Totally Overwhelmed and afraid.

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Batty

Batty

Member Since 2019
I am totally overwhelmed and afraid. Draino will NEVER let me poke his ear. He hates canned cat food but loves canned chicken and tuna. We are seniors and don't have a lot of money. Going from free feeding to scheduled feeding has started...but worried about him going low if he won't eat what's offered.
Still have to find the right cat food that we can afford. Also have another cat that will have to learn to conform. Totally lost in all this information. Still haven't given him an insulin shot because I'm afraid of the hypoglycemia. I am a diabetic also...why am I so afraid of this?
 
welcome from another fairly newbie who is slowly recovering from fear and overload -- so glad you found us

will he let you handle his ear while he's eating the canned chicken or tuna? that's about the only way I can get blood from my Catcat -- even then I am greeted with growls and paw swats

I don't know what Walmart puts in their Special Kitty pate-type canned food but it's appealing to most cats, same goes for the Paws and Claws turkey & giblets (Tractor Supply's own brand) --

I was fortunate, Catcat scarfs down any kind of canned food I put in front of him, I bought one can of every variety I could find that had no ingredients I could identify as carbohydrates, to give him a choice, you might try that

possibly he will eat Catcat's most favorite -- Meow Mix Tender Favorites -- looks and smells like shredded fish/shellfish in sticky broth, but by the chart it's low carb, since it's small, it's cheaper than the Fancy Feast cans, might work as a topping/mix in for another variety of food
 
Hi Jody, thanks for bringing your concerns about Draino to the Main Health forum so that more members can chime in and hopefully help you with your feelings of being overwhelmed and fear. There is a lot of information here, I grant you that. But if you look at the forum menus, you will see that there are different sections. The Getting Started & Education sections on the Home page, and the FAQs forum provide basic information about feline diabetes. The FAQs forum also has important Hypo information, plus tips and videos on home testing. My husband and I work as a team to test Idjit, as he's a big cat, isn't crazy about testing and I only have two hands and arms. Hubby holds and soothes, I test and always reward with a bit of cooked chicken.
Here is the link to your initial post http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hello.214317/ and I'm glad I looked at it again so I can call you by name. I know you probably do feel "batty" right now, I sure did. One senior to another, I wasn't at all sure that we two old folks could care for a diabetic cat, but I read everything I could, bit by bit and it did begin to make more sense as time went on.
We did change Idjit's diet, and he is really food motivated so it wasn't an issue to transition to the canned low carb food. Sometimes, it takes a long time to find what low carb alternatives a cat will like and eat. Here is a link to a very good website about feline nutrition: www.catinfo.org and here is a link to the Food Chart that Dr. Pierson has created to help us research many commercial canned foods on the market. https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf
I recently transitioned Idjit to a raw meat diet using a nutritional supplement. How does Draino feel about raw meat? Have you ever given him a raw chicken gizzard or heart? Some cats like raw meat, some do not recognize it as food, but it might be worth a try to offer it and see what he does. For my raw diet processing, I just use a little food scale, my food processor and started with freezing it in ice cube trays, then popping out the cubes and storing them in freezer bags.
CandyH has suggested a few brands, some of the Meow Mix Tender Favorites are in the range of low carb foods we recommend, below 10%. Unfortunately the canned chicken and tuna is not nutritionally complete and shouldn't be a permanent replacement for dry food. Some canned chicken and tuna products have too much sodium and other seasonings that aren't helpful for feline health.
There are a few brands of lower carb dry food, but they can be expensive and might not be readily available in your area, requiring online ordering.
You can try to "desensitize" Draino to the testing routine. Find a testing spot that is comfortable with good lighting, give him a treat, handle his ears, give another treat and then let him go. Try to repeat this several times a day if you can. Like I told you, Idjit isn't a big testing fan, but he hangs around for his treat now and doesn't leave the kitchen without it.
 
Hi Jody and Draino. Welcome.
You have been given some great information so far.
What type of insulin and dose are you going to give?
How long ago was Draino diagnosed?
Does your vet know you have not started insulin?
I understand your concerns about not giving insulin without testing, however I am just a bit concerned about delaying the commencement of the insulin.
It is great you are swapping him and your other cat over to low carb foods.
I think if you are not going to start the insulin shots yet, you need to go to Walmart
and buy a bottle of Ketostix to test the urine for ketones. It is a simple test and the Ketostix is about$10 a bottle of 100 test strips. Untreated feline diabetes can lead to ketones developing which in turn can lead to the more serious DKA if not treated. I don’t want to alarm you at all... but with not commencing the insulin, there is the risk of ketones developing. Testing for them will address that and alert you if there are ketones starting to develop.
I’m sure this seems overwhelming at the moment. We understand as we all felt like that in the beginning. But it does get much easier. Keep asking lots of questions :)
 
