? Frustrated - Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?

[Denver & Magic (GA)]

Magic has been on insulin two weeks tomorrow (3u/x2 Vetsulin). At the time of diagnosis the glucose reading on the actual lab report was 800+ mg/dl, but thankfully no Ketones.

I've put him on a strict 6am/6pm schedule with no treats, snacking, etc. which he has thankfully adapted to. He's also 100% on wet food, he was a kibble kitty all of his life until that point. I started checking his blood with a human meter while waiting on his AlphaTrak2 and supplies to arrive. It arrived yesterday so I began using it exclusively so it will hopefully match up with the vet's stuff. I also started him on the Zobeline last night.

The numbers from the AlphaTrak are SO disheartening... I feel like I haven't done anything for him - they're terrible and I'm not seeing any improvements in him as a kitty

I was under the impression the dosage he's already on was a significant amount so I'm not sure if it just takes longer to see a difference overall or if I'm not doing something correctly and it's screwing things up.

He has an appointment with the vet tomorrow afternoon and I'm hoping he gets a dosage increase or something. Am I expecting too much in the improvement department too soon?

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

I will tag
@JanetNJ
to take a look at your SS, she is familiar with Vetsulin
Also can you now add to your signature what meter you are now using

 

[Denver & Magic (GA)]

I will tag
@JanetNJ
to take a look at your SS, she is familiar with Vetsulin
Also can you now add to your signature what meter you are now using

Thank you... I updated my signature - totally forgot.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Thank you... I updated my signature - totally forgot.

No problem, hopefully Janet will be on later, I can also try tagging
@Panic ( Elizabeth) for you

 

[JanetNJ]

I've put him on a strict 6am/6pm schedule with no treats, snacking, etc. which he has thankfully adapted to. He's also 100% on wet food, he was a kibble kitty all of his life until that point.

Hi! Welcome. Sorry about the diagnosis but you came to the right place. . Good job getting him on wet food. You may find that the numbers come down significantly with that alone. Most of us find feeding several small meals a day is better than just two. I always fed morning, lunch, dinner, and before bed. Just no food at least 2 hours prior to the preshot test. Speaking of testing, we'll done getting a meter already. I'm concerned your dr started him at such a high dos. The recommended starting dose is 1 unit twice a day.

Am I expecting too much in the improvement department too soon?

Yes. Lol. It's a marathon. He didn't become diabetic overnight and it won't resolve overnight. My cat didn't see a number under 300 for about 10 weeks.

I saw you are switching back and forth with meters. I suggest you pick one and stick to it. The alpha is probably what your vet uses so if that's important to you then use that one. (I used alphatrack) The human one will probably be a lot cheaper. It's what most on here use. The human one will read lower. They read similar at lower ranges and further apart in higher numbers.


Is day since he started at 800 there's a good improvement so far. I even see a number in the 200's! If the vet does have you raise it, we suggest raising by no more than 0.5 at a time.


The insulin he put you on is designed for dogs. While some cats do fine on it, many find it does not last long enough (cats have a quicker metabolism). The recommended insulins for cats are ProZinc or Lantus.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Thank you Janet
@JanetNJ

 

[Denver & Magic (GA)]

I'm concerned your dr started him at such a high dos. The recommended starting dose is 1 unit twice a day.

He actually had him on 4u while under his care and lowered it to 3u when he released him to me with the goal of revisiting tomorrow. He didn't want to risk him going hypo without me knowing what to do. I know he and the vet from Purdue Animal in Indy had a lengthy consult over it.

This is kindof why I'm confused....

Yes. Lol. It's a marathon. He didn't become diabetic overnight and it won't resolve overnight. My cat didn't see a number under 300 for about 10 weeks.

That makes me feel better. I was guess I was expecting to see something is the 'non black' range relatively quickly on that dosage.

I saw you are switching back and forth with meters. I suggest you pick one and stick to it. The alpha is probably what your vet uses so if that's important to you then use that one. (I used alphatrack) The human one will probably be a lot cheaper. It's what most on here use. The human one will read lower. They read similar at lower ranges and further apart in higher numbers.

I wasn't planning on switching between meters. Folks here convinced me to test him with a human meter while waiting on the AlphaTrak2 to arrive which I did. My vet hasn't discussed anything on home testing so I went that route myself because I don't want anything to happen to my furry kid. I went that route because I figured unless it matches up with their stuff they're going to just poo poo what I did and want to do their own numbers - this prevents that argument since it's clinically accepted.

