Hi my Name is cat, and I have sibling cats 7 years old

The male named Tigre is on 1/2 unit twice a day down from 3 units (the first 2 days) then down to 2 1/2, and then 2, and then 1 1/2 .. you kinda get the picture (after 2 years) he was my Father in laws cat, and when we found him he was behind the father in laws commode moaning in pain (fil has dementia) we also have Tigre's biological sister Emma , she is pre diabetic.. we had Naomi , she died three days after being diagnosed... (after receiving her feline boosters) (also have a dwarf cat with the tendency to for crystals )
have 6 cats total with 4 on canned food>
they are currently on fancy feast, but with 4 of the cats being on canned for their various health issues it gets expensive ~

 

Hi and welcome! It's great that you're helping Tigre since your Father in Law can't. I have a lot of cats too(14 total) and am trying to switch them to a mostly canned and lower carb dry food. It does get expensive, so I've started using some 9 lives meaty Pates canned food along with the Fancy Feast, because they are much cheaper. Some of my cats don't like them as well though, so I open a can of FF, and mix a small amount in with the 9 Lives and they eat it right up. Are you testing Tigres glucose at home? That's another way to save money while at the same time helping to keep him safe. Good luck.

 

Welcome to the message board, the best place you never wanted to be.

There are 4 things you'll need to manage your kitty's diabetes:
- You - without your commitment, the following won't work.
- Home blood glucose monitoring with an inexpensive human glucometer such as the WalMart Relion Confirm or Target Up and Up (the pet ones will break your budget!). This saves you the cost of going to the vet for curves and done regularly, removes the need for a fructosamine test. All of our insulin guidelines use human glucometer numbers for reference.
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as many Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info. If already on insulin, you must be home testing before changing the diet. Food changes should be gradual to avoid GI upsets - 20-25% different food each day until switched. There are 2 low carb, dry, over the counter foods in the US - Evo Cat and Kitten dry found at pet specialty stores and Young Again 0 Carb found online.
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir. No insulin lasts 24 hours in the cat, so giving it every 12 hours is optimal for control.