r/FelineDiabetes

This is my 4th time trying to make this post as I have questions and not sure where to start or how to ask them. I fully understand I should consult my vet, but I guess im looking more for experiences from other people.

A little background. My boy Felix is 17 and was just diagnosed a few days ago. I have been frantically and obsessively reading non stop on the topic, trying to make sure I have a grasp on my new reality. Hes always been a dry kibble graiser, ill top his dish up in the morning before I leave for work, and when I get home I feed him his favorite meal of shreds in gravey. I add an equal amount of water to his wet food, he laps it up and goes about his business till hes ready to finish it some time later.

So now here we are. I received his insulin yesterday, fed him his dinner as per usual, and gave him his 2 units. He tucked himself under the bed for the rest of the evening which he usually does when hes not happy. I got up this morning to repeat the process, gave him wet food, he lapped it up and I gave him his shot. Same thibg, hes spent most of the day sleeping under the bed. Im in panick mode because im worried he didnt eat enough before each shot. In hopes of correcting a potential situation, I fed him a handful of treats both times.

Im not sure where to start here. I guess I have to get him out of graising to ensure he gets on a schedual and eats enough before his shot. Im concerned that I work 10 hour days amd dont want him starving before I get home. Is it better that he graises? Or wpuld it make more sense to give him 2 portions at breakfast so hes got something to snack on?

My other thought, would it make more sense to have him transition to a schedual on proper food before trying to regulate shots Instead of trying to do both at the same time?

Had to put down my diabetic cat this week. 😢 I'm going to miss that goober. Hoping to find a way to help others. I have four unopened vials of lantus. Is there a way to donate them?

The vet things my cat may be in remission already and has instructed no insulin, it’s been over a week now, and he seems pretty good like his behaviour. He still has a libre monitor, and I feel like I get so much anxiety checking his numbers and panic every time it goes low, but he doesn’t get lethargic, he’s been okay.

So wondering what numbers are normal, and how does anyone deal with their anxiety around this? It seems like every time I get an alert I go check on him so i’ve been having trouble sleeping.
He’s been in the low 4s, but sometimes into the 3s when I start to worry.
appreciate some advice and folks in similar situations

Hi, sorry I’m turning into quite a regular poster in here. Apologies for multiple posts. I don’t use Facebook so I don’t want to join the feline diabetes group, but I have looked at some of the feline diabetes forum website.

I have been phasing down my cat’s moderate to high carb foods to new lower carb food and I think his insulin dose is too high now but not too sure how much to reduce by. I looked at the SLGS (Start Low Go Slow) protocol but I’m worried it’s not the most appropriate given the change in his BG levels resulting from a relatively quick change in dietary carbs compared to slow insulin titration. I have also unfortunately made quite a few mistakes with his food timing in the last few days that have messed up my curves and making it harder to interpret the numbers.

Prior to food changes:
- All testing on AlphaTrak 3.
- Prozinc insulin 3 units BD has been on this dose since late May/early June, 3 x curved sent to vet and vet advised to remain on 3 units each time.
- preshot levels usually 450-600. Nadirs usually 250-300. Preshot levels likely often influenced by poor timing of dry food which was often given 15-60 minutes before preshot levels.
- Most recent curve which was when I had accidentally introduced slightly lower carb wet food (because of heat wave I was giving more wet food and he ate a bit less of his dry food but it was still the relatively high carb proplan diabetic dry food) I did see one curve where his morning preshot level was 450 and daytime “nadir” was 290 but this was at +12hr at his evening preshot time, nighttime nadir was 195, then it went back up to 430 by the next morning.
- my syringes only have 0.5 unit markings. I can probably try to give a 0.25 unit adjustment if I squint but it could be variable between days.

Currently, on lower carb foods:

Friday: AMPS level was 171. I wasn’t going to be home all day and I’ve never seen a preshot that low before so I gave only 1 unit of insulin. I got home late and checked his PMPS which was 626 at +12.5hrs, so I gave 3 units. I later realised I hadn’t reprogrammed the feeders correctly so he was given a bit of dry food (approx 8-9g) ~30-45mins before his PMPS level. I was also concerned there could have been an element of rebound hyperglycaemia since he’s accustomed to having sugars in the 300-600s.

Saturday: AMPS was 302, I gave 3 units of insulin. AMPS could still have been influenced by the previous day’s underdosing. However I later realised I had made ANOTHER mistake and I had only reprogrammed 1 of the feeders (thanks ADHD) so he likely got some of his sister’s higher high carb food about 30 minutes before his AMPS potentially bumped up that preshot level). I triple checked the feeders so they are now definitely going off at +3-4hrs from insulin and then he gets no more food until I give his evening insulin. Saturday nadir was 94 at +8hrs into insulin, which worries me because it’s such a late nadir? Usually his nadirs are at +4-5hrs as you’d expect. PMPS was 180. I wasn’t sure whether to give insulin so I followed the suggestion on Prozinc SLGS protocol to feed as normal but no insulin, then check BG later and shoot based on that. I checked it an hour later and it was up to 250, but then I wasn’t sure how much insulin to give in case it is influenced by his food? Because it was going to be nighttime so I couldn’t guarantee I’d see symptoms whilst I slept, and because I wasn’t sure how much of Friday’s levels had been influenced by sneaky food, I decided to only give 1 unit again. I did wake up in the night so decided to do a spot check which was at +5.5hr and his BG had gone up to 297 so I was satisfied his morning dose won’t be informed by any rebound hyperglycaemia and 1 unit is definitely too low of a dose.

