New and Struggling

Introduction:
Hi. I'm Meg (19) and my baby is Kyo (10-11) and just a few months ago we got the diagnosis. We do have him on insulin and wet food (I think Lantus and fancy feast). He's gotten quite thin again, so we booked a vet appointment. More on that at the very end.

My current problem:
I've gotten only 4 hours of sleep because every 5 minutes, he's trying to open the cabinet doors for food. He's super smart. He knows how to open doors, drawers, cabinets, everything. We've put baby locks on select cabinets (such as the bread cabinet because he's had an entire half loaf in one night among all the other times he's raided the bread). Today, he's decided to try his luck in the spice cabinet, knocking down and shattering a Christmas present to my step mom. I finally decided to tape the doors so I could sleep. However, he turned his food aggression to me and just scratched my ear pretty bad. It's taken care of now and it's fine, I'm just now emotionally drained after this week along with the lack of sleep.
Does anyone have tips on managing his food aggression? I have a vet appointment for Thursday since it was the soonest they could do, but I can't handle another 3 nights of this.
Edit: I thought he was nuzzling to say sorry. Nope. He just wanted to bite my neck. Not his usual love bite either.

 

Hi Meg & Kyo. Welcome to FDMB.

Are you home testing? This means testing his glucose levels before every shot. Most of us home test since that is really the only accurate way to determine how well the dose is working. If you are not, I would recommend that you start.

Lantus is a good insulin. Can you tell us his dose? Many members also feed their cats Fancy Feast pate flavors, these are lower is carbs.

Most likely Kyo's glucose levels are not regulated and that is why he is hungry. If a cat's glucose levels are not regulated, then their body cannot process food correctly. For now, until he is regulated, you will need to give him extra food.

Your vet can show you how to home test. Most people use a human glucose meter to test. There are animal meters also available, but they are expensive to use. If your vet tries to discourage home testing, don't be surprised. Unfortunately, that is too common of a response. Let us know and we can help you learn how to test, you do not need your vet's permission to do so. The reason testing is important is first to see if it is safe to give the dose. If the glucose levels are too low, you risk Kyo becoming hypoglycemic if you give insulin. This is a very dangerous condition. The second reason for testing is to determine how well the dose is working and if you need to adjust it. Don't worry, we can help you learn all of this.

You have a lot of experience on this board and we are here to help you. Ask any and all of the questions you may have.

 

I do try to home test but he ends up biting or scratching one of us. Even if we do manage to prick him, he doesn't always bleed. It's been a bit better switching roles with my brother, however, I have a phobia of blood and needles so it's been quite the experience. I can't ever seem to poke hard enough. Or I poke too hard and he bruises like when I got my ears pierced.
The vet has graciously agreed to let us actually come into the building to demonstrate how to safely do it during our next appointment.

 

Welcome to FDMB.

From what you're describing, Kyo is HUNGRY (or maybe hangry). The best solution is to give your kitty more food. With diabetes, insulin is how the end product of food metabolism (i.e., glucose) gets from the blood stream into the cells. If your kitty's numbers are in higher ranges, the glucose is still floating around in the blood and not getting into the cells. As a result, your cat is literally starving. In addition, many vets will advise you to feed your cat only twice a day. It's not necessary to restrict your cat's food in that way. (The only time you don't want to feed is in the 2 hours prior to giving an insulin injection. You want to be able to test prior to shot time and be certain that food isn't artificially raising your pre-shot test result.) I would suggest spreading out your cat's meals and increasing the quantity of food.

You may want to get some low carb treats. Many people here use a freeze dried protein (like chicken but there are a variety of flavors out there). Alternatively, cooked or raw chicken is fine, too. Given Kyo a treat while you're trying to test may help to distract him as well as it's a positive reinforcement for putting up with getting tested. (You and your brother may want to give yourselves chocolate as a reward!)

 

Thank you for the replies and the good ideas. Both my brother and I tried the treat thing during testing and uh, he gets overly excited on that too. He won't sit still. He's trying to go after the treat and he does this cute over exaggerated nom nom motion and its really hard to prick his ear. Which we moved to from paws (not weight bearing ones) since Kyo clawed his way from my arms to down my back and that was funny and scary at the same time.

 

I had one that was like that. I found it was easier to test her when she was eating.