VERY discouraged

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ThomasCat

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As well as things started off, Curt has suddenly decided he is going to be very difficult during both shots and testing. He is a very smart cat, and now knows that as soon as I set him down in front of a bowl of yummy wet food that its time to run when the needle comes out. Last night he jerked as the needle was in him and i barely got it all in. This morning I shot through the tent because of the same problem, and in haste i went right through and I dont think he got any of his insulin. I was too afraid to re shoot again because I wasnt sure if any *did* go in and I didnt want to cause a hypo, especially since I was leaving for work for 12 hours. It looks as if he didnt get any this morning as his water dish was empty when I got home tonight and his hind legs look weak again. :( We just tried for over an hour to get a blood sample and he wasnt having any of it. As soon as he saw the lancet device he took off running.. chased him down and squeezed him in my lap and he squirmed and squirmed and each poke I did resulted in no blood. :( i dont think the lancet device is going to work, and theres no way he will sit still long enough to manually stick him. As soon as that little prick even grazes his ear he jumps to the moon. Now its shot time and I dont even know if I can do it. This is a cat who Ive owned for 8 years, never heard him hiss or growl, loves all people, loves dogs, lap cat, loves to be petted and comes when you call him... yet now he wont let me do something to him that has made him feel better for the past week?? VERY discouraged. :( Maybe its my techniques?
 
What size needle? You can get smaller ones. Do you hold the syringe in your hand for a few minutes to warm it? (I found old how cold a shot can be once when I got a flu vaccine that came out of a cooler. It stung!)

As far as the pokes, we had to use a burrito at first. We put a towel down on the couch, plopped him on top and wrapped him up until only his head was showing. I could press him lightly against the arm of the couch so he couldn't get away while I poked. After a few weeks, he realized a treat was coming as soon as the poke was over and we were able to quit wrapping him. And be sure you are really warming the ear. We took the cover off the lancet so we could see better.

Maybe we have someone who lives by and could give you some hands on help. I see Norman, Oklahoma. I'll see if we have anyone.
 
Thanks for your reply. They are half inch needles...at first some of the times he acted like he didnt even notice he was getting a shot, other times he'd meow slightly, lately he hasnt been having any of it. He's associated that mealtime means shot time, and as soon as he sees me approach he takes off.. to hell with this food he says! lol.
Not sure Ive seen anyone around here from the OKC area.
 
Hello from a previous Okie....I grew up in a town outside Tulsa. Been a Texan for about 6 yrs.
Yes, it can be so frustrating at times. Hang in there don't give up! With everyones help on the board you will get it down.

Treats & lots of love do wonders before & after testing. cat_pet_icon

Good Luck!

Jenn & Baxter
 
I wish I had some advice for you, but all I can say is keep trying!
Also, I have heard other people mention this "going through the tent" and I must say, either you have REALLY long needles, or I am doing it wrong. I know lots of folks don't like the scruff, but it has always worked for me, and all I do is pull on my baby's hair (not hard or anything.......lol) just enough to pull her skin up. It makes a little tent, and that's where I poke. Before I started doing it this way, I feel like i must have been hitting muscle every now and again because sometimes my Callie Mae would let out a little mew like I hurt her or something. Now the way I do it, she doesn't even notice.
My previous method I learned by watching a youtube video of someone putting their fingers the side of her body by her shoulder blades and pulling that up for a tent. I must have been pinching to much skin or something. Or like I said, I am doing it wrong now..... :lol: :lol:
 
Actually I just switched needle sizes from 1/2" to 5/16".

My vet had given me the 1/2" and Kitten was great at first. He wouldn't flinch...he would just sit there, take the shot and then walk away. That lasted about a week? So then we started shooting him while he was eating. Once again, worked for about a week, and then it was game over. Everytime I would approach him while he was eating he would either run away or...if I managed to tent, he would literally jump backward. Forget about it if I actually touched him with the needle...he'd fly off somewhere. So life was fun there for a while. Some days were better than others. Some days there were more tears than others lol.

