New here with my diabetic kitty, Molly Biscuit

[BrendaMolly]

My 14-year-old long-haired organgey, Molly, recently developed diabetes. (She's my thumbnail picture.) She gets frequent UTIs. She takes Sevenlgo, which is a financial stretch for me. I don't use insulin because she fears me now if I give her the Sevenlgo orally. I can't imagine how she would react to insulin shots. I spend at least an hour every morning persuading her to eat the food that has the Sevelgo on it. My other cats are Bijoux, and Little Betty. All of them disdain the healthy dry food I buy for them and love the Friskies. I am at my wit's end, but I hope to find a way to make this all less fraught for me, Molly, and my other kitties. Thanks in advance to everyone for any help.

 

[CORKY]

Welcome to FDMB
It is overwhelming when we hear that our precious fur baby has diabetes, we all have been in your shoes, however do know that it is manageable, with the right insulin, diet, food schedule home testing and lots of cuddles
first, the best insulin for cats are Lantus and ProZinc they are a 12- hour insulin easy on the cat, I shoot Corky while he has his face in the bowl he does not even know what happened, you should read the link below on Senvelgo , there are many risks involving this new medication in cats, and it does not last long in their system which makes it difficult to regulate or remission, Also home testing is very important, you do not want to give any form of insulin without knowing the glucose level, to avoid a hypoglycemic episode, if you have difficulty home testing because Mollie will not sit still there's also the option of CGM The LIBRE, it is a sensor on your cat's back that constantly monitors the BG programed on a phone, and you can monitors without pricking Mollie, now, the sensors lasts only 14 days, and they are a bit pricy, unlike the ReliOn human monitor and strips, (Walmart) the monitor is $9.00 and the strips are $9.00 for 50 /$17.88 for 100, good to always have extra strips handy. or any human monitor, diabetic cats needs to have a wet can or raw foods between 0 -10% carbs, most members use Fancey Feast pates or Friskies Pates, most feed up to 5%,Molly should have a feeding schedule and should have3-4 small meals or snacks during the day besides the main meal before the insulin, I have another cat, so I got Coco on the same schedule same food. You are not alone, please continue to post, we are here for you


Bexacat / Senvelgo

 

[squeem3]

All of them disdain the healthy dry food I buy for them and love the Friskies

That's an oxymoron. Dry food is NOT healthy at all. Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition – Common Sense. Healthy Cats. goes into all the details and how some health conditions like urinary issues and diabetes is often caused by dry food. There's also info here:

Info - Dry Food - PLEASE consider more than just carbohydrate content
Info - Know What’s In Your Cat’s Food


Canned Friskies and many other brands are just fine for all of your cats. It just has to be low carbs for the diabetic cat to eat. It's ok to feed the other cats something higher in carb once in awhile, just keep the diabetic cat away from it.

The food charts are here: Links to FOOD CHARTS A newer US chart is here: Cat Food As-Fed Chart

Whatever is under 10% carbs is good for diabetic cats. Treats need to be low carb, too. Freeze dried 100% meat or fish/seafood treats are good. Many brands out there like PureBites. So is plain cooked chicken.

Are you dry pilling the Senvelgo or hiding it in a Pill Pocket or something?

A box of five Lantus pens can cost as little as $35 in the US. The box will last you at least a year.