Ups and downs?

I’ve been posting about my struggles with my semi feral cat and trying to get her to accept her insulin injections.

She has been doing so well and finally reached 6 full days of injections which was a huge accomplishment for us. I was even thinking last night that I could probably start ear pricks. Then this morning was terrible- had to chase her down and pull her out from under the bed. She was terrified all over again. I feel like it could have been the way I approached her this morning- I’m not sure- but I feel like I just took us back to step 1. Are these ups and downs expected?

I’m going to try and offer her some gabapentin tonight. Any ideas on how to get her to take it? She will not eat it whole or ground up in food, broths, baby food. Ect. I was going to try and hide it in some tuna before dinner?

 

From what I understand gabapentin is very bitter so not sure if mixing with food will help. I used to give it to Minnie in a small capsule

 

I use the greenie chicken flavored pill pockets. My sugar boy eats them out of my hand, my other boy I have to put it in his mouth.

 

I'm sure the ups and downs happen as kitty adjusts,,, but you may be on to something when you say it may have been how you approached her? Were you anxious/ nervous about the thought of trying a blood glucose test for the first time. Cats can really tune in and pick up on your emotions Don't be defeated

 

I was concerned about my ability to give Pumpkin insulin shots consistently. When I asked my vet about that he said something along the lines of “diabetic cats need regular insulin injections, but above all they need insulin”. Basically, if I had to miss a shot while I figured out the process it wasn’t the end of the world.

I don’t know if people on the forum agree (vets often have outdated views). I know if your cat has DKA history it would be a serious concern to skip a shot.

It might be worth thinking about whether the fight is worth it especially to start. If she hides, is it better to play the long game and skip that shot?

 

Something else I'd suggest is posting in the forum for your insulin type to ask about guidelines on how long you can delay a shot or what to do if the shot is late. When there are low blood glucose levels, people often need to stall before shooting, so there should be some guidance there. It might be better for you to wait 30-60 minutes for your cat to come out from under the bed than to risk losing all your progress. But, that'll depend on the exact insulin you're using.

Also, based on what you're experiencing with the shots and how much stress it's causing you (which your cat is surely picking up on), I'd strongly recommend trying the FreeStyle Libre for now instead of attempting ear pokes. I can tell you figuring out blood testing is a very stressful situation when you're first starting it with a spicy cat. With a lot of patience and trial and error, you will get there, but until you have the insulin injections 100% worked out I would be worried that adding ear pokes might upset even more of your insulin progress.