Near miss Hypo? STABLE!!!

[Shwayna]

Hi all,

My cat, Jojo, started his new dose of insulin at his last injection time (6:30 PM CDT). He went from 1u, which didn't do anything, to 2u, which may have over-corrected. The monitor is not even 12 hours old!! The Libre app alerted me that his glucose was dropping fast, and it was under 69 and went down to about 65 within a minute. I gave him honey on the gums, along with trying to check his blood sugar with the Relion Premier. I couldn't get it to take his blood, and when it did, it said error. He got plenty of treats during this, and is now eating Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers.

I was able to successfully check with the Relion Premier, and after about 10 pokes and two errors, it read 97 after the Libre said he was at 85. I will be checking again in 30 minutes to watch how he's doing. What a mess! I will likely give him more food if his blood sugar doesn't begin to increase more. The Libre app shows he's about to reach 90, but I will check with the Relion Premier.

Are there ANY other tips I could try if I need to? Jojo was acting completely normal during this, aside from being mildly annoyed about being poked and grabbed so much. I gave honey mixed with some water and rubbed that on his gums immediately, along with feeding him the Fancy Feast. He got plenty of treats that claim to be low carb, but I honestly don't care about that. I'm only taking my time with describing this because he is going up, and is about to now reach 100 as I type.

Thanks all!

 

[Shwayna]

Hi all,

Quick update, Jojo's blood sugar is going up very quickly! I'm unsure if I over-corrected myself, but I'd truthfully rather have his blood sugar too high than too low. I will be contacting his vet first thing in the morning! The Libre app says he's around 140 now and still going up, and I will of course check with the Relion Premier soon. Jojo handled being pricked a lot like an absolute champ! This was my first time for a lot of things; first potential hypo event, first successful manual blood check, first major emergency in general for this chapter of diabetes. I will update later, but it seems he's improving.

 

[Connie & Parker & Moonie]

I’m sorry people weren’t up to give advice, but it looks like you did an amazing job handling this! I hope you can get some rest after such a stressful time and congratulations on your first manual ear pokes and feeding his curve!

It also sounds like your kitty might be fairly carb sensitive, which is a great thing to know in the future. Moonie is too (I swear her BG goes up if she looks at HC food) and that’s allowed me to get more confident about shooting low numbers because I feel very good about my ability to quickly bring her up as needed.

I don’t know enough about how the Libre reads to give advice. The only thing I’ll add is that I always check 2 hours or so after the last feeding to make sure that the kitty’s BG is still holding up after the food impact is out of their system.

 

[Shwayna]

I’m sorry people weren’t up to give advice, but it looks like you did an amazing job handling this! I hope you can get some rest after such a stressful time and congratulations on your first manual ear pokes and feeding his curve!

It also sounds like your kitty might be fairly carb sensitive, which is a great thing to know in the future. Moonie is too (I swear her BG goes up if she looks at HC food) and that’s allowed me to get more confident about shooting low numbers because I feel very good about my ability to quickly bring her up as needed.

I don’t know enough about how the Libre reads to give advice. The only thing I’ll add is that I always check 2 hours or so after the last feeding to make sure that the kitty’s BG is still holding up after the food impact is out of their system.

Thank you so much for the response and reassurance!

Jojos glucose is around 190 now, it had a sudden drop of about 20 points, then rose quickly again. I've got to agree with you, its likely he is carb sensitive. Im going to make sure to bring this idea up to the vet.

Im definitely going to be more vigilante about checking his blood two hours after he eats.

Again, thank you. This was quite a scary event for me, and Im glad to hear I handled this event well. Im definitely going to try and get some rest.

 

[Connie & Parker & Moonie]

You did such an amazing job. The first time Moonie dropped below 100, I panic fed her an insane amount of Fancy Feast gravy and took her from 96 to 142 in 20 mins and on a rocket ship the next morning

Next time I bet you can even try steering with MC or LC food a tsp or two at a time, to continue your experiments with his carb sensitivity.

