Getting overwhlemed and haven't even started yet

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MaryB & Chester

MaryB & Chester

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There's so much to learn!!!
So, I'll want to feed him when he gets his shot, then probably about six hours after that, then in another six hours when he gets his next shot, then right before bed, except I need to test his blood before each shot and if the BG readings are too low then he doesn't get a shot, or he he gets half a shot, unless he's had a hypo and the BG readings are high, then I don't give a shot but remember don't give a shot if the cat throws up...And I want to stay with him for the first week of shots to make sure he doesn't go hypo except that I need to go to work every day because we're slammed...And I can't go anywhere for Christmas unless we take him with us except that traveling like that will stress him out and screw up his blood sugars more...And my vet wants the AlphaTrak and I like the idea of the AlphaTrak except that everyone here says don't get the AlphaTrak but human meters read differently than cat meters and the numbers aren't the same so how do I figure out what numbers mean what and I just want to get the meter from my vet and get started...and I need to switch all my cats to wet food because otherwise they'll all die a horrible gruesome death but I have six cats...And everyone's cat here either goes hypo or gets ketones and I'm still reading up on what ketones are and those sound as bad as going hypo...

How on Earth am I going to keep my cat alive long enough to get him regulated, if that even ever happens? confused_cat cat(2)_steam confused_cat
 
Breathe. It will get better. You should save this post to look back on when you're all settled and a pro at this.
Don't worry we'll help you every step of the way. Just ask.

I compared my One Touch human glucometer to my vet's Alpha Trak on several occasions and it was always within 8 or 9 points. The Alpha Trak strips are really expensive and eventually you will probably want to buy a human glucometer because of the cost of those test srips.

What kind of insulin are you planning to use?

It's good that you are switching all your cat's to the wet food, as it is much better for them.
 
For starters, take a deep breath... and then continue breathing. :mrgreen: You don't have to understand all of the above the first week. You now have a support group that is available day or night that can give you advice, listen if you are overwhelmed or just plain sad, give you suggestions to help and tell you their unique stories and how they got down that early steep learning curve.

It sounds like one of your concerns is the feeding schedule. And that will be a challenge with the number of cats you have. But we have many members here who feed mulitiple cats wet food. There are economical ways to do it and lots of tips to get everyone on board. Have you seen this website by a vet: www.catinfo.org

Yes, we suggest human meters. They do not test exactly the same as the Alpha Trak, but we are looking at a range, not a specific number. They are much more economical and you can get the strips at a 24 hour drug store so it is more convenient.

Actually very few cats hypo or have ketones. The majority of the cats here have owners who only post to help others while their cats are happy and doing well. But there are posts with emergencies because that's when people need to post and get help.

Give us some details on your kitty. Was he diagnosed with a fructosamine test or a simple blood test at the vet? What have his numbers been? What insulin will you be using? What food has he been eating? Lots of questions, but the answers will help us help you.

Keep reading. (Obviously you have done a great job so far.) Ask questions when you need to. Let us help you and your kitty.
 
MbMinx said:
There's so much to learn!!!
So, I'll want to feed him when he gets his shot, then probably about six hours after that, then in another six hours when he gets his next shot, then right before bed, except I need to test his blood before each shot and if the BG readings are too low then he doesn't get a shot, or he he gets half a shot, unless he's had a hypo and the BG readings are high, then I don't give a shot but remember don't give a shot if the cat throws up...And I want to stay with him for the first week of shots to make sure he doesn't go hypo except that I need to go to work every day because we're slammed...And I can't go anywhere for Christmas unless we take him with us except that traveling like that will stress him out and screw up his blood sugars more...And my vet wants the AlphaTrak and I like the idea of the AlphaTrak except that everyone here says don't get the AlphaTrak but human meters read differently than cat meters and the numbers aren't the same so how do I figure out what numbers mean what and I just want to get the meter from my vet and get started...and I need to switch all my cats to wet food because otherwise they'll all die a horrible gruesome death but I have six cats...And everyone's cat here either goes hypo or gets ketones and I'm still reading up on what ketones are and those sound as bad as going hypo...

