NEW MEMBER Hi, Anyone here with a Juvenile Diabetic or a Complex Case?

PirateLuke

PirateLuke

Member Since 2026
Hi all,
My kitty is a complex case. He's a rescue, about 2 yrs old, never been overweight. He has had steroids in the past but only short courses. His symptoms started after he got a severe infection, which he had to have surgery to remove. His surgery was a month ago and 3 weeks after surgery his insulin sensitivity has increased so much that his glucose crashes fast and early on Prozinc, literally halving every hour in UK numbers like from 22mmol/l to 11 to 5 (US from 396 to 198 to 90), which it didn't pre-surgery.

He does still need insulin, because I took him off it for a day and his blood sugar was 26.1mmol/l (468) at its peak and 18 (324) at its nadir. But it's tricky. My vet wants him on much more insulin, but his drops are so quick it is scary. She just wants lower numbers. But she is not the one anxiously watching the screen every couple of minutes to see how much more it is going to drop.

No-one really understands why he has these blood sugar issues. It is really rare in a cat that has never been overweight and is this young.

Anyone else in the same boat? Or any tips if the drop is steep and early? I have been reading the boards and it seems like small snacks at +2 and +4 hours might help? Again, my vet only wants him fed twice a day.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
PirateLuke said:
Hi all,
My kitty is a complex case. He's a rescue, about 2 yrs old, never been overweight. He has had steroids in the past but only short courses. His symptoms started after he got a severe infection, which he had to have surgery to remove. His surgery was a month ago and 3 weeks after surgery his insulin sensitivity has increased so much that his glucose crashes fast and early on Prozinc, literally halving every hour in UK numbers like from 22mmol/l to 11 to 5 (US from 396 to 198 to 90), which it didn't pre-surgery.

He does still need insulin, because I took him off it for a day and his blood sugar was 26.1mmol/l (468) at its peak and 18 (324) at its nadir. But it's tricky. My vet wants him on much more insulin, but his drops are so quick it is scary. She just wants lower numbers. But she is not the one anxiously watching the screen every couple of minutes to see how much more it is going to drop.

No-one really understands why he has these blood sugar issues. It is really rare in a cat that has never been overweight and is this young.

Anyone else in the same boat? Or any tips if the drop is steep and early? I have been reading the boards and it seems like small snacks at +2 and +4 hours might help? Again, my vet only wants him fed twice a day.

Thanks!
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Yes. When are you feeding him? How many carbs (what percentage of carbs on a dry matter basis?) Is he on a low carb wet food diet? What is he eating and what is his feeding schedule. Feed him a good snack at +2 and another one at +4. When does his BG begin to drop after the shot? Are you using a Freestyle Libre? Those are not particularly reliable in the lower numbers (below 100 and getting closer to 50) so they need to be verified with an ear prick test.
 
And now… sorry this is out of order…. but welcome to the FDMB. I read your ppst and immediately went into problem-solving mode and forgot to say Welcome! I am sorry you have been struggling… and with such a young cat, too!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Yes. When are you feeding him? How many carbs (what percentage of carbs on a dry matter basis?) Is he on a low carb wet food diet? What is he eating and what is his feeding schedule. Feed him a good snack at +2 and another one at +4. When does his BG begin to drop after the shot? Are you using a Freestyle Libre? Those are not particularly reliable in the lower numbers (below 100 and getting closer to 50) so they need to be verified with an ear prick test.
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Hi,
Thanks for replying. I'm in the UK, so he is eating Sheba Fine Flakes wet (1.9% carb) and Harringtons wet (2% carb). No kibble. I feed at 9am with Prozinc and 9pm with Prozinc. I give him snacks of the same food when he's crying for food at the moment as he's never been regulated.

Yes, the VBO seems to have been very successful. They removed a polyp and the infected material, and he has healed very well.

The whole thing has been kinda complex because initially they wouldn't do the operation until his blood sugar was better (due to potential for DKA under anaesthesia), but it was also going to prove impossible to regulate him due to the infection. So we've been faffing about with increasing doses since late October 2025 until the hospital finally agreed it was more important to do the VBO as the infected tissue was very near his brain.

His BG never used to drop like this. The nadir was +6 previously and never very low and we went all the way up to 3 units of Prozinc. Then just over a week ago (3 weeks post-surgery), this crashing started happening at between +1 and +3 hours, and he was going all the way from very high to very low.

Yes, we're using the Libre. I know it can can have unreliable numbers, but it is good for trends. And that is what concerns me more than the actual number, which my vet doesn't seem to be listening to me about. It is surely not normal for the BG to just halve and halve again in the space of a couple of hours.

After 4 crashes at 3 units, 2.5 units, 1.5 units, and even 0.7 units, I took him completely off it for a day and token dosed the day after that until I could speak to the vet properly. Then we started back up at 0.5 units today.

We are over +2 hours since his evening Prozinc and he hasn't crashed yet. Although it usually happens on Day 2 after a dose reduction. 1st day stable but high numbers, then 2nd day *CRASH*.

I just got an automatic feeder that I can set for him to have a snack at +4 if he needs it as I will be asleep then, although I have my Low Glucose alarms on if anything serious happens. It's a bit tricky as I have another cat who is strictly on Hepatic food, although she's a "wobbly" cat, so hopefully wouldn't make it to his food before he does!

It's hard because this wasn't happening before, so I never had to stabilise him with food. I have been reading the boards and trying to learn.
Thanks,
Beth and Pirate Luke
 
PirateLuke said:
Libre. I know it can can have unreliable numbers, but it is good for trends
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Agreed. Very good for monitoring and for trends.