I hope you can get some rest today and I’ll bump the thread if you don’t get more informed responses later today from people who are more experienced.

 

[Shwayna]

You did such an amazing job. The first time Moonie dropped below 100, I panic fed her an insane amount of Fancy Feast gravy and took her from 96 to 142 in 20 mins and on a rocket ship the next morning

Next time I bet you can even try steering with MC or LC food a tsp or two at a time, to continue your experiments with his carb sensitivity.

I hope you can get some rest today and I’ll bump the thread if you don’t get more informed responses later today from people who are more experienced.

Hello,

I wanted to give an actual response instead of liking. It was nearly 4 AM last night and I didn't have it in me to respond! Jojo skyrocketed upwards with his glucose, and it shot straight up within the 3 hours or so of time between the event and his morning feeding time. It is very reassuring knowing I don't need to give him as much food to help his blood sugar get up.

Once again, thank you for the support and kind words!

 

[Connie & Parker & Moonie]

Hello,

I wanted to give an actual response instead of liking. It was nearly 4 AM last night and I didn't have it in me to respond! Jojo skyrocketed upwards with his glucose, and it shot straight up within the 3 hours or so of time between the event and his morning feeding time. It is very reassuring knowing I don't need to give him as much food to help his blood sugar get up.

Once again, thank you for the support and kind words!

I’m glad to hear that Jojo’s BG stayed up and I really hope that you get a chance to catch up on sleep today!

 

[Inky & Olivia]

Hi all,

My cat, Jojo, started his new dose of insulin at his last injection time (6:30 PM CDT). He went from 1u, which didn't do anything, to 2u, which may have over-corrected. The monitor is not even 12 hours old!! The Libre app alerted me that his glucose was dropping fast, and it was under 69 and went down to about 65 within a minute. I gave him honey on the gums, along with trying to check his blood sugar with the Relion Premier. I couldn't get it to take his blood, and when it did, it said error. He got plenty of treats during this, and is now eating Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers.

I was able to successfully check with the Relion Premier, and after about 10 pokes and two errors, it read 97 after the Libre said he was at 85. I will be checking again in 30 minutes to watch how he's doing. What a mess! I will likely give him more food if his blood sugar doesn't begin to increase more. The Libre app shows he's about to reach 90, but I will check with the Relion Premier.

Are there ANY other tips I could try if I need to? Jojo was acting completely normal during this, aside from being mildly annoyed about being poked and grabbed so much. I gave honey mixed with some water and rubbed that on his gums immediately, along with feeding him the Fancy Feast. He got plenty of treats that claim to be low carb, but I honestly don't care about that. I'm only taking my time with describing this because he is going up, and is about to now reach 100 as I type.

Thanks all!

I'm 100% with you,better too high than too low! One time I was at school in the middle of a class, and I got the Libre alarm saying Inky had dropped from mid-100s to 40s super fast! I RAN out of class to my car and I was bawling my eyes out all the way home. The second I got through the door, I fed her as much Fancy Feast gravy lovers as she wanted. The Keto Mojo was reading 110s as I was feeding her, and when I looked at the Libre app, it looked like the program had gone back and self-corrected the graph to remove the hypo reading. The hypo event had disappeared in the logs, and even when I looked at the second by second readings as an Excel file, the 40 number was gone!

The disappearing-hypo-event happened to us a few times during the Libre's duration, thankfully the rest of them happened at home, usually at night. When the cat sleeps in a way that puts pressure on the sensor, it can trigger a false hypo/falling hypo reading. It's called a compression low and it can happen with humans who have CGMs as well. It's good to have the handheld monitor to double check readings. When Inky had the Libre it was during the first month after her diagnosis, and even if the handheld monitor read a normal number I would end up panicking and giving her Fancy Feast anyway just in case, which I'm sure Inky was thrilled about LOL. I'm glad you and Jojo are okay now, and from what I've read, you did everything exactly right!