How on Earth am I going to keep my cat alive long enough to get him regulated, if that even ever happens? confused_cat cat(2)_steam confused_cat
Click to expand...

1) breathe!!! You can do this!!!

2) test, feed within 15 minutes or so, shoot if over 200.

3) you may leave food out for him; it does not have to be on a schedule. If he's a scarfer, freeze half of it to thaw between shots.

4) it is possible to teach a cat to travel comfortably using positive reinforcement to shape the behavior. Start by leaving out a comfy carrier with a favorite towel and a bit of catnip or Feliway/Comfort Zone in it in a nice spot to relax. More later, when you're ready.

5) You do not need an AlphaTrak, no matter what your vet says; there is a protocol based on using human glucometers such as the WalMart Confirm (aka Arkray Glucocard 01 from our shopping partner ADW). Cost is substantially less using a human glucometer and test strips. Also, you can regulate at home following a protocol based on home testing. No need to spend money at the vet for curves!

6) Feeding low carb canned or raw will be good for ALL of your cats.

7) Diabetic ketoacidosis kills slowly; hypoglycemia kills quickly, so better to be high for a bit, than too low. Not everyone's cat has these problems, it depends on how long the condition has been untreated, and if you are starting with a good long acting insulin such as Lantus or ProZinc at a low dose (0.5 to 1.0 units, not milliliters) And yes, we've recently had a few folks join who did not know a lot with vets who were out of date and not following current protocols for handling diabetic cats. The vet issue seems to happen a lot. Best defense is asking the vet to get current on feline diabetes therapy, or find one who is or will do so.

See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for info on urine ketone monitoring, along with other ways to assess how your cat is doing.

And breathe!
 
Lantus/Levemir protocol based on human glucometer use:

Dosing protocol for cats on glargine or detemir using daily home monitoring of blood glucose concentrations to adjust insulin dose

Print this out and share with your vet.

If your vet prescribes Humulin N or Novolin N, your vet is out of date.
Alphatrak is OK, but pricey, and unnecessary.

The FDA allows meters to be within 20% or a true lab value; they are not intended to be exact measurements, only good enough. This means that:
50 -> 40 to 60
100 -> 80 to 120
200 -> 160 to 240
300 -> 240 to 360
The low end has a narrower range which is good, because below 50, its time to start watching carefully and be prepared for a possible hypo ... often caused by a vet being way too aggressive with dosing and dose increases. Start low, go slow, for safety!
etc.
 
I know right now it all feels so overwhelming and confusing but just take it in baby steps and we will be here to hold your hand and paw along the way. :-D

I personally have 14 cats, only two of which are diabetics. And guess what I adopted them both as diabetics. Now if it really was difficult to care for a diabetic cat do you really think I would have adopted not only another one but two (actually 3 but lost one to anemia not diabetes) with all the healthy and happy kitties I already had? Nope, I certainly wouldn't have added that kind of stress to our household if it wasn't very simple to care for a diabetic once you find your groove.

All 14 of mine eat exactly what my diabetics eat, just good old fashioned Friskies pate style canned cat food. Now on this diet my first adoptee Maxwell has been in remission and off insulin altogether now for 2 years, my second Autumn is constantly going down in dose and hopefully soon she will also be in remission and off insulin. But it hasn't been over night with Autumn it has taken us 7 months to get her where she is today, but one thing to remember is that your kitty didn't get diabetes overnight and he isn't going to get into remission or even regulated overnight either.

But with a good diet, a little insulin and watching his numbers with home testing you will be able to get your buddy back into tip top shape, and if he never goes into remission that will be okay too, just means that he is a healthy and happy kitty that just happens to take two small shots a day. And you really will find that it becomes so much of your daily routine after awhile that it is just like brushing your teeth.

