Feeling overwhelmed (3 months into diabetes diagnosis)

Hello everyone. I'm here to talk about my sweet angel Tiger who is 13 years old that I have had since she was a kitten. I am 26 years old and live alone and have just recently gotten a diagnosis of diabetes for her in October after finding she had a UTI and her fructosamine level was very elevated. I had started the Lantus Solostar pen (which im still using) back when getting the diagnosis and it has been quite the experience. My vet had started us on 2 units x2 a day (7a/7pm), which didn't work initially (levels were high). Then to 3 units x2 a day, levels were too low. Went to 2.5 units, levels still too low. I sent her off to the vet for the whole day about 2 weeks ago for a glucose curve, gave her 2 units before dropping her off and her levels were in the 400's all day. So they advised me to go back to 3. With the holidays and scheduling, I wasn't able to get her back into the vet for almost 11 days and in that time I noticed strange behavior. *mind you, this whole time I was NOT checking glucoses at home per my vets advice. I am a registered NICU nurse and due to her weird behavior and disinterest in eating, I felt like her dose of 3 was causing her to be too low and I stopped giving it to her for 2 days. Then had my appointment. My vet transparently said that he is a little stumped on what to do with her and we came to an agreement to maybe try 3 units once a day (still not checking glucoses @ home, every time they check at the vet she's either like 50 or 300). Well, this weekend was terrible. She was having a lot of vomiting and started having diarrhea, but was still eating/drinking.. I took her in to get checked at an urgent vet yesterday (Saturday 1/3) and her vitals were stable, glucose was 390 (mind you I held her insulin because due to the increased vomiting I didn't want her hypoglycemic) and her ketone level was 0.8. I took her home on advice to just feed her boiled chicken and pumpkin to help with the upset stomach, which I did and it seemed to help. I stopped at walmart on my way back from the urgent vet and got the ReliOn Premier Blu glucose monitor with 28g lancets and strips. I took her glucose at home about maybe 1.5 hours after her check at the vet and it was 322. I've been reading a lot of articles about pet vs human glucose monitors and decided to use the human glucose monitor due to finances. This has been an incredibly expensive journey for me and am trying to give my baby the best care but also not put myself in a hole. Well, fast forward to today.. I decided to do an at home glucose curve to see how she is doing since I worry the one done at the vet may have been inaccurate due to her stress levels and hating the vet. It was as follows:
7:30 AM: BG 304, gave 2 units of insulin and fed her food.
9:30 AM: BG 239
11:30 AM: BG 62, recheck 66
1:30 PM: BG 63 *switched to hourly due to #*
2:30 PM: BG 60
3:30 PM: BG 61 *spaced back out to 2 due to stability*
5:30 PM: BG 67

@7:30PM, I'm not sure what to do with the number I get. I have been trying to read up as much as I can.. I am torn between not giving her a dose, maybe giving her 1 unit at night, or the 2... I know I cant check her blood sugar every single day with each dose because her poor ears are going to be so sore.

SO with that, I guess here are my few questions.
1: With the Lantus pen - what needles should I buy to enable me to get .25/.5 doses? Also, on the days I work, I have no choice but to give her her morning dose around 6AM and don't get home til close to 8 around her night dose. I don't know if that is adding to the problem but I have no better option.
2: This ReliOn monitor.. I'm a little confused on what her BG is more accurately sitting at. If she's been sitting primarily in the 60's on the ReliOn.. is that more realistically saying shes like 80 or 90?
3: Food.. I currently give her (and her sister) prescription purina DM wet food, I split one can between the both of them at 7a/7p. They recently havent been interested in it as much. I found a website that has low carb wet foods listed on there, does anyone feed their cats these things outside of prescription DM food? Here is the website: Cat Food Database . I also try to leave out dry kibble for them to graze on through the day. I am gone for 12 hour shifts 3 times a week, and I worry if I leave them with nothing that is not good (I am so worried about hypoglycemia). I ordered this kibble: Young Again Pet Food (currently use the prescription dry purina DM, but they won't eat it anymore).
4: I'll take any advice. I am so stressed over this it's really affecting my personal and professional life. I feel like I'm doing all the wrong things and my vet is SO kind but not being incredibly helpful. TIA....


Alivia (I attached a pic of my baby Tiger)

aliviuh said:

SO with that, I guess here are my few questions.
1: With the Lantus pen - what needles should I buy to enable me to get .25/.5 doses? Also, on the days I work, I have no choice but to give her her morning dose around 6AM and don't get home til close to 8 around her night dose. I don't know if that is adding to the problem but I have no better option.

Click to expand...

You want 3/10 cc with half unit markings. There are no syringes that measure 0.25 units (although someone on the board a very very long time ago claimed to have gotten some pediatric insulin syringes that measure 0.25 units but wouldn't give any more detail than that so ) so you just eyeball in between the half unit and whole unit line markings.



Lantus needs to be dosed every 12 hours. @Sienne and Gabby (GA) and @Wendy&Neko might have suggestions on dosing for your schedule.

2: This ReliOn monitor.. I'm a little confused on what her BG is more accurately sitting at. If she's been sitting primarily in the 60's on the ReliOn.. is that more realistically saying shes like 80 or 90?

Click to expand...

What you get on the Relion is accurate enough.

Cat ears will heal just fine. Hold a tissue to the ear to stop and bleeding and minimize bruising. A lower depth setting on the lancet device may help, too.