 

[Shwayna]

I'm 100% with you,better too high than too low! One time I was at school in the middle of a class, and I got the Libre alarm saying Inky had dropped from mid-100s to 40s super fast! I RAN out of class to my car and I was bawling my eyes out all the way home. The second I got through the door, I fed her as much Fancy Feast gravy lovers as she wanted. The Keto Mojo was reading 110s as I was feeding her, and when I looked at the Libre app, it looked like the program had gone back and self-corrected the graph to remove the hypo reading. The hypo event had disappeared in the logs, and even when I looked at the second by second readings as an Excel file, the 40 number was gone!

The disappearing-hypo-event happened to us a few times during the Libre's duration, thankfully the rest of them happened at home, usually at night. When the cat sleeps in a way that puts pressure on the sensor, it can trigger a false hypo/falling hypo reading. It's called a compression low and it can happen with humans who have CGMs as well. It's good to have the handheld monitor to double check readings. When Inky had the Libre it was during the first month after her diagnosis, and even if the handheld monitor read a normal number I would end up panicking and giving her Fancy Feast anyway just in case, which I'm sure Inky was thrilled about LOL. I'm glad you and Jojo are okay now, and from what I've read, you did everything exactly right!

I can't imagine how horrifying it was getting that alert in the middle of class! I was running around like a headless chicken trying to gather the hypo supplies and his manual glucose monitor LOL!

It's so difficult to say if it was a real hypo event or not. I spoke to my vet about it, and she said the Libre is very unreliable when it hits those low numbers! She said it's hard to tell if it could've been an actual hypo event or not because of this unreliability, along with the fact the Libre was less than 12 hours old at the time. She said considering he wasn't showing any symptoms and was totally alert after being woken up, it's likely the Libre read too low and that his blood sugar was actually at a good spot.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Libre did alert because of Jojo applying pressure to it. He enjoys sleeping in a pretzel formation, usually laying on his back or rolling around. When I had checked with the Relion, his blood sugar had already gone up to 85 on the Libre, and the Relion read 97. It's probably he was at a good spot, but the Libre made me panic. This was the first time I was actually able to get blood from Jojo, other times he just wouldn't bleed, so I just had to hope the Libre was being accurate and trust it.

 

[CORKY]

You are doing a great job! Corky uses ProZinc the protocol is TEST-FEED-SHOOT, a diabetic cat needs to have a diet of wet can raw foods between 0-10% carbs, a no-diabetic cats' glucose is between 50-120 levels, most members feed Fancy Feast Pates between 0-10% carbs some feed up to 5%, also a feeding schedule is important, Jojo should feed 3-4 small meals or snacks during the day, plus the two main meals before shots, snacking or free feeding, can cause a false reading level when you give insulin. I have learn to shoot on low numbers (see Corky's Spreadsheet below in blue) I use to panic at the beginning when Corkys levels were 150 before shot, because the vet that attended Corky during hospitalization said that his BG should be between 200-300, FALSE! Only when Jojo's levels are 50 or lower is when you feed medium or high carbs, the honey or Karo is a quick fix only, it is best to feed 1 tsp. of low carbs every 1/2 hour, test and repeat protocol until his levels are 60-69 or higher, it is good that you make a HYPO KIT it should include some medium carb foods between 11-15% carbs some high carb foods between 16-24% carbs, honey or Karo Syrup,
When you feed too many high carbs there will be levels high and low (unstable BG's), below is a link to a Drs food list, the third column contains the carb %, also a carb calculator, you take the nutrient of the food to get the carb content we are looking for DRY MATTER CARBS most gravy foods are high carbs, and if Jojo is sensitive to carbs, just 1 tsp of high carbs will raise the BG, Corky is extremely sensitive to carbs, so I am familiar with carb sensitivity



Links to FOOD CHARTS
Carb Calculator - Felinediabetes.com

Low carbs - 0-10%
Medium Carbs 11-15%
High Carbs 16-24%

 

[Shwayna]