On of the reasons that we all say get a human meter is cost and easy of finding strips...the Alphatrak is expensive, and you can only get the test strips from your vet, now should you need more at say 2am or on a weekend because you need to keep an eye on kitty because he is running too low. Well....then you are just out of luck if your vet isn't open, but most strips for human meters can be picked up at any human pharmancy, and if you have a Walmart that is open 24 hours a day then you have access to test strips whenever you need them. Plus really the only difference between the two meters besides cost is that on a human meter "normal" for a cat is between 40-120 on a pet only meter normal is between 70-150 that is pretty much it and we can help you make sense of the numbers, we just need to know which meter you are using.

In fact my own vet uses a human meter in their clinic because the Alphatrak is so expensive and for their purposes it works just as well as a pet only meter.

Oh and by the way not everyone's kitty goes hypo or gets keytones, neither of mine have ever gone hypo or had keytones but that is because I test at home, Autumn has had some low readings but because I was testing I caught them early and was able to feed her into better numbers without her ever dipping dangerously low, that is why we test at home before every shot and get spot checks throughout the day.

You CAN do this!!! And once you get into the groove you will wonder what on earth you were so worried about in the beginning and before long you will be the one on here giving hugs and talking the next set of scared and overwhelmed newbies through the steps to caring for their fabulous new extra sweet kitty. :-D

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
I think I want to start with the AlphaTrak, just because it's what my vet suggests. When I'm more comfortable with shots and testing and the whole treatment, I plan to shift to a human meter when I can better understand the number ranges and what they mean for my particular kitty. I can always donate which ever I don't use in the end to DKIN.

I'm having a really hard time with the food idea. It's not just the logistics of feeding six cats. It's the fact that I lost one in February to a blocked bladder when I had no idea he was having problems. And now to find out that cans of Friskies instead of bags of Iams could have saved his life? I just feel horrible. So I HAVE to get everyone switched over! I'm more worried about my house-feral scarfing down his food and trying to eat everyone else's too. Or Twinkie and Rizzo, who have no interest in the canned food. Chester is doing fine with the switch to Friskies - he just wants more!

The vet has talked about using Lantus/Glargine. That sounds like a good one from everything I have read here. I don't know which tests they ran, but his blood sugar was high (over 550) and there was sugar in his urine. But I don't know what specific test they ran. So far my vet seems to be pretty well-informed - she hasn't told me anything I couldn't confirm here (except for the AlphaTrak) and she firmly supports home testing and home curves.

Now what about lancets? I'm sure i can use just any of those. Would 28ga be acceptable? Too big? Too small?

Is milk an acceptable treat? I'll have to look for freeze-dried chicken. Chester deserves treats.
Thanks everyone. There's just so much that I really can be overwhelming.
 
There are several flavours of freezedried treats ours love the liver and duck flavours so I am sure you'll find a tasty treat Chester likes. Walmart in Canada has a line of freeze dried treats and they have cat treats cut up small in little bags or if you go an aisle over you can buy the same treat in larger pieces and larger bags at a cheaper price because they are dog treats :lol: just break them up and never ever tell your kitties.
 
Milk isn't a good choice for a treat as it contains Lactose which is a form of sugar, but what is a big hit here for treats is just plain old boiled chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces. And if I don't cook it at all it is even better (just doesn't work well raw for testing treats here as Autumn sits on my desk to be tested..lol).

28 guage lancets are a great gauge to start with. just remember the smaller the number the bigger the hole they make. So in the beginning you want one that makes a pretty good sized hole, once Chester's ears "learn" to bleed you can switch to a smaller gauge lancet.

I also have a little semi-feral here who is a hoover, what I do is simply feed her in a seperate room from the others and she doesn't get out until the others are done, the same with my big guy who is just a complete pig, except with him I have a large carrier that he gets his dish in. It is cute to watch at meal time, Patches (piggy boy) just goes to his crate and lays down to wait for his meal while Tre'Vona the semi-feral runs to her room...It didn't take long at all to teach them this is where you eat. In fact with 14 I have seperate feeding areas for several different cats so I know who eats what.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
The alphatrak is fine to use if that's what you really want to do--but just remember that the most important thing with whatever meter you chose is that you are able to afford to test as frequently as needed (with Lantus, you want to test 3 times a day). You'll also want to make sure you're dosing according to the Alphatrak guidelines in the protocol (they're right after the human guidelines) because the ranges are a little different. Also keep in mind that your vet's office does make money selling you the Alphatrak and strips (and the Alphatrak sales reps do try to convince vets that they are the only way to go), so it is in the interest of the office to have you use it.