Anyways, just last week, I went to go pick up new syringes at the pharmacy and they only had 5/16 ones. They seemed small to me, but I heard ppl here used them, so I bought them and said, "meh, what the heck...might as well try...i'll give it a shot (haha, just realized my choice of words)". Totally 100% better! It's like he doesn't even know that I'm shooting him! It's like food, shot, done.

Then again, it's only been a week, and based on the past....shhh...i wont jinx it. So far it's working good. So that's one option!

Just dont give up...trust me, I was a frustrated mess at the beginning...and that was only a couple weeks ago! Things magically, one day, just all fall into place....you just have to remember to breathe.
 
Jenn & Baxter said:
Hello from a previous Okie....I grew up in a town outside Tulsa. Been a Texan for about 6 yrs.
Yes, it can be so frustrating at times. Hang in there don't give up! With everyones help on the board you will get it down.

Treats & lots of love do wonders before & after testing. cat_pet_icon

Good Luck!

Jenn & Baxter
Click to expand...

Texas?!?! lol
 
LILandKIT said:
Actually I just switched needle sizes from 1/2" to 5/16".

My vet had given me the 1/2" and Kitten was great at first. He wouldn't flinch...he would just sit there, take the shot and then walk away. That lasted about a week? So then we started shooting him while he was eating. Once again, worked for about a week, and then it was game over. Everytime I would approach him while he was eating he would either run away or...if I managed to tent, he would literally jump backward. Forget about it if I actually touched him with the needle...he'd fly off somewhere. So life was fun there for a while. Some days were better than others. Some days there were more tears than others lol.

Anyways, just last week, I went to go pick up new syringes at the pharmacy and they only had 5/16 ones. They seemed small to me, but I heard ppl here used them, so I bought them and said, "meh, what the heck...might as well try...i'll give it a shot (haha, just realized my choice of words)". Totally 100% better! It's like he doesn't even know that I'm shooting him! It's like food, shot, done.

Then again, it's only been a week, and based on the past....shhh...i wont jinx it. So far it's working good. So that's one option!

Just dont give up...trust me, I was a frustrated mess at the beginning...and that was only a couple weeks ago! Things magically, one day, just all fall into place....you just have to remember to breathe.
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Thats how Curt acts, he does good for a few days and then wont have any of it. Hes too smart for his own good. Food bribes dont seem to work, even though he is a little piggy. :/ Where would I locate smaller needles?
 
I don't know about your state's laws, but I can just go get my at walmart. don't need a prescription or anything. They are behind the pharmacy counter. I'll see if I still have the pic in my photobucket account of the box.

brb
 
IMG_1418.jpg

I also use the U100 syringes because they have 1/2 unit markings on them. Helps if you are micro dosing and use U40 insulin. There is a conversion chart here for U40 to U100.
http://felinediabetes.com/insulin-conversions.htm
 
Are you using U-100s or U-40s?
What size needle?

http://www.americandiabeteswholesale.co ... es_112.htm

I bought U-100s they are 29 gauge & 1/2 lenght from SAMs club for about $12 with no hassle. Meaning no scrip needed.

Oh yes Texas...lol. My mom still lives in Tulsa. I go back about every 2-3 months. Actually, been kind of homesick lately. I wasn't able to go home for Christmas because Baxter was just DX. I am hoping for a day trip very soon.
 
Im using U-100 (you have to make sure you get the correct ones), 1/2 markings (this makes life so much easier) and I got mine at Loblaws...Im in Toronto, and we dont need prescriptions here for syringes. But as totallybeachin mentioned, Walmart should have them behind the counter as well --- same place that you'd by the glucometer and test strips. Mine say "short" on the box as well.

Yeah treats, etc dont fool Kitten either. He's in a league of his own (with Curt apparently!!) lol

Good luck!!! Crossing my fingers for better shots!
 