Sunday: AMPS definitely fasted, but following a previous lower insulin dose (1 unit) his AMPS 466. I’ve given 2.5 units this morning and will check his BG at +4, +6, +8 and then PMPS (his poor ears).

Also all of this is on an AlphaTrak 3 but I’m running out of strips (only about 4-5 left). I had ordered a human dual glucose/ketone monitor but it hasn’t even been dispatched yet, so I’m going to try to buy another human glucose monitor from a pharmacy today. So the readings might be influenced by that. I’ll try to do some side-by-side testing before I run out of AlphaTrak strips.

Questions for the community:

1. If his PMPS is <200 today, how much insulin should I give? 1 unit is not enough, and then is going to potentially have a knock on effect onto his levels the next day.
2. if his PMPS is say 200-300, should I still give 2.5 units or should I give something lower e.g 2 units because his AMPS and potentially nadir was likely elevated from not having enough insulin last night?
3. if his preshot shot levels are lower than ideal and I’m going to feed and then shoot later, should I wait at least 2 hours so there’s less likely to be influence from his food?

Full curve from Saturday; (had 1 fingernail sized piece of freeze dried duck with most of his BG checks)
Saturday AMPS: 302 (but possibly had a little bit of dry food before
+0 given 3 units Prozinc 100g wet food (1% wet carbs 5% dry carbs .total 1g CHO)
+3: 240
+3.5: given 8-10g dry food (9.5% wet carbs 10.2% dry carbs. Total 0.8-1g CHO)
+5: 144
+6: 119
+7: 103
+8: 94
+10: 139
+12: 180
+12: given 100g wet food (1g carb)
+13: 254 given 1 unit Prozinc
Sat/Sunday overnight:
+2.5: given 8-10g dry food (0.8-1g carbs)
+5.5: 297
Sunday AMPS: 466 + 2.5 units Prozinc (given at +11hrs from previous dose)

Would appreciate any extra advice on
- insulin dosing
- changes to slightly higher carb foods if his pre shot levels aren’t ideal. E.g to still give the planned dose but to give a different food? I still have the proplan food on hand and some wet food which is 12.5% carbs per dry volume in case of mild-mod hypo. I have honey in case of severe hypo.
- if I need to consider anything particular when switching from AlphaTrak to a human glucose monitor?

I’m not currently interested in buying any other low carb foods, joining the Facebook group, or specific brands for glucose/ketone monitors. I’ve converted all my readings to mg/dL because I gather most people work in those units here, but I am based in Europe and the brands people recommend often aren’t available or are expensive/difficult to get hold of.

Hey everyone, my diabetic cat has been having constipation issues lately. We had to take him to the vet yesterday (July 3rd) morning where he was sedated/got an enema. I picked him up yesterday around 4:30pm and the sedation was still kicking his ass. He was still very wobbly. His appetite never came back last night so I did not give him his insulin shot.

Fast forward to 12 hours later since I’ve picked him up from the vet. I’ve been to bed and woken up. It’s almost 5am and he still has no appetite. He’s drinking water and I’ve seen him pee a few times. I would normally give him his insulin around 9am so I’m hoping he gets hungry within the next 4 hours..

Of course it’s the 4th of July so our regular vet will be closed, but how long do I give it before I need to bring him to an emergency vet? We don’t have a way of monitoring his levels at home and since we skipped a dose last night I’m worried about skipping another

EDIT: Thank you to everyone who gave me suggestions. Unfortunately my sweet boy didn’t make it. I brought him to the emergency vet about an hour after I made this post and he was already in DKA. With his extensive medical history the vet suggested it was best to let him go. My wife and I knew this was probably his last year but we’re still heart broken. His name was Brutus. He was the sweetest, biggest boy. I’m gonna miss you man. I love you

Things started out well. Crushed Bexacat in a teaspoon of Churo. No more. He takes a lick and walks away. Any ideas? I’m going out of town for 5 days and friends will be here tending my animals. I need to make this as easy as possible for them because we trade pet sitting and their pet is a whole lot easier than mine. 🤦‍♀️

My 16 y/o cat was just diagnosed and put on Bexacat. Has anyone tried puppy pee pads for an old cat with neuropathy or dislocated hip?

Hi all, I’m in the process of switching to lower carbohydrate foods for my cat who is on Prozinc BD. I also have a second cat who is non diabetic.

