Anyone in NH to offer help?

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Ash19

Member Since 2019
We adopted a 9 year old diabetic cat in November and named him Asher. We were told his diabetes was controlled with Fancy Feast. It turns out his sugar numbers were high so he needed insulin again. We have had a diabetic cat in the past that needed shots for 1.5 years so we are familiar with the shots. However, his ears were so sensitive I couldn't test at home so I don't know how to do that part. Here is my struggle...Asher really dislikes going to the vet. He growls, hisses and is generally unpleasant to the vet techs. So much so that they gave us Gabapentin and said that he must have 2 doses before any visit. Since I don't know how to test blood sugar myself how can I get a fasting reading if I have to medicate him with his food prior to every vet visit? I stopped giving him the shots right around Christmas because he was showing signs similar to my previous cat when he didn't need insulin. I didn't want his sugar to get too low. The vet will come to test when he is eating but they bring a tech and a vet for a house call for around $160 per sugar check. That isn't practical long term. They suggested that I could medicate him and bring him in for a fructosamine test. Is that as accurate as a single sugar check? Especially with the medication in his system?

Is there anyone in the NH area that could come and show me how to test him? He loves his food and could be tested while he is eating (that is when I did shots and he didn't even notice) but he eats fast so testing has to efficient :) I checked with local pet sitters who give insulin shots but no one does the sugar check. I posted on a few Facebook pages...no one responded. I really want to figure this out because this is causing a lot of stress. I have never had a cat that wouldn't let me cut his nails or was aggressive at the vet so I don't really know how to handle this behavior. Suggestions??
 
Hi there and welcome.

I saw someone else responded while I was typing this long message. Some duplication, but thought I would still send.

The fructosamine test will show his sugar levels for the previous couple of weeks, they can tell if he is in a normal or diabetic range from that. Just ask them if the gabapentin would affect result. I would not think so. Although if you know he was diabetic recently, that test would only be confirming what you already know...

Is Ash still on low carb diet? That is key to keeping his blood sugar lower and if he is in remission to help him stay there. If you just stopped insulin on symptoms alone, you really don’t know if he is still diabetic needing insulin support. It is understandable being concerned giving insulin without being able to test him, but much better to know what his situation is.

As far as home testing, there is a lot of good advice here to learn how to do at home yourself. I am new and was having a hard time until some people told me to go slow and get the cat used to the process gradually. They gave me a lot of good advice. You don’t want to be struggling with the cat, not good for you or the cat.

I started over “training” my cat to be relatively okay with the testing, where a week ago she was running away. I started over with “pretending” to test her until she got used to the process. Start by finding low carb treats Ash likes. I found freeze dried salmon, which my kitty loves now. I only use this special treat for testing time.

This is how I started:
I put her in the testing area, give her the special treat, then rub her ears a little to get her used to you need to touch her ear when testing. Done for now, just a little at a time. Do this several times so he associates the place for testing and the steps of testing with a treat.

After used to touching ears, then I would hold her ear for a few seconds, let go, give her a special treat, rub her head and tell her what a good kitty she is. Talk soft like everything is fine, very calm so cat stays calm as possible.

Now it is as soon as I open the treat bag she smells it and I walk over to testing area with treat, she comes right over and let’s me test her. Not saying it is perfect yet, she is a little leery still sometimes once I am holding her ear for awhile and fidgets some, but not running like she was, it’s getting easier.

Here are some videos members made on how they test their cat and there are more tips if you look around the site.


 
One other thing I forgot is I started with using lancet pen and the click noise was scaring her, so now I use the lancet pen only as a holder for the lancet and just manually prick her ear, so no click noise to startle her. Some people just hold lancet in their fingers, but for me it is working well with pen as “holder.”
 
Thank you everyone for the info.

Julie and Honey, Asher is eating Fancy Feast Classic and loves it. I am just struggling with his more aggressive side. He was in a shelter environment for approx 1.5 years before we adopted him so we don't have the advantage of the close relationship before diagnosis. My vet uses the AlphaTrak 2 so I think I will call and see if they can give me a demonstration. I will ask if they show it manually. I think that click noise might push him over the deep end :) I have been touching his ears a lot lately to get him prepped and he seems ok with that. I guess I will call the vet and start there. I really need an in-person demo. Videos are awesome but I really need to see it in-person so I can ask questions as needed. Thanks for the info!
 
First off, a giant kudos to you for adopting what I'm sure many would have considered an "unadoptable" cat and giving Asher a chance at a happy life.

I was so worried about the testing in the beginning, and it's turned out to be the easiest part for me. Like Asher, Hogan is not very welcome at the vet, he goes nuts. But he is good with me (but only me!), and even the people in my household that he "likes" are afraid of him because of previous incidents.

Getting him used to rubbing his ears is a great start while you look for someone to help you. A lot of cats are scared of the lancet clicking, and I was sure Hogan would be one of them, but he's actually not. The lancet allows me to be much faster with the testing, which was a concern of yours, and he doesn't even seem to feel it. Maybe try clicking the lancet device in his presence, and gradually move the sound closer to him, and see how he reacts?
 
When we were learning how to do intra-muscular injections, we paid our favorite vet tech (on their own time, not on behalf of the vet), to come to the house. The first time I just watched her do it. The second time I had her watch me do it to make sure everything was done correctly. Well worth it. You might see if any of your vet's techs were up for doing the same with glucose testing.
 
Hogan said:
First off, a giant kudos to you for adopting what I'm sure many would have considered an "unadoptable" cat and giving Asher a chance at a happy life.

I was so worried about the testing in the beginning, and it's turned out to be the easiest part for me. Like Asher, Hogan is not very welcome at the vet, he goes nuts. But he is good with me (but only me!), and even the people in my household that he "likes" are afraid of him because of previous incidents.

Getting him used to rubbing his ears is a great start while you look for someone to help you. A lot of cats are scared of the lancet clicking, and I was sure Hogan would be one of them, but he's actually not. The lancet allows me to be much faster with the testing, which was a concern of yours, and he doesn't even seem to feel it. Maybe try clicking the lancet device in his presence, and gradually move the sound closer to him, and see how he reacts?
Click to expand...

Aw, thanks. He is actually a big love. He loves to lay on laps and drools like crazy with a purr when doing so. My son said it the best when he said that he thinks our previous diabetic guy sent Asher to us. Overall, I have to agree.

I guess I will start with getting a meter and having the vet show me how to use it. Thanks for the advice.
 
Sandi & Whisper said:
When we were learning how to do intra-muscular injections, we paid our favorite vet tech (on their own time, not on behalf of the vet), to come to the house. The first time I just watched her do it. The second time I had her watch me do it to make sure everything was done correctly. Well worth it. You might see if any of your vet's techs were up for doing the same with glucose testing.
Click to expand...

I inquired about that but since he is on the naughty list at the vets the techs aren't interested. I tried telling them that he really is distracted and mellow when eating but no takers. That is why I thought if someone who is familiar with glucose testing was close to me they could show me in person. The shelter where we adopted him is familiar with testing because they have several diabetic cats but they are 2 hours away from me.
 
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