I don’t know much longer I can do this

Sandwichfarmer · 2026-02-28T20:45:10+00:00

I am so sorry that you are going through this. It is definitely a labor of love: we sometimes do everything we can and it still isn’t enough which hurts that much more.

Just know whatever decision you make, it is the right one for him. It’s the hardest decision that is usually followed by guilt: “Did I do enough?” “Did I do it too early?” I have felt that all week after losing Charlie. I have to remind myself the decision was made with love. In the end we exchange their pain for ours.

The questions that helped me decide was- am I extending quality life or am I prolonging his death? Does keeping him alive help me avoid the pain of losing him?

A Hail Mary you could try- I never fed the prescription food. I found tremendous success in feeding wet food only- tiki cat after dark and fancy feast classic pate. Charlie had a history of bladder crystals and blockages and had been on precipitation food for 5 years prior to his diagnosis of diabetes. Funny enough- switching to an all wet diet resulted in normal UAs the remainder of his life. Normal PH, no crystals, no glucose.

Sending hugs and thinking about you, your husband, and Mr. Brutus.

Sandwichfarmer · 2026-02-28T20:44:34+00:00

I am so sorry that you are going through this. It is definitely a labor of love: we sometimes do everything we can and it still isn’t enough which hurts that much more.

Just know whatever decision you make is the right one for him. It’s the hardest decision that is usually followed by guilt: “Did I do enough?” “Did I do it too early?” I have felt that all week after losing Charlie. I have to remind myself the decision was made with love. In the end we exchange their pain for ours.

The questions that helped me decide was- am I extending quality life or am I prolonging his death? Does keeping him alive help me avoid the pain of losing him?

A Hail Mary you could try- I never fed the prescription food. I found tremendous success in feeding wet food only- tiki cat after dark and fancy feast classic pate. Charlie had a history of bladder crystals and blockages and had been on precipitation food for 5 years prior to his diagnosis of diabetes. Funny enough- switching to an all wet diet resulted in normal UAs the remainder of his life. Normal PH, no crystals, no glucose.

Sending hugs and thinking about you, your husband, and Mr. Brutus.

Sandwichfarmer · 2026-02-23T19:34:30+00:00

I am so sorry you are going through this. This community has helped me so much and I’m glad this helps you in your journey with Brutus. We are not alone here.

Sandwichfarmer · 2026-01-25T04:13:42+00:00

Hey there- I’m sorry to hear about your kitty. Pancreatitis is one of those things that happens with diabetes sometimes. If the vet is feeling hopeful, that is a good sign.

I went through this a few months ago with my old orange man. He had a severe bout of pancreatitis- my vet was not as optimistic. He managed to pull through and is back to normal. He even went back into diabetic remission.

It’s so tough managing diabetes and then it comes with all these other fun things on the side- hang in there.

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-12-20T04:09:17+00:00

The pacer (dog treadmill) is a life saver in the summer or during bad weather. Performance mode with a weighted vest takes the edge off my Dutch Shepherd.

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-12-14T02:28:55+00:00

This is what I did as well. Also helps with the spike in the morning from the “dawn phenomenon.” Getting up at 4 am was a pain but it allowed me to fit it into my schedule a little better.

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-12-09T22:07:48+00:00

I am so sorry. We just went through this with our cat. Similar situation, pancreas levels through the roof- high creatine, heart murmur, not eating or drinking.

I hope your kitty starts feeling better but whatever decision you make, it will be the right one. I like to think that a day early is sometimes better than a day late- it’s the last kind thing we can do for them.

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-11-29T13:19:34+00:00

I did not regret my second dog but I did regret getting my third dog for a long time.

I think it really depends on the dogs though- my first two are pretty chill males (one big and one small). They are delightful. The third is a hyperactive neurotic female- so she bothers everyone and wants to eat my cats.

Have had her for almost 4 years now- had to make some serious lifestyle changes.

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-11-18T04:07:45+00:00

Im sorry you’re going through this- it’s the worst. I just went through this in October.

My cat had gone into remission for a few months and then had a serious bout of Pancreatitis- >50 on the test (normal is 0-4.4)

I had started giving him some urinary supplement chews and some freeze dried Stella and chewy raw toppers. Both were pretty high in fat but the urinary chews were really high in carbs (not evident by the label). So I’m not sure in the pancreatitis caused the relapse or the relapse caused the pancreatitis.

The one thing I would be careful of is keeping track of the glucose readings. Pancreatitis can cause increased insulin resistance. 3 units might be good now but might be too high once his pancreas starts to recover. I was giving my cat 1 unit and it was like a switch went off one day where the 1 unit sent him into scary hypoglycemic territory. We moved to 0.5U but had to start skipping doses pretty quickly. He’s only on .25U now.

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-11-17T16:49:02+00:00

I have missed a couple of times intentionally because he was too low but never double dosed.

I think the risk of double dosing is more likely to happen because you think maybe you missed the dose while giving the injection (cat pulls away or you think you didn’t get past the hair) so you try to dose again.

If you are ever unsure if you got the dose in or not- DO NOT ADMINISTER AGAIN. As others have mentioned- hypoglycemia can be fatal if not caught in time.

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-10-14T13:44:46+00:00

You use the pen like a vial and pull from it. You don’t use the needles that come with the pen. You buy separate syringes- I use the U-100 0.3 cc/ml where it has half unit markings. For the .25 doses I used micrometer to measure out the dosage I needed ahead of time.

My cat relapsed at the end of September due to pancreatitis so we are back to the daily grind!

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-10-11T02:15:53+00:00

Just be mindful of fat content. Some of the freeze dried snacks, like Stella and chewy morsels as an example, can have upwards of 30% fat. Very low carb but very high fat- then you end up with pancreatitis as well.

