My husband is no help

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mdmnore88

Member Since 2013
Scotty and I have been dealing with Abigail's diabetes since last summer. Over the summer I spent a lot of money on vet tests, blood work, and all of the initial diagnosis type things. He thinks because we did all of that at the vet we can just give her a shot and it will be over.

I started home testing the other day. Abigail is a whiny spoiled little girl so she makes a lot of noise. When I am home in the afternoon I can do it myself with very little problems besides a little whining. In the morning when my husband is "helping" she is even more noisy because she is a daddy's girl and know she will get her way. He thinks I am hurting her with home testing. I assured him I am not. He can't believe that it will help and wants to take her back to the vet. I've been doing what the vet said for almost a year. She has lost weight and is always hungry. Clearly her blood sugar is not regulated!

The reason mornings are a problem are because he likes to get up early. He doesn't listen to anything I say. I have 4 cats. I am trying to convert the diabetic to wet food. So what I do at meal time is give her a bowl of wet food before I even show her the dry food. I'm trying to get her used to seeing it. Clearly I have to feed her but this is a way to have the other cats eat up and finish and gives her time alone to eat her food after we try the wet food route. Yesterday he doesn't put out wet food just dry and says she was so hungry she was whining. Then today I get up about 2 hours after him so you know the cats were up. He didn't even feed them! I am trying for him to understand this seems unconventional at first but nothing the vet is doing is helping. I wish I could get up earlier to take care of everything but he gets up at 4!

Any help is appreciated. I feel like when I take her sugar by myself she just sits and minds herself. I couldn't get her sugar this morning because I pricked her once- wasn't enough blood then she started putting on a show for daddy!
 
Hugs to you! That sounds like a real challenge ...

I know what you mean about having a daddy's girl (we have one of those, too, and she can be LOUD.)

I don't have a great solution for the DH cooperation thing, but I will share what I learned here about Young Again Zero Carb dry food. If hubby is going to insist on putting out dry... you might consider just replacing your current brand with this one, and then at least you don't have to worry about the carb factor.

http://www.youngagainpetfood.com/10brow ... egory=cats

Hope that helps and good luck!
 
Ask your husband if this were his human child or even himself, would he test his child/himself before giving insulin? Or would he go to the doctor for each and every test needed and inject insulin blindly?

Why then is it different because the diabetic is a cat and not a human? It isn't.

Your cat is probably upset because you are restraining her, not testing her. Some cats just don't like to be held down or wrapped up. Maybe what you can do is give her a treat and while she is busy with the treat, hold her ear and quickly prick, test, done.

Then give another treat. And only give her treats when you test. This will train her to realize that testing is fun because she gets treats and soon she will be waiting in the testing spot for her treat.

I saw in your other post that your second cat is borderline diabetic - I hate to tell you that 300 bg is a diabetic number and there is nothing borderline about it. The sooner you start insulin, the better this cat has into getting regulated and possibly even remission (OTJ).

Is Abigail on insulin yet too? What insulin are you using? How much are you dosing and what is the frequency?
 
I just ordered Young Again. It is coming on Monday. I got the UPS tracking and everything!

Abigail goes crazy for turkey so we have been saving the turkey for testing time. She is just noisy and he can't stand it.

His concerns lie in her weight loss. While she is 10 lbs and a little underweight she is in no way starving. She was though 14lbs before she was diabetic. The vets like her around 10 lbs. They say it's a better weight. I just want her to not be so hungry which is why I am doing everything I can to get a pretty good regulation on her. She is such a begger too. When we are eating dinner she does everything she can to sneak a piece of food off of our plates. Generally we don't feed the cats people food so I am not sure where this comes from. She never cared about people food before but I think she is so hungry she will do anything to get food.


You are right she does not like to be restrained or in a carrier. If you just pick her up though to pet or love her she is happy. I think because when I get home she sits next to me on the couch and all I have to do is put the turkey in front of her she isn't so bad. But with daddy holding her she gets all upset.
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Yes Azrael, my other cat had a 300. The vet was hesitant to tell me to start the insulin. I am not sure why. Maybe it was everything else. She wanted to regulate his diet first. That's why I am so consumed with finding the perfect food. He will eat pretty much anything. He also has none of the signs of diabetes. No weight loss, no excessive urination, no excessive thirst. This was just something that came back on a blood panel during his check up. They were just doing a preventative type panel to see what was going on. So with him I am scared to start something if he doesn't need it. His vet visit was just on Monday. She wanted to see how he would do with the diabetic food but now I am finding that the diabetic food is not the way to go
 
Sorry. Yes Abigail is on insulin. She is on Lantus. She gets one unit in the morning and one at night. She has been diabetic since last summer. I just discovered this place because she is so difficult to regulate
 
Well you have come to the right place for help! Have you looked that the Lantus group yet? I know it can be overwhelming to figure out, however, if you start posting on the lantus tight regulation board, you will get lots of help and recommendations on how to get your cat regulated. They have a wealth of knowledge over there.

Of course, food is an important factor and eliminating all dry food (kibbles) and eating low carb - even 5% or less will go a long way towards regulation. Not to mention overall health of all your kitties.