It sounds like you have a great vet--but remember that even very good vets rarely get every single detail of feline diabetes treatment right. Bandit's old vet was fantastic--she told me that I HAD to home test and that she could order me a meter but a human meter worked just as well, handed me a list of low carb canned food in different price ranges, and prescribed Lantus (one of the 1st choice insulins). However, the one place I discovered she was very off was her dosing advice--she was only having me test a few times a week, and she dosing Bandit according the the canine recommendations (she had two diabetic dogs herself). That's why it's really important to not be afraid to deviate from your vet's advice a little if you have proof that it's the best course of action. I brought the dosing protocol into the vet and told her that I was going to be making dosing decisions on my own according to the protocol, but I would love for her to be on board with me and help me interpret it, and she was perfectly fine with that scenario.

One thing I would recommend with 6 cats is getting the canned food in large, 12-13 oz cans. Special Kitty pates from Walmart and Grreat Choice pates from Petsmart are two grocery brand foods that are low carb and come in big cans--if you want to feed a premium food Wellness and EVO also come in big cans, but you may need to go to their websites and use the store finder to find a place that sells them in the large cans. Freezing the food is a great way to keep the cats from gobbling it down immediately when you're not home. Many of us freeze the food and use auto feeders when we're not home, but with 6 cats, I don't know if the cost of 6 feeders (you would need one per cat) would be prohibitive for you (they run about $40-50 each).

I know everything seems so overwhelming and upsetting now, but in a few weeks when you've had time to absorb all the information and figure out a good schedule and have gotten a little more used to shooting and testing, things will feel more under control. I was a wreck the first two weeks of Bandit's treatment, but after about a month it was second nature, and not a huge deal. You'll get there too, even though it might not seem so now. You can also add Bandit to the list of cats that never had a severe hypo incident or had ketones. Lantus is very safe if you're home testing dosing it via the protocol--the risk of a severe hypo is very small in this situation because you won't be overdosing the insulin and you'll be testing and catch and treat low numbers. :-D
 
Take a deep breath and read this: http://www.felinediabetes.com/dear-mom.htm

I believe the AlphaTrack meter includes a lancet device. I don't know what gauge lancet it uses, though. The device only works with matching AlphaTrack lancets. You could freehand the lancet without the device. If you find that you don't like the AlphaTrack lancet device and/or lancets, you can always go to the pharmacy and buy a lancet device and matching lancets. 28 gauge lancets are a good size. Here is a chart: http://www.walgreens.com/marketing/library/centers/diabetes/lancets.jsp

Here are some popular treats to give: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9172 Most pet stores have freeze dried treats. Look in the dog treat aisle if you don't see any in the cat treat aisle. Avoid the really tough jerky-like freeze dried meat treats for dogs.

if you want to feed a premium food Wellness and EVO also come in big cans, but you may need to go to their websites and use the store finder to find a place that sells them in the large cans.
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Petco sells Wellness and Nature's Variety Instinct. With Nature'se Variety Instinct, you can feed the dog formulas. It is the exact same thing, taurine and other nutrients included, as the cat formulas. The dog formulas are available in large cans.

Independent non-chain pet stores/boutiques sell the higher end brands like Innova EVO. You can check the pet food comapny web site for a list of stores in your area that sells the brand.
 
OK...
Thank you all. This really helps, because this is really big and scary.
Which ReLion meter are people looking at? I see several for sale on Walmart.com and i can't really tell the difference.
 
