Intro to Hershey

Status
Not open for further replies.
A

Angelica923

Member Since 2013
Hello all, I've posted a couple time before with some questions but didn't do a proper introduction. My name is Angelica and my kitty's name is Hershey. He was diagnosed with diabetes a week and a half ago. As you all know from experience, the time since diagnosis has been filled with nerves and anxiety as tried to make the right choices for my Hershey and learn everything I needed as quickly as possible.

He's been on 1 unit of Lantus since 12/10 evening. I haven't started home testing yet; I just got the supplies today and tried it but he wasn't having it. I will try again later today and hopefully it will go better.

Angelica
 
You might start slowly with Hershey. First pick the place you'll be testing: the bed, a towel on the floor, the couch. Play with his ears while there, give him a treat and let him go. After a few times, add the rice sack and heat his ear, give him a treat and let him go. Try the meter on yourself first to be confident about how it works. Then heat the eat, click the lancet, treat and release. Finally add the poke. If he ever pulls away, get the drop on your fingernail. You can test from there.
 
Also, give him a low carb treat every time you test, even if you are not successful. Soon he will associate testing with treats and may start reminding you it is time to test. :mrgreen:
 
Thanks for the advice, I will try that. He's never liked to have his ears handled at all so in the last few days I've been trying to get him used to it since I knew this was coming up. He does seem somewhat more comfortable with that part of it and lets me massage it pretty well now. However, when I try to go any further, he pulls away immediately. I will try step by step as you suggest. I really don't want to make this a horrible experience where I "burrito" him or restrain him forcefully. He's a big cat (23 lbs now) and quite strong so it would require quite a lot of force from me and I really don't want to go there! :sad: I'm pretty sure that would just make subsequent tries even worse.

When we were doing this earlier he was just sitting on a large table with me sitting in front of him (he was facing me). I also tried putting him on a counter with a little treat with me standing behind. Neither worked particularly well. Not sure that I have picked a specific spot that is better than others. Guess I'll keep trying and getting him comfortable with each step and hopefully some place will click.

Thank you.
 
Lisa, I will definitely do that! Hopefully I won't overdo it with treats. I would gladly give him a chicken if he let me test him, LOL! :-D
 
Here's something I wrote up that might be of help acclimating Hershey to the testing process. It might help you find a location and position agreeable for both of you. ;-) And feel free to "overdo" it on the treats when you're first starting out. :lol: Once the realize it's not so bad, then you can wean them off the treats.
 
I have two diabetic cats and 2 techniques you could try

Bailey - I sit down, put him between my legs and cross my ankles.

Tiggy - He is a big boy with an attitude. He won't be put anywhere or take restraining. But he is a big teddy bear when snoozing so I wait till he is lying relaxed somewhere and I go over with the kit. Rub his ears and test him. He doesn't move. might work better for Hershey. As may a few more days of rubs and treats and no poky. Also try brining the kit with you and letting him sniff it and get used to the noises.Leave it lying out all night for him to get used to.



Wendy
 
Thank you all for your suggestions, so very helpful. Hershey is the type that doesn't like to be held so Tiggy's laying down technique might work.
I also read thru KPassa's tips regarding Michelangelo and that was so helpful. I will re-read it more slowly to soak it in. I was stressing out thinking I would be a terrible failure if I didn't get a successful test this weekend! I seriously have a headache from thinking about all this. I worry about him having a hypo episode when I'm not here but fortunately someone was kind enough to let me know that's unlikely to happen this early for him. I am off for a week so I was hoping to master this quickly so I can get lots of tests done during this time. However, I think I will be a lot less stressed if I just set myself up to think that we can work on the steps, finding the spot, getting the position sorted out and so on. Well, at least I'll be here to watch him all week, though it will be a busy one between Christmas and me packing (I'm moving next month). Of course, he'll be stressing a bit from me packing anyway so that reminds me that I need to proceed slowly with him and not stress him out even more.

Thank you all!
Angelica
 
I will definitely review that link; thank you! Anything I can do to help him is worth looking into.
One more question if you don't mind...
As I think about good spots, 2 comes to mind. One of them is on my bathroom counter which has many positives for both of us regarding light, height and positioning, etc. Part of our morning routine is that he gets on the counter after my daily shower for his daily brushing which he loves. Afterwards he usually lays or sits for a while as I do contacts, make-up, etc. What I'm wondering is...if I make this his "testing spot" will it negatively impact his other habits around the spot, such as the brushing? I would think not as long as it doesn't become a battle but I"m not sure. Right now he has a good association with this spot, he knows when it's time based on my actions and he's normally ready and waiting before I even take out his brush. There's some other options but in general I wonder the same thing, whether making a certain spot he already likes will make it less desirable for him to hang out there once he associates with testing. Thanks again!
 
Is the bathroom some place you'll be able to comfortably test him several times a day? If so, that should be no problem. In the long run, it makes it more desirable. Just as he loves you brushing him and returns to the scene of the crime every morning, he'll love his test time and return for the treats. In fact, the brushing can also be a treat. :smile: I always know that Mikey wants to be fed or given a treat because he'll go to his testing spot and wait for me to test him. It's the only way I've ever gotten him to sit on the couch (a place he normally avoids). :lol:
 
Yes, I think so. We live alone, just Hershey and me so any place that works for him will work for me. :smile: It's usually pretty quite and peaceful here other than Saturdays when my sister and her family visits and the bathroom would probably be the best place even when they're here, away from all the activity and noise. He mostly hides upstairs when they're here anyway.
Oh, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks, I will start there and see how we get on. LOL, that is so cute. It will be awesome to get to that point! Of course, once I move I'll have to find a different spot altogether but that will be another challenge.

Thanks again!
 
By the time you move, he'll probably have gotten used to testing enough that you can make any location his testing spot. After about a month of testing, I was able to test Mikey pretty much anywhere. He still has his "preferred" seating, but if I don't feel like moving him to his testing station (or disturbing him), I'll just test him anywhere he's sitting still. As long as he gets a treat or is fed after, he doesn't really care.

And, if your sister has kids, even better! If they're old enough, you can train teach them to test Hershey, too! :lol:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top