New - Questions about home testing and switching to wet food

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Mel and Joe

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First some background. We have 2 cats Joe is diabetic the other isn't. Joe was diagnosed with feline diabetes a little over a week ago (1/23). Started on 2u of Vetsulin twice daily. Did some research and switched to Lantus on 1/30. 1u twice daily. Vet didn't want to re-test until he had been on the new insulin for a week but the symptoms that led me to have him tested to begin with seem to have improved. Currently feeding dry food and haven't begun testing.

I know the importance of switching to wet food and home testing. . hence my questions.

My husband still needs a little convincing about the testing. His primary concern is traumatizing the cat. Joe doesn't seem to notice when I give him his shots. He's concerned Joe won't tolerate the blood tests and he'll run from me even if I'm just trying to give a shot which will make giving the insulin more difficult. "I" think we won't know until we try it with the tips people have outlined here. I really don't see how we can get this under control without it so I'll find a way to make it work.


1. It looks like most people use the ear for home testing but some take their blood tests from the foot pad. I haven't tried yet but it seems like the foot would be easier on the cat. Is there a benefit to one location over the other or does it just depend on the cat?

2. We both work outside the home. Switching to wet food now when he's alone during the day and I don't have any idea what effect the insulin is having scares me. Should we start adding a little at a time now? Wait until the weekend when we can watch him? Wait until we've been able to test for a few days? He's had wet food before but not recently. I think he'll accept it but I'm not sure.


Thank you in advance for your help. It's only been two weeks but this is a little overwhelming.
 
Welcome to the FDMB.

Testing the blood glucose is easy once you get the technique mastered.

Have your husband watch this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn8

All cats are not as cooperative as Buddy in the video in the beginning, but, with patience most on this board test without issue.

Read Dr. Lisa's site for tips on transitioning to wet food. http://www.catinfo.org/

It sounds like you are getting off to a great start treating Joe's diabetes. Ask questions and read as much as you can.

Best,
Pam & Layla
 
Hi there and welcome! Sorry about Joe getting FD, but you'll get a lot of help here.

"A little overwhelming"....Ha! I was a LOT overwhelmed! This place made it so much better, though!

Switching to wet foods can affect some cats more than others. In Calliope's case, it made a huge difference and we were only on insulin for about 18 days. I think it's safe to say that it makes some difference in most kitties, as far as the blood glucose. It's better for all of them for lots of reasons.

http://www.catinfo.org is Dr. Lisa's site and it has good info on switching foods.

About hurting the cat. Testing doesn't hurt them. FD, however, hurts them. Not testing can hurt them because it puts them at risk of dropping too low and then you have a real big problem, which could be fatal. You also cannot tell what the insulin is doing during each cycle which makes it very difficult to arrive at proper doses to get your kitty regulated. That's a nutshell explanation and others will come along with more detail. The point is that you really need to test Joe to keep him safe and to work toward regulating him.

Calliope is a VERY fractious kitty. Based on her behavior at the vet's office, my vet really thought I wouldn't be able to shoot or test her and my vet insisted on testing if I was going to treat her as she told me I could not keep her safe without it. However, my vet actually recommended putting Calliope to sleep because she was so convinced I couldn't get the job done. After coming here, I decided to try.

I could shoot Calliope with no problems. Testing was another story! :lol: It was filled with drama and though it's a lot better, now, she still doesn't care for it. It doesn't hurt her. She just doesn't like being confined to get it done. I spray a little catnip on a blanket and wrap her up, burrito style, so I have control and I get it done. Humans don't take insulin without testing themselves and cats are no different. They need to be tested. You would test your child if he/she was diabetic, whether the child liked it or not. You wouldn't risk not testing. Same with cats.

While it might not be the most pleasant thing you and your husband and Joe go through, it's just not that bad. Who knows! Joe might not mind it if he gets good treats before and after. There are plenty of kitties on this forum who started coming, voluntarily, to get tested just to get those treats! Calliope didn't fall for that, but she's in the low, low, minority. I use Halo Liv a Little treats that I order over the internet. Shop for the best price. You can usually find them for under $7 a jar. Almost all cats LOVE them. Calliope would have none of the other freeze dried treats I tried, but she goes crazy over the liv a littles.

I recommend that you start hometesting, immediately. It took me some tries to get it done. When I got my first test, Calliope was on 1u twice a day and she was at 40! Well, that number convinced me that Calliope and I were just going to have to get over it and get the job done, whether we liked it or not. She became more cooperative, when my nerves settled down. nailbite_smile I made up my mind that I was saving her life, keeping her safe and that I wanted her around for a long time. To do that, I had to test her and she had to get a grip! She's still ticked off with me for a little while, afterward, but she gets over that quickly.

I've had to start giving her injections for her arthritis, now. The needle is MUCH bigger and the medicine stings. It's not easy with her, but we are getting that done, even though it's much more difficult than the hometesting or shooting was. Once you do this is a while, it gets a lot easier and you will feel so much better knowing how the insulin and food change is affecting Joe.

I think it's a good idea to start the food change over the weekend, but you have to TEST to find out what that food change is doing.

If you're away during the day, you can get a timed feeder to make sure Joe has food on board during the day. Lots of folks here use those.

Some other folks will come around with more suggestions. You're going to do fine. You have to get through the pains of learning, but it all works out and becomes a routine. I chuckle when I picture myself first trying to test. I was crying about it at the time because I was more traumatized than Calliope was! Now, I just think about how silly I was. We all go through it.
 
Hi there

for some reason, many hubbies have issues with going against a vet's instructions and/or hometesting...they really don't want to rock the boat. It is up to us 'mom's' sometimes to make these decisions and follow through.