Hi Jody and Draino. I too am new at this and it is scary. The thought of poking my cat was not appealing at all. Didn't think my cat would stand for me drawing blood from his ear nor could I give him an insulin shot. Funny how knowing you have to do something will cause you to do it. I believe my sweet boy Mango is realizing that those shots are making him feel better so he has cooperated with me pretty well. I admit I still stink at the ear stick or the paw stick but know in time I will become an expert at it. I too am a senior and didn't think I'd have to adjust my life to a cat with diabetes. Never ever entered my head. I was use to leaving for a couple of days as my cats free feed and have a pet door to the outside to being on a schedule. Isn't my idea of being retired and free to travel on the weekends. Since we are trying to find the right dosage of Vetsulin my life seems to be in turmoil. I am stressed out as well and a fear of the unknown is real BUT this site has given me so much information to digest and help with my issues that I am grateful and feeling more confident. I am only two weeks into this new adventure for both me and my cat. We will get through this. Keep posting your concerns and visit this site often. I do! Good luck we are all in this together.
 
If it helps at all, I'm new to this also. I was REALLY confused and overwhelmed and frazzled; I was fortunate to have a friend that had a diabetic cat for three years, and she has been a HUGE blessing. She answered my initial questions, guided me to this site, and checks in with me and Max frequently. None the less, I was in tears over the whole thing at one point.

I finally got myself to stop OCD'ing the situation, and started from the beginning. I sat down and wrote out a schedule for Max . . . what time to do meals, shooting, testing, the whole thing. Once it's on paper, you don't need to think about it. Follow the instructions. Write down the times/amt of dosage/test readings on a pad of paper for right now . . . once you get into a groove and are less anxious, then do the spread sheet (if you want help with it let me know . . . some people aren't real good with excel/google sheets). I also set an alarm on my watch to buzz every 6 hours to remember to check Max numbers. It really does suck that I can't sleep in any more, but it's doable for sure ;).

Max REALLY didn't tolerate the poking thing well for the first few weeks (can't blame him, I wouldn't do so great either if I was him). He is getting used to it though. The first few times I had to get blood for testing I thought I was the worst mom in the world. Had to do it three or four times, Max hated it, I hated ME for doing it. But each day it got a little easier on us both. Now it's a small poke, small drop of blood and done . . . we are both adjusting better since we first started this.

As far as food . . . I have 2 other cats, and I totally understand them not eating if they get something they don't like (there is a post around on the forums about my darling Bailey and his 2 day starving adventure . . . oy). I know canned tuna is REALLY expensive . . . could you maybe get some canned fish variety and put some of the tuna water from the can in it? Or maybe mix a VERY small amount of tuna into a container of canned food? I would say that there are dry foods that are low in carbs/high in protein, but they are expensive. But if you're only feeding one cat, maybe that might be ok, it would last a long time . . .?
 
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So many of us can relate to feeling so overwhelmed in the beginning, and to feeling utter frustration at trying to test for BG levels. Ear poking was not something that I ever thought I'd have to do, and it was awkward and uncomfortable. But I can assure you that all of this gets easier as you do it. I cannot believe that my sugar baby ever got to the point where he freely followed me down the hall for his testing (because he knows a treat follows). There are times when he stands outside the bathroom door waiting for me. It cracks me up! With Jack, remaining calm and patient, and talking soft and gently, were extremely important in getting him to relax enough to test him. He's a nervous cat, and I never would have believed that he would have allowed this. It does get better.

I don't want to overwhelm you, but maybe we can help you with the testing. What problems are you having when you attempt it?

As far as Draino not liking the canned food... maybe you can add toppers to the food to make it more appealing. I crush pieces of freeze dried duck liver on food that Jack doesn't like, and it works. You can look for freeze dried shrimp, chicken, duck liver, or salmon on amazon or chewy.com. They're made by Pure Bites. You can also try sprinkling Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast, as some cats like those things. Or top with a little flaked tuna, as Candy suggested.
Keep coming here for support. You'll get this! It just takes time.
 
JanetNJ's testing video is Totally The Best Ever (thanks, Janet!). When I was learning how to test, I was so disappointed with the many testing videos wherein I couldn't actually see what was going. I was so stressed with everything, and I'm a retired human doctor! Your stress will go away. Also, at first M'row thought the tests and insulin shots were just pure Kitty Abuse; as others have said, cats get over this pretty fast, especially if cuddles and treats are part of the process every time. If you think you've given a shot that didn't get inside the cat--a "fur shot"--dont give any more insulin until next scheduled dose. I've read that if you give a 90-10 mix of what cat likes on day one, 80-20 mix on day two, 70-30 mix on day three, and so forth, kitty will be on desired food in ten days. I guess going up by 5% a day could work. Sometimes I sprinkle catnip on food--M'row loves this. Kitties do need to eat cat food, because just canned tuna etc doesnt contain essential nutrients. You can do this, one day at a time!!
 
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