Ill make a trip to walmart and try. They already looked at me like I was whacko because I asked for meter strips and told them it was for a cat. Right now he is on just 1 unit of PZI twice a day in a U40, and theyre half inch needles. I just got him his shot, he made me follow him around a bit but I got it in him this time, with only slight protest. I hope the small or missed "shot through the tent" dose didnt hurt him too much? As in missing his insulin. He was funny tonight though, was eating his turkey and giblets, took a hunk in his mouth when he saw me approach and ran to the corner to eat it. That sucks Jenn... Curt used to ride to Ohio with me when he was younger, totally hung out in the car and used a disposable litter box and everything... now that hes older and has diabetes, I dont know if it would be a good idea to take with.. then Id have to find a kitty sitter. :/
 
Good that Curt got some insulin in him. Hopefully soon he will associate the needle with feeling better. He sounds like a funny guy. I show Baxter the needle every time & he gets on his bed or knows to stay on his bed. He even has gotten to the point he scoots over so I can get at him to make the tent.
What you could do is start using treats to get him to go to your testing/insulin spot.
Give him a treat for going but don't test or shot. Do that a few times for a couple of days. Then try testing & shotting followed up with the treats for going & staying. I know easier said then done. Curt is a smart cat & it might work for him.
There are a few member that travel with their sugar cats. Baxter isnt use to it. I really need to train DH to do kitty duty so I can go home for a couple of days. :lol:
 
This morning I shot through the tent because of the same problem, and in haste i went right through and I dont think he got any of his insulin. I was too afraid to re shoot again because I wasnt sure if any *did* go in and I didnt want to cause a hypo, especially since I was leaving for work for 12 hours.
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I just wanted to say that you never re-shoot because you can never know how much went in and how much ended up on the fur. Everyone has at least one fur shot.

You can make it on the next few shots.
 
So I did good by not reshooting. And since he wouldn't
let me test him tonight there was no way of knowing how much
If any insulin he got this morning. But he was actin like his BA was pretty
high. Oh well. At least he got it tonight.
 
ThomasCat said:
So I did good by not reshooting. And since he wouldn't
let me test him tonight there was no way of knowing how much
If any insulin he got this morning. But he was actin like his BA was pretty
high. Oh well. At least he got it tonight.
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Don't worry about it because in time, you will both be more relaxed, and have less issues.
 
Is there a treat he really really loves? One way you can desensitize a cat to the lancet device is just keep it around. You don't always have to poke. Get it out and click it near him, then give him a treat he doesn't ever get any other time. I'm telling you that doing that a few times a day for a few days (and when you actually do the poke) will go a long way to changing his attitude to it.
 
Such a nightmare, at least Ak was good about getting his shots. He's getting a bit sick of the ear tests but I got some raw chicken today and he nearly went off his nut. So I might have a bit more enthusiasm around the testing couch for awhile. Ak is one of those door opening smartcats, but he loves a good scratch and apparently, a bit of raw chicken too.

It sucks to have to bully your own cat but I agree you should stick with it. I think Ak associated the shots with feeling better like someone said earlier... and it really will get easier. It just seems to have to really suck at first. :-|
 
It does take practice. You'll get better. I remember shaking like a leaf while giving shots for the first week. Then, giving fur shots. I will say that using really thin gauge needles makes it a breeze. 30 or 31 gauge. Sounds like you have a u40 insulin and u 40 syringes I don't believe come in those sizes but you can use this conversion chart and use the u100 needles. http://felinediabetes.com/insulin-conversions.htm

I did that when Pearl was on PZI for a couple of years. Also, I had the best luck shooting as they show on this page. I don't know if that is how you are tenting or not (people have different methods). This worked great for us. http://www.sugarpet.net/injecting.html
 
I'm a newbie, too; but from what I've learned so far, I'd say 3 things:

1. I didn't have to it for Atticus, but I'd second the recommendation to make him into a burrito.
2. it's been said before, but I'll offer it again- never reshoot.
3. One thing I did with Atticus is a few days before I started testing him, I took the lancet device without a lancet in it, and took him to what would be the "testing spot" and petted him, told him what a good kitty he was, and clicked the pen near his ear. Then I gave him a treat. (Got that tip from someone here, I'm afraid I don't remember who). I really think it helped him get ok with the sound before we started.
Does Curt like cooked chicken? That might be a tempting treat to use.
 