You are doing a great job! Corky uses ProZinc the protocol is TEST-FEED-SHOOT, a diabetic cat needs to have a diet of wet can raw foods between 0-10% carbs, a no-diabetic cats' glucose is between 50-120 levels, most members feed Fancy Feast Pates between 0-10% carbs some feed up to 5%, also a feeding schedule is important, Jojo should feed 3-4 small meals or snacks during the day, plus the two main meals before shots, snacking or free feeding, can cause a false reading level when you give insulin. I have learn to shoot on low numbers (see Corky's Spreadsheet below in blue) I use to panic at the beginning when Corkys levels were 150 before shot, because the vet that attended Corky during hospitalization said that his BG should be between 200-300, FALSE! Only when Jojo's levels are 50 or lower is when you feed medium or high carbs, the honey or Karo is a quick fix only, it is best to feed 1 tsp. of low carbs every 1/2 hour, test and repeat protocol until his levels are 60-69 or higher, it is good that you make a HYPO KIT it should include some medium carb foods between 11-15% carbs some high carb foods between 16-24% carbs, honey or Karo Syrup,
When you feed too many high carbs there will be levels high and low (unstable BG's), below is a link to a Drs food list, the third column contains the carb %, also a carb calculator, you take the nutrient of the food to get the carb content we are looking for DRY MATTER CARBS most gravy foods are high carbs, and if Jojo is sensitive to carbs, just 1 tsp of high carbs will raise the BG, Corky is extremely sensitive to carbs, so I am familiar with carb sensitivity



Links to FOOD CHARTS
Carb Calculator - Felinediabetes.com

Low carbs - 0-10%
Medium Carbs 11-15%
High Carbs 16-24%

Thank you for so much information!

I'm definitely starting the smaller meals throughout the day. His first big meal is at 6:30 AM, so I plan on giving two smaller meals at +2 and +4 respectively. His second big meal is at 6:30 PM, and I'm debating even adding a snack for him at +2. One of the biggest challenges is that we have two kitties, and both love to steal from each other when the other isn't looking. Truthfully, I felt confident that I could manage watching the two all the time, but it's harder because they both enjoy grazing. It's easier to let our non-diabetic girl graze if Jojo can't steal her stuff, or if she can't steal from him. So, I've relented and decided I'm going to order two of the microchip feeders (can't remember brand, they're the most recommended one!)

I definitely panicked over the low numbers, and I couldn't remember how low is considered the emergency point. I'll make sure to wait on pumping him full of carbs with high carb food and honey. I was giving Jojo and his sister Friskies Shreds, and the two love that stuff. The Pate? Not so much. Jojo won't eat even half of his meal with the Pate, so he is now getting Shreds again. I decided the little extra carbs won't harm him, considering the daily % of carbs would still remain under 10, likely under 8 too.

Thank you for the great helpful advice!

 

[CORKY]

A *2 snack is very important since ProZinc kicks in around two hours after shot, again I’m referring you to Corky’s spreadsheet, scroll to the left and you can get an idea of feeding times, I also have two cats, and I feed them at the same time and I place a towel on the bed and sit with them when eating, when they are on a schedule because neither graze they look forward to their meals, actually they both sit in front of me about 10 minutes before meal time, you are good mommie Jojo is blessed to have you, trust me as all three of you get used to the schedule it gets easier, one of the members that helped me at the beggining were I was about to have a nervous breakdown said these words to me “take a step back, breath in breath out, cats are very sensitive to stress, you stress, they stress!” It does get better

 

[Shwayna]

A *2 snack is very important since ProZinc kicks in around two hours after shot, again I’m referring you to Corky’s spreadsheet, scroll to the left and you can get an idea of feeding times, I also have two cats, and I feed them at the same time and I place a towel on the bed and sit with them when eating, when they are on a schedule because neither graze they look forward to their meals, actually they both sit in front of me about 10 minutes before meal time, you are good mommie Jojo is blessed to have you, trust me as all three of you get used to the schedule it gets easier, one of the members that helped me at the beggining were I was about to have a nervous breakdown said these words to me “take a step back, breath in breath out, cats are very sensitive to stress, you stress, they stress!” It does get better

I've decided I'll likely get an automatic wet food feeder for Jojo. For our other kitty, I'll get her a microchip feeder. Jojo likes to steal her food (even though it's the same stuff) but Munchkin doesn't really steal his food much. I plan on placing Jojo's feeder in my room since I can monitor it at all times then, and then I can push Munchkin away if she tries to steal. I do worry he won't eat all of his food and then may eat within the two hours of his big meals, but I may remedy this by portioning out the +2 and +4 foods so they're smaller so he should hopefully eat them.

