Husband wants cat gone

Jasper (girl) was left in my care after my ex moved away and was gonna be homeless. That was about 4 or so years ago. While I didn't want another cat, I didn't want her to be homeless so I kept her. She was diagnosed with diabetes less than a year later. It's costed me so much in vet bills and medicine and special food. My husband wants to get rid of her..even has threatened to have her put down. Especially since she peed on our comforter so much we had to keep our door closed. She goes to the vet all the time and they just keep her for a few days and change her levels of insulin. We can't keep affording to take her to the vet every month. We just had a baby so money is real tight. She currently gets 2 shots a day 4 units each time. My husband won't let the issue go and wants her gone. I don't know of anyone who would want her. What do I do?

 

Can you live with a cost of about 2 or 3 dollars a day? If you are willing to learn how to hometest her blood glucose levels and keep her on a low carb canned food diet which you can learn how to do here that is about what it could cost you. And no more costly vet visits.
Diabetes is not a death sentance and can be managed at home very cheaply. We can help!
carl in sc

 

Would it help if we could teach you how to treat her at home and on a shoe-string? We have lots of tips for caring for a diabetic cat that can keep lots of money in your wallet and not in the Vet's.

The very first thing is you really don't need special prescription food that costs an arm and a leg. There are just as good if not better options available on the commerical market. I personally have 12 cats, only 2 of which are diabetic. Everybody here eats what my diabetics do, good old fashioned Special Kitty pate style from Walmart. A 4-pack of 5.5oz cans runs me $1.34, and depending on her size one to two cans will feed her for the entire day.

The second thing is letting us teach you how to test her at home, this has a lot of advantages, first off no more need to drag her into the vet's all the time, you can run your own curves at home, and just take those numbers or like I do, email the vet a copy of her spreadsheet. Or even just work with the folks here on managing her dosage. Not only does testing at home, save you $$$ at the vet's it also lets you know at a moment's notice if she is getting too much or too little insulin, so you have a better handle on how to help her keep her blood sugar in check. Since almost all cats are under stress at the Vet's (strange people, smells, barking dogs etc) and stress raises blood sugar. So if the vet is basing her dose on the numbers they see, it can be too high when she is back home and all relaxed. We just use a regular human glucose meter, and test the edge of their ears, before every shot. If you have a Walmart near you, you can get a really good little meter for $9 and 50 test strips for $20, or we have a newbie kit program here that Lori & Tom runs where we can get you all set up with everything you need to test at home for free!

If you can tell us what insulin she is one, we may even have tips on how to purchase that cheaper.

I would kid you, finding a home for a diabetic cat is tough, and even at a no kill shelter it could spell a death sentence for her. While if you really feel that you need to rehome her, we will try very hard to find someone that can take her in, it may take a lot of time, months or even years, and be very hard on her to adjust to a new home. So if you would let us, we would rather try to help you figure out how to keep her, in a home that she knows and with people that love her. So before you decide to get rid of her or have her put down, can we please help you learn to care for her at home, and still not break the bank?

FWIW Neither of my 2 diabetic cats cost me anymore than my non-diabetics as far as vetting goes, my only additional expense is my insulin and testing supplies
And through the help of the wonderful folks on this board my one Maxwell will be celebrating his 1 year in remission (off insulin) November 1st of this year.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang.

 

There are many ways to keep costs down for a diabetic cat. The first and most important step is learning how to home test and not paying for vet testing. We all do it here--you simply get a human meter and test strips. The Relion meters from Walmart (Micro or Confirm) are about $9, and you test strips are about $20 for 50. You need to test at least three times a day, so you can figure that you'll be spending about $25 every two months on strips. I have never paid a vet bill for Bandit's diabetes beyond initial vet visit, because I test him myself at home. Plus, testing at the vet is inaccurate due to the cat being stressed out.

Also, you don't need expensive vet food. The prescription food is usually bad for your cat anyway because it's too high in carbs. Check out the canned cat food nutrition charts here: http://felinediabetes.com/diabetic-cat-diets.htm. You'll want to pick a low carb (under 10%) canned food. There are many inexpensive options--Special kitty turkey and giblets from Walmart is pretty inexpensive, as are the 13oz cans of Friskies Turkey & Giblets or Salmon ($1 for a 13oz can).

What type of insulin are you using? If it's Lantus or Levemir, you can get a pack of 3 ml pens instead of the vial, and save money that way so you use it all up before the insulin goes bad. 4u is also a high dose of insulin, and most cats on a low carb canned diet only need about 1u of insulin. I'm guessing that you're feeding dry food? If so, and this is really important, you will want to reduce the dose of insulin before changing the diet over the canned food--blood sugar levels can drop 100-200 points with the switch and cause a deadly hypo incident if you don't reduce the dose. There are people here experienced with many types of insulin that can help you with your dosing so you can get Jasper's sugar levels under control. Once he's regulated, the peeing will likely stop.

With the combination of a slow acting insulin,tight regulation via home testing, and a low carb canned diet, most cats go into remission, and you have no expenses beyond that.

You've come to the right place--we can help you get your cat's diabetes under control, and possibly remission. Hundreds of cats have gone into remission with the information you'll find here, including my own.

