Newbie & her Cat

New on here but I have been reading the forums the last two months. My 11 year old cat Johnny was diagnosed two months ago, I haven't started insulin and have been battling with the process for a bit. I am overwhelmed, I am the ONLY person who will be able to monitor and administer the insulin due to cats temperament and I work two jobs and am gone many hours per day. Plus money wise I have already put the last two vet visits on my care credit, when you have over 100k in student loan debt adding to your debt is not a good feeling.

I switched food for both of my cats immediately. I tried some higher end low carb all meat wet foods. Neither one of my cats would touch it, so I followed the suggestion to stick to the Classic Pates from Fancy Feast and both cats happily eat it. So I have both my older cats on a low carb diet (can't hurt I imagine)

Johnny has cost me a lot of money over the last 11 years, he was a very sick kitten when rescued and over the years has been a chunky, lazy and skiddish cat with high anxiety (was on antidepressants for some time) I have been reluctant to start the insulin because I know my cat, quality of life for him getting monitored and stuck daily will NOT go over well. There are many days I don't even see him (he hides and stays away from noise and people) and even though I am his person there are many days I cannot get anywhere near him to even pet him. SO I imagine this now that I will be chasing him around the house daily, that will work out great. I have read people on here say "they get use to it, they come to you because they know they will feel better (sorry, they dont know why you are chasing them and sticking them)" I can promise my cat will never be that cat. So the amount of stress it is causing me that I would be causing so much for him.

Flash forward to this week. We have recently moved so maybe his constant meowing is because he seeks me out with a new home (2 1/2 weeks ago we moved). But he is not usually this vocal. Then he has initially lost weight, he was a fat cat and I moved him to a low carb diet so naturally he will drop some percentage of his weight. I worry that while I can see he still has a fat belly, I am also able to feel more of his spine when I pet him. I don't want my cat to starve, trust me.

So my sister is a vet tech (has been for 15 years) she has offered me a 3-4 month supply of Levemir and all the other needed supplies to get me started. Her son is diabetic but recently got a pump so she doesn't need much of what she has. My Vet was super pushy and made me feel shitty right away for not starting treatment at that time. So I am tempted to start, see where he is in a month or so then contact a new vet about getting an RX for the insulin.

 

I'm glad to see you here in the Main Forum. You could start conditioning Johnny to testing right away. Find the testing site that you will always use (well lit and comfortable for both of you), rub his ears, or use the warmed rice sock. Idjit loved it and purred when I rubbed it all over his head and chin too. Then give Johnny a low carb treat. maybe even a treat before in the beginning, Do this as often as you can, and get him used to the process. I have read that the testing doesn't necessarily hurt them as much as they just don't like their ears messed with. We give Idjit the Pure Bites freeze dried treats, or just small chunks of baked or boiled chicken breast. Some people use an elevated surface, a table, counter or cat tree, others sit on the floor. Just make sure it's always the same, these cats like their routine. A treat should always be given, whether the test is successful or not. Don't forget to stock up on treats for yourself, you deserve a reward also.
Many of us use a human meter, the strips are much less expensive and if you choose a Relion meter, there is usually a Walmart close so you can get more strips at need, and not wait for online ordering delivery. You can also get 1/2 unit syringes from Walmart, Relion brand. Lancets are inexpensive and the 26 to 28 gauge are best to start with, bigger and will help get that blood drop. As you test more capillaries form and getting that drop gets much much easier. The sooner you start testing, you are going to know what Johnny's BG is, and be able to determine what a good starting dose would be. You might be surprised how quickly he will start to feel better, which will make you feel better too. I will leave any dosing recommendations to the experts, in the specific insulin support forum.