 

[Denver & Magic (GA)]

I figured the food change was what got us into the 700-800 range instead of 800+. I guess I was just expecting more of a dramatic change due to the insulin dosage (on top of the reduction from the food).
I'll be the first to admit that patience is not one of my virtues but I'm so worried that being this high is still hurting him.

 

[JanetNJ]

He actually had him on 4u while under his care and lowered it to 3u when he released him to me with the goal of revisiting tomorrow. He didn't want to risk him going hypo without me knowing what to do. I know he and the vet from Purdue Animal in Indy had a lengthy consult over it.

This is kindof why I'm confused....



That makes me feel better. I was guess I was expecting to see something is the 'non black' range relatively quickly on that dosage.



I wasn't planning on switching between meters. Folks here convinced me to test him with a human meter while waiting on the AlphaTrak2 to arrive which I did. My vet hasn't discussed anything on home testing so I went that route myself because I don't want anything to happen to my furry kid. I went that route because I figured unless it matches up with their stuff they're going to just poo poo what I did and want to do their own numbers - this prevents that argument since it's clinically accepted.

Question. I just noticed in your signature that you feed Friskies shreds. Is that the Friskies shreds in gravy? If so it's too high in carbs at 13%. This is a good chart. You'll want foods under 10 percent carb. Under 7% is even better. https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

 

[Denver & Magic (GA)]

Question. I just noticed in your signature that you feed Friskies shreds. Is that the Friskies shreds in gravy? If so it's too high in carbs at 13%. This is a good chart. You'll want foods under 10 percent carb. Under 7% is even better. https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

Yes it is... He won't eat pate or the Science Diet m/d stuff due to the texture. This was the only thing I could find in wet food that he actually liked. Since his kibble was like 38% the vet felt that 13% while not idea was a reasonable compromise. We had to just up and switch him... there was zero transition time.

I'd be fine with the pate if I could figure out a way to get him to actually eat it.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

You might want to look at TikiCat. Most of their flavors are shreds and are low in carbs.

Another option would be a raw diet if that's a consideration for you.

 

[Ann & Sister]

Yes it is... He won't eat pate or the Science Diet m/d stuff due to the texture. This was the only thing I could find in wet food that he actually liked. Since his kibble was like 38% the vet felt that 13% while not idea was a reasonable compromise. We had to just up and switch him... there was zero transition time.

I'd be fine with the pate if I could figure out a way to get him to actually eat it.

I recently started sprinkling Fortiflora probiotic on Sister's pate, and she will now at least eat half of it. Before that, I would pulverize Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein or Young Again Zero dry (both touted to be zero carbs, high protein) and dust that on top of her wet food. She gets wet first, then if she does not eat enough, I bring out some Dr. Elsey's. (I have never had a cat that would eat Science Diet of any kind.)
Also, on the improvement you are not yet seeing, it is more than just Low Carb Food = Low BG Numbers and High Carb Food = High BG numbers.
It is so much about Magic's pancreas actually healing through the use of insulin and the diet change.
Healing takes a while...
Hugs

 

[Denver & Magic (GA)]

It is so much about Magic's pancreas actually healing through the use of insulin and the diet change.
Healing takes a while...
Hugs

hmmm… I never thought of it quite like that.
So, his numbers are going to be all screwed up until that happens regardless of what we do?

 

[Ann & Sister]

hmmm… I never thought of it quite like that.
So, his numbers are going to be all screwed up until that happens regardless of what we do?

Not necessarily. (I certainly hope not.) But Each Cat Is Different.
Be patient. You are doing everything humanly possible. Allow Magic's body to respond when and as it is able to.
Hugs,

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Not really. Insulin and low carb food work together to get blood glucose numbers in a better place. However, some insulins are getter than others depending on the species. Vetsulin, which is also called Caninsulin outside of the US, was developed for dogs. Cats have a much faster metabolism than dogs and they burn through the insulin more quickly. Vetsulin is relatively short acting in cats. The American Animal Hospital Assn recommends either Lantus (glargine) or Prozinc for cats. They have a longer duration.

It can take a while to see results. Chances are Magic was diabetic for some time prior to his diagnosis. It will take a while for him to get used to being in lower numbers. At this point, his system is treating high numbers as though they are normal. If nothing else, treating your cat's diabetes will teach you to be patient.

 

[JanetNJ]

Yes it is... He won't eat pate or the Science Diet m/d stuff due to the texture. This was the only thing I could find in wet food that he actually liked. Since his kibble was like 38% the vet felt that 13% while not idea was a reasonable compromise. We had to just up and switch him... there was zero transition time.

I'd be fine with the pate if I could figure out a way to get him to actually eat it.