Recently I have been feeding 2 portions of dry food and 2 1/2 portions of wet food a day, but generally doing them around shot times. The dry food is through an automatic feeder at 06:30/18:30 and I give the wet food with his shot usually around 06:40-7:30 and similar in the evening. I don’t typically do pre-shot testing because his sugars have been so high there has been no concern of hypo until now when I’m changing him to dry food.

Now that I’m increasing the amount of wet food they’re getting (from essentially half a pouch to a full pouch twice daily) and decreasing the dry food (from 20-25g twice daily to 8-10g twice daily - although once stable I hopefully will reduce it to once daily) it seems like a lot of food for them to be eating in one portion and I know cats typically are better suited to smaller more frequent meals.

I plan on shifting the time of the automatic feeders to go off at a different time so I can start checking pre shot BG if his sugars are going to be sitting lower. What timing would you suggest for the extra little portion of dry food, a bit like a “snack” between meals? Would it be better to have it still close to his wet food meals, perhaps 2 hours into his insulin dose? Or have it later on to try to help prevent hypo at the insulin peak (usually about hours 3-6).

I am currently giving purina pro plan diabetic (20-25% carb) but just switching to Thrive premium plus (10% carb) today. It’ll only be about an 8g portion so really it’s only about 1g of carbohydrate in that portion. If it doesn’t matter too much about the timing in terms of blood glucose I’d prefer to spread it out from his meals more e.g have it about half way. I also plan to reduce to once daily dry food pretty much just to top up to his calorie needs without opening a new tin of wet food. Would this be better to do in the night when blood glucose tends to be lower and I’m less likely to be monitoring?

I’ve seen other conversations about meal timings and insulin but they tend to refer to lantus/flatline so I’m not sure. Also grazing isn’t an option because both cats will race to the feeder and wolf down any and all food in sight.

My cat, N, is newly diagnosed as diabetic. He was diagnosed last weekend and then went into DKA overnight and developed a UTI. They also identified mild pancreatitis, but apparently nothing too concerning. The UTI is still being treated, but he was discharged this afternoon.

The ER was feeding him Hill's Prescription Diet i/d Digestive Care Chicken & Vegetable Stew Wet Cat Food for a few days. The vet said he doesn't need to stay on this food, but they're happy to prescribe it if I'd like.

Now that he's home, I need to find an alternative, since this cat food is unfortunately too expensive.

Does anyone have experience or recommendations for a similar, nonprescription food? Preferably a pate.

Before his diagnosis, I was feeding him Purina Pro Plan Complete Essentials.

Nutty (11 male) was diagnosed just about a month ago. He was put on 1 unit twice a day of Lantus. Did a blood glucose curve after two weeks and his numbers were mostly in the low 300's while dipping into the high 200's. Vet recommended I up his dose to 2 units and do another curve after a week, which is today.

Here's his numbers from today (Using Alphatrak3):

4:30am- 323 (pre-shot)

6:30am- 305

8:30am- 252

10:30am- 225

12:30pm- 157

2:30pm- 121

His next shot is in 2 hours and I'm wondering what's the threshold at which I should skip it? I'll also be calling my vet but wanna get as much info as I can.

My 10 year old gal, Miss Nyx, got diagnosed with diabetes yesterday. The vet prescribed Hill’s Prescription m/d GlucoSupport Chicken & Liver Stew Canned food. It shows it has 15% carbs per can. I’ve only been researching this for a day so obviously I’m not an expert but doesn’t that seem high? I’ve seen most people using <7% carbs in their diabetic cats food so I’m unsure if this brand is going to work. I’m planning to talk to my vet on Friday about it but wanted a sanity check in case I’m missing something.

Took my 9yr old cat to the emergency vet last night because he was super restless, purring non stop, and just not acting himself. But still eating/drinking/using the litter box. We definitely weren't expecting a blood sugar over 500, even the vet was surprised.

I shouldn't be worried about this since I'm a nurse and manage my patients diabetes all the time but my cat, oh boy are my nerves all going wild. We status lantus 3 units twice a day but that just seems like a lot to me for such a small animal. People are usually once a day and all I want to do is check his numbers but thats pointless for atleast 6 hours with lantus.

How do you manage this stress in the beginning?

Hello! My boy was diagnosed back in November ‘25. I was using the alpha trak 3 monitor, but it became too expensive. I have a Relion platinum now. What are the target numbers I should be looking for? The vet said 200-300 was ok, but I don’t know if she was talking about the alpha trak readings or a human meter. It’s been a struggle to get him regulated, he reads good/low for a few days and then spikes back up.

My 14 year old cat, Sammy, was diagnosed yesterday as a diabetic, and the vet wants us to switch him to wet food. He hates wet food, and has rejected all previous attempts to get him to do a combination of wet and dry food. He is currently on a hunger strike.

I no longer have any of his kibble, as it went with my mom's best friend. I do wish I had kept some, to help him transition to wet, but the vet was very clear about no dry food.

I want to get him eating normally before his medicine comes in, because I need to see how he's reacting to the bexacat, and it's going to be difficult to judge how that's going if he's also just. Refusing to eat.

Pet parents who have dealt with this before, help?