Cap's Mama
New Member
(Copy and pasted from the intro forum, per request.)
Hey!
My gorgeous, sweet boi got diagnosed in late Feb, with his numbers at 472 glucose. Vet put him on 1 unit of Prozinc every 12 hours after a meal. Switched him to all FF/Tiny Tiger pate and some of the Regal zero carb chicken / duck brands, and shifted him to Dr. Elsey's low-carb cat food.
We had a checkup last week and his numbers were 374, so she increased the dose to 1.5 every 12 hours and wants to see him back in a month. Taking him to a vet is super expensive / horrible for him (he does not travel well, and it's an hour one way) so I need to know how to deal with this / track his blood sugar at home, but I'm anxious about pricking his ear, learning to read a meter (I did buy the ReliOn Premier Compact) and messing with him. He's a gentle, mild-mannered cat, but hates me messing with his ears and resents getting his shots. He also is picky and sometimes doesn't want to eat at the right times.
Last week, we had a bit of a scare when he ate the wrong wet food by accident. I did not realize and gave him his shot, only to leave for 2 hours and come home to him having puked up all his dinner. He refused to eat four 5 hours and I had no way to tell if he was feeling okay / his insulin was too high or too low, which convinced me I had to bite the bullet and get on board with blood testing.
Cap has a history of health problems -- he has allergies and it took me 2 years and changing up his diet to cure him of his skin condition. But he no longer takes that medication (Atopica) and has been okay for two years.
Any tips you can give me and/or reassurance and guidance about using the spreadsheet, testing him (I guess 60 is the range he should ideally be in, on a human meter?), etc. would be appreciated. I know it's not going to hurt him to prick his ear, but it will hurt me!
Any tips would be appreciated!
We lost another cat to this disease a year ago, which made this diagnosis upsetting. I currently have one other cat in the house (5 years old, female) and she does not favor wet food. If it's important to take them both off it altogether, I can try, but Cap likes to nibble in-between meals (the vet says despite his high numbers, he was behaving well and shiny and looked a lot "better" than she would expect, which made her think he was self-regulating somehow).
ETA: He is 7 years old, and 11 pounds (down from 15). Allergic to peas, beef, and dairy products.
Hey!
My gorgeous, sweet boi got diagnosed in late Feb, with his numbers at 472 glucose. Vet put him on 1 unit of Prozinc every 12 hours after a meal. Switched him to all FF/Tiny Tiger pate and some of the Regal zero carb chicken / duck brands, and shifted him to Dr. Elsey's low-carb cat food.
We had a checkup last week and his numbers were 374, so she increased the dose to 1.5 every 12 hours and wants to see him back in a month. Taking him to a vet is super expensive / horrible for him (he does not travel well, and it's an hour one way) so I need to know how to deal with this / track his blood sugar at home, but I'm anxious about pricking his ear, learning to read a meter (I did buy the ReliOn Premier Compact) and messing with him. He's a gentle, mild-mannered cat, but hates me messing with his ears and resents getting his shots. He also is picky and sometimes doesn't want to eat at the right times.
Last week, we had a bit of a scare when he ate the wrong wet food by accident. I did not realize and gave him his shot, only to leave for 2 hours and come home to him having puked up all his dinner. He refused to eat four 5 hours and I had no way to tell if he was feeling okay / his insulin was too high or too low, which convinced me I had to bite the bullet and get on board with blood testing.
Cap has a history of health problems -- he has allergies and it took me 2 years and changing up his diet to cure him of his skin condition. But he no longer takes that medication (Atopica) and has been okay for two years.
Any tips you can give me and/or reassurance and guidance about using the spreadsheet, testing him (I guess 60 is the range he should ideally be in, on a human meter?), etc. would be appreciated. I know it's not going to hurt him to prick his ear, but it will hurt me!
Any tips would be appreciated!We lost another cat to this disease a year ago, which made this diagnosis upsetting. I currently have one other cat in the house (5 years old, female) and she does not favor wet food. If it's important to take them both off it altogether, I can try, but Cap likes to nibble in-between meals (the vet says despite his high numbers, he was behaving well and shiny and looked a lot "better" than she would expect, which made her think he was self-regulating somehow).
ETA: He is 7 years old, and 11 pounds (down from 15). Allergic to peas, beef, and dairy products.