 

Please pardon my brief and abrupt first response. I'm usually much more "wordy"! I was on my phone but when I saw your post I wanted to reply quickly.
Luckily others have already joined in welcoming you (you'll find that happens all the time here - people who want to help will fall over each other doing just that). We all have, or have had, dear kitties who have been diagnosed with feline diabetes. We all came here confused, scared and desperate for any help we could find, and we all were greeted with open arms and lots and lots of advice. Many of us have been dealing with diabetes for years, others (like me) for just a few months. New people join the board almost daily. You've found an incredible site populated by the best people in the world!

You've already been told about home-testing, which is easy to learn and much easier on Jasper than having it done at the vet. You've also been told about feeding a low-carb all canned diet, which you can get at the grocery store. You'll also be ditching dry food eventually, so if you are paying for that now, you will not need to in the future.

"low-carb" generally means any food with a content of carbs lower than 10%. If you click on the link in my signature (Binky's), you can look at a couple links to charts that show the protein, carb, fat and calories in a can of dozens of varieties of canned food. Most folks here use Fancy Feast classics, or Friskees and Special Kitty pates. You'll find flavors of those that are lower than 5% carbs.

The $2 to $3 dollars a day cost I mentioned - that includes food, testing supplies, and insulin. All you need. You're already paying for food, and insulin and you are paying "vet" prices for testing. When you no longer have to pay the vet for tests and overnight stays, you'll save a small fortune. The only "expense" and that will be offset by the savings realized by no longer having the vet bills, would be test strips for your meter, and strips to monitor Jasper's urine for ketones. Lori and Tom can set you up with your initial supplies for free (she does sometimes ask that you cover shipping costs).

Please have your husband read this. There is no need to find Jasper a new home, and certainly no reason to "put her down". There is a great deal of hope for you and Jasper, and you've found the best place in the world to realize that hope.

Welcome to FDMB!
Carl in SC

 

Hello from Arctic Sweden


IMHO, You've done a wonderful and great job during the past years taking care of Jasper and her diabetes. I don't have kids myself but can fully understand that getting a new baby also needing and taking much care, have burden things much more than before. Perhaps someone of all here have been in similar situation like you?


But please read the others posts to you - it is a lot cheaper food wise over in US and Canada to maintaine a diabetic on, with a huge selection of different wet foods we don't have here in my country Sweden. But we home test blood glucose and urine glucose and blood b-ketones and urine a-ketones at home here in Sweden too.


But we have people here from Australia, UK, New Zealand, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, and even Greece and then US, alql with very different family and living conditions, but we are a world wide group all having one thing in common, our little diabetic cats and their treatment and care of them which we all try to make as cheap and good as possible.


I'm glad you reached out though.

 

Hi sugar mom,
I mail out this thing called Newbie Kits.
It will have everything you need to test your own cat the minute you get it....plus more.
I can currently send you 60 strips on a meter that I have.
Here is what your kit will contain..
meter
strips
lancets
rice sock (to warm the ear)
at least 2 really really nice toys for you sugar kid.

It's FREE!
and I can have it to you in just days.

The only expense would be the shipping.

Go visit the newbie kit link in my signature line ok.

This will put an end to all your vet visits as YOU will be the one in charge.
And we will help you with EVERYTHING
And I feel pretty darn sure we can do a better job than what your vet is doing for you now.

What do you say?
We have thousands of members world wide and the vast majority of us have well regulated and healthy kitties....and some of us have gotten our sugar kids off the insulin with the rght diet.

Please let us help you.

Lori

 

Tips on how to keep costs down: http://binkyspage.tripod.com/frugal.html

Her diabetes is likely still very ungregulated. Once the diabetes is under control and blood glucose levels in a more normal range, the exess peeing will go away.

Do you keep the litter box clean? Diabetic cats pee a lot of sticky urine so the box needs to be cleaned frequently. An extra litter box or two may also help. Also try a litter called Cat Attract, http://www.preciouscat.com/attract-litter-p-5.html You can put a layer of it over the regular litter.

You don't need to take your cat to the vet all the time for (inaccurate) blood glucose curves. You can save $$ right there. As others have said, you can test your cat's blood glucose levels at home and then call or email the vet with the numbers. A Human blood glucose meter and supplies are all you need. A basic meter can cost as little as $10, such as the Wal Mart Relion one. Buy extra test strips and lancets since some meters only contain 10 of each (not enough to use for more than a day or two) or nothing at all.

And you don't need the prescripton food, also a big $$$ saving. Many brands of commerical canned foods are good to feed, such as Fancy Feast and Friskies and Wellnes. However.... don't change the diet just yet. A diet change can have a big impact on blood glucose levels, especially if you go from dry food to low carb canned food. Blood glucose levels can drop like a rock and if you are not hometesting and if your cat is on a huge amount of insulin, your cat may beomce hypoglycemic (low blood glucose) which can be very serious.

4 units twice a day of what insulin? It would be very helpful to know what insulin your cat is getting :smile: There are several insulins that can be used for cats and each has it's own way of working.

 

What do you think, slb1107, after reading these responses?

 

Welcome to FDMB! You will find a wealth of info on the main site, and lots of experienced people here on the MB.
As you can see, we aren't all women here...maybe your husband is being too black and white with the situation, and needs to learn that feline diabetes is managable.

 

I looked up a video of that testing...and I don't know if I can do it..it took me forever to be able to even give her the shots. Also I couldn't do it 3 times a day b/c of work. I could try before and after work? She's on Humulin N (just bought yesterday for $63!) and dry food WD. I have another cat too that I'm trying to switch over to her food b/c 2 different foods was getting hard. Dry food is just so much easier to feed her. I usually have like 5 min to feed them both and give her the shot in the mornings. I also have 2 dogs and a baby to feed. My mornings are fast paced. I just don't know..it's all seeming too much for me to handle.