Monica and Atticus said:
I'm a newbie, too; but from what I've learned so far, I'd say 3 things:

1. I didn't have to it for Atticus, but I'd second the recommendation to make him into a burrito.
2. it's been said before, but I'll offer it again- never reshoot.
3. One thing I did with Atticus is a few days before I started testing him, I took the lancet device without a lancet in it, and took him to what would be the "testing spot" and petted him, told him what a good kitty he was, and clicked the pen near his ear. Then I gave him a treat. (Got that tip from someone here, I'm afraid I don't remember who). I really think it helped him get ok with the sound before we started.
Does Curt like cooked chicken? That might be a tempting treat to use.
Click to expand...
Monica and Atticus said:
I'm a newbie, too; but from what I've learned so far, I'd say 3 things:

1. I didn't have to it for Atticus, but I'd second the recommendation to make him into a burrito.
2. it's been said before, but I'll offer it again- never reshoot.
3. One thing I did with Atticus is a few days before I started testing him, I took the lancet device without a lancet in it, and took him to what would be the "testing spot" and petted him, told him what a good kitty he was, and clicked the pen near his ear. Then I gave him a treat. (Got that tip from someone here, I'm afraid I don't remember who). I really think it helped him get ok with the sound before we started.
Does Curt like cooked chicken? That might be a tempting treat to use.
Click to expand...

i have worked as a manager at KFC for many years, and one thing is for sure, Curt loves chicken!!! I brought him a grilled chicken breast the other day and deboned it for him, he went nuts over it. lol. I will have to try the click thing, he definately hates the sound and now that i think about it, him jerking earlier was more in response to the noise of the pen in his ear than it was from the prick. I may need to get a better pricker, as I tried it on myself, and even at the longest setting it barely poked my finger and really had to push down on it hard to even get a tiny drop of my blood out of my finger. Im using the Relion one that came with the meter. Maybe theres one that pokes better?
 
I have the Relion lancet device, too; and at first I had to have it on the deepest setting, but now we have it on the second-deepest. Two more tips I just remembered: warm and massage his ear longer than you feel like you want to. The warmer, the better. You could probably add this part in to the click-training routine, too.
Also, someone told me this too, and it helps: when you're poking, hold the device against his ear for a couple seconds after you click. This seems to stimulate the blood to come out.

I was very frustrated at first. At one point, I was straddling him with one leg over his back, and my arm holding his head down. Sometimes it took 6-7 pokes before I got blood. Now, two weeks later, I get blood on the first or sometimes second try. Just be patient with yourself as well. Try to think relaxing thoughts when you're doing it so he doesn't pick up on your anxiety so much. It gets better!
 
You may have to burrito, but may I just say that some cats do better with less restraint. You may have to change your attitude. If you are stressing about your cat not liking it, or not being able to do it, chances are you wont be able to. Cats ARE smart, and they know when you are coming. The trick is to let them see that you are coming, in a calm purposeful manner that says THIS IS HAPPENING, DEAL WITH IT. If you are hesitant or thinking oh no oh no then he will take advantage of your uncertainty.

About needle size, its not just about the length, its also about the gauge. The higher the number the smaller diameter the needle has. So a 29g is actually on the bigger side. I liked the 30 or 31g for Merlyn.

Good luck! OH and I believe Diabetic cat mom extraordinaire Dale, lives near Tulsa, you might private message her.
 
You two sound so much like Poopy and me! I hated how Poopy started to avoid me, even when it wasn't time for pokey pokes. :sad:

For us, two things happened: I resigned myself to Poopy hating me - I was going to do what helped him, even if it cost me his lovings, and, two, I put something behind his ear to press against when I poked (I use a folded paper towel). Voila! Blood!

I know you want the best for Curt. And I know it's very bothersome to not have him treat you like the cat's meow and all that (at least it bothered me anyway). It will get better! Honest!

I'm back to being Poopy's lovey momma and his cat's meow, even though I still do pokey pokes.

If Curt loves chicken so much, make that his treat for only when it's pokey time - only give him a treat sized bite after each and every poke attempt. That'll help change his mind about pokey time! :lol: (Works for Poopy with a raw chicken chunk about 1/2 inch square)

Edited to add a photo of a burritoed kitty.
 