It’s super important for diabetic cats on insulin to be fed more often than just at shot times. That’s part of the falling BG problem. I always recommend to my new ProZinc users to give a small meal at +2 when the ProZinc usually onsets (starts to lower the blood glucose). That can be a little earlier for some cats — around +1.5 hours after the shot. It’s really really important. Then another small meal at around +4. Some cats need another one at about +6 hours after the shot, but not everyone and for some cats feeding much after nadir (lowest point in the cycle) will send their BG up more quickly. These small meals can be a few teaspoons of food or a tablespoon of LC wet food. This solves a lot of problems for “diving” cats and can really help smooth the cycles and prevent bouncing into a period of higher numbers following a rapid drop in BG.
 
And I do believe you about the change in how he is handling the insulin. Something has changed in his body. It could just be the clearing of the infection post-surgery. Did he ever have a symptomatic hypoglycemic event?

I just would highly recommend trying the snacks to help prevent diving. You have nothing to lose. Another thing is that the food you are feeding is quite low carb, which is good. However, some cats need a few more carbs and actually do better and give better numbers with a few more carbs (keeping carbs under 10 percent, of course.) Sometimes you need to experiment with giving a few more carbs (6-9 percent) at certain points in the cycle. For especially carb-sensitive cats, even going up to a 4 percent carb food is helpful. This is called “feeding the curve.”
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Agreed. Very good for monitoring and for trends.

It’s super important for diabetic cats on insulin to be fed more often than just at shot times. That’s part of the falling BG problem. I always recommend to my new ProZinc users to give a small meal at +2 when the ProZinc usually onsets (starts to lower the blood glucose). That can be a little earlier for some cats — around +1.5 hours after the shot. It’s really really important. Then another small meal at around +4. Some cats need another one at about +6 hours after the shot, but not everyone and for some cats feeding much after nadir (lowest point in the cycle) will send their BG up more quickly. These small meals can be a few teaspoons of food or a tablespoon of LC wet food. This solves a lot of problems for “diving” cats and can really help smooth the cycles and prevent bouncing into a period of higher numbers following a rapid drop in BG.
Click to expand...

I was always giving him snacks throughout the day before but not at particular times (he was eating eight 85gram sachets when he first got sick!) He's now only eating 4-5 sachets.

Now that the infection and post-surgery inflammation has cleared up, his sensitivity to insulin has obviously increased. I am guessing that is why we never had this issue before.

I can stay home tomorrow and see what his BG is doing at what +hours so I can plan his snack times for the future if I'm not in all day.

At the moment, he would still go crazy and cry if he didn't get anything in the afternoon (unregulated still), although I fast him for the 2 hours before his evening shot.

Would it be worth getting a slightly higher carb food for the post-shot snacks, like 3-4%? Because he is just free-falling so hard and fast and I'm not sure if 1.9-2% would take him out of that.

Thanks for your help!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
And I do believe you about the change in how he is handling the insulin. Something has changed in his body. It could just be the clearing of the infection post-surgery. Did he ever have a symptomatic hypoglycemic event?

I just would highly recommend trying the snacks to help prevent diving. You have nothing to lose. Another thing is that the food you are feeding is quite low carb, which is good. However, some cats need a few more carbs and actually do better and give better numbers with a few more carbs (keeping carbs under 10 percent, of course.) Sometimes you need to experiment with giving a few more carbs (6-9 percent) at certain points in the cycle. For especially carb-sensitive cats, even going up to a 4 percent carb food is helpful. This is called “feeding the curve.”
Click to expand...
Oh you just pre-answered my question! :) He is VERY carb sensitive now. He's never had a symptomatic hypo, but I've "rescued" him from diving numbers with 4oz 25% food because I couldn't stay up all night and it was obviously just going to continue tanking. His BG shot up.

I will have a look at slightly higher carb food for his snacks and get some tomorrow.
 
Pirate Pip sends greetings to Pirate Luke! We actually do call him a pirate. Here he is:
1771372767652.jpeg
 
Well, the timing of the first snack is just because that is a typical onset time for ProZinc. The next snack around +4 is just kind of a good time to do it because most cats are still dropping but haven’t reached nadir yet. This schedule works well for many cats, but it is very customizable for each cat. You don’t have a spreadsheet so I can’t be more specific.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Well, the timing of the first snack is just because that is a typical onset time for ProZinc. The next snack around +4 is just kind of a good time to do it because most cats are still dropping but haven’t reached nadir yet. This schedule works well for many cats, but it is very customizable for each cat. You don’t have a spreadsheet so I can’t be more specific.
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I only use the Libre, which there isn't a spreadsheet for.
Suzanne & Darcy said:
That is wild!
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Yes, definitely not normal. But vet seems to think it's fine, which is weird as they are a very good vet (literally Royal College of Vets, London)
Suzanne & Darcy said:
How did Luke lose his eye? He’s adorable!
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He was found on the streets as a kitten with his face and eyes so badly infected they had to take one out. He's the sweetest boy.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
You are an amazing cat mum!
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I'm actually emergency fostering Pirate Luke as the owner was going to PTS due to all the expensive surgery he needed (she didn't even know about the diabetes!), and I couldn't let that happen. My wobbly CH girl is my forever cat. My pirate boy may turn out to be foster fail, who knows. But I can't even think of rehoming him until we get his diabetes under control.
 
PirateLuke said:
I'm actually emergency fostering Pirate Luke as the owner was going to PTS due to all the expensive surgery he needed (she didn't even know about the diabetes!), and I couldn't let that happen. My wobbly CH girl is my forever cat. My pirate boy may turn out to be foster fail, who knows. But I can't even think of rehoming him until we get his diabetes under control.
Click to expand...
I am so glad he has you.
 
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