There are some cats who don't like testing, but it doesn't hurt much or at all. some cats will even remind their humans when it is time to do it :) My Squeak is a pain in the butt about toenail clipping and teeth cleaning but would purr when I tested him.....
 
ps I just noticed you are in Denver, and we have two members at least who live there in case you'd like hands on help!
 
Hi and welcome. First I would like to say that I was very overwhelmed when Putty was diagnosed with diabetes. It is a lot to digest right away.
I also see that you are worried about testing and hurting Joe. When I first started testing Putty he was very difficult. I would have to wrap him in a blanket and hold him while my husband tested him on his ear. One day my husband went to work ealy and I had to test him alone. It took me an hour to wrap him in the blanket while holding and testing him all at the same time. It took a lot of sweat and tears but I did it because I knew it was very important and I was more scared of his numbers being low than I really was of him.

The more I did it the easier it bacame. I would always give him a treat of Halo's Liv-a-Little's chicken treats after so he would associate the test with a treat.
A lot of cats are not like this and they just sit and purr through testing. I am happy to say that after a month he became very easy to test. He now will jump on his testing blanket by himself and just lays there while I test him. It does not hurt him at all. As far as where to test I have always tested his ear because it gave me more control when he was difficult. I am not sure if there is a reason why which one is better but most people test the ear.

I think if you are going to switch to all wet food you should wait until you are testing. An all wet food diet can lower Joe's numbers but you will have no way of knowing that until you test. When you are ready I would do it a little at a time. I had no problem switching Putty. He was only a dry food grazer but now he only eats wet food and he loves it. If Joe has already had wet food then it may be very easy to switch him. You could also get a timed feeder so that he can be fed little meals while you are at work.

Keep asking questions.....there is always somebody here to help you.

Good luck.
 
WELCOME!! I'm a newbie to this just like you. My Chloe was diagnosed on 1/18. The folks on this board told me how important it was to hometest and I'm so convinced that by taking their advice, I saved my cat's life. Now I realize how scary it is to shoot blindly. Once I started testing Chloe, I saw how NORMAL her numbers were and haven't given a drop of insulin since last Tuesday!! Imagine if I hadn't tested and shot anyway? Gives me goosebumps.

Chloe isn't the most cooperative kitty around, and when I completely FAILED at testing her the first night...I felt so awful. I was so overwhelmed (we were still giving insulin and shot time always stressed my BF and myself out to the max) by it all and never thought I'd be able to successfully prick her ear and test her blood.

I think it helped to catch her in a place where you could kind of gently hold her in place if she tried to jump away. When she's sitting somewhere around the room or waiting by the door to be fed, it's almost impossible to test. I can usually get her when she's lying on the bed or lying in HER bed. I brush and brush her (which she loves), and once she's been purring for awhile, I do the test nice and quick. Then I praise her and brush and brush some more, trying not to miss a beat. It might help if you establish a certain place where you will do the testing. If your cat is more cooperative than Chloe, maybe pick them up and take them to the couch, or to a counter, and designate that as the testing area. I'm going to try giving her FF Appetizer treats soon, to see if that helps with the testing process.

Once you've done it a few times, it really gets SO much easier. I've only been doing it since last Wednesday, and I'm already comfortable with it (I don't get nervous anymore) and I'm the type of person who can't even look when *I* get a needle, much less prick someone else.

"for some reason, many hubbies have issues with going against a vet's instructions and/or hometesting...they really don't want to rock the boat. It is up to us 'mom's' sometimes to make these decisions and follow through." I TOTALLY AGREE! Peter still can't test, was still freaking out about insulin shots, and is so against distrusting the vet. Grrr!!
 
I starting posting here in November of '09 and between then and now I've become so good at all of this it's amazing and it's all from the folks here guiding me.

I test Boomer's right ear in almost the same spot day after day - I'mleft handed so it's easier for me to hold his ear with my right hand and poke with the left. He's rarely bruised and he jumps up to get tested because he knows he'll get a treat. After a few weeks his ear learned to bleed for me without having to use the rice sock anymore. It's simple. I use the lancet and it's over pretty quickly. My ReliOn meter only requires a tiny amount of blood to get a reading.

I've tried the paw pad but for me it was awkward because you cant twist it, it's hard to get at it - try it you'll see what I mean.

I work too - I'm there now. boomer gets tested about 3 times a day when I'm working and more on the weekend. It works out fine. You'll be up to speed in no time! Just keep reading and practicing. No human diabetic would give themselves insulin without testing first - it's dangerous. Tell hubby that!
 
I agree about the twisting of the paw to get blood, you'll see that it's easier to test from the ear. The ears move around so nicely, especially when she's ready to jump away. I can kinda hold her still, move her ear in the way I need it to be to test, and bing bang boom.

That and I think you need to be more careful with testing on pads of the feet because of walking around in the litter and stuff. You don't want to invite infection into kitty's paw.
 
Welcome. You have gotten great advice so far and you are on the right track.

Just wanted to say I am in the Denver area (Arvada) if you need any local support. Been a while since I tested - Cyrus has been gone since 2008 - but am happy to help if you need it.

Good luck
 
Please tell your husband that a hypo is far more traumatizing to a cat than any blood test, no matter how often. Testing is a safety issue.
 
Whatever happens, do not give up! There's a learning curve for many of us on getting our groove on the testing. Sometimes, it takes trial and error to select the best position, best testing location, best treats to go along with this. You have to stick with it, even if you're frustrated. Just step away and try again later. I had to do that. You might be one of the lucky folks and not have a problem, though!
 
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