 

You really only need to test twice a day, before each insulin injection so that you know what the blood glucose level is and if it's at a safe enough level for insulin to be given at all. You can do random testing whenever you have time and it doesn't necessariy need to be every day. Many people here have busuy lives and do random testing before bed or on weekends.

Can you get copies of the blood glucose levels done at the vet's office? This board is big on numbers and knowing how well the insulin and dose is working based on the numbers.

Humulin N isn't the best insulin to use for cats. It tends to be too short acting. You can certainly give it a try and later switch to a longer acting insulin if the N doesn't work well. Here is some info about using Humulin N: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=303

Preferred insulins to use are Lantus, ProZinc, and Levemir. You can discuss these with your vet.

Yes, dry is easy to feed but it is also one reason why so many cats end up diabetic in the first place. Many dry foods are very high in carbs which puts too much strain on the pancrease. And there are other health issues associted with dry foods as descibed at http://www.catinfo.org The site is written and maintained by a vet who has an interested in proper nutrition for cats.

W/D is one of the absolute worse dry foods you can feed to any cat, especially a diabetic one :-Q It has 37% carbs which is way way too much. Think of it as feeding a Human diabetic nothing but carb and sugar loaded foods. The right diet is essenetial to get the diabetes under control. For diabetic cats, that ideally means low carb (under 10&) canned and/or raw food. If for whatever reason dry food must be fed, at least go with a low carb grain-free one suchas Innova EVO or Wellness CORE or Nature's Variety Instinct.

But wI would not change the diet right now because of the 4 units of Humulin N. A diet change has a big impact on blood glucose levels. Ideally you should learn how to test blood glucose levels before you change the diet so you can catch any big drops in blood glucose levels (not uncommon for a cat normally up in the 300 or 400s to drop to 200 or under from a diet change) and lower the insulin dose to prevent a hypo.

Could your DH help feed the pets and the baby while you take care of the diabetic cat? It takes less than 5 minutes to test blood glucose level and give the insulin and feed. In the beginning while you are learning to test blood glucose levels and give insulin, it may take a bit longer but once you get comfortable and into a routine, you can test/feed/shoot in under a minute :smile:

 

Dear (really wish I had your name for this important post)
I guess it comes down to this. Is Jasper a member of your family? Is she loved?
It is truly amazing what caring for an animal can do for you. The bond and growth is really a gift.

I think most of us come here overwhelmed, and the idea that we already have so much on our plate.
We don't know if we can do this.
Truth? After a month or so of really good treatment (learned on this board where you are treated as family, not stranger) we all seem to find it to be a gift in disguise.

Yep, we are thousands strong. 12 or more years around...probably close to 7000 cats have been helped here. And so so many had financial problems, many many other pets to deal with, kids, homes in foreclosure (hey the economy sucks right?) And yet the simple act of spending a little time with us each day, learning a few things, and spending a bit of time with Jasper....changes your live...FOR THE BETTER! That's right, I said for the better.

Jasper is still your same kitty...he's just extra sweet now.
And you must believe me, trust me, a complete stranger to you on the internet. We can make this so much easier for you. And I firmly believe we can alleviate the urine problems by getting your cat regulated.

That Humulin....is it too late to return it. I can get you better.

The other alternative....is to put Jasper to sleep. She is suffering with out the proper treatment. And no treatment at all is horrible. The idea of giving her up to a shelter is cruel. If she is not a member of your family....and you don't believe what I am telling you about treating her...you probably should consider putting her to sleep.
I only hope it will be in your arms, with comfort and a secure heat....knowing (at least thinking) that all is well and she is loved.

But please, consider letting us help you.

Lori

 

Slb107,
All the posters are correct, I'm still new here, and was convinced testing my cat Christian would be a big problem. Some of the wonderful answers I got often was that sooner, rather than later, he would come happily to be tested. I had serious doubts, but I love my cat to much not to trust what they suggested.

Just tonight was it all proven to me. He has been coming for his testing, and I have been testing a great deal, each time I have given him a special treat, that he only gets at testing. Today was a busy day, I haven't been home most of the day. When I got home at 830 PM, having left him around noon, (My DH was home, but does not test...yet), Christian met me at the door, talking up a storm! I followed him and he was up on the couch, where I test him, jabbering on "I want my treats now!!!" I am now able to test him in less than 5 minutes, including petting and treat time.

This board has helped me bring his BG from almost 600, down to 254 at peak insulin time.

I have read about so many cat parents being able to get their cat off of insulin completely, and yes doing the testing at home saves a bundle.

I too had been feeding my cat dry food, high carb dry food, he is now on commercial canned food, which is not that expensive and can even be bought at walmart!

Would you tell us what area you reside in? Give us a name we can address you with?

My hope and prayers are that you will accept the awesome help from the incredibly wonderful folks here.