I have considered getting two microchip feeders, but then I will be feeding him +4 around 10:30 PM myself, and that's quite late for me. Although, having a diabetic cat does mean sacrificing some comfort in order to take care of your cat! There is the chance Munchkin will steal Jojo's food too, but I've noticed by the time Jojo is done with his, there's just bits of scraps left over, not even a full 1/4 of a can of wet food is left over. The joy of having to make decisions on this stuff

Thank you for the kind words. It's a lot, but it is getting easier. Jojo's paw pads are already bleeding more, and getting blood is easier. He just doesn't like his paws being grabbed, but he'll learn to tolerate it in time (and with enough treats!)

 

[CORKY]

I've decided I'll likely get an automatic wet food feeder for Jojo. For our other kitty, I'll get her a microchip feeder. Jojo likes to steal her food (even though it's the same stuff) but Munchkin doesn't really steal his food much. I plan on placing Jojo's feeder in my room since I can monitor it at all times then, and then I can push Munchkin away if she tries to steal. I do worry he won't eat all of his food and then may eat within the two hours of his big meals, but I may remedy this by portioning out the +2 and +4 foods so they're smaller so he should hopefully eat them.

I have considered getting two microchip feeders, but then I will be feeding him +4 around 10:30 PM myself, and that's quite late for me. Although, having a diabetic cat does mean sacrificing some comfort in order to take care of your cat! There is the chance Munchkin will steal Jojo's food too, but I've noticed by the time Jojo is done with his, there's just bits of scraps left over, not even a full 1/4 of a can of wet food is left over. The joy of having to make decisions on this stuff

Thank you for the kind words. It's a lot, but it is getting easier. Jojo's paw pads are already bleeding more, and getting blood is easier. He just doesn't like his paws being grabbed, but he'll learn to tolerate it in time (and with enough treats!)

Once the capillaries swell, it will be a breeze extracting the droplet of blood, please keep posting, and if 1 hour before shot you are not comfortable with the level, post up, make a new thread and label it 911 on the thread name there's a dropdown arrow, it will show the 911 in red, type in the title LOW BG BEFORE SHOT, this will get our attention quicker, and we can walk you thru it, is best to shoot, than not, with ProZinc you have the advantage of 2 HOUR WINDOW!, I am always checking in the Forum, we are all here to assist you, you are in good hands, we can also assist you with dosing as well. And if your vet says Jojo needs a curve, you do not need him for that, a curve is simply testing every two hour for 1 cycle (12 hours), a curve at the vets office is not only expensive, but because the stress Jojo will go thru you wil not get a true reading, and that can cause for an unnecessary dose increase.

 

[CORKY]

Here are some feeders some have chips and cameras, or both

 

[Shwayna]

Once the capillaries swell, it will be a breeze extracting the droplet of blood, please keep posting, and if 1 hour before shot you are not comfortable with the level, post up, make a new thread and label it 911 on the thread name there's a dropdown arrow, it will show the 911 in red, type in the title LOW BG BEFORE SHOT, this will get our attention quicker, and we can walk you thru it, is best to shoot, than not, with ProZinc you have the advantage of 2 HOUR WINDOW!, I am always checking in the Forum, we are all here to assist you, you are in good hands, we can also assist you with dosing as well. And if your vet says Jojo needs a curve, you do not need him for that, a curve is simply testing every two hour for 1 cycle (12 hours), a curve at the vets office is not only expensive, but because the stress Jojo will go thru you wil not get a true reading, and that can cause for an unnecessary dose increase.