There are three--the Confirm, the Micro, and the Prime. I would recommend the Confirm or the Micro, because we know these meters work well, and you can purchase strips online through American Diabetes Wholesale for cheap--it's the the exact same meter as the Arkray Glucocard 01(Relion is a Walmart brand only): http://www.americandiabeteswholesal...lucose-test-strips_4050.htm?source=SiteSearch. Both the micro and the confirm use the same strips.

The Prime is a relatively new meter, and I don't know if it's a good meter to use or not because it hasn't really been around that long. However, I know there are a few people on the boards using it, and I don't recall seeing anything bad about it.
 
MbMinx said:
There's so much to learn!!!
...And everyone's cat here either goes hypo or gets ketones....How on Earth am I going to keep my cat alive long enough to get him regulated, if that even ever happens? confused_cat cat(2)_steam confused_cat
Click to expand...

Hello!

Re your concern about 'everyone's cats getting ketones or having hypos' - that really isn't the case. Honestly! People tend to post here when they are having a problem or need advice. They don't post when things are going just fine - which is the case for most cats most of the time. :smile:

My own diabetic cat has been on insulin for 6 years. And he has been in good health all that time.

I also have a multi-cat household (currently five cats) and they were eating dry food at the time of Bert's diagnosis. So I had to switch all of them to low carb wet. Some took to it like 'ducks to water'. Others weren't quite so keen. And one cat was really p*ssed off at me. But I did transition them all. And I was really pleased that I did that because their health improved a lot. Their coats were shinier, their eyes were brighter, and they had more energy than previously. Ironically, Bert's diabetes DX did our other cats a big favour....

Yes, dealing with a DX of feline diabetes can mean a very steep learning curve. But you don't need to do everything all at once.

As a priority, I'd suggest you get familiar with hometesting. It will enable you to take better care of your cat, will save you a heap of money in vet's fees, and it will give you a sense of control over the situation.

Once you're familiar with hometesting then you can start to phase out the dry food. As others have said - do not phase out the dry until you are comfortable with testing, because reducing/removing dry can lower your cat's blood glucose (meaning your cat will need less insulin).

I'd also suggest you factor in some quality 'me' time. Give yourself some time and space to relax and unwind. Bubble baths are good. Especially if you have a glass of wine in your hand at the same time. Or chocolate. Only don't drop the chocolate in the bath because it makes a hell of a mess - and is a waste of good chocolate! :lol:

You are going to do just fine. Really. :smile:
 
I saw the thread comparing meters. I find that helpful. ADW has a great deal on the Glucocard Vital (Relion Ultima) - is that one any good?
Is there something similar for syringes? Are there any brands preferred? And brands to avoid? What size is "typical"? DO I want one that measures half-units?
 
MbMinx said:
...DO I want one that measures half-units?
Click to expand...

Half-unit syringes? Yes, definitely a good thing.

Am I right in thinking you've not started insulin yet? (In which case it could be an option to remove dry food NOW before you do that...)

And what insulin will you be using?
 
I believe the Ultima takes a slightly large blood sample than either the confirm or the micro....I have the micro for my boy that is OTJ (off insulin) and absolutely love it. It takes a very teeny tiny drop of blood which with him is a good thing since he is out of the habit of being tested all the time so when I do grab a spot check on him I have to be quick about it as he is a very busy boy..lol

Autumn my insulin dependent girl I use the Bayer Contour and also really like it as well although the strips are a little more pricey but she is a DCIN sponsored kitty so her test strips come from them. And the Contour is the meter they have strips for as well as the meter they supplied her with when I adopted her.

As far as syringes go, I think we all have our favorites, for me I use the Walmart house brand Relion syringes that are 3/10cc 31 gauge needle and even though Autumn is a long hair I still use the short needles because for me it is easier to tell where I'm shooting with a short needle, although some folks like the long needles for long hairs. I think I just got use to the short needles because when I adotped both of my diabetics they were extremely underweight and I was afraid of hurting them with a long needle because they both had zero body fat in the beginning.