There are other textures that he might like. Try some of the fancy feast flaked ones or fancy feast chunky. Roasted oolong, has little chunks and sauce. Weruva and tikicat have other textures as well such as weruva paw lickin chicken which is shredded chicken

 

[Librarianista]

Yes it is... He won't eat pate or the Science Diet m/d stuff due to the texture. This was the only thing I could find in wet food that he actually liked. Since his kibble was like 38% the vet felt that 13% while not idea was a reasonable compromise. We had to just up and switch him... there was zero transition time.

I'd be fine with the pate if I could figure out a way to get him to actually eat it.

Mine were also eating medium carb shreds before we needed to switch. The Fancy Feast flaked and roasted varieties (chicken, turkey, tuna) were an acceptable texture during that transition. Now my diabetic cat prefers pates.

Weruva does have multiple textures, although interestingly neither of my cats liked the shredded chicken. One thing about their website is that you can see what the food texture is like. They also have a few flavors with gravy that are low carb options. I have many notes about their flavors in my SS. Their website also has all the nutritional info you need to find low carb options.

 

[Denver & Magic (GA)]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement…. I’ll work on my patience and adjust my expectations.

Next question…. Should I try changing his food again or wait until the numbers get into a better place first… and then transition slowly? He basically quit kibble cold turkey without any transition at all. I don’t want to make things worse for him since his entire world is different now.

Thoughts? Is there a flavor that’s a ‘universal’ hit? He’s always been a chicken junkie but wanted nothing to do with the FF Classic Chicken.

 

[Mocha's_mom]

I'm in the same boat. Using Vetsulin and Alphatrak. And Mocha basically went from grazing on Iams dry food his whole life to just wet Fancy feast and some ham & turkey cold cuts as treats when I take his blood. I'm only on day 4 and not seeing much improvement yet either. I feel like Lantus might be a better option after maybe a week or 2 on low carb food. I don't want to change up too many things at once. Mocha already thinks I'm crazy because I'm constantly poking & prodding him and now he's got new food and getting treats all day (when I test). Seems like a lot of change all at once and I know cats don't like change.

I'm still trying to find the right food too. Since he used to snub his nose at all wet food I'm surprised I've gotten him to eat FF chicken pate. But he mostly just licks it to death and I have to keep adding water so he'll eat it. Not sure if he doesn't like the texture or what. I think he's just so hungry he'll eat anything right now. I'm scared he's not eating enough when I give him the shot because sometimes it's only like 1/4 can which I know isn't a lot of calories compared to the calorie dense dry food.

Neither of my cats like TikiCat but it seems like a lot of people on here have had success. Maybe I'll try the Weruva next to see. I can't get my non-diabetic cat to eat any wet food at all. Today is her first day with no option but the wet food and she's being stubborn. But the kibble is officially out of the house! Hoping she gets hungry enough to eat the wet food, fingers crossed!

 

[Mocha's_mom]

Mine were also eating medium carb shreds before we needed to switch. The Fancy Feast flaked and roasted varieties (chicken, turkey, tuna) were an acceptable texture during that transition. Now my diabetic cat prefers pates.

Weruva does have multiple textures, although interestingly neither of my cats liked the shredded chicken. One thing about their website is that you can see what the food texture is like. They also have a few flavors with gravy that are low carb options. I have many notes about their flavors in my SS. Their website also has all the nutritional info you need to find low carb options.

Is there a flavor of Weruva that they like best? I think I'm going to try that next but there are so many options I don't know where to start!

 

[Mocha's_mom]

You might want to look at TikiCat. Most of their flavors are shreds and are low in carbs.

Another option would be a raw diet if that's a consideration for you.

Do you know if raw freeze dried food is a good low carb option? Mocha seems to be doing ok eating wet but i'm concerned about my other cat who refuses wet. I can't keep giving her the high carb kibble because I don't want her to become diabetic too! But she loves the PureBites freeze dried chicken treats. Just wondering if anyone has experience with freeze dried food

 

[Denver & Magic (GA)]

I'm in the same boat. Using Vetsulin and Alphatrak. And Mocha basically went from grazing on Iams dry food his whole life to just wet Fancy feast and some ham & turkey cold cuts as treats when I take his blood. I'm only on day 4 and not seeing much improvement yet either. I feel like Lantus might be a better option after maybe a week or 2 on low carb food. I don't want to change up too many things at once. Mocha already thinks I'm crazy because I'm constantly poking & prodding him and now he's got new food and getting treats all day (when I test). Seems like a lot of change all at once and I know cats don't like change.