I have already given Jojo is PM shot, but I felt comfortable giving him his 2u because the Libre read 361 (and then bumped to HI before he actually ate), along with the Relion saying 381 when the Libre read 361. About +1 after his shot and he's still at HI on the Libre, and I'm going to make sure he gets some food at +2 and +4. I'll of course check at +2 and +4 with the Relion too.

I believe part of last night's issue was I gave him Friskies Pate, and I learned the hard way he hates Pate. He loves Friskies Shreds at least, so he actually ate more than he did last night. Thank you for the advice, and I will use the 911 feature in the future if I am uncomfortable giving him the insulin!

Also, thank you for providing the feeders!

 

[CORKY]

I was able to open Jojo's spreadsheet for the first time, it is important you maintain the same dose for at least 3 cycles (3 days) you want to know how the dose given is taking effect in Jojo, , we do not increase or decrease according to the glucose level I do not give dosing advice but increases and decreases are done un 0.25 units at a time, I will tag Suzanne she can assist you with ProZinc and dosing
@Suzanne & Darcy
Jojo needs dosing advice

 

[Shwayna]

I was able to open Jojo's spreadsheet for the first time, it is important you maintain the same dose for at least 3 cycles (3 days) you want to know how the dose given is taking effect in Jojo, , we do not increase or decrease according to the glucose level I do not give dosing advice but increases and decreases are done un 0.25 units at a time, I will tag Suzanne she can assist you with ProZinc and dosing
@Suzanne & Darcy
Jojo needs dosing advice

Thank you!

I increased him to 2u as his vet had asked us to yesterday. Knowing that she may be increasing the insulin units too fast makes me nervous, but I will have a very close eye on Jojo. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't actually know a lot about feline diabetes, considering she didn't explain anything about hypoglycemic events, what's considered low, how to treat a hypo event, where to go if it gets to a certain level, etc.

I only knew what to do because of this group. I may have overshot, but it was a good learning experience, and I definitely wouldn't have been able to jump into action as fast as I did if I hadn't read about hypo.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Hi all,

Quick update, Jojo's blood sugar is going up very quickly! I'm unsure if I over-corrected myself, but I'd truthfully rather have his blood sugar too high than too low. I will be contacting his vet first thing in the morning! The Libre app says he's around 140 now and still going up, and I will of course check with the Relion Premier soon. Jojo handled being pricked a lot like an absolute champ! This was my first time for a lot of things; first potential hypo event, first successful manual blood check, first major emergency in general for this chapter of diabetes. I will update later, but it seems he's improving.

As long as his blood glucose stays above 50 on your ReliOn meter he is in perfectly safe numbers. His dose should not have been increased from 1 to 2 units. If he needed an increase, the next step would be 1.25 units. If his lowest number was 68/69 (ReliOn) he was in very safe territory. I do understand what it’s like the first time you see lower numbers though.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

e. It is very reassuring knowing I don't need to give him as much food to help his blood sugar get up.

We don’t recommend giving high carb food unless the kitty drops below 50 on a human meter. And when giving HC food to raise BG, you give very small amounts. 1 tsp. Of HC gravy lovers and retest in 20 minutes. Repeat as needed. You need to keep kitty hungry so he won’t stop eating in case you need to keep administering the high carb stuff.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Please do not give Jojo 2 units again at this point. 61 is not a hypo on a human meter (not even on a Libe) but you should drop the dose to 1.25 units and hold that dose for 7 days (1.25 units both morning and evening.) Hopefully the bounce that he is currently in will prevent him from dropping low tonight.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

I was able to open Jojo's spreadsheet for the first time, it is important you maintain the same dose for at least 3 cycles (3 days) you want to know how the dose given is taking effect in Jojo, , we do not increase or decrease according to the glucose level I do not give dosing advice but increases and decreases are done un 0.25 units at a time, I will tag Suzanne she can assist you with ProZinc and dosing
@Suzanne & Darcy
Jojo needs dosing advice

@CORKY, her signature says she’s following SLGS so she will need to hold the doses for 7 days. It’s a good idea anyway for a newly diagnosed cat because his body needs to get used to the insulin. Later, we can hopefully transition Jojo to Modified ProZinc Method.