Mel, Maxwell, Autumn & The Fur Gang
 
MbMinx said:
Is there something similar for syringes? Are there any brands preferred? And brands to avoid? What size is "typical"? DO I want one that measures half-units?
Click to expand...

Since the vet suggested Lantus and you are planning on using that, you want to use U100 3/10cc with half unit markings.

Needle guage and lenght is mostly preference. 5/16 inch 30 gauge, 1/2 inch 31 gauge, 1/2 inch 30 gauge, and 1/2 inch 29 gauge are the choices. I suggest starting with 5/16 inch because the needle is really short and you can fully insert the needle into the tented skin and prevent most "fur shots" that way.

As for brand, there are many out there that people here use: BD UltraFine, Monoject, GNP, UltiCare, Relion, SureComfort, etc. Some are really expensive, like BD Ultrafine which are around $30 for a box of 100. Others cost as low as $14 for a box of 100. If you have a Walmart nearby, their Relion brand of insulin syringes is good and inexpensive and what many people here use.

Some brands of insulin syringes can be bought online. Many people here buy from AmericanDiabetesWholesale.com. Use the blue ADW ad link that is at the top of the boards (it's under the Walmart ad link). By using that link, FDMB gets a comission which will help keep this board up and running :-D The owner of the board pays out of her own pocket to maintain the board so donations from members and the use of the FDMB shop links greatly helps her out.
 
If you have a Walmart near you, Relion syringes are only about 12 bucks for a box of 100. Ask for .3cc, 5/16", 30-31g syringes with half unit markings. Make sure you are clear about the markings and look at them before you leave the store to make sure they're there--I've had them give me the ones without them before by accident. Sometimes they have to order them because they're not in stock, but it only takes a day or two for them to come in.

I would get the Confirm (Glucocard 01) or the Micro (Glucocard 01 micro) instead of the Ultima because they take less than a microliter of blood (you want a meter that takes either .3 or .6 microliters), and that's really important when you're learning to test. I started out with the Relion Micro, and it was a good meter. I kept it to use as backup, but I switched to the Aviva Accuchek because a friend of mine was giving me her extra strips for a while, and I liked the meter better than the Relion Micro. The strips are pretty expensive for the Accuchek ($60 for 50 strips in the store!), so I get mine on ebay or amazon(about $21 for 50 strips), which is nearly the same in price as what I was paying in store for the strips for Walmart meters. I think I got my meter at Target for $10 bucks, but you can find it on amazon, too.
 
YOU CAN DO THIS!!!
really!
It seems insane when starting but you get the hang of it real quick. read all the stickies and use the search to find answers to questions. I just posted a list of cheaper cans of food because that was a problem for me when starting.

I use relion prime meter as they have the cheapest strips 50/9.00. Buy the strips 2 at a time in the beginning so you have lots on hand. If you are short on cash - 10 syringes are 1.75 but you can only get 3 bags a day at walmart.

ask for help- the people here are wonderful!
 
MbMinx said:
I'm having a really hard time with the food idea. It's not just the logistics of feeding six cats. It's the fact that I lost one in February to a blocked bladder when I had no idea he was having problems. And now to find out that cans of Friskies instead of bags of Iams could have saved his life? I just feel horrible.
Click to expand...

Growing up, we had always fed dry Purina cat chow to all of our previous cats. Then, I had a cat come down with hepatic lipidosis (around 1999/2000). Once he recovered, I switched both cats I had at the time over to Hills Prescription dry w/d, per the vet's recommendations. I fed that to them for the next 10 or so years until they both eventually passed on from CRF/CKD at around 12 and 13 years of age.

It wasn't until my current kitten that I discovered just how bad most prescription food is for cats and how bad ALL dry food is for cats and even then, it was only after my current cat was diagnosed with diabetes! I spent a couple of days beating myself up and crying over my previous two cats' deaths because they would still be alive today if I had only fed them better food.