 

Hi,
I just want to jump in and tell you that it gets easy. I have a 3 month old son, a 23 month old daughter, a 10 year old kitty with diabetes and acromegaly, and a 9 year old kitty with heart and mouth issues. There are days that it's all I can do to get Charlie's 2 glucose tests in (one before each shot), and that's ok. I don't beat myself up over it. I do extra tests when I can. The wet food is cheaper (much much cheaper) and much healthier. It's more similar to what cats would eat in the wild. Dry food to a feline diabetic is like white bread and cookies to a human diabetic. Low-carb, high protein is the way to go. Just like human diabetics. I feed 9-lives pates that cost $1.92 for 4 cans. Both of your cats would benefit from a wet diet, and you can leave it out all day for them to graze on while you're at work. I was worried that it would go bad by doing that, but it's fine. I truly hope that you will reconsider getting rid of Jasper. Most diabetic cats that are surrendered to shelters are euthanized. It is very hard to find them homes. We all make a commitment to our pets when we bring them into our homes to take care of them to the very best of our abilities. I'm not trying to sound harsh or judgemental. But we all have families, jobs, obligations. There are ways to make it work, but you have to want to try.

 

If I could, I would like to share this with you...
What Lori said right there sums it up for just about every member of this community. I myself was completely overwhelmed when I found out that Bob had diabetes. Emotionally, financially, physically. You name it. Bob wasn't even "my" cat, he prefered his momma bean. Bob's sister Lillian, who owned me, had died a few months earlier and I still hadn't gotten beyond that. But that day that the vet told me about his disease, and about everything that I would need to do every day for the foreseeable future, and how much it would cost, something happened. I discussed it with my wife and she was leaning towards PTS. I decided that the only real obstacle for me was money. What the vet told me was that Bob needed ER care, for 3 or 4 days, and that it would problaby cost me about $1000 a day. She also said she understood if we decided to put him to sleep. Then she told me that she thought it would be possible (not probable) that if I were to somehow manage to test him at home, give him sub-q fluids every other day, buy insulin and learn to shoot him, and I could afford a 3 day stay for Bob at her clinic (which she didn't even tell me how much that would cost), then she thought he might survive.

I didn't even hesitate. I told her that I would do everything I could, myself, if Bob had a shot. That day, Bob became "my" kitty, and he took possession of me lock, stock, and barrel. He stayed at the vet for 3 days a couple days later after his condition got even worse. While he was there, they taught me how to prick his ear and give him fluids and give him shots. I got the insulin sent to me overnight, and I went to pick him up at the vets. They handed me the bill, and there was nothing on it itemizing the 3 day stay. She didn't even charge me for it, she knew I was strapped for cash after paying for the initial diagnosis. There was a token $50 dollar charge on the bill for "vet services" or something. So I went home with Bob and started dancing. I didn't know a thing about FD, or about this site. I didn't even know there was such a thing as feline diabetes. I found another website with some really great people on it, people who were members here years ago. They helped me a great deal. But the biggest help and tip they provided was to convince me to come here and join up. So I did. Since then, I have gained hundreds of "brothers, sisters, cousins" - a whole new family. Friends I've never actually met, but would do anything for. This place rocks. Period.

Back to my point - About 6 weeks after I joined here (as Lori said "a month or so"), my little sugarcat Bob went OTJ. He hasn't had a drop of insulin in 4 weeks tomorrow. The most amazing thing that has happened since the first week of May when Bob was dx'd? Just what Lori said - a gift in disguise. Bob is 11 years old. He's never been this healthy that I can remember. He was a big fat tub of lard that once weighed over 20 pounds with a body that is built to carry about half that much. He looked like a pot-bellied pig and everybody used to think that looked "so cute", not realizing that it was killing him. He was the most adorable kitten ever but about 5 years old, he started being less than healthy. Also, Bob and I have become unseperable. He no longer wants to snuggle with mom, but any time I sit on the couch or the floor, he's right there. He never slept in the bed, but more often than not, when I go to bed these nights, Bob is wanting up on the bed, and falls asleep with his no longer fat butt touching me somewhere, my knee, my foot, my arm, thankfully not my head (he can be gassy). The bonding experience that has taken place since the day I brought him back home can't be described in words (although I'll die trying to describe it I reckon). I became so entrenched in his treatment routine that the day after I was able to say he was OTJ, I sat on the floor holding him, and got all teary eyed and he looked back at me and said "Hey, quit yer leaking, dude" and I looked him dead in the eye and asked him "Well, Bob, what the hell am I supposed to do NOW?" I actually almost miss the routine! Almost.
What we are trying to tell you is that you are not really different from just about everyone who has come here as a "newbie". We all have doubts, we all have concerns, we're all afraid and confused and just want it to go away. But, we all come to find that it really isn't that bad. Even if something goes wrong, or one of our beloved sugarcats just can't make it, or they do, and then we lose them to some other fate, we all know that all we have to do is come online here, post a thread that tells everyone what is going on, or how we're doing (good or bad), and we all know that there are hundreds or thousands of hands "out there" that will reach out and pick us up.
Please, think about it hard, and please let us help.

Carl in SC, who is betting head-butted on the elbow by Bob so please excuse any typos...

 

The insulin injections are easier than the testing (I think) but you do the "hard part" first, then give the injection of insulin, then you are done. Cedric never noiced the injections. He's not fond of the testing, but I plop the jar of treats in front of him, give him some kisses and he purrs away. I have trouble getting blood (yes, I heat his ear first), hence my feelings that this is difficult.

Cedric was on Lantus for about 30 days. He was diagnosed on 4/22, started Lantus on 4/23 and by 5/19, I took away his dry food (He was getting both canned & dry grain free, high protien, low carb at this point) and his numbers dropped about 100 points. Two days later he had normal numbers.