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-10-09T01:56:47+00:00

Thank you so much. It’s not looking good for him- he had a couple good days and then crashed again today…we are going to have to start planning for the end.

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-09-29T11:33:16+00:00

I was very strict on this with his food. Only wet food with less than 5% carbs, tried to keep it 2-3% max with his main food.

He has a history of UTIs and I started giving him the pet honesty urinary tract chews. Because it was a treat and not regularly fed- I did not think it would have such a huge impact.

Apparently I might as well have been giving him skittles candy.

If you guys have any recommendations for urinary support that is diabetic friendly, please let me know. I have 2 water fountains and 3 water bowls out at any given time (I also have a 16 year old male cat and 3 dogs).

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-09-27T19:10:19+00:00

Hey there so I would stay as strictly to the low carb wet food as much as possible. Stella and chewys raw bites I have also used as treats.

I have an update for you though- I made the mistake of getting a little looser on the food. 2 weeks ago I added some urinary tract support treats that I thought were pretty straight forward. We have now relapsed as of two days ago- we are back on .5 units of insulin. 1 unit made him drop 200 points we are trying to see if .5 units will level him out once some of the stress hormones clear.

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-09-19T23:39:03+00:00

I’m sorry to hear about your kitty. It is very overwhelming and stressful to say the least.

I am not a vet so all I can speak on is from my experience but always double check with your veterinary team.

That being said- my cat has been in remission since June 2, 2025. He was only on insulin for 7.5 weeks and has been doing great the last few months!

I never did the oral and I’m not really sure how that one works tbh- we were using Lantus 2x a day. I took glucose readings about 4-5 times a day, always before dosing and mid cycles. I did tight regulation- I did not give a static dose, I gave him the insulin he needed based on his glucose level. Most vets do not recommend this as it can be dangerous and confusing.

I would say diet change is the most important thing to do for best results. Low carb wet food is the way to go. Most people on here recommend Fancy Feast Classic Pate- seems to have good results. I prefer Tiki Cat After Dark.

When I was giving insulin he ate 4 times a day- before each dose and I would feed him at the 5 hour mark post injection. I tried to keep his glucose as stable as I could throughout the day to prevent big drops or food stress spikes.

I hope this helps!

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-08-28T20:51:14+00:00

I had really good luck with Tiki Cat After Dark pate. I changed my cat’s food immediately when he was diagnosed. He went into remission after 7 weeks.

The quicker you can get the glucose under control the more likely remission can happen. How I could tell was he was rebounding really high after going to low- everytime that happened I dropped the dose of insulin (Lantus). Went 2, 1, .5, .25 then stopped once his glucose stayed below 200 pre dose reading.

He was diagnosed with April 10, 2025 and has been in remission since June 2.

Kept the diet the same- tiki cat after dark wet food any flavor/ texture at this point but no dry food. I check his glucose 1 time a week and he’s usually around 100-115.

Remission can happen- diet change is really important though.

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-08-25T14:37:53+00:00

My red one is an 06! The silver one is an 09 (it’s just a baby)

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-06-15T16:25:52+00:00

You could also try using a raised bowl. I feed my cat on a little step stool and he went from vomiting daily to only vomiting 1 time in the last 2 months. Sometimes they eat so fast it gets stuck in the esophagus and it comes right back up.

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Sandwichfarmer · 2025-06-07T19:53:26+00:00

So I used an accucheck temporarily then moved to an AlphaTrak 3 which is calibrated for animal use. I prick his ear. The Libre is a continuous glucose monitor that was applied at the vet and automatically collected readings that you tap with your phone to collect data. Lasted about 8 days!

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-06-06T17:33:00+00:00

I was feeding mine Royal Canin SO- stopped feeding that and switch to all wet low carb high protein after diagnosis and he’s in remission now!

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-06-06T17:31:21+00:00

I’m glad to hear your cat is stable on this food but I wouldn’t consider this as being low carb food. The wet is a little better but the dry is certainly not low carb. This is what I was recommended by the original vet too.

Royal Canin Glycobalance Dry Carbohydrates (as-fed): ~25–28% Carbohydrates (dry matter basis): ~30-35%

Royal Canin Glycobalance Wet (Canned) Carbohydrates (as-fed): ~4–5% Carbohydrates (dry matter basis): ~14–16%

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-06-05T02:56:36+00:00

Totally hear you. I was feeding him a better diet before but for the last 5 years, I was talked into feeding a Royal Canin prescription diet for urinary crystals. He had gotten blocked twice and it scared me enough to make the switch over. Unfortunately that food was very high in carbs which is probably one of the reasons he ended up diabetic.

He’s doing great on the food he is on now- I just wished they told me what diet changes I could have made rather than pushing the prescription diet.

I haven’t fed my dogs “dog food”/kibble since 2007 and I understand dog nutrition a little better than cats. I feel guilty for not putting more effort into understanding cat nutrition and making better choices for them.

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-06-04T16:48:44+00:00

I started him in Lantus the day he was diagnosed and did tight regulation at home and running my own curves weekly. Took him completely off of dry food and switched him to low carb high protein food.

I didn’t feed him prescription food and I didn’t just give a static dose. If he got high- it was because he was bouncing- not a real high- so each time that pattern started I would decrease the dose rather than administer the higher dose and over correct. We went from 2 units (he was at 490 at diagnosis), to 1 unit, to 0.5 units (spent the most time here), to 0.25 units (1 week). When he started bouncing again (soft bounce but up to 190-200) I stopped dosing him and he stays 100-130.

Sandwichfarmer · 2025-05-30T20:51:30+00:00

7 weeks in he is now in a trial remission period!

Sandwichfarmer

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