I assume, you found Dr. Lisa's food chart and have been looking there for appropriate low carb food choices? www.catinfo.org

If Abigail is easy to test with her sitting next to you, then test her that way. Instruct your husband not to hold her and instead if she likes pets or brushes to give a treat and brush her while you test her. Positive reinforcement is what you are looking to achieve so she looks forward to test times.
 
I have been inspecting the food list religiously lol. I want to find something that they will like and that isn't over the top expensive. Don't get me wrong I'm the sucker who has paid for the $50 per 6 lb bag of diabetic food since last summer. I can afford a little luxury but I can't afford the Blue Buffalo wilderness almost $2 a can- I have 4 mouths to feed! I think I am just going to try a new food every day and see how everyone likes it. I did order the Young Again for the dry food princess. I hope she likes it. I will have to check out the Lantus group. I probably have no clue what I am saying lol.
 
don't worry about not having a clue - the people on that board will guide you and you will pick it up pretty quickly - give yourself a week and you will be amazed at what you learn from there in one week!

we all started out not having a clue. None of us came here knowing anything - well most anything.

As for food - you could try wellness cans - they come in 3 ounce, 5 ounce and I think there may be some 13 ounce options too - it is pretty good quality food and may be something your gang will like.

Of course, if you want inexpensive, friskies does have 13 ounce cans that you could get - again not necessarily as high quality as others, but a good option.

Another one I like that I am not sure is on the list is Nature's Logic - The owner came on the board a few years ago to refute an errant comment and tell us how the quality and ingredients are good and good for diabetics. I asked him if he would put his words where his food was and he sent me 6 full size cans of food to try - 3 different flavors! Now who does that I ask.

My girls liked it, but sadly, they prefer junk food over quality - so they don't eat it that often. :lol:

I was impressed by it anyway. and will still give it to them.

And another that I was impressed with is canine caviar - holistic canned food - don't let the name deter you - it's good for dogs and cats.
 
Wow that is nice! I can't believe they sent you that much food. I bet my gang will like the caviar. They like fish. I made salmon for my husband and I the other night. It was like cat central hovering the dining room table.

What I am learning and it's a little disheartening that the "prescription" foods and the foods in the store that say "prescription diet" are the worst foods for the cats. It's a money making scheme. They know suckers like me who will spend anything they can on their cats will buy the stuff that looks like the best.

What about the cat tuna from Trader Joes I keep hearing about. Is that good to feed regularly or just for a treat. I know Abigail will go crazy for that. In fact all of them will.
 
My 3 cats love TJ Tuna but you have to be careful giving too much fish.
On catinfo.org it says:
Fish can be high in mercury, high in PBDEs (fire retardant chemicals linked to hyperthyroidism), high in phosphorus (not good for older cats' kidneys) and can be very addicting.
Click to expand...

1 of mine is a fish addict so I give him regular food (usually friskies or FF pates) and then mix in TJ Tuna or other strong fishie-smelly food - then he eats it.
I'd like to wean him off but at least this way, he doesn't get too much each day.

But, its handy to have in as a backup if anyone stops eating regular food.
 
I would explain to your husband that you have done lots of research and believe strongly you can get her healthy again. And that you would like his support to do this. Send him all the links to read himself if he wants to help you. Otherwise ask for some time trying it your way and if you don't see any success in say a month, then he can try it his way.
 
Info for your husband....(mine doesn't test or shoot but he does keep dry away from him). Insulin is NOT a medicine like aspirin or allergy med, heart meds, etc - insulin is a HORMONE that the pancreas should secrete but in a diabetic, it either doesn't or secretes too little. It's a balancing act usually performed by the body that we are having to support with shots. The amount needed is affected by the carbs in the food, stress and things in their environment. That's why it's critical to control those things....

BIG HUG! Welcome again!!!
 
The hubs was better last night and this morning. I think everyone is just getting used to the new stuff going on.
 
I can relate to you and your DH. I just found this site before we took Charlie into the vet. I tested him before we went in, and she gave him his 2u shot and sent us home. I tested Charlie a few times and was reporting it on here. The WONDERFUL angels on here were telling me to keep testing because THEY could see that he was headed for a nosedive...My DH was basically yelling at me and telling me I was abusing him, and the vet knew what she was doing. (Obviously not since be went hypo that night)....I basically told him that he can have an opinion once he had an educated one. I have him the iPad and had him read the thread I had been writing on all day. He didn't realize how SERIOUS this can get. Now he just lets me do whatever I want. Charlie doesn't like when I poke him. He will sit still for 60 seconds and then he squirms...so just make sure you keep your baby occupied with foods and then give her lots of loves after the pokes. Also, it helped me a lot to make a feeding schedule. The vet would not approve of my schedule, as it is 3 full meals and 2 snax...but we are working on it. I buy friskies special turkey and giblets. It's CHEAP, low carb and low phosphorous...and did I mention it was cheap???
You are in good hands here. These people are saints!!!
 
I think that a schedule is helping out too! I will look into that food. Like I said I am willing to try anything. I told Scotty to just let me try this stuff. It can't get worse!
 
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