I forgot to add--his neuropathy should improve a great deal once you're able to get him regulated. I helped treat a cat named Sydney a few years back--he had been on a dry diet, his owner wasn't home testing, and her vet (very old school when it came to feline diabetes) also had him on Novolin. He was on this treatment path for 6 months, and he had severe neuropathy--it was so bad he was peeing on puppy pads she was laying in her kitchen because he couldn't walk into the litter box. That's when I was approached to help out--we got him on Lantus insulin, changed his diet to canned food, and got her home testing. His neuropathy greatly improved as we got his blood sugar under control (we also were using Methyl B12), and by the time he went into remission 6 months later, he was back to running up and down the stairs!
I forgot to add--his neuropathy should improve a great deal once you're able to get him regulated. I helped treat a cat named Sydney a few years back--he had been on a dry diet, his owner wasn't home testing, and her vet (very old school when it came to feline diabetes) also had him on Novolin. He was on this treatment path for 6 months, and he had severe neuropathy--it was so bad he was peeing on puppy pads she was laying in her kitchen because he couldn't walk into the litter box. That's when I was approached to help out--we got him on Lantus insulin, changed his diet to canned food, and got her home testing. His neuropathy greatly improved as we got his blood sugar under control (we also were using Methyl B12), and by the time he went into remission 6 months later, he was back to running up and down the stairs!
Thanks for responding. I would say that Sinbad currently weighs about 6 or 7 pounds. He weighed about 7 1/2 pounds at the last vet visit. I would say his weight was about 10 to 12 pounds before the diabetes... Maybe a bit more. He is extremely thin. I'm feeding him Fancy Feast canned cat food... Grilled, pate, and others. I got that recommendation from here at the Forum.
As for the insulin, I can't remember the name of the insulin the vet initially prescribed, but at $129 a bottle, I couldn't afford it. My pharmacist found the Novolin at about $30 a bottle and though I could barely afford it, I got it.
I do not like to think that I got a lesser quality for my cat than he deserved. I certainly would not want to do that for my daughter. But living on a limited income makes adjustments necessary. The vet had put Sinbad on 2 units and after a couple of weeks we did not notice one iota of change and went to 3 units. We still have not seen any change, but it's only been a couple of days.
I applied for financial assistance with a couple of places and got absolutely no response from anyone... Compassionate Assistance Program, Face, even my Humane Society. Nothing. My daughter is 26 and currently cannot work due to extreme pain from fibromyalgia so I support both of us on my social security. It's a bit of a challenge but we keep to the necessities and we're fine.
I do think my daughter and I could do the testing since I was testing myself for a while. My daughter, Shayna, draws up the insulin because I can’t see the lines, while both of us give the shots which he gets twice a day... 12 hours apart. It's been on going since March and there hasn't been any improvement.
Sinbad is eating really well, sometimes I can go through 2 or 3 cans of food. However, I have noticed on the forum that fish is not recommended, but he won't touch the turkey or beef or chicken anything. My vet said to force-feed him and I can't do that. Sinbad did not like and would not eat the prescription foods at all.. Dried or canned. Besides at $48 they were way beyond my budget. I was so grateful to find out about Fancy Feast and Friskies being healthy options.
