Meet Spanky

He was diagnosed 6 weeks ago. I travel extensively, so it has been a struggle. I have made it with the help of friends and family. I was so frustrated when I picked him up at the vet today that I took him home and let him eat until he was full. Then this evening I found this page and it sounds like it was ok that I did that!

 

Welcome to FDMB, 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
- Low carb over the counter canned or raw diet, such as Friskies pates. See Cat Info for more info and don't change until you are home-testing, since you're already using insulin
- A long-lasting insulin such as ProZinc, Lantus, BCP PZI, or Levemir
- And 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!)

 

Ok. He is on the Lantus. I switched him over to the cans after reading so much bad info about the dry kibbles over the weekend. My vet had been selling me "the best" dry food for feline diabetics at $50 a bag. I just got back home after working late and it is such a relief that he is not howling in hunger after finally letting him eat this afternoon. Someone on here was offering a glucometer and I replied, but I can get one tomorrow that is no biggie. Where do I take a blood sample?

I am so tired of my vet's rolling eyes and shrugging shoulders to my frustrations. My cat has never urinated outside of the litter box and it took bloody urine today to find out he has a UTI.

He has me ❤️ Firmly is his corner!

 

Take the sample from the vein that runs along outside of his ear. Easiest place.

Also, thought I'd mention that I buy my cat people pads and he urinates exclusively on those and I place them in a place he was previously urinating which is not as far as the litter box to get to. We dont have accidents anymore. Saving tons of money on litter. Big packs of pads are fairly cheap at Walmart.

 

Actually, you prick the ear between the vein and the edge of the ear unless you are desparate. The reason for not using the vein directly is that it tends to gush, the cat nearly always shakes its head, and you get blood spattered everywhere.
After testing, always apply direct pressure on the ear to reduce bruising and scabbing.