took Al to the vet for a teeth cleaning. After
coming home, Al was lethargic and his appetite steadily diminished to
the point where I couldn't give him his insulin. I took him back to the
vet last Saturday and he was admitted to the hospital where he remains.

The diagnosis is pancreatitis. The doctors did an ultrasound and they
noticed a cyst on his pancreas, but the doctor believes it's benign.

Al has responded well to treatment and is once again eating. But there's
something very strange going on with Al's blood glucose level (bgl). The
vet has him on a dextrose drip. But Al's bgl drops markedly when he's
taken off the drip. The vet said there is the possibility that the cyst
is in fact malignant and actually be a "functional" in the sense that it
causes production of insulin. At this point the vet is somewhat at a
loss to explain this phenomenon.

Tonight or tomorrow Al will start getting prednisone. Apparently it
interferes with cell absorption of glucose and so the expectation is
that Al's bgl will increase. Of course then we're back to using insulin
to manage the diabetes.

At this point my biggest fear is that Al has cancer and that I'll have
to put him down, something for which I'm definitely not ready (is one
every ready?). Al is 13 and still could live for several years. I'd
appreciate some feedback on this one.

Thanks and keep your fingers crossed for my little buddy.

Richard