Mr. Jynx Newly Diagnosed

Hello! My name is Kassie and I have a cat named Jynx who was diagnosed with diabetes about a week ago. The vet had us try a diet without insulin first (Royal Canon Glycobalance) and my cat refused to eat the food! He stopped eating at all for a few days and we had to go back to the vet and get insulin shots. He is eating more now but not as much as I would like and is still less active than he used to be. Does it normally take time? We just started insulin yesterday.

 

Hi Kassie, welcome to you and Jynx! You don’t have to feed the expensive vet prescribed foods. In fact most are higher in carbs than plain old over the counter Friskies Or Fancy Feast Pates. Come to the Main Health Forum where more folks will see your post and tell us more about Jynx. Include what kind and how much insulin you’re giving and whether or not you’re home testing his blood sugar. Here’s the link http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/ Hope to see you there!

 

Welcome Kassie and Mr. Jynx!

Lots to learn, but great support here.

The yellow stickies at the top of each board have a lot of great info for new members to learn more.

Sharon also gave you some great advice.

One thing that would also help is if you can set up a signature with particulars like your kitty’s weight, diagnosis date, type of food, other health conditions, type and dose of insulin, etc. this will help other members to answer your questions and not have to repeatedly ask about the basics of your cat.

Setting up your signature (light grey text under a post). Here's how:
click on your name in the upper right corner of this page
click on "signature" in the menu that drops down
type the following in the box that opens: kitty's name/age/date of diabetes diagnosis/insulin you're using and dosage amount /glucose meter you're using/what (s)he eats/any other meds or health issues (s)he has. You can add your name, and a geographic location (sometimes the time zone matters) Be sure to SAVE when you are finished.

 

That's a relief Jynx loves fancy feast pate! He seems quite a bit better today but I posted in the main health forum for advice on administering the shot to a feisty animal. He doesn't like the needle poke one bit.

 

The articles on the main page were all very helpful and I'm so glad that there are so many people active on this site and who are so much more experienced with this than me!

 

What gauge needles are you using? The 30g and 31g are the thinner needles (the higher the number, the skinnier the needle). Most cats won’t feel the needle going in. For insulin it goes just under the skin in the empty space between skin and muscle. Did the vet teach you how to administer shots? If you are using proper technique and relatively thin needle and inserting needle pretty quickly most cats should not feel it, now the insulin going in could be another story. My girl does not feel the needle stick at all, but as soon as I push plunger to squirt insulin, she knows it, and sometimes jumps if insulin is too cold.

If you think you need help on giving shots, post to main Health forum. There is a lot of info and a few videos if you need help. There is also the traditional skin”tenting” method as well as a “roll” method that some members use.

 

These are 29 gauge syringes I'll look for smaller ones. These are what the vet gave me to start out and he definitely seems to notice the needle prick. I could try warming the insulin too.

 

I usually fill syringe and let it sit about 5-10 minutes, does not take long to warm up.

 

I will definitely try that. He is my baby I don't want to hurt him. He has seemed more distant with me since I started the shots. Thank you for the advice!