I'm still trying to find the right food too. Since he used to snub his nose at all wet food I'm surprised I've gotten him to eat FF chicken pate. But he mostly just licks it to death and I have to keep adding water so he'll eat it. Not sure if he doesn't like the texture or what. I think he's just so hungry he'll eat anything right now. I'm scared he's not eating enough when I give him the shot because sometimes it's only like 1/4 can which I know isn't a lot of calories compared to the calorie dense dry food.

Neither of my cats like TikiCat but it seems like a lot of people on here have had success. Maybe I'll try the Weruva next to see. I can't get my non-diabetic cat to eat any wet food at all. Today is her first day with no option but the wet food and she's being stubborn. But the kibble is officially out of the house! Hoping she gets hungry enough to eat the wet food, fingers crossed!

Mocha's numbers are WAY better than Magic's so you're definitely doing something right

I'm going to stop by the store on the way home from his appointment and see if I can find something by Fancy Feast that I think he'll eat. Since he loves chicken I figured the Classic Chicken would have been a hit. But after two sniffs and a lick, he was done with it. I don't understand why he has to be SO picky on the texture thing. I'm a picky eater myself but to me anything in the can looks way better to me than dead mouse would... lol

The vet told me that if I could get him to go with FF, he'd need about 3-4 cans a day due to the reduced calorie content so he's gonna really have to like whatever we try.

 

[Librarianista]

Is there a flavor of Weruva that they like best? I think I'm going to try that next but there are so many options I don't know where to start!

I'm also keeping track of that on my SS. There's a column as to whether or not they like it.

The first two flavors I tried were Lamburgini and Funk in the Trunk - both have small meat and pumpkin pieces mixed into pate, and they devoured it. But that may have been because it was new. Now it's kind of a crap shoot as to whether they'll eat it. Mideast Feast and Meow Luau also go over well - chunky fish in a low carb gravy.

You probably don't want the Slide and Serve pates.

If there's a Petco near you, they carry Weruva and Soulistic (owned by Weruva). I bought 2-3 cans and pouches of a bunch of different flavors just to see what would stick. Made more sense to me than buying a whole case and not knowing.

 

[Mocha's_mom]

My Mocha needs to lose a few pounds (he gained 3 pounds in one year) so maybe having a few less calories is good. But it makes me nervous giving insulin with so little nutrition. I'm gonna look for some other FF flavors & textures too to see if I can get him to eat more. And my non-diabetic cat needs to switch too which is proving much harder than I thought. I've tried dry kibble on top of wet, Fortiflora sprinkled on wet, at least 3 brands of wet and she just snubs her nose. Won't even get near it! So frustrating!!

 

[Mocha's_mom]

I'm also keeping track of that on my SS. There's a column as to whether or not they like it.

The first two flavors I tried were Lamburgini and Funk in the Trunk - both have small meat and pumpkin pieces mixed into pate, and they devoured it. But that may have been because it was new. Now it's kind of a crap shoot as to whether they'll eat it. Mideast Feast and Meow Luau also go over well - chunky fish in a low carb gravy.

You probably don't want the Slide and Serve pates.

If there's a Petco near you, they carry Weruva and Soulistic (owned by Weruva). I bought 2-3 cans and pouches of a bunch of different flavors just to see what would stick. Made more sense to me than buying a whole case and not knowing.

That food chart is very helpful! Thank you!

 

[Librarianista]

That food chart is very helpful! Thank you!

Feel free to copy it and add it to your own SS! I stole it from @PerfumedCatMom.

 

[Judy & Fritz]

How

My Mocha needs to lose a few pounds (he gained 3 pounds in one year) so maybe having a few less calories is good. But it makes me nervous giving insulin with so little nutrition. I'm gonna look for some other FF flavors & textures too to see if I can get him to eat more. And my non-diabetic cat needs to switch too which is proving much harder than I thought. I've tried dry kibble on top of wet, Fortiflora sprinkled on wet, at least 3 brands of wet and she just snubs her nose. Won't even get near it! So frustrating!!

Mine love PureBites too. Try Orijen’s freeze-dried treats, they make excellent toppers. I also use Dr. Elsey’s CleanProtein kibble (super low carbs, but very calorie dense) as a topper, treat and snack. Since they don’t actually eat entire meals of Elsey’s, they aren’t gaining weight. It’s similar to Young Again, but I like it better - YA is mostly pork. All of mine love Elsey’s and it comes in 5 flavors. Small bag at Chewy is about $20. You can use canned tuna as a topper, and Instinct makes a good freeze-dried topper.