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Just looked, and saw that my new needles are actually 31 gauge and the older 1/2" ones were 29. So definitely that's another contributing factor.
 
It took me about 30 days and the discovery that Patriot was a shrimpaholic before he settled down enough to make the ear test less of a test of my fortitude. I never got good at the shots and he reacted a lot but for him chopped shrimp was the prize and I could shoot him while he snarfed down shrimp. Patriot has this ability to tighten up all his skin too...if I could only do that myself.

Patriot has been off insulin for years now and to this day, if he hears the sound of test strips in the little container he comes running and will willingly sit next to me for an ear test. He still hates it but it became our ritual and he was the "special" cat that got a treat for enduring it. So give it time, practice and smaller needles and I suspect the whole process will get better and you will be even more special friends!
 
When they asked you what size needles are they - they meant to ask what is the gauge of the needle.

What you provided 1/2, 5/16 inch is really the length of the needle not the width of the needle, the gauge, which should be on the box, will tell you the width of the needle.

If you have anything that is 29 or under you have a fat needle and yes that can hurt - if you have a 30 or 31 gauge needle - that is the norm and shouldn't hurt as much.

So, then the next question is about your technique in using the syringe.

Where on the body are you inserting - scruff, hip area, flank?

Do you tent the skin and insert in the apex of the tent?

You don't need to insert the syringe all the way so it's fully inside, as the deeper you insert, the more it could hurt.

Does your box say long or short needles? I believe 5/16 inch are short needles and I found are easier to use and less to insert into the body.

This link may help show you what I'm writing: http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Injecting_insulin
 
For injecting the insulin, I've found it's more the holding of the skin before the shot that bothers my cat, and not the actual needle which he doesn't seem to even notice anymore. Practicing holding up the 'tent' when not injecting might help your cat be more comfortable. My vet didn't show me the 'tent' approach, I was shown to pinch a bit of skin between thumb and index finger and then roll it over my index finger so I had a flap of skin to inject. You might find one way easier than the other.

If you look at the tip of the needle, you'll notice one side is beveled. You should be injecting bevel side up so the point is the first thing to contact the skin (I didn't know this at the start).

I didn't see it mentioned so just in case you didn't know- the syringes are recommended for one use only for maximum sharpness and minimum pain.

Best of luck.
 
If you look at the tip of the needle, you'll notice one side is beveled. You should be injecting bevel side up so the point is the first thing to contact the skin (I didn't know this at the start).
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Not necessary....in all the years of shooting Patches (GA), Baby(GA), Hope and Mishka, I have never once bothered.....gauge is so tiny. Now, when doing sub-Q fluids, because you use a much bigger gauge needle, the bevel side must be up and on those gauged needles you can see the bevel.
 
Hope + (((Baby)))GA said:
If you look at the tip of the needle, you'll notice one side is beveled. You should be injecting bevel side up so the point is the first thing to contact the skin (I didn't know this at the start).
Click to expand...

Not necessary....in all the years of shooting Patches (GA), Baby(GA), Hope and Mishka, I have never once bothered.....gauge is so tiny. Now, when doing sub-Q fluids, because you use a much bigger gauge needle, the bevel side must be up and on those gauged needles you can see the bevel.
Click to expand...

I can see the bevel clearly on my syringes. It seemed to help for me... I may have been shown to go in at a smaller angle to the skin using the fold over technique compared to tenting and I was using 28 gauge at the start (still small, but a little fatter than other insulin syringes). I'm open to the idea that making sure I was bevel side up may have coincided with other improvements of my injection technique, but since it's working and not a potential problem I'm still going to stick with bevel side up:).
 
I also use the 31 gauge, short 5/16" needles with 1/2 markings and shoot in the scruff. I would never use a 29 gauge needle. I am sure that is a contributing factor. I warm the insulin first by gently rolling the bottle in my hands so it doesn't get bubbles.

Melanie
 
Me and curt are about to try a test again...it's shot time soon
And he is acting like his sugar is very high:/ would it be better to
Prick from the inside of the ear or the outside?
 
