New Member 12/2/25

[Nmonty]

Hi. Stumbled upon this forum while deep diving into the unknown world of FD. My cat Handsome is a 14 year old male American shorthair rescue. I’ve had him since he was 1. We just got his diagnosis this past Friday. My head is spinning with all of the information. My vet gave me the two options for him- Senvalgo or Insulin (he recommended Prozinc) but a close friend and a vet in another state swears by Lantus. So already I’m confused out of the box. I just got the script for the free style libre. Handsome had an allergic reaction with his ears that prompted me to take him to the emergency vet last month. They made mention of his low muscle mass and suggested I follow up with my vet and so here we are. I have a multi cat household- 2 other indoors and a stray cat who I’ve adopted and who lives on my back deck. In the interim since Friday i have been trying to make changes to my cats diets. They have always been free fed dry food and given wet food once a day however my Abby does not like wet food (except for Gerber baby food Ham which she had been given by her foster mom). Honestly, I am very overwhelmed with all of the information and trying to not become paralyzed through analyzing all of it. So many decisions to make. I’m grateful I found This forum.

 

[SarahJeanne]

Hi hi

Welcome to the board

I am fairly new myself, and this place has been a godsent.

I suggest making your signature and spreadsheet.

I have 4 cats, and I now feed Pip only his low carb wet food, and segregate feeding so he doesnt get kibble anymore.
Diet change goes a long way.

As for Sevenlgo or insulin and prozinc or lantus I am not well versed enough to make recomendations, but my Pip is on prozinc and doing well so far

Have a wonderful day!

 

[Nmonty]

Hi hi

Welcome to the board

I am fairly new myself, and this place has been a godsent.

I suggest making your signature and spreadsheet.

I have 4 cats, and I now feed Pip only his low carb wet food, and segregate feeding so he doesnt get kibble anymore.
Diet change goes a long way.

As for Sevenlgo or insulin and prozinc or lantus I am not well versed enough to make recomendations, but my Pip is on prozinc and doing well so far

Have a wonderful day!

Thank you. Are you monitoring and if so, how?

 

[SarahJeanne]

Thank you. Are you monitoring and if so, how?

I bought a contour next human glucometer and I use the spreadsheet meant for human meters.

The cat meters have very very expensive strips so I opted for one I can afford.

I put rice in a little sock and made a ball by tying the sock, I heat it for 15 seconds in the microwave before testing.

I use the warm rice sock to warm up the ears, a warm ear bleeds better.

There is a vein going all around the outside of the ear, you can use a little flash light and flash it on the inside of the ear to see it.

Basically you want to take the lancer and poke between the vein and the outer ear.
I personally hand poke with the lancer and don't use the lancing device.

Low carb treats like pure bites work well.

give your cat a treat first to associate it with testing. Then place your cat comfortably so you can easily poke the ears.

Insert the test strip in your meter, poke a tiny poke in the ear then slip the test strip onto the blood drop so it slides into it.

That's how it works for me. Making a good routine which includes treats will make it much easier on the cat.