 

[Denver & Magic (GA)]

An update from today’s appointment…

The vet was super shocked that I had an AlphaTrak and almost two complete curves. He said the reason he didn’t recommend testing is most of the pet parents he deals with struggle enough with giving the shots and get so overwhelmed they just give up and put the animal down. He didn’t realize that I’m comfortable with medical stuff

Based on the numbers, he increased Magic’s dose to 4u/2x and wanted the link to my SS so he can follow along for now on a daily basis. Magic goes back on 8/26 for another set of complete labs.

He had me play around with some Fancy Feast tonight to see if an enticement would work. He ate about 1/3 can of beef and that took Parmesan cheese. Once the cheese was gone he was done. I gave him the chicken as his second can for the meal and he ate maybe half and then was done with it. As soon as it starts to get ‘cakey’ he leaves the bowl and if you move it to where he is he leaves the room. It almost like he doesn’t like the smell. he’s always been odd as hell when it comes to food though, even as a kitten.

So we’re going back to Friskies shreds tomorrow until he comes up with a better idea or I make it to a pet store this weekend to search for some more options.

He pretty much told me what you folks did…. It’s going to be a good 4-6 weeks before we see even the low-to-mid 200’s. He said he is pretty much flooded and it has to be used up before numbers will fall.

Thank you to everyone here for the encouragement and ideas.

 

[Judy & Fritz]

Denver, hi. Obviously the Friskies shreds are too high carb but I wonder what Magic’s reaction would be if you mixed some of the Friskies with the Fancy Feast pate while transitioning to low-carb. Maybe add a teeny bit of water. Sounds like he’s missing the moisture.

 

[Judy & Fritz]

I'm also keeping track of that on my SS. There's a column as to whether or not they like it.

The first two flavors I tried were Lamburgini and Funk in the Trunk - both have small meat and pumpkin pieces mixed into pate, and they devoured it. But that may have been because it was new. Now it's kind of a crap shoot as to whether they'll eat it. Mideast Feast and Meow Luau also go over well - chunky fish in a low carb gravy.

You probably don't want the Slide and Serve pates.

If there's a Petco near you, they carry Weruva and Soulistic (owned by Weruva). I bought 2-3 cans and pouches of a bunch of different flavors just to see what would stick. Made more sense to me than buying a whole case and not knowing.

There are also places online, like Only Natural Pet and some pet food boutiques that let you order by the can, I’ve done that a bunch.

 

[Mocha's_mom]

An update from today’s appointment…

The vet was super shocked that I had an AlphaTrak and almost two complete curves. He said the reason he didn’t recommend testing is most of the pet parents he deals with struggle enough with giving the shots and get so overwhelmed they just give up and put the animal down. He didn’t realize that I’m comfortable with medical stuff

Based on the numbers, he increased Magic’s dose to 4u/2x and wanted the link to my SS so he can follow along for now on a daily basis. Magic goes back on 8/26 for another set of complete labs.

He had me play around with some Fancy Feast tonight to see if an enticement would work. He ate about 1/3 can of beef and that took Parmesan cheese. Once the cheese was gone he was done. I gave him the chicken as his second can for the meal and he ate maybe half and then was done with it. As soon as it starts to get ‘cakey’ he leaves the bowl and if you move it to where he is he leaves the room. It almost like he doesn’t like the smell. he’s always been odd as hell when it comes to food though, even as a kitten.

So we’re going back to Friskies shreds tomorrow until he comes up with a better idea or I make it to a pet store this weekend to search for some more options.

He pretty much told me what you folks did…. It’s going to be a good 4-6 weeks before we see even the low-to-mid 200’s. He said he is pretty much flooded and it has to be used up before numbers will fall.

Thank you to everyone here for the encouragement and ideas.

My vet basically discouraged me from even doing home monitoring! But I'm comfortable with the "medical stuff" too so it's a no brainer to check his blood sugar myself. I'm going to try to do my own glucose curve on Sunday so I don't need to bring him back to the vet.

Mocha does the same thing with his food. He's just transitioning to wet food so I think he's confused. He's so hungry so he'll eat some of it, but when it gets cakey he walks away too. So I keep adding water and he drinks the juice and then walks away. I'm not sure he's even had a 1/2 can of FF total today! He wants nothing to do with it once he's done with the juice. But I've given him lots of treats so hopefully that's filled his calorie deficit.

His non-diabetic sister wont eat any wet food whatsoever. Today she's had some freeze dried chicken treats and that's it! I've taken all the dry kibble out of the house so she's gonna need to learn to deal with wet food only from now on. She's proving to be more difficult than Mocha!!