Well, after the towel burrito didnt work, I tried a king size bed quilt to wrap him up in.. and for the first time in 4 days... i got blood!!!!! Just as i suspected, he was very high at 406. :( Exactly 12 hours after his am shot. When he let me test him last week for those couple days he was consistently in the lows 200s both pre shot and mid shot.... What gives? Could it be from the missed fur shot yesterday AM? Im worried about my sugar cat again :/ *sad*
 
ThomasCat said:
Well, after the towel burrito didnt work, I tried a king size bed quilt to wrap him up in.. and for the first time in 4 days... i got blood!!!!! Just as i suspected, he was very high at 406. :( Exactly 12 hours after his am shot. When he let me test him last week for those couple days he was consistently in the lows 200s both pre shot and mid shot.... What gives? Could it be from the missed fur shot yesterday AM? Im worried about my sugar cat again :/ *sad*
Click to expand...

It's possible, but don't let one number bother you too much. Remember that testing is all about the trends, not individual numbers (for the most part. We need to know about low numbers and treat them immediately). But it is easy to get hung up on a high pre-shot. Try not to let it.
 
Good job with the successful test!! Don't worry too much about the high number. His body is still adjusting to the insulin and he can bounce all over the place for the first while. Scooter is still bouncy a month later :smile:
 
2.5 hours after shot and a grilled skinless chicken breast meal he is 182. I suspect he got into my other cats' dry food today while i was gone
 
ThomasCat said:
2.5 hours after shot and a grilled skinless chicken breast meal he is 182. I suspect he got into my other cats' dry food today while i was gone
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The dry food is going to cause his numbers to go very high so what about just leaving wet food for everyone when you go out?

I used to do that.... when I left my place, all the dry food was taken away. If my civvies wanted to eat, there was plenty of wet food available. Then when I came home, I'd put out the dry food in a spot that only the civvies to reach.
 
Gayle Shadoe & Oliver said:
ThomasCat said:
2.5 hours after shot and a grilled skinless chicken breast meal he is 182. I suspect he got into my other cats' dry food today while i was gone
Click to expand...

The dry food is going to cause his numbers to go very high so what about just leaving wet food for everyone when you go out?

I used to do that.... when I left my place, all the dry food was taken away. If my civvies wanted to eat, there was plenty of wet food available. Then when I came home, I'd put out the dry food in a spot that only the civvies to reach.
Click to expand...


It made them SO sick, they are used to dry food and the change was too abrupt, not to mention how expensive the wet food is... but I did leave it out one day for the civvies and came home to piles of puke and diarrhea everywhere.
 
ThomasCat said:
2.5 hours after shot and a grilled skinless chicken breast meal he is 182. I suspect he got into my other cats' dry food today while i was gone
Click to expand...
Two tests one after another! Hooray! (That lower number is good, but I'm just cheering about the fact that you got blood at all)
 
Think we are getting the testing thing down, he is letting me poke him, but only for so long. got a sample 2nd try this morning, and tonight it took a good 20 minutes but i got one.... but yet another fur shot tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :( :( :( Although this time it was almost entirely clear that it was on the outside of his body since he jerked pretty much before the needle even entered him. Since he was so high at preshot (346) I figured it would be okay to refill to .5 and inject again... just in case NONE got in at all (Which again im pretty sure it didnt) but at least its not a huge dose if any did get in. UGh.... maybe retest in a few hours to see if he lets me.
 
What wet food are you feeding that is so expensive?

if there is a chance of feeding the wet food and no longer needing insulin, I would think a few pennies more should be cheaper in the long run.

I fed mine just friskies and sometimes fancy feast pates and there are other even cheaper wet food brands you could feed that will be better in carbs.
 
Fancy Feast classics are 55 cents a can... not TERRIBLY bad, but I meant it would be expensive for my 2 civvies to eat it all the time as well. My one civvie is a healthy 26 pounds (muscle, very lean) and the other is chubby and both love to eat. Curt gets about 4 cans a day, the civvies would eat 3 or 4... Id be spending $30 a week on food and many runs to Petsmart lol. But like i said earlier, the civvies are used to dry food and i let them eat the wet food with Curt the first few days, and they left puke and diarrhea everywhere for me when i came home. Their stomachs did not take the change well. So I figured for now its best to let Curt eat the wet separately and let the civvies eat their dry in a different room.
 
