OK, here's a REALLY long post- thank you in advance to anyone willing to read it all and tell me what you think. 
I recently took my grandma's two cats when she had to go to the nursing home. One is Cricket, who was in pretty bad shape. My family grew up on farms and although I still think they do OK by their pets for the most part, but don't go as far as I would.
So- I knew he was in rough shape but it was a shock to see him- he's a big guy, both tall and well rounded and last I saw him a couple of years ago, was about 17 lbs. I knew one aunt took him in for blood work and his sugar was 'kinda high'. My grandma's vet sent him home with Hill's W/D diabetic cat food and that was that. I got him nearly 2 months later- and his blood sugar at his last test was 391. When I got him to my vet, he was at 520 and a mere 10.2 lbs.
We started Lantus insulin 1 unit, 2x daily. We switched to low carb, grain free wet food. He's sharing a room with my grandma's other cat, who is semi-feral and will take time to come around to my herd of 11 other cats (giving me a total of 13).The other cats are free feed dry Royal Canin Intestinal HE formula to accomodate our youngest's IBS and another's struvite crystals. That's what will be out once both join the general population of cats, so that's what's in his room for his roommate.
First 2 week recheck and his BS was around 440. We had a small crisis (he got ill, vomiting/ diarrhea/ refusing to eat) so he had another check a week later and was around 338. A week ago, we were down to 220ish. We're up to 2.5 units of Lantus 2x daily. We're feeding him 1/2 can of wet food with each shot and another 1/2 can at bedtime.
At first- it was more triage care. He was SO thin, drinking entire bowls of water, eyes dull, fur dull, ears chemically burned to hell from my well intentioned aunt putting some kind of mite meds in them for over SIX months, matted fur on his tummy, no fur around hs neck/ chin from scratching some rashy looking skin thing, cement booties of kitty litter from his clumpable litter and huge pees... Poor guy. He just seemed ready for the end, which is where he was headed if I hadn't risked family war to intervene. Now his fur is shining, his eyes are bright, he's purring and talking, his fur on his ears and neck is starting to grow, tummy was shaved but also growing- so he's come a LONG way since he came to us on April 28th. We started him on Cosequin too, which has done wonders for my 18 yr old in terms of mobility.
Now that we're settling into a groove, I'm looking to do better- trying to research the best machine to use, more info on foods, etc. etc. We are NOT wealthy- but my husband and I don't have kids, we have cats. So we were already spending around $350-400/ month on food and litter. We'd dropped quite a bit of $$ on Cricket so far and had to hit savings for $1K so far, but to see his eyes shine and hear him purr- priceless. Still- we're trying to be a bit more frugal for an ongoing approach to his care and so a few key areas I'd love, love love advice:
1- We use Lantus but it's pricey- $125 is the cheapest I've found per vial in our area (Iowa). The bottle says you can only use it 30 days after you start using it?!?! Is this true or do you folks keep using it longer?
2- I've read what AlphaTRAK says about human/ canine/ feline glucose and it makes sense. I'd much rather use a cheaper human meter- but don't know how to even start picking. Help?
3- Food and feeding! I feel bad NOT feeding this skinny guy. He's large enough that I searched out what type of litter boxes Maine Coon Cats use to get him one he won't pee/ poop out of, because he's so long. I can feel every knob on his spine. But he is a bit of a grazer. So in theory- two main meals at insulin time, and a third before bed to reduce any temptation to eat the dry and try to put some weight back on him. Last weigh in, he was up to 10.8 lbs, so that's good. The grain free is a bit expensive, but he likes that and a Merrick brand from Petco noting a low glycemic index. We give the other half of each can to my 18 yr old, who's just thinning down a bit due to age, I think (and he thinks it's an awesome idea!). What do y'all feed them, how do you deal with multiple cats with different diet needs, etc??
Many thanks in advance.
Lori

I recently took my grandma's two cats when she had to go to the nursing home. One is Cricket, who was in pretty bad shape. My family grew up on farms and although I still think they do OK by their pets for the most part, but don't go as far as I would.
So- I knew he was in rough shape but it was a shock to see him- he's a big guy, both tall and well rounded and last I saw him a couple of years ago, was about 17 lbs. I knew one aunt took him in for blood work and his sugar was 'kinda high'. My grandma's vet sent him home with Hill's W/D diabetic cat food and that was that. I got him nearly 2 months later- and his blood sugar at his last test was 391. When I got him to my vet, he was at 520 and a mere 10.2 lbs.
We started Lantus insulin 1 unit, 2x daily. We switched to low carb, grain free wet food. He's sharing a room with my grandma's other cat, who is semi-feral and will take time to come around to my herd of 11 other cats (giving me a total of 13).The other cats are free feed dry Royal Canin Intestinal HE formula to accomodate our youngest's IBS and another's struvite crystals. That's what will be out once both join the general population of cats, so that's what's in his room for his roommate.
First 2 week recheck and his BS was around 440. We had a small crisis (he got ill, vomiting/ diarrhea/ refusing to eat) so he had another check a week later and was around 338. A week ago, we were down to 220ish. We're up to 2.5 units of Lantus 2x daily. We're feeding him 1/2 can of wet food with each shot and another 1/2 can at bedtime.
At first- it was more triage care. He was SO thin, drinking entire bowls of water, eyes dull, fur dull, ears chemically burned to hell from my well intentioned aunt putting some kind of mite meds in them for over SIX months, matted fur on his tummy, no fur around hs neck/ chin from scratching some rashy looking skin thing, cement booties of kitty litter from his clumpable litter and huge pees... Poor guy. He just seemed ready for the end, which is where he was headed if I hadn't risked family war to intervene. Now his fur is shining, his eyes are bright, he's purring and talking, his fur on his ears and neck is starting to grow, tummy was shaved but also growing- so he's come a LONG way since he came to us on April 28th. We started him on Cosequin too, which has done wonders for my 18 yr old in terms of mobility.
Now that we're settling into a groove, I'm looking to do better- trying to research the best machine to use, more info on foods, etc. etc. We are NOT wealthy- but my husband and I don't have kids, we have cats. So we were already spending around $350-400/ month on food and litter. We'd dropped quite a bit of $$ on Cricket so far and had to hit savings for $1K so far, but to see his eyes shine and hear him purr- priceless. Still- we're trying to be a bit more frugal for an ongoing approach to his care and so a few key areas I'd love, love love advice:
1- We use Lantus but it's pricey- $125 is the cheapest I've found per vial in our area (Iowa). The bottle says you can only use it 30 days after you start using it?!?! Is this true or do you folks keep using it longer?
2- I've read what AlphaTRAK says about human/ canine/ feline glucose and it makes sense. I'd much rather use a cheaper human meter- but don't know how to even start picking. Help?
3- Food and feeding! I feel bad NOT feeding this skinny guy. He's large enough that I searched out what type of litter boxes Maine Coon Cats use to get him one he won't pee/ poop out of, because he's so long. I can feel every knob on his spine. But he is a bit of a grazer. So in theory- two main meals at insulin time, and a third before bed to reduce any temptation to eat the dry and try to put some weight back on him. Last weigh in, he was up to 10.8 lbs, so that's good. The grain free is a bit expensive, but he likes that and a Merrick brand from Petco noting a low glycemic index. We give the other half of each can to my 18 yr old, who's just thinning down a bit due to age, I think (and he thinks it's an awesome idea!). What do y'all feed them, how do you deal with multiple cats with different diet needs, etc??
Many thanks in advance.

Lori