6/20/26. New Member

[Dewey’s Mom]

Hello, my name is Ruth and my cat, Dewey, will be 16 on July 4th. He was just diagnosed a week ago. He has a history of kidney disease and cardiac disease and now diabetes. He is a domestic shorthair. I adopted him at 4 months-he was a feral cat. He has always has been very fearful of people and changes. So this new diagnosis is extremely difficult for us both. He is on Lantus 1 u twice a day for now. But he hides when it is time for his injection and cries when I give it. This hiding was what he did for the first 3-4 months after I adopted him. So I feel I am losing his trust. Treats do not work. He is too smart. This is my 1st experience with a diabetic pet.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Ruth -- I removed your last name to protect your privacy. We have occasional spammers.

I'm going to link a few posts that may help.

• How to "Shoot" Your Cat
• Home testing

I included the link on home testing since many of the suggestions are relevant to giving a shot. If Dewey is food motivated, I would give Gabby her shot when her head was in her food bowl. She barely noticed. I would test, feed, and shoot all within minutes.

Make sure you are using a 30 0r 31 gauge syringe. The higher the number, the thinner the needle.

One aspect of getting Dewey acclimated to shots is to give him treats.

Any reward will help. Cats ultimately figure out that what you're doing is helping them to feel better.