Did I mention that I work 7 days a week? did I mention that his diagnosis happened a week after we moved in to the brand new home I bought? Life throws curve balls. I am single, and fortunately work in a small office that allows me to bring him to work. That is where his 3 BG curves were done (where you test every 2 hours). If Sandy didn't let me bring him in, I would have had to take time off from work (or run back & forth, as I live 3 miles down the road from here). Getting time off from my job at Disney is tough.

You can do this. You might have to get up 5 minutes earlier every moring. You also might want to think about investing in a autofeeder. I give Cedric 4 small meals a day (about 5.5 - 6oz total canned food). The feeder works GREAT for me. I refridgerate one 1/4, freeze another, put them in the feeder with an ice cube and done! gotta run boss here!

 

You have already received some great advice. I also suggest changing insulin to either Lantus, Levemir or PZI. These are longer acting insulins than Humulin and cats usually respond well to them.

I have 8 cats so I can understand how you think that feeding dry is easier. But it is possible to change all of your cat's diets to canned food. The change would be beneficial to all of them. Besides helping to control the diabetes, it could also prevent any of your other cats from becoming diabetic. Some cats are very difficult to change to dry, but it is not impossible. As part of the transition, I suggest changing over to a low carb/high protein dry food such as Evo Cat & Kitten chow. Even though canned food is better, this is a step in the right direction.

 

sorry for the quick cut out - boss walked in a bit early today. ;-)

here's the feeder I bought and the place I bought it from:
http://www.petmountain.com/product/cat- ... eeder.html
I have had no issues with it. It comes with an ice pack, which i think is great for the canned food. I still put a cold portion and a frozen portion, and Cedric gets fed 4 and 8 hours after his first meal (usually at 6am).

I agree with ahnging the insulin. We had lantus. Worked great for us!

Best wishes to you during this stressful time! :YMHUG:

 

I can't return the insulin and I can't throw it out (being that it cost so much) also she still has over half a bag of the dry food. When they run out I'll try the others I guess. How do I switch from the dry to wet food without messing up her levels so much? And my husband will not help in the mornings. I wake up at 6 and he wakes up at 7 so I'm on my own. Also he wouldn't help anyway b/c while he likes the cat he would rather we didn't have her. So it's left to me to care for her. I'll sign up for that newbie pack.

 

You can return the W/D food to the vet for a refund. Just say that your cat won't eat it anymore.

Just use the Humulin N for now. It's better than no insulin at all. But do talk to the vet about other insulins. There are ways to cut insulin costs, such as buying a pack of insulin pens or buying from a Canadian pharmacy.

Experienced users of Humulin N can suggest a good way of changing your cat's diet from junky dry to low carb canned. A dose decrease may be needed before you start the diet change, since you are not hometesting and have no way of knowing how big of an impact the diet change will have.

 

Doesn't someone here, Venita as well as someone else, carry LOTS of lantus and lev pens..........
Would someone alert Venita to this thread?

 

Sara (now that's better I like having a name )

First off I know all about busy mornings, I. personally have 12 cats, 2 of which are diabetic (1 in remission, 1 insulin dependent), 1 large dog and a husband to get up, fed, and going in the mornings. I'm also a full time college student, as well. One of the first things that I had to learn was that the cats would not starve to death if they didn't get fed first thing in the morning, so they now all wait until the humans eat, and the dog goes out to potty and gets back in...yeah the cats are yelling for breakfast but they aren't dying. Once the humans are out of the way, then I test Musette, my insulin dependent cat, and start the process of feeding the critters, while the animals eat, I give Musette her morning shot.

Every one of my cats eats what my diabetics do, Special Kitty pate style canned food. Now with mine I got lucky they thought they hit the jackpot when we went from dry to canned, so I had no problem transistioning them all over to the same diet. Within 2 weeks of the diet change Maxwell (my first diabetic) went into remission and off insulin. So when we adopted Musette as a diabetic a few months ago, my morning routine only changed by about 3 minutes to draw her insulin and give her the shot.

Now I do have the luxury of being home all day on most days to feed my gang 4 small meals a day, but like others here on the days that I have to be away during a feeding I simple freeze their food and put it out frozen so they can nibble on it as it thaws. And after crunching the numbers it is actually cheaper to feed them all wet food than dry, not only is it easier to just dump out a can or two per cat (depending on the cat), I'm spending way less in litter because they use more of what they are eating thus less in the litter box. Which again saves me time since I have 10 litter boxes to clean everyday, so if there is less in them I go faster on cleaning them.

Now I'm also lucky in the fact that while my husband doesn't help with Musette, he does haul the dog outside to potty for me in the mornings, and does fix his own lunches and packs his own lunch box most mornings.

When it comes to food for the cats since we have so many, and are a single income, we feed Special Kitty from Walmart, but the cost break down for most of our cats is approx. 34 cents per day per cat as opposed to approx 29 cents per day per cat of feeding a high quality dry food. And I'm also saving about $13 per week on litter that I'm not buying since I'm not going through it so fast. So if you can get both cats to switch over to canned food, that will make things easier there as well. And since you only have two cats, either putting down frozen food, or just mixing it with a little bit of water to keep it fresh all day shouldn't take that much more time out of your day. Canned food is easily good for 12 hrs even if not frozen as long as you mix a little water in it to keep it moist. Or again the other option is a timed feeder. That you could fill in the evening before going to the bed for the night and just refill in the morning before heading off to work.

