I am just starting....

Ok my baby was just diagnosed Friday and took him to vet Saturday for first injection. Vet just said give 1 unit injections after food 12 hrs apart and bring him in in a week for test again. He said testing at home would be very difficult for cats. My head is swimming. There is so much information on here. Tigger was only eating Temptations treats ( have this posted in intro forum) and gravy from Fancy feast chicken cheese grill. I had no idea he wasnt eating the Nutro dry I had out for free feed. but now it's schedule feed? I have 6 babies so I have to change them all unless this 4% carb clean protein dry food works out.
I have so much reading to do on what monitors, strips, lances, ....Tigger is NOT a lap cat so having him sit still while I do all this......I'm dreading the thought....but my stepmom checks my dads sugar before insulin so I dont know why Vets say have sugar checked every few months?? I'm trying to give Tigger better food but hes confused and hardly eating now. I dont know how much he needs to eat for a 1 unit injection. I feel in over my head. I'm lost. I have to work 11 hours a day so I hardly have time to do basic daily stuff but I have to find time to read all this I dont want to accidentally kill my baby I would never be able to live with it!!

 

Hi Eric! I can tell you're feeling overwhelmed, and trust me when I say you are NOT alone with that. This is a scary diagnosis and it's a very steep learning curve. But don't worry, you're not alone and we can help!

First: food. You asked how much to feed before a shot. We generally say about a tablespoon is good, but do I understand he won't eat much at all? Usually a tablespoon is good because our kitties go back to eating in a bit, but if Tigger is barely eating, that might be a different story. So he was eating a higher carb gravy food before? You might try mixing that with his newer food for a bit to help him get used to the new food. That might help him eat some. Other tricks to help him eat are using forti-flora on a food or bonito flakes (my cats go nuts for both though I had to stop with the bonito flakes as one of my cats throws up after them). Also, I've had success crushing up freeze dried treats and sprinkling them on top of food...and others have had luck with parmesan cheese. As for treats, do you have any freeze dried meat treats? They sell them at most pet stores...I get chicken as my cats LOVE it, but they have other flavors too.

Insulin. 1 unit is actually a REALLY good starting dose. That's what we recommend a lot of the time. With your work schedule, are you able to do the 12 hour apart shots? There's a bit of leeway with Prozinc, but you do want to stick to that schedule as best you can.

Testing: Yes, we recommend home testing. You can use a human meter or a pet meter. It doesn't matter. We recommend human a lot because the strips are way cheaper. Yeah, it can take a bit of time and bribes...er...treats....to get the testing routine down, but it can be done! @Djamila managed to get her semi-feral cat Sam to allow tests...you can too! While you're working your way through what you're going to do with that, I'd start by picking a place to test (I used a spot by the fridge..some use a counter or back of the couch). Take him there several times a day and pet him, fuss with his ears, and then give a treat. He'll quickly start to associate that spot with good things and the test might not even bother him! They really barely feel the prick...they mostly dislike having to sit still and not leave. But my cat came running for tests and some people have cats that show up to remind them it's test time...they only get that tasty treat for tests!

Eric, you're not going to kill your cat. Home testing will give you so much control and will help to make sure that he isn't going too low. That's the biggest concern usually, and why we like home testing. You sound determined to do your best with that, which is all we can ask. That tells me you're committed to doing what is right for Tigger and you'll be able to take care of him.

There is a LOT of information here. I don't want to overwhelm you, so I'm going to encourage you to read over what I've said and the stickies at the top of the forum. Ask ALL the questions you want. We've all been new here and remember how scared and overwhelmed we felt. We made it and you will too! There are no dumb questions here, and we're more than happy to go over anything that you aren't sure about. A lot of people here say it's the best place you never wanted to be, and that's definitely true. We're glad to have you and Tigger here!

 

Welcome! Rachel has started you off with great advice.

 

Hi Eric, and welcome.

Yes, you can absolutely do this! I am new, too (six weeks), but it’s amazing how quickly testing became routine for us. Josie bit and scratched and carried on terribly, but after a few days, she just decided she would be fine with it, and it’s perfectly easy now to test her. I regularly find her just sitting on her towel, waiting for us to test her ... well, she’s actually waiting for the treat that comes before and after the test.

For testing, if this is helpful: To get her to hold still and take her claws out of play, we use two towels, a hand towel and a big one. I lay out the big towel to sit her on. Then I drape the hand towel around her neck like a bib and hold it closed behind her neck. Then I wrap her up in the big towel like a burrito, and then we test with just her head sticking out. Just a very slight pressure on the small towel as I’m starting to wrap the big towel, and she lies right down. At first, I would kneel over her so that I could keep her from wriggling out backward with my feet, but now I just sit beside her. And it’s absolutely true that the ears start bleeding much much easier in just a few days, so it gets easier in lots of ways.

And truly, I think that all of this swaddling is completely unnecessary at this point as far as the actual testing goes ... but she wants her routine! The other day I tried to skip the bib and just use the big towel, but she would not lie down until I put her bib on. As soon as I picked it up, she just settled right in.

You can do this!

 

It's so much harder when the cat is not a chill patient. Fortunately my diabetic is chill. If it was one of my half Tigers. It would be much harder no doubt. A popular choice for meters is Walmarts relion micro or confirm meter. Another option is a pet meter called the Alphatrak which is what I use. If you would like a cheaper human meter head to Walmart and get

1. Relion micro or confirm meter or some other brand that requires a 0.3 size sample

2. Box of 100 extra test strips

3. Box of 100 26 or 28 gauge lancets

4. Cotton cosmetic rounds to go behind the ear to protect your fingers

5. Neosporin ointment with pain relief in case the ears get sore (I use this rarely)

A tip for squirming cats is to test by scooping the drop onto the back of your nail and testing from there so they don't sit still as long.

 

Hi Eric! Yes, my very aggressive cat learned to be tested. It really can be done. You've already been given a lot of great advice and things to try, so I'll just say hi for now. If you need help, please don't hesitate to ask and I can share how I made it work with Sam. Welcome!

 

I never thought that Cleo would learn to accept being tested. She's not very friendly and she never seemed very interested in treats, so I didn't think I'd be able to bribe her. We just had to keep taste testing treats until we found something that she wanted enough to put up with me messing with her ears. It did happen eventually. It just took a little work at first.

 

Fascinating how she likes her routine. Made me smile, thank you.