 

[Denver & Magic (GA)]

Denver, hi. Obviously the Friskies shreds are too high carb but I wonder what Magic’s reaction would be if you mixed some of the Friskies with the Fancy Feast pate while transitioning to low-carb. Maybe add a teeny bit of water. Sounds like he’s missing the moisture.

Didn’t occur to me to try adding water. I have one more can of the chicken. I’ll try doing that for his breakfast and see if that makes a difference. Thank you for the idea. I hope it’ll work. Sometimes I just wish they could talk so it wouldn’t take so much mind reading!

 

[Denver & Magic (GA)]

My vet basically discouraged me from even doing home monitoring! But I'm comfortable with the "medical stuff" too so it's a no brainer to check his blood sugar myself. I'm going to try to do my own glucose curve on Sunday so I don't need to bring him back to the vet.

Mocha does the same thing with his food. He's just transitioning to wet food so I think he's confused. He's so hungry so he'll eat some of it, but when it gets cakey he walks away too. So I keep adding water and he drinks the juice and then walks away. I'm not sure he's even had a 1/2 can of FF total today! He wants nothing to do with it once he's done with the juice. But I've given him lots of treats so hopefully that's filled his calorie deficit.

His non-diabetic sister wont eat any wet food whatsoever. Today she's had some freeze dried chicken treats and that's it! I've taken all the dry kibble out of the house so she's gonna need to learn to deal with wet food only from now on. She's proving to be more difficult than Mocha!!

Sounds like your cat and mine may be related! Please share any ideas or discoveries you make.

 

[Denver & Magic (GA)]

Denver, hi. Obviously the Friskies shreds are too high carb but I wonder what Magic’s reaction would be if you mixed some of the Friskies with the Fancy Feast pate while transitioning to low-carb. Maybe add a teeny bit of water. Sounds like he’s missing the moisture.

I tried adding warm water and mixing it up well this morning and it was a no-go. He ate just a small amount and was 'done'. Tonight I'm going to go back to Friskies and then look at the pet store tomorrow to try and find something else he may like.

I'm beginning to wonder if it's more of a smell thing, than texture. He literally would leave the room when I put the food out. Took it into the living room where he was and he went off to another room. He's never done that with any other foods before.

I'm thankful for everyone's advice and ideas... Hopefully I can find something tomorrow he'll accept.

 

[Mocha's_mom]

I tried adding warm water and mixing it up well this morning and it was a no-go. He ate just a small amount and was 'done'. Tonight I'm going to go back to Friskies and then look at the pet store tomorrow to try and find something else he may like.

I'm beginning to wonder if it's more of a smell thing, than texture. He literally would leave the room when I put the food out. Took it into the living room where he was and he went off to another room. He's never done that with any other foods before.

I'm thankful for everyone's advice and ideas... Hopefully I can find something tomorrow he'll accept.

I don't blame them for not liking the smell. I have to hold my nose when I open the containers! The smell is nauseating to me. Does it ever get easier?!?

This morning Mocha snubbed his nose at both the regular pate and the watered down version. Tried Tiki Cat after dark chicken and Wellness chicken shred also. Both cats snubbed their noses. Added parmesan to the Wellness and nothing...

How am I going to get them to ever eat? This is so frustrating!

 

[Mocha's_mom]

Sounds like your cat and mine may be related! Please share any ideas or discoveries you make.

Will do!! And when you finally find something that works let me know as well. The food process is proving harder than the glucose testing & insulin shots!

 

[JanetNJ]

I tried adding warm water and mixing it up well this morning and it was a no-go. He ate just a small amount and was 'done'. Tonight I'm going to go back to Friskies and then look at the pet store tomorrow to try and find something else he may like.

I'm beginning to wonder if it's more of a smell thing, than texture. He literally would leave the room when I put the food out. Took it into the living room where he was and he went off to another room. He's never done that with any other foods before.

I'm thankful for everyone's advice and ideas... Hopefully I can find something tomorrow he'll accept.

Have you tried mixing the Friskies shreds with Friskies pate?

 

[Denver & Magic (GA)]

I don't blame them for not liking the smell. I have to hold my nose when I open the containers! The smell is nauseating to me. Does it ever get easier?!?

This morning Mocha snubbed his nose at both the regular pate and the watered down version. Tried Tiki Cat after dark chicken and Wellness chicken shred also. Both cats snubbed their noses. Added parmesan to the Wellness and nothing...

How am I going to get them to ever eat? This is so frustrating!

Have you tried mixing the Friskies shreds with Friskies pate?