The one thing about Humulin N is that it is a very short acting insulin, so it hits very hard at first but wears off very quickly. Not ideal for cats that metabolizes insulin twice as fast as humans but is cheaper up front than some of the longer lasting insulin. Although if you could get your vet to prescribe one of the longer lasting insulins, and check our supply closet here a lot of times we have insulin in there that someone is willing to either give away or sell at a reduced cost because their cat no longer needs it. Another source is to check with any diabetic family members or friends, since most humans use the solostar pens, and bigger doses than cats, many times they will have several units left in those pens when they start new ones, and will let you have their leftovers. As well as you can check ebay or craig's list for human diabetics that have extra to sell cheaply. Just a few thoughts to throw out there.

However, if you do transistion Jasper to an all canned diet, you will more than likely want to cut her insulin dose back to either 1-2u a day since just removing the carbs from her diet can cause her to drop close to 100pts. With my Maxwell that was all it took to get him in remission. The easiest way to switch diets is to every few days add a little more of the new food while cutting back on the old food. Be that either adding more canned to less dry, or adding more lower carb dry to less higher carb dry.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang

 

I just wanna say that my hubby doesn't hate the cat. He actually likes it..he's been saying we need to get rid of her for a long time. Each time I just tell him no and we go about our business. It's not hostile or anything.

I'm also just waiting for my newbit kit and then I'll start testing her..or trying to anyway. I also still have to go get soft food for her but that's gotta wait til Friday (payday).

 

Perhaps if he doesn't want to help out with Jasper, he could lighten your load a little by helping with the dogs and/or the baby in the morning? At least in the beginning until you get the testing routine down. After a few weeks, it'll only take you a few minutes to test, feed, and shoot insulin. It takes me a total of 5 minutes to do all three, and getting just a test here or there takes about 1 minute.

You could also tell him that if this new treatment plan works, then HIS life will be easier because there won't be urination outside the litter box, and his lovely wife won't be a worried wreck about the cat. :smile:

When you can afford it, you'll want to switch insulin in order to achieve remission. Here is a link talking about getting Lantus from Canadian Pharmacies, where it's cheaper: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=49608&p=534761&hilit=lantus pens#p534761. Yes, it's a larger cost up front than the humulin, but you'll get 6-12 months of use out of ONE pack of 5 3ml pens. That's more cost effective for you than the Humulin in the long run. Also, if you have a Costco or a hospital pharmacy near you, they will sometimes let you purchase a single pen, so in that case you don't have a large cost for them up front.

Also, to get you started while you're saving up for your pack of pens, you can send a message Diabetic Cats in Need in this thread: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=42632&p=527117#p527117, and see if they have any Lantus vials left in the mean time that could be donated for you.

80+% of cats achieve remission with the combination of a canned low carb diet, tight regulation via home testing, and Lantus.

 

We can understand your husband's frustration, but once you get the diabetes under control, that may resolve most of it.

I have 8 cats and they also eat the Walmart Special Kitty canned foods. Like Mel said, the cat's won't starve if they are not fed first thing, though mine try to convince me otherwise. :mrgreen: Here is my morning routine. I fix my breakfast, which is usually oatmeal and while it is cooking in the microwave, I begin taking care of the cats. First I test Ricky (my diabetic), which once you get the hang of it, only takes less than a minute. Afterwards, I feed all of the cats. While they are eating and my breakfast finishes cooking, I prepare Ricky's insulin. Since I know Ricky will eat all of his food and probably some of another cat's food, I give him his insulin while his face is in his bowl. However, since you are using Humulin, I suggest that you wait until after your cat has eaten before giving the insulin. By the time I have given him his shot, my breakfast is ready and I have my meal. This whole routine takes approximately 5 minutes. So as you can see, once you find the routine that works for you, it is not going to be a time consuming process.

 

I may have promised her safety too soon...one of the cats clawed our brand new couches..dh was not happy

 

Put some Soft Paw's nail caps on their front claws then and buy them more scratching posts. That's really not a reason to rehome the cats

 

Oh boy, nip that behavior in the bud! I found that the combination of Sticky paws and a tall scratching post where the cat can stretch was the best strategy for training my cats not to scratch our furniture. Petco has tall scratching posts (30") for $25. I found that Bandit prefers carpeted scratching posts. Some cats like cardboard or sisal, so you have to experiment a little with what they want. With multiple cats you'll want to get more than one post--I've found that each cat likes to "mark" their own post and that is what keeps them going back to it. I rub catnip on the posts to get them interested in it initially.

Once the cats are scratching the posts and not the furniture, you can remove the sticky paws. Keep a squirt bottle on hand in case they get the idea to scratch again.

I had one cat that would not take to a post no matter how attractive I made it. This is uncommon, but cats are cats and nothing ever works for every cat ever. So what i did was get an small, old, used armchair, and went through the same procedure but acted like that was her scratching post. Sure enough, she took to the chair and that became her post and she didn't touch the good furniture.

By far, the best way to protect your furniture is with cat furniture. If they have furniture they can call their own, they won't try to mark yours.

 

All this time you had cats who DID NOT use their nails on your couch????
WOW. I never really tried to stop them....but I did'nt even know it was possible ohmygod_smile
Someone should get a pic of what those nail stick on's look like, in colors, they are hysterical!

 

Lori,

I would but my bunch wear the clear ones..yes they come in clear as well.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang

 

They aren't scratching the sides..they are scratching it when they jump on it..there are scratches on the top of the cushions and on the armrests. We try to keep them off of it since we spent almost $1,000 for it. DH thinks it's a legimate reason to get rid of them. I'll try to sell the nail cap idea to him. Are they easy to put on?