 

[Shwayna]

As long as his blood glucose stays above 50 on your ReliOn meter he is in perfectly safe numbers. His dose should not have been increased from 1 to 2 units. If he needed an increase, the next step would be 1.25 units. If his lowest number was 68/69 (ReliOn) he was in very safe territory. I do understand what it’s like the first time you see lower numbers though.

Thank you so much for clearing that up!

I definitely freaked out at that moment. I hadn't been able to actually get any blood before that event happened, and that was my first time successfully getting him to bleed. I'm far more comfortable actually pricking him, and it feels like that's helping his paw pads bleed more. It was horrifying waking up to two phones blaring the low glucose alarm, and then struggling to actually get him to bleed. It would've helped if my vet mentioned the Libre tend to be inaccurate at low numbers.

We don’t recommend giving high carb food unless the kitty drops below 50 on a human meter. And when giving HC food to raise BG, you give very small amounts. 1 tsp. Of HC gravy lovers and retest in 20 minutes. Repeat as needed. You need to keep kitty hungry so he won’t stop eating in case you need to keep administering the high carb stuff.

Okay, I'll make sure to do that if he does get under 50.

Please do not give Jojo 2 units again at this point. 61 is not a hypo on a human meter (not even on a Libe) but you should drop the dose to 1.25 units and hold that dose for 7 days (1.25 units both morning and evening.) Hopefully the bounce that he is currently in will prevent him from dropping low tonight.

I definitely won't give him 2 units again! He did get 2 units tonight, but I am honestly watching him like a hawk. The snack he got is helping him stable out slightly, but he is still going down. I can not thank you enough for all of this information and being so kind. It feels absolutely awful to know that my vet could've put my cat in severe danger by telling me to give him too much insulin. He could technically be in danger now, but I at least know what to do now.

He has one more snack after this, and I will probably stay up later than usual to continue to monitor him. Again, thank you so much! I will bring up these concerns with the vet tomorrow, and I will stand my ground against her on this.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Thank you so much for clearing that up!

I definitely freaked out at that moment. I hadn't been able to actually get any blood before that event happened, and that was my first time successfully getting him to bleed. I'm far more comfortable actually pricking him, and it feels like that's helping his paw pads bleed more. It was horrifying waking up to two phones blaring the low glucose alarm, and then struggling to actually get him to bleed. It would've helped if my vet mentioned the Libre tend to be inaccurate at low numbers.


Okay, I'll make sure to do that if he does get under 50.

I definitely won't give him 2 units again! He did get 2 units tonight, but I am honestly watching him like a hawk. The snack he got is helping him stable out slightly, but he is still going down. I can not thank you enough for all of this information and being so kind. It feels absolutely awful to know that my vet could've put my cat in severe danger by telling me to give him too much insulin. He could technically be in danger now, but I at least know what to do now.

He has one more snack after this, and I will probably stay up later than usual to continue to monitor him. Again, thank you so much! I will bring up these concerns with the vet tomorrow, and I will stand my ground against her on this.

You are doing great and have had too much excitement today! I know how scary it is. We all freak out at first.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Do you have the U-40 syringes with the half-unit markings?

 

[Shwayna]

Do you have the U-40 syringes with the half-unit markings?

Of course I don't!

I live right next to a pharmacy and I have a paper script, though. I will bring that script to them right away when they open up tomorrow. I don't want to try and guess where 1.25 is on a syringe that counts by full units, so I will just give Jojo 1 unit tomorrow morning. If the pharmacy doesn't have the half-unit marking ones, there's about 2-3 other pharmacies near me that I will go to instead.

 

[Liz & Crowley]

Here are some feeders some have chips and cameras, or both

I do just want to chime in to say that Petlibro feeder doesn't have a chip or camera. It'll let you know A cat visited your feeder, but it can't differentiate between them. They do have other feeders with chips tho.

