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.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

@Nmonty
It is overwhelming at first but there are many members here to help.
Most of us use the Relion Premier Classic from Walmart
Relion Premier Classic Meter at Walmart for 9 dollars
ReliOn Premier Classic Blood Glucose Monitoring System HSA/FSA Eligible - Walmart.com

The tests strips are 17.88 for 100
ReliOn Premier Blood Glucose Test Strips, 100 Count HSA/FSA Eligible - Walmart.com
At least if you need more test strips you can run into Walmart and pick them up or if you're running low you can just order them from Walmart on line.

Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. You can fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capillaries it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 10 or 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets any brand
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand not the lancing device
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
Look at the lancet under a light and you will see one side is curved upward, that's the side you want to poke with

Try putting a thin layer of Vaseline on the ear so the blood will bead up

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

I used Lantus for Tyler

You can definitely get 5 pens of Lantus or the generic Glargine

You can Check
CVS, Rite Aid, Costco, Walgreen's, to get the price for 5 pens either Lantus or the generic Glargine , plenty of members use the generic
Just call around and see who has the cheapest price , it's really not that expensive
With the pens just keep them in the fridge middle shelf , they all have the expiration date on them .

Also
The 5 pens will last about a year, we use the pens just like a vial, you would just insert the syringe it the gray rubber stopper on the pen and draw out your insulin
Its generic lantus

If you use the Good Rx
GoodRX has a 1-800 number to assist you in using their services to get your pets prescriptions filled if the pharmacy gives you any issues.

I think I found it for you
GoodRx / Customer service

1 (855) 268-2822


GoodRx coupon.
https://www.goodrx.com/lantus?label...d-pens-of-100-units-ml&quantity=1&slug=lantus
Make sure that the Match your prescription pull down menu says generic glargine 1 carton of 5 3ml pens.


Also
A member said she followed this prescription info exactly and it worked perfectly. Hope this helps!
Then go to the Lantus site to generate the coupon as in second image.

Just take the cap off the pen and use a U100 syringes and pull the insulin out of the pen!

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

If you go with Lantus you will need U-100 syringes with half unit markings since we adjust doses by 0.25 units
You can get them from Amazon without a vets script for U-100 syringes for Lantus
half unit markings without a vets script
Amazon.com: UltiCare VetRx U-100 Pet Insulin Syringes, Comfortable & Accurate Dosing of Insulin for Pets, Compatible w/Any U-100 Strength Insulin, Size: 3/10cc, 31G x 5/16’’, w/Half Unit Markings, 60 ct Box : Health & Household


If you tap on this link you get also get the Relion syringes
Also
See this post about the Relion Syringes also
New. Need help with insulin does


Here's a pic,

• Full and half-unit syringe scales:

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Here is the link so you can read about Lantus. Read all the yellow stickys
Lantus / Levemir / Biosimilars

Also if you have any questions about the Libre I can tag a wonderful member about the Libre , just ask, she can tell you how to enter the BG numbers on your spreadsheet

When you do decide on what Insulin you will use you can then fill out what we call our signature and our spreadsheet we use
to enter our cats BG numbers

You might want to fill out your signature
Here is the information we need for your signature
Just click on your name up top and then tap signature and add this information. It's at the end of everyone's post in gray letters

• Add info we need to help you:
  • Caregiver & kitty's name
  • DX: Date
  • Name of Insulin (do not include dose or frequency)
  • Name of your meter
  • Diet: "LC wet" or "dry food" or "combo"
  • Dosing: TR or SLGS or Custom (if applicable)
  • DKA or other recent health issue (if applicable)
  • Bexacat or Senvelgo (if applicable) and dates
  • Acro, IAA, or Cushings (if applicable)
  • Spreadsheet link. Please put the signature link on the bottom line of your signature information, on its own, so it is easy to find.
  • Please do not put any information about your location in the signature for security reasons. If you wish to add your country location, please add it to your profile.

Be sure to click the 'Save Changes' button at the bottom. If you need help urgently it is important we know these things at a glance. We don’t want to waste valuable time finding out information.
Here is the link to set up your spreadsheet and how to use it
If you need help setting it up I can tag a member for you to set it up for you ,just ask
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/


Here is the link for low carb wet food
http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf
You want to feed around 6% carbs or under

Some feed Fancy Feast Pate or the Friskies Pate
For your hypo kit in case Handsome drops too low
Just wanted you to know on Dr Pierson's food chart

the Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Beef Feast In Roasted Beef Flavor Gravy (which. Dr Pierson’s list says is 20%
Comes back with 14%

These are correct for med carbs
Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Chicken Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs



Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Turkey Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Beef in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

You can even look at the Friskies for high carbs and med carbs.. They are less expensive than the FF Gravy Lovers and the cans are bigger
So buy a few cans of each. Good idea to mark the cans with how many carbs on it.


https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-

10% and under is low carb
11% -15 is medium carbs.

16- 24 is high carb.