 

Sara,
I have never used them but had a friend that put them on...He did not have a problem...how old are your babies??? He started out with his girl young, I dont know if that makes a difference or not, but sure someone with some exper. will be here shortly! How many furry family members do you have???

 

I've never used them, but my aunt does and she says they're easy. I would also try a squirt bottle to train them to stay off the couch, period.

 

Yay Sara for deciding to make changes in your kitty's care, and try to keep her at home. I know it can be a hard decision to make, and I applaud your effort to try.

When my Max was diagnosed with FD my DH and I both thought we'd have to put him down. I'd had him longer than I'd had my husband, but his diagnosis came when I had a 6mo baby, a 2.5yo toddler, another cat, a dog, and a full time job with a commute. I totally feel your pain. And I was so overwhelmed with everything that needed to be done for Max that I just didn't think I could do it. I did get some flack from a few around here, but it was the kick in the butt that I needed, and Max is still with us...it's been 1.5 years since his diagnosis! He went OTJ 6 weeks after we started, and has been doing great since!

We feed both our cats Friskies pate...usually Turkey & Giblets or Supreme Supper, but sometimes Chicken & liver. I buy it in the 13oz cans now (it's cheaper), and feed half the can in the morning and half the can at night. Max probably needs to have his portion cut back a bit as he's getting tubby again, but life is what it is, and measuring out less than half a can will probably drive me insane. Well maybe not, but it'll feel like it eventually. My mornings are crazy too!

We used Lantus insulin, and our vet is younger and had no previous experience with a diabetic cat other than vet school. She encouraged home testing, and she and I stayed in touch over phone and email during Max's insulin days. She knew he was in good hands (being able to email his spreadsheet made life really easy for us all!), and was very excited to see him come off the insulin. And because the office knows I can check his sugar myself, they don't bother asking if I'll let them do a glucose or fructosamine (?) test--I won't!

I always got in 3 tests a day--before each shot and then at least once in the evening, usually before I went to bed. On weekends when we were home I'd get in more, and if I had a whole 12 hours at home (or without far to go), I'd do my own glucose curves, testing him every 2 hours. It worked out great. And to be honest, I thought for sure Max would bite me for pricking his ear, but he barely even flinched. He was awesome about it--sooooo much better than I ever expected. I still check him periodically, and he does well with it, despite not having to do it daily. Both cats come when I call Max to test him because they both get a treat. And I've even tested my other cat every so often just to see how he's doing.

I have no advice on the scratching...both my boys are declawed. I've seen those glue-on thingies and thought about trying them on Max's back claws because they are deadly! He's very sensitive about his paws, and his back half in particular, so I'm not sure I could get them on him. But he's left quite a few scratch scars on ME from trying to climb over me.

Good luck with everything! And please do know you've found the absolute BEST place for info about treating FD. There is LOTS of experience here, and everyone is more than happy to help!

 

And yes, if you do want to try to teach them to stay off the couch, a spray bottle is your best friend. Both my boys know they are not to be on the dining room table or the kitchen counters, and they learned that from the spray bottle.

When you're not home (this could be a total pain, but I'll mention anyway), you can try laying sheets of aluminum foil over the couch or the arms or whatever parts they like to jump/walk on. They don't like the feel of it, or the noise it makes, so it would help keep them off of it. We did this with the crib before my daughter was born--and it kept he cats out of it entirely.

 

We buy large fleece blankets on sale and just drape them over the couch. This is good for my husband because he eats chips sometimes and makes a mess, it keeps cat hair off the couch, and easily washed. When company's over we simply remove the blanket. When no company we have a soft cuddly blanket to sit on.

 

This has always worked for us with trying to keep one of our herd from getting on any surface we don't want them on.

Take clear postal packing tape, and make a loop with it, sticky sides out. Stick, in this case, the tape on the part of the couch they are hopping onto. Next time kitty hops up there, they land on sticky. No kitty likes "sticky" on their feet. After a couple days, no more hopping up there. Works on counter tops and appliances just as well.
We had one girl who insisted on using the corners of chairs, sofa, love seat, etc as her scratching posts. The tape worked there too. My wife also used some excess material from the underside of a sofa and made "covers" for the corners of it, pinned them in place, and made a corner cover that looked fine, but we really didn't care if she scratched it. A "sacrificial" piece of the furniture, so to speak.
There is one corner of our love seat that is still scarred from Lillian's scratching. After losing Lily early this year, I've just left it "as is", because every time I look at it, it brings back memories of her - good memories.

Carl in SC

 

Thanks for all the awesome ideas! I think I'll try the tape and the foil. I'm def gonna go look at the nail things at Petsmart.

 

Sara,
I also bought some sticky strips and put on the edges of my couch and the darn bed! Sugar Bean loves to sharpen as she is preparing to jump on the bed! Dont have any idea why, but she does!
I got them at pet co...... same idea as carl but might be more expensive...You just peel and stick then peel the other side! I like the blanky idea too, I have one on my couch just because Slappy loves to lay in the same area, and she is long hair.

 

I have nail caps on Sophie Sue (the Terrorist Priincess).

I get them at PetSmart.

Get the clear ones if you can. They are easier to see to put the glue into
than the colored ones.

Sophie is relatively good about letting me handle her feet, so that's a big factor
in how easy they are to put on.

Once on, I check every day to see if any need to be replaced.