 

[JL and Chip]

Of course I don't!

I live right next to a pharmacy and I have a paper script, though. I will bring that script to them right away when they open up tomorrow.

Most human pharmacies don’t carry u-40 insulin syringes because they’re for pet-specific insulins (such as Prozinc). Instead, they carry u-100 insulin syringes, which is the concentration of human insulins.

You might want to call the pharmacies first to see if they carry u-40s. There might be a few human pharmacies that carry them, but that’s typically an exception.

To get u-40s, you can order online or get from a vet clinic or possibly a pet store.

For what it’s worth, you can use u-100 insulin syringes with a u-40 insulin but it requires a conversion chart. It’s probably best to leave that for later, when you have a bit more experience.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Okay. Just make sure you get U-40 syringes for ProZinc and not the regular U-100 ones that are used for human insulin.

 

[Shwayna]

Okay. Just make sure you get U-40 syringes for ProZinc and not the regular U-100 ones that are used for human insulin.

Thank you!

Jojo seemed to be quite stable last night. Those two meals at +2 and +4 did really help out. I'm still going to bring up the concern with my vet, but I thought I'd just give an update with how he did throughout the night!

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Amazon sells these. I have used them before.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

The UltiCare ones. I have never ordered the other ones, but UltiCare is a decent brand.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Thank you!

Jojo seemed to be quite stable last night. Those two meals at +2 and +4 did really help out. I'm still going to bring up the concern with my vet, but I thought I'd just give an update with how he did throughout the night!

Yes. That’s because Jojo is bouncing.

It’s a good time to talk about bouncing. High numbers do not necessarily mean more insulin is required.

A bounce is where the cat's body reacts to lower numbers that he is not used to being in anymore... since becoming diabetic. It's a protective mechanism where the cat's central nervous system perceives either a steep drop in blood glucose or simply the cat being in lower numbers - and it releases adrenaline, cortisol, glucagons and growth hormone, all of which create insulin resistance and can keep numbers high for up to six cycles (the bounce). Bounces don't have to last that long, but in some cats they do. Over time, many cats will start to clear the bounces more quickly. When the bounce does clear, the BG numbers will come back down and give us an accurate picture of what a dose is doing for the cat.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

In other words…. Don’t let your vet tell you that the high numbers of last night mean you need to increase the dose.

If Jojo were my kitty, I would hold the 1 unit dose for 7 days (while I ordered the syringes with half unit markings.) It doesn’t pay to rush the process at all. Then I would look at the numbers and reassess.

Now if you have special circumstances like a history of DKA or high ketones, we can make adjustments a little more quickly.

 

[Shwayna]

In other words…. Don’t let your vet tell you that the high numbers of last night mean you need to increase the dose.

If Jojo were my kitty, I would hold the 1 unit dose for 7 days (while I ordered the syringes with half unit markings.) It doesn’t pay to rush the process at all. Then I would look at the numbers and reassess.

Now if you have special circumstances like a history of DKA or high ketones, we can make adjustments a little more quickly.

I do know Jojo had 1.2 ketones on 8/26/2026. The vet didn't re-check them last time I took him (a day ago) even though I had put in that request. I, of course, was not told that ketones were really a thing. She showed very mild concern, but didn't say to retest at home. I am going to order some test strips, and thankfully I can get them today. I'll just have to figure out how to actually get pee on the strips.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

After my cat had a DKA and spent a week in the hospital, I bought a blood ketone meter. It’s used the same way as a handheld glucometer, but with different test strips.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

The urine strips are fine though, if you can get a sample. I preferred to not have to stalk my cat to the litter box and also to have a numerical value for the ketones and not wonder about the color of the test strip. I am not super concerned about 1.2, but it is good to know if it goes higher than that. You will find that ketones fluctuate throughout the day. Higher BG usually means higher ketones. They generally come down when the BG gets lower.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

I have to drive now. Please post over on the ProZinc forum so I can help you there.