Hi Kimmie-
I have not read through your whole thread only glanced. But noticed you because I TOO had a Hank. He was the love of my life soul kitty. I have never known a sweeter soul, or felt love like that except from my mother. I got on this board with him very sick, vets that I quickly realized were clueless, and a prescription for Lantus. I got onto the Lantus TR forum here at FDMB, learned to test, got a spreadsheet set up, got rid of the dry, switched to a low carb/high protein all canned diet, and heeded their advice. It was scary as I had no idea who these folks were and vets saying to sty away from the internet. But I learned very quickly that the folks here ARE the experts They are treating their cats 24/7 and after a period of time have seen it all. Maybe not any one person has seen it all but as a collective. And they could see patterns in his response when I plugged my numbers in that I could not. They were there at 10:30pM when I got a low # and did not know whether to shoot or not. He was extremely receptive to the changes. A little Lantus jump started his pancreas and I had weened him off insulin in a matter of weeks and he remained diet controlled until the end. But I kept him on the LC canned diet which is critical, as once a diabetic always a diabetic. I split his food into mini meals..6-8 per day which is easier on their pancreas. And added a teaspoon or two of water to each serving..all the extra moisture helped his overall health and his coat was like a bunny rabbit. He remained in remission until the end...right at 4 years. I lost him earlier this year to cancer. But he taught me so much, and our bond grew even deeper through this sugar dance. He understood the things I was doing for him helped make him feel better I think, and he trusted me.
Please do not give up on transitioning to canned food. SO MANY people come here saying the same thing. I am sure you have been lead to Dr. Lisa's wonderful site about why we need to eliminate kibble and feed canned foods. She has all the charts and many wonderful tips on transitioning hard core kibble addicts.
http://www.catinfo.org. FYI: I am saying this from experience. His brother would NOT eat canned food. He was a finicky cat who I thought would starve to death if I didn't feed him a certain way. And he is not food motivated at all. But after separating them and feeding as low a carb dry as I could find in the garage so Hank didn't have access, I FINALLY had success. In his case, he is just ridiculously picky...and didn't so much like the health food type cat foods I fed Hank..ie: Evo, wellness, etc.. BUT i figured out he likes liver flavored stuff, and fancy feast. So after all that it was a matter of trial and error. He will eat low carb canned FF BUT only certain flavors. I also use bonito flakes, tuna juice and other things as enticers if necessary. Hank required none of that.
I feel like you without getting off the dry you won't get the results, and I highly recommend Lantus or Levermir. N/Humulin is harsh, not long acting, and not really well suited for cats. You best shot at success is to take these steps in the early stages..that is when they have best shot at remission. Congrats on getting a vet willing to work with you. If you get on Lantus forum and read the stickies, there are great articles including the protocol you can present and share with your vet.
ETA: I also started out w/ ONE touch which I loved. But the strips are really expensive. We had the mini and I bought them off ebay and amazon. Lots of folks here like the relion confirm or mini as the strips are cheaper. Good luck to you and HANK!
) back in the spring and had to be reregulated so we figured it was a good time to make the switch. I estimate the difference in the cost per year between the two is nearly $1000 !! He seems to be doing just fine with the Pro Zinc. Love my kidlets dearly but that's a lot of money when times are this hard.