I haven't tried that yet... didn't want to risk of making him not like the Friskies since that's the ONLY thing so far that he will eat that isn't kibble. That's going to be my absolute final resort.

 

[Mocha's_mom]

I haven't tried that yet... didn't want to risk of making him not like the Friskies since that's the ONLY thing so far that he will eat that isn't kibble. That's going to be my absolute final resort.

Charlotte (my non-diabetic) will eat the PureBites freeze dried chicken and VitalCat freeze dried rabbit. They are both crunchy so she doesn't miss her high carb kibble. Still can't get her to eat anything wet. I'm not sure if those count as a complete meal but it's something to get by until I can get her to eat the wet. I want both cats to be able to eat the same wet food but it's a struggle.

This morning Mocha won't eat anything. Just tested his BG and it was 86. (2 hours post 1 unit Vetsulin). Got me a tad worried so I'm giving him more ham slices as treats

 

[Judy & Fritz]

My vet basically discouraged me from even doing home monitoring! But I'm comfortable with the "medical stuff" too so it's a no brainer to check his blood sugar myself. I'm going to try to do my own glucose curve on Sunday so I don't need to bring him back to the vet.

Mocha does the same thing with his food. He's just transitioning to wet food so I think he's confused. He's so hungry so he'll eat some of it, but when it gets cakey he walks away too. So I keep adding water and he drinks the juice and then walks away. I'm not sure he's even had a 1/2 can of FF total today! He wants nothing to do with it once he's done with the juice. But I've given him lots of treats so hopefully that's filled his calorie deficit.

His non-diabetic sister wont eat any wet food whatsoever. Today she's had some freeze dried chicken treats and that's it! I've taken all the dry kibble out of the house so she's gonna need to learn to deal with wet food only from now on. She's proving to be more difficult than Mocha!!

Have you tried crumbling the freeze dried chicken treats on top of Charlotte’s wet food? You can feed a bit of dry kibble if it’s the appropriate high protein/low carb. Dr. Elsey’s CleanProtein is what a lot of us use. 5 different flavors, mine love it, also, when you mix a pate food with the dry, they say you get the texture of a mouse, including the crunch, for these little carnivores,

 

[Judy & Fritz]

Charlotte (my non-diabetic) will eat the PureBites freeze dried chicken and VitalCat freeze dried rabbit. They are both crunchy so she doesn't miss her high carb kibble. Still can't get her to eat anything wet. I'm not sure if those count as a complete meal but it's something to get by until I can get her to eat the wet. I want both cats to be able to eat the same wet food but it's a struggle.

This morning Mocha won't eat anything. Just tested his BG and it was 86. (2 hours post 1 unit Vetsulin). Got me a tad worried so I'm giving him more ham slices as treats

Have you spoken to your vet about changing his insulin to Prozinc or Lantus? I know how determined you are to do everything in the best possible way. Vetsulin is actually for dogs. Cats have faster metabolisms, and Prozinc is made especially for their bodies. Lantus is human insulation, seems to work well on cats, and some on here say remission is more likely on Lantus. You might discuss with your vet. Do you have any higher carb food, such as a wet food with gravy? Have you put together a hypo kit?

 

[Mocha's_mom]

Have you tried crumbling the freeze dried chicken treats on top of Charlotte’s wet food? You can feed a bit of dry kibble if it’s the appropriate high protein/low carb. Dr. Elsey’s CleanProtein is what a lot of us use. 5 different flavors, mine love it, also, when you mix a pate food with the dry, they say you get the texture of a mouse, including the crunch, for these little carnivores,

I tried that with the freeze dried food but unfortunately it just made the freeze dried food get soggy fairly quickly. Then I put some in the same bowl right next to the wet food and she worked her way around the wet food and at the freeze dried only. She accidentally got a hunk of wet food in her mouth during one bite and she literally spit it out on the floor and ate just the dried food. What a stinker!!

I ordered some of dr elseys from Chewy. Hopefully will get in a couple days. I'm definitely going to try that.

 

[Judy & Fritz]

I tried that with the freeze dried food but unfortunately it just made the freeze dried food get soggy fairly quickly. Then I put some in the same bowl right next to the wet food and she worked her way around the wet food and at the freeze dried only. She accidentally got a hunk of wet food in her mouth during one bite and she literally spit it out on the floor and ate just the dried food. What a stinker!!

I ordered some of dr elseys from Chewy. Hopefully will get in a couple days. I'm definitely going to try that.

You should get any Chewy package within two days. If you don’t, go into your orders and track the package.