Sounds like my Okla friends are doing better. So good to hear. Things will get easier with time.

How much does Curt weigh? His he a big cat?
4 cans aday of FF seems like a lot to be feeding.
Did you try mixing the dry with the wet for a transition? I had to slowly mix wet with dry because Baxter was already on insulin & I didnt want him to drop to fast. It took about a week before I had him all on canned. It took his body a couple of days to adjust.
If you get a chance read Dr. Piersons transitioning to wet food. www.catinfo.org.
Also, when you are feeding grilled chicken breast make sure it's not seasoned. No salt or spices. Some spices can be really bad for cats. The sodium isn't good either.

cat_pet_icon
Jenn & Baxter
 
Funny thing is, Curt handled the transition fine. Its the two civvies that got the runs and barfed everywhere from the wet food. :lol: Curt used to weigh 23 pounds 3 years ago on his last trip to the vet for teeth cleaning. I always took Curt just to be a regular domestic shorthair, but he (much like his civvie brother,) is very long legged, long torso, and with a lot of lean muscle mass. It was a very healthy 23 pounds, even his vet said so. Now he is down to 12 :( :(:(:( He is literally skin and bones. Part of my struggle giving him his insulin is that fact that his skin sits so tightly against his ribcage from being so thin. So I figured 4 cans a day to help get his weight back up once he is regulated (if that ever happens,) and I was also worried that since i was previously unable to test his BG, constantly having food out would prevent him from having a hypo. And lastly, he always acts like he's starving and I feel so bad. After yesterdays 400+ BG there will be no more Whisker Lickins or any dry food of any kind. The grilled chicken he gets is from a grilled chicken on the bone breast from KFC. There is seasoning on the outside, but I of course pulled that off with any skin and fat and gave that to the dog :lol: I deboned the inner white meat chicken for him and thats what he got. According to our nutrition brochures, there is very low sodium and carbs without the skin on the white meat. Its his all time favorite, and I think its how I finally got him to sit long enough for poking time. Im just worried my sweet sugarcat Curt is still constantly in the 300-400 range and will continue to lose weight and worsen his neuropathy :/
 
Give the insulin some time to work & his body to adjust. If you look at Baxters SS he was in the 300s for a while at AMPS & PMPS. The last couple of days he has been in the high 200s. All of this is after he going off insulin for 3 weeks in Dec. I really don't understand this stuff. It keeps me on my toes. I never know what # I am going to get at what test. For example he is @ 83 & it's only +4. I made him food & he won't eat. For coarse he won't because it's sleepy time for me.
How much insulin are you giving?
Are you on a 12/12 schedule?

Baxter was DX on Nov 12 & just recently I have seen a improvement in his neuropathy. Some cats take longer then others. From what I understand some dont ever recover? Are you giving him anything for the neuropathy? Has the vet tested his B levels?
 
He is only on 1 unit of PZI every 12. Sometimes (maybe once to twice a week tops) it may be a few hours late or an hour early, i work very weird/long hours so sometimes a perfect 12/12 is not possible. Just fought for another test and he's 261 at +3. Last night at the same point he was 182. Looks like the fur shot effect again. The vet didnt act concerned about the neuropathy, said it probably wouldnt ever go away. :( The neuropathy thing happened literally overnight... The kitty burrito thing really seems to aggravate the condition too. he struggles and struggles to get away and when we're done he can barely walk.
 
Fantastic progress on testing! And having a spreadsheet up and working? Woohoo! Good on you!

Yummy treats work wonders on testing. :mrgreen:

Sometimes Poopy moves when I'm trying to give him his shot. I don't push the plunger unless Poopy is still and I know the needle is in. If I don't know or am unsure, I'll withdraw and try again. That might help avoid a couple fur shots. Maybe. :lol:
 
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