 

Great advice from everyone. We just got a new couch and loveseat, and the cat fur shows up much more than our old furniture. I'm covering the seat with blankets, need to buy some in the same color as the cats. :lol:

As far as maintaining discipline, when my guys were little we had the COW - Cat Obedience Weapon. It was actually just a spray bottle full of water that I labeled so they wouldn't get sprayed with something else. Now I just have to imitate the sound of the spray bottle and they stop whatever bad behavior they are doing. There was a commercial on TV the other day that had that sound, and Sebastian stopped in his tracks in the middle of the living room!

Good luck, you have a lot of great ideas from people here. If one doesn't work with your cat, try something else or post on this database and people will help.

Jeanne and Sebastian (sugar kitty) and Sabrina (blind cat)

 

i assume this sofa is leather or something of that nature? for it to scratch with them just jumping on it? fwiw, when i moved in with my fiance, he had a leather sofa and i swear just the cat walking across it would scratch it. and fiance would cry about it. cry about how much he spent on it, etc....i would just tell him he got ripped off then because it certainly wasn't worth that much because it wasn't even comfortable and it wasn't my fault nor my cat's fault that he chose such a useless piece of furniture. :lol: i was never so glad as when we got rid of that thing. have to admit i hated it. it was too hot to sit on in the summer and would freeze your butt in the winter unless you covered it with something before you sat down. but i guess black leather was the "single guy" type of thing back then

fwiw, i've only ever had one cat the squirt bottle thing worked with and have to admit that at the time i was doing it i felt extremely guilty for doing that to her but it did serve it's purpose. she was also the only cat i've had in the last 20 years that i didn't take in from the streets i guess you could call it. i went and picked her out of a litter when she was 6 weeks old. i did though discover that getting her her own furniture and rubbing it with catnip every few months kept her from scratching at my things.

what i have decided with my other cats is that they could care less about water. i have concluded that the rescues have experienced water out there on the streets enough that it means nothing to them apparently ohmygod_smile

i've done the blankets thing moreso for the cat hair when we bought new couches a few years ago and found these clear protectors that pin to the corners of the couches to keep the cats from scratching them. but still, rubbing their furniture with catnip periodically seems to work the best with keeping them from destroying my furniture.

i do have to admit though that i haven't done anything about the bed. the corners of the mattress are getting pretty ratty but at the same time i figure it's about time for a new mattress soon so no biggie, plus, it's in the bedroom where company wouldn't see it anyway :lol:

fwiw, i bought the soft paws things for my mom's cats a while back because my mom takes blood thinners and due to other health issues was developing infections where the cats would scratch her. they weren't doing it on purpose but just in playing and jumping off her lap they would manage to scratch her thin elder skin and either she had a hard time getting the scratches to stop bleeding or she'd risk getting an infection so the younger cat's were becoming an issue. they put the soft paws on them and she could hold them and play with them and never had another incident and now that they are a little older, they don't even have to wear them because they must have learned to not race off of mommie or they learned to keep their claws not so extended?

oh, and keeping the nails trimmed makes a big difference i think. i can tell when mine need their claws trimmed because they scratch my legs as they climb on me. give everyone a quick trim and no leg scratches for me for a few more weeks.

 

Well trimming the nails for the caps didn't go well..I got one done and the non diabetic cat was angry. I didn't even try with the diabetic one. I got my newbie kit in the mail and tried to give her the test but it went horrible. I couldn't get the nerve so I held while my husband poked and the minute he did it she clawed me and jumped and ran and hid. I don't think it's going to work I did start her on soft food and lowered her dose to 2 instead of 4 since everyone said the soft food would make her numbers go down. But I have no way of knowing if it's alright.

 

Sara...let me guess...you were both a bundle of nerves too. You scared the poop outta her....now that you've got that experience out of the way, the next one will go better. You all learned something anyway. Don't give up yet! You can do it!

 

Testing gets easier as it goes along, you may want to try turning her into a little kitty burrito the next time. Just plunk her down on a big bath or beach towel, then wrap her up like a burrito with only her head showing, that way she can't escape or claw you. It is very seldom that a newbie will get blood on the first couple of tries, it takes awhile to get the groove down, just got to keep trying.

A couple of things besides wrapping her up that will help, is to heat her ear up a bit with the rice sock, also you will want something firm to back the ear sothe lancet doesn't just bounce off it. Personally since I no longer have to warm Musette's ear, I just use the rice sock to back her ear, but you can use a make-up sponge, a folded up paper towel, wash cloth etc. And as crazy as it sounds, their ear will learn to bleed.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang

 

Believe me, testing gets so much easier! In the beginning Bandit bit and clawed and struggled, and I was in tears because I thought he was either going to hate me, or die because I couldn't test him. Now when he hears the glucose meter beep on, he runs and jumps in the basket where I test him and lays down. Yesterday, for the first time ever, he started purring as I poked him. So you can't let this discourage you. It's always hard at the beginning.

Here's what worked for me. 1. Be calm as you do it. Cats can sense if you're stressed or upset, and that makes them stressed and upset. 2. Give a low carb treat or feed after EVERY test. You want them to associate the tests with treats so that they want to do the test, too. 3. Warm the ears before the test to get the blood flowing, and use a little Neosporin + pain relief. 4. Don't be afraid to restrain the cat in the beginning. Bandit got the kitty burrito treatment for about a month until he chilled out getting tested. I placed him in his basket, and used a soft fleece blanket to wrap him up so only his head showed. Things will get much better the more you do it, so don't give up!