 

[Mocha's_mom]

Have you spoken to your vet about changing his insulin to Prozinc or Lantus? I know how determined you are to do everything in the best possible way. Vetsulin is actually for dogs. Cats have faster metabolisms, and Prozinc is made especially for their bodies. Lantus is human insulation, seems to work well on cats, and some on here say remission is more likely on Lantus. You might discuss with your vet. Do you have any higher carb food, such as a wet food with gravy? Have you put together a hypo kit?

I'm gonna give it a couple weeks on the Vetsulin first. I don't think my vet is going to be too interested in taking my advice to switch to Lantus just yet. I also want to get a solid glucose curve first to see where we're at with Vetsulin. So far he's being so picky about the new food we're all over the place. This morning he didn't really eat so after his insulin he was down to 86. I've got some high carb kibble and Karo syrup nearby if he goes lower at his 12pm check.
I understand why my vet didn't want me to switch food too soon because sometimes they won't eat the new food. And combined with insulin can get dangerous. But I really want to get him in remission ASAP so I'm doing everything I can.
I have the wet food with gravy and he snubs his nose at that too.

 

[Judy & Fritz]

Do you know if raw freeze dried food is a good low carb option? Mocha seems to be doing ok eating wet but i'm concerned about my other cat who refuses wet. I can't keep giving her the high carb kibble because I don't want her to become diabetic too! But she loves the PureBites freeze dried chicken treats. Just wondering if anyone has experience with freeze dried food

The freeze dried foods such as Purebites are not for meals, they have none of the necessary vitamins, etc. Earthborn Holistics makes good cat food. You don’t want to feed fish all the time, but Catalina Catch has zero carbs and Monterrey Medley has about 10% carbs,

 

[Judy & Fritz]

I'm gonna give it a couple weeks on the Vetsulin first. I don't think my vet is going to be too interested in taking my advice to switch to Lantus just yet. I also want to get a solid glucose curve first to see where we're at with Vetsulin. So far he's being so picky about the new food we're all over the place. This morning he didn't really eat so after his insulin he was down to 86. I've got some high carb kibble and Karo syrup nearby if he goes lower at his 12pm check.
I understand why my vet didn't want me to switch food too soon because sometimes they won't eat the new food. And combined with insulin can get dangerous. But I really want to get him in remission ASAP so I'm doing everything I can.
I have the wet food with gravy and he snubs his nose at that too.

What is the danger number with Vetsulin? The number below which you skip the shot or wait 20 minutes and test again?

 

[Mocha's_mom]

What is the danger number with Vetsulin? The number below which you skip the shot or wait 20 minutes and test again?

I think it's 68 with the Alphatrak meter. From what I understand Vetsulin hits hard and fast but then his blood glucose quickly goes back up. If you look at yesterdays numbers on Mochas SS you can see that. So I'm hoping todays +4 reading will be higher considering he's still not eating. That would mean the nadir could be around +2 or +3

 

[Judy & Fritz]

I'm gonna give it a couple weeks on the Vetsulin first. I don't think my vet is going to be too interested in taking my advice to switch to Lantus just yet. I also want to get a solid glucose curve first to see where we're at with Vetsulin. So far he's being so picky about the new food we're all over the place. This morning he didn't really eat so after his insulin he was down to 86. I've got some high carb kibble and Karo syrup nearby if he goes lower at his 12pm check.
I understand why my vet didn't want me to switch food too soon because sometimes they won't eat the new food. And combined with insulin can get dangerous. But I really want to get him in remission ASAP so I'm doing everything I can.
I have the wet food with gravy and he snubs his nose at that too.

Do you know how to administer the Karo? I think he’s fine, but hypo events happen so suddenly it is shocking.

 

[Judy & Fritz]

I think it's 68 with the Alphatrak meter. From what I understand Vetsulin hits hard and fast but then his blood glucose quickly goes back up. If you look at yesterdays numbers on Mochas SS you can see that. So I'm hoping todays +4 reading will be higher considering he's still not eating. That would mean the nadir could be around +2 or +3

Looks like the lime green is 68. He’s already at +2, correct? Vetsulin does seem to hit rapidly, from the look of his spreadsheet.

 

[Mocha's_mom]

Do you know how to administer the Karo? I think he’s fine, but hypo events happen so suddenly it is shocking.

I was told to just rub it on his gums. I'm definitely keeping an eye on him. Just fed him some FF tuna with gravy and he's gobbling it up so that's good. I'm sure the gravy isn't low carb but at least he's eating something. Probably his body sensing the low blood sugar making him hungry.
He's had 86 at +2 (not too low yet). It's +3 now. I'll check again at +4