Don't worry, Adrienne. Do what you can slowly. You read Linda's description of the trouble she had with her kitty and dry food. If you reduce the kibble slowly Molly will notice it less and learn to enjoy the Fancy Feast more.Yes it's a paste, the lady at the pet store said it was low carb but I'll have to find out for sure. I do giver her the freeze dried treats she likes those. I'll try the chicken she loves chicken. This is my next dilemma is the dry food. She was a hungry kitty this morning. She had the SO wet, all the dry for today and FF. I'd like to eliminate the dry completely but I don't think we're ready yet
. But I was also thinking we've come along way already. The needles ( shot) I was so nervous doing that. I'm afraid of needles. Now Molly sits there and seems to know it's her medicine. Then the testing finally starting to get better with that both of us. Now it's to eliminate the dry! I think I may try that on the weekend ( it's a long weekend here). But next week I start a new job and my afternoon testing will be gone. I won't be home til an hour before her preshot. Not sure what to do about that?
I'm not so stressed like I have been!
I'm also glad that you trust Linda and I to steer you in a good direction for Molly.
I'm also glad that you trust Linda and I to steer you in a good direction for Molly.
Planning ahead: if you can get a few more tests this weekend it'll help us see how this 1.5 u dose is working so we know what to suggest next. When you start your new job and can't test in the afternoon, aim for a before bed test every day. If you can squeeze in an extra one in the AM before you leave for work it'll help too. Fill in the blanks a bit more on your days off.
I see you increased the dose.
. I noticed this morning she prefers the FF over the wet SO now. I mixed them together so she would eat it. My husbands worried where She's eating the FF now, that her crystals will come back 
.
Aim for at least one test in the +4 to +7 part of the cycle.Yes, She's staying at pink but she's not going up. So I guess that's a good sign? I'm off Friday til Monday so I can test her more throughout the day
Aim for at least one test in the +4 to +7 part of the cycle.
I'm glad she likes Fancy Feast! Keep on with the food switch. Re crystals: get her accustomed to having Fancy Feast "soup" or tolerating as much water as possible in all her wet food meals. There's no guarantee she'll never have crystals but all wet food and more water go a long way to helping prevent that. It's also a question of risk/benefit. The high carb S/O is not good for a diabetic nor is the high BG level it causes along with the need for a high insulin dose. Running in high BGs is hard on Molly's whole body and her kidneys in particular. High BG levels put her at risk of developing ketones (if she isn't feeling well for any reason), a serious complication of diabetes. A flare of cystitis is less serious and can be treated fairly easily if it happens.
Urinary issues in kitties are manageable as long as they don't show signs of being totally blocked. There are meds to give to get them through a flare and supplements that help a lot. In general female cats are far less likely to get blocked because of their anatomy. I'd stay focused on the low carb food switch going forward.
Here are some good articles:
https://icatcare.org/advice/cat-health/feline-idiopathic-cystitis-fic
http://www.thecatclinic.ca/uploads/new-medical-support-item/Feline Idiopathic Cystitis Client Handout.pdf?lbisphpreq=1
The second article is the one my vet gave to me when Teasel started having his episodes many years ago. He doesn't get them anymore. At the time he had crystals in his urine too.
No need to worry. Her BG will be coming down with the food change and proper dosing. I'm sorry if I scared you. I was referring to how she was doing previously when her food was keeping her red, pink and black even though the dose was getting awfully high. Notice I said "if she isn't feeling well for any reason". That's when the ketone risk goes up. I was trying to give you all the reasons why the food change was so important.
She'll be fine and you'll be fine. You've made great progress already.
All numbers are useful and it's more practice for you and Molly.
Try not to worry - I know I keep saying that.
Individual high numbers aren't dangerous. It's long runs of high BG that aren't good.
Which BG meter are you going to get? You'll be glad you switched. You'll see the BG numbers on your SS drop because a human meter reads lower. It's a good psychological boost. @MrWorfMen's Mom and I know how to interpret them and you'll learn too.
Yes, it's the Freestyle Lite monitor I think. I use that and so does Linda. Do you have a 55 or older friend who could buy your strips for you at Shoppers Drug Mart today? Thursdays are Seniors' Day here in Ontario - 20% off on the strips. Failing that try Walmart for strips. All strips are pricey in Canada but not as awful as the AT strips.
. I'm going to try to cut back more on the kibble tomorrow.
If you have a Walmart try their pharmacy. They're usually cheaper. The box of 100 Freestyle Lite strips is about $90 at Shoppers. Pricey but less than half the cost of AT strips.I don't know anyone over the age of 55. But I'll shop around first. I'm almost out of the AT strips $100 is alot of money for 50 strips. But now I have the monitor
How is she feeling overall, food fussiness aside?
Here's a little pep talk, Adrienne:
You're barely two weeks into this new phase of treating Molly's diabetes and look how far you've come! You've gotten over the testing hurdle, you're switching Molly's food to something better for a diabetic, you've learned more about her response to Lantus and will continue to learn about that. Your confidence level has increased and that's a major factor in reducing the stress associated with treating diabetes in your girl.
It's a good idea to reflect on these things again and again. You'll continue to encounter anxiety provoking situations but they'll be less and less scary over time. You'll also get proficient at making dosing decisions for yourself if you can't get a response here on the forum. One of the biggest sources of fear and anxiety we see here among new members is not knowing what's going on with their kitty. They follow what the vet recommends and sometimes that works but it often leads to poor BG control or worse, a serious hypo episode. That saying that "knowledge is power" is so very true when it comes to looking after our kitties.
You can certain use your vet for any other kitty health issues. I suspect he just doesn't know what to suggest about insulin dosing and probably doesn't have a ton of experience with it. He's probably more familiar with treating urinary issues in cats because they're much more common. In Teasel's pre-diabetic days when he was having a lot of cystitis flares one of the vets I saw in the large practice I use put him on the S/O food and said he'd have to be on it for life. When he was diagnosed with diabetes the vet I see most often (who isn't an expert but has more of an interest in diabetes than the other vets there) told me that his food needed to be changed to low carb wet food immediately.
Something I should have asked a while ago: I see that Molly has asthma. Do you treat it with anything like an inhaler? Was she ever put on steroid meds for it?
OMG! I should have checked your SS earlier. Look at that beautiful sunny yellow AMPS!!
That's good info. It seems that she isn't getting a steroid puff from the inhaler very often. I asked because steroids can raise BG but that's more of an issue for kitties getting them daily in pill form or for a kitty that needs inhaler puffs often. I use a Flovent inhaler too.
That's good info. It seems that she isn't getting a steroid puff from the inhaler very often. I asked because steroids can raise BG but that's more of an issue for kitties getting them daily in pill form or for a kitty that needs inhaler puffs often. I use a Flovent inhaler too.
Please wake her up for that test. Will it be the +3 test? With that yellow this Am it's important information about how the dose is working.
Holy Moly!! Look at that blue! I'm glad she's eating to slow the drop. Don't worry - she'll be fine. Please do the next test earlier at +4 because we need to track the progress of this dose more closely. Sometimes more testing is needed.