Hi, my name is Sharon and it's been one week .....

[Sharon&Tabitha (TX)]

A few days ago I started switching Tabitha over to wet. Right now I'm giving her Authority since it was on the list and was on sale. My other cat I've had on fancy feast classic so I will give it to Tabitha. I see people using the Friskies Special Diet so I will add that to the list.

I've already noticed that she isn't drinking or peeing that much. (There was a time my 20yr old cat, who died two years ago, was put on wet food and drank very little. When he was put back on dry he started drinking again. He spoiled me because he and his brother where healthy all their life till the end. Now I have one with asthma and the other with diabetes. I can do this.)

While Tabitha has been converting to wet, I've been spending as much time with her as I can while researching all I can. (Thank goodness for tablets. But it makes it a little harder to type......) I've only had her since October and the bonding had been slow going. She doesn't adventure out of the cat room much. Now I think part of it was due to not feeling well. She has been coming over to lay next to me in their (people) bed. She even lays on me sometimes. I've been messaging her ears which she loves as well as having her chin scratched. I told myself that I would know there was progress once she started grooming herself again. Well just a little bit ago she did. She hasn't done it for long period of time but she has done it a few times. It wasn't a fluke.

I'm getting together a kit with everything I think I need. Meter, strips, lancet, treats, rice sock, neosporin+pain (I think mine is expired), Karo, high carbon food. Can't forget the insulin and needles. Oh yeah prayers and patients.

I will probably have to break the bank, savings, to get the insulin but I don't want to put it off any longer. One thing about working for "the state" is you get paid only once a month. With the unexpected vet bill, as well as car insurance and property tax due this month...

I'm just so glad she is starting to feel better.

 

[BJM]

Welcome to FDMB, the best place you never wanted to be.
You definitely can do this and you've already done considerable preparation for the dance. A few more steps and we'll get her doing the limbo down to better numbers.

You've already identified some of the Secondary Monitoring Tools in my signature link. Add urine ketone test strips and you're ready to roll.

And you found the list from Cat Info, so you're ready to keep changing the diet to lower carbohydrate (er .. carbon is part of every organic molecule)!

For insulin, it is cost per unit that is important. Lantus and Levemir should be bought in pens or cartridges so you can use it all, though we do use syringes to withfraw the insuli, not the pen needles.
ProZinc and BCP PZI come in 10 ml vials. Prozinc only comes as {-40, or 40 units permL. PZI can come as U-4p0, U-50, or U-100 with 40, 50, or 100 units per vial.

 

[Sharon&Tabitha (TX)]

@BJM
For the first time around I was thinking about using the vial but after that get the pens. I definitely don't want to have to waste any but with the unexpected costs......

I had just added the ketone strips to my list right before I read your post.
Thanks

 

[bettyandhank]

Sharon Hi, I am in Texas too! I know there are costs at first, we were able to purchase a single Lantus pen from a pharmacy willing to break a box of 5. This was a Sam's pharmacy, but you really have to call around as it is a case by case thing, even with a same chain. And as it turns out he was very responsive to insulin and along with diet change, was diet controlled in a matter of weeks. he just needed a little jump start. So we would have really wasted a vial or even a whole box of pens. San Antonio has many of the same places as here, so I would call around to some Sams (you do not have to be a member to fill RX's), Targets, or even some HEB's (the one in my n'hood sells singles). Sam's will also price match, so if you find someone selling the full box cheaper, they will match that and divide by 5...so they were best deal at the time for us. Y0u really can do this frugally.
A few other tips... You want low carb cat treats for testing, most of us give the freeze dried chicken treats (or shrimp, etc). If you buy the dog version, they are exactly the same, but chepaer because they come in larger bags. I also boiled chicken breasts for mine, which they love, so usually kept these in the fridge.
Several foods on the list come in 12-13 oz cans, so those often come out much cheaper. I fed Wellness often, which also has monthly coupons. If you spread the feedings into small meals throughout the day it is easier on their pancreas and helps keep them more level. Add a couple T's of water to each feeding. The biggest expense is strips, but shopping for those on ebay really cuts the cost. or many here use the relion confirm or micro- which has lower cost strips (their 'prime' strips are cheaper but requires more blood and mixed reviews) Regardless you will save tons of money managing this yourself and not doing expensive in-office curves which are not necessary on top of being less accurate due to the stress that can skew the numbers.
Good luck and ask away with any questions you have! It really does get easier before you know it

 

[Deb & Wink]

Hi Sharon and extra sweet kitty Tabitha! We're glad that you are starting to learn some of the ways to help your sugarkitty feel better and help her with her diabetes.

If you have any questions, Please post them over on the Feline Health (The Main Forum) forum.

Cats that are eating wet food get almost all their water needs from the food, so they don't drink water very much. With the dry food, they have to drink a lot of water and it's often difficult for a cat to drink enough water to compensate for the lack of water in the dry food so our kitties can be a bit dehydrated most of the time.

More water in the diet helps the urinary tract system. Once I was able to switch my sugardude Wink from dry to wet food, he stopped getting UTI's.