But then I realized something: when my cat first came down with hepatic lipidosis and I first started researching his illness, I also started looking into cat food. It was still in the early days of the internet so there wasn't a lot out there to begin with, not to mention that a lot of this scientific research and analysis on cat food is fairly brand new (last decade or so). It's also being silenced, discredited, covered up, and spin-doctored by the pet food manufacturers and the fact that we are softly killing our cats is not getting the attention it needs. So, even NOW, it's surprising that I was able to learn it in the first place! Why beat myself up for my unwitting ignorance? I would not blame someone for not performing a tracheotomy on a person who chokes to death, so why blame myself for not knowing about cat food?

Yeah, I wish I could go back in time and change some things, but what cat owner (or parent, for that matter) hasn't thought the same thing at one time or another? Cats have no idea what a "life-expectancy" is, so how are they to know they died too soon from something that could have been prevented?!? My intentions were good and that's all that really mattered to my cats. They were loved and cared for and spoiled rotten and they knew it and loved me back. And that's what's more important than anything I may have fed them or how long they might have lived.
 
I know exactly how you feel, at least the overwhelmed part!! It hasn't been very long for me either. When Zoni was diagnosed, my first thought was How on earth am I going to keep him alive when I have to work such a crazy schedule and can't even afford my own medical care? I can't even manage to make breakfast, how am I going to manage an insulin schedule? How am I going to afford his special food and keep all the others from eating it and keep him away from theirs?

I live in a blended household, 3 families for the time being under one roof with 3 sets of cats (sshh!) that cannot coexist in the same areas, so the house is divided into zones by cat/family group. All my cats get along with each other, live in the same room and eat the same food but I didn't see how it was going to work out, at first. I was considering separating Zoni into my bedroom by himself but he exerts a good-cop influence on some others who would fight more without him around.

So I started by just feeding everyone their own portion of the same canned food Zoni was getting, and adding just a little of the new dry to the old to start getting them all used to it. I thought I wouldn't be able to afford to feed them all canned food or the low-carb dry, but as it turns out, they are eating less dry, holding out for the canned mealtimes, so it isn't as expensive as I was afraid. I also think they are getting more out of the food or something because no one has lost weight and both Zoni and my elderly kitty have actually gained a bit.

The other thing that really worried me at first was, Zoni is a fighter and resents even having his claws trimmed, so I couldn't imagine fighting to hold him down for a shot twice a day forever. The food helped distract him at first, then I got better at it and now the shot is easy. The weirdest thing is, Zoni knows it's coming and doesn't even try to hide, even if he ate what he wanted already. He actually tolerates me doing it. It's like he knows it's helping him. I haven't even started testing yet but will be getting a meter from Walmart soon, probably the Confirm or Micro due to cost and availability of test strips. I am really looking forward to having that skill and knowledge of his glucose curve.

This board has already been such a valuable resource and I am so very grateful to everyone who has posted their experiences for us to learn from. I only just found it a few days ago and it has already made such a difference in how confident I feel about managing Zoni back into insulin-free, perfect health someday. So it will get easier and things will make more sense in a few days. Good luck, hang in there and please keep posting all your questions and experiences. You are also helping others like me every time you do! so, Thank you!
 
Thanks everyone. I'm feeling much better today. This just feels so big sometimes, but it really is just a series of little steps to get through it all.
Thank you again for your advice and support.
 
Glad you are feeling better. The more information you absorb, the more in power you feel. And particularly, as soon as you start to test at home, you will feel so much more in control of this dance.

I was going to say that you are very lucky in one regard - you have a vet who seems to be up to date with Feline Diabetes. He is prescribing a good insulin and seems to support hometesting. You are way ahead of lots of new members here. Sometimes we get vets who insist on one of the older insulins and basically forbid their patients to test at home. Those are the scary ones.
 
This board is a wonderful place filled with wonderful, selfless people who will drop everything to help you with your cat. I am enormously thankful.

I think it also stresses me out. We all want to be the perfect pet owner, but we also have lives and schedules that interfere with our best intentions. Absorb all of the information and do your best for your circumstances. Don't try to be perfect, and you will make it just fine. :)
 
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