Hometesting Links and Tips

3: Food.. I currently give her (and her sister) prescription purina DM wet food, I split one can between the both of them at 7a/7p. They recently havent been interested in it as much. I found a website that has low carb wet foods listed on there, does anyone feed their cats these things outside of prescription DM food? Here is the website: Cat Food Database . I also try to leave out dry kibble for them to graze on through the day. I am gone for 12 hour shifts 3 times a week, and I worry if I leave them with nothing that is not good (I am so worried about hypoglycemia). I ordered this kibble: Young Again Pet Food (currently use the prescription dry purina DM, but they won't eat it anymore).

Click to expand...

Yes, most US members use that Catinfo.org chart. Any food under 10% carbs is best for diabetics and your non-diabetic can also eat the same food. Fancy Feast Classic / Gourmet pates are popular and inexpensive but there are many other brands.

Do keep some higher carb food on hand to use in case your cat hypos. You'll want some medium carb food (11% to 15% carbs) and higher carb (15%+). Gravy based foods like the Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers are high carb. Honey / corn syrup / cake frosting / pancake syrup works in a pinch but the effect doesn't last too long.

Sticky - How to treat HYPOS - THEY CAN KILL! Print this Out!!
Sticky - jojo and bunny's HYPO TOOL BOX

Most members use a programmable timed feeder to provide a couple of canned food snacks for their diabetic cat all day. Diabetic cats need to snack in between meals, much like how Human diabetics snack on healthy things between meals. It keeps blood glucose levels stable. You may need two feeders, one for each cat, or use a microchip feeder so the non diabetic can't eat all the food.

Dry food is not good for any diabetics. Kind of like a Human diabetic snacking on french fries and frosted covered cupcakes. If you have to feed something crunchy, air dried raw and freeze dried raw are healthier low carb alternatives to regular dry food. Young Again and Dr. Elsey's are the only two suggested "good" dry foods for a diabetic but some cats are super sensitive to carbs and a small amount of regular dry can keep glucose levels too high.

4: I'll take any advice. I am so stressed over this it's really affecting my personal and professional life. I feel like I'm doing all the wrong things and my vet is SO kind but not being incredibly helpful. TIA....

Click to expand...

There's lots of good info here: Health Links / FAQs about Feline Diabetes

The Lantus stickies are also a good read to understand how the insulin works: Lantus / Levemir / Biosimilars

Hi Alivia and welcome,

First of all breathe. It gets better i promise.
You already got aome really got advice from squeem3 so that's a good start plus I'll tag few members to also have a look.
If you could also share your location (Us, Canada UK?) with us that would help with location specific advice.

1. You already got syringe advice so I'll skip that question.
2. With human meters they usually read a little lower than pet meter and a normal range for a cat on a human meter is between 50-120. Anything below 50 we're starting to look for signs of hypo. Get yourself a hypo kit. There's a sticky on that.
3. Food wise most members feed fancy feast pate (nothing with gravy) cause it's low carb, cheap and readily available world wide. Get yourself those auto feeders for wet food especially since you're working 12hr shifts. You should also feed your kitty few times a day. Smaller meals rather than 2 big meals a day. Here is where the auto feeder comes in handy.
That prescription DM purina food (both wet and dry) is still a bit higher, carb wise, than what we want to feed our kitties.
4. Don't worry. We've all been there before. And now we're here for you. My head was spinning at the beginning as well. And we all feel overwhelmed at some point.

I'll tag few more members to help you out. In the meantime take a break, breathe and try not to let this run your life.
@Wendy&Neko @tiffmaxee @Sienne and Gabby (GA) @Christie & Maverick

Thank you both SO much for the advice. I am so glad I came across you guys. I was able to start a spreadsheet (I think) which I am looking forward to using. Are there any recommendations on a good automatic wet feeder to use? I have two cats so I would assume I'll have to get two for them. I will definitely get those things for hypoglycemia episodes - thank you for sharing that. Are these syringes appropriate? I can't seem to find ones with half unit markings that are 12.7mmx29g. Thank you thank you.

EDIT: I am in the U.S.

For auto feeders something like this. You can get it on amazon. Maybe chewy as well but not sure.
And yes since you have 2 kitties you would need 2 of them. And ensure youre non-diabetic (civvie) cat eats the same thing.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CGWZWG9C?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0C9GR82P1?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20

Also try and create a signature as well as that contains basic info and it helps members answer questions.

For syringes something like that but maybe US members can advise you where to get them the cheapest

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08DP5KH8G?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20

You don't need pet specific syringes. Human ones work just fine. I use these. Needle length and gauge are preference. You can buy insulin syringes from Amazon with no prescription. Some diabetic supply web sites and even Chewy may ask for a doctor's phone number, it depends on what your state laws are for syringes.

Some people use the Libro feeder that has a smart cooling feature. A review here: https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...libro-polar-wet-food-feeder-read-this.302714/

Catmate is a popular brand of non-fancy feeders. I use a Petsafe 5 compartment feeder.

Canned food is fine to leave out in a feeder all day, even a non-fancy feeder.

Hello and welcome. Sorry you had to learn the hard way why we are such fans of both home testing, and starting on lower doses and working our way up.

I do recommend reading the Sticky Notes on top of the Lantus forum, as mentioned above. The one on Insulin and Syringes has a list of suggested syringes with links. I personally preferred the 31g ones to the 29g needles.

This post tells you what information we like to see in the signature in addition to the signature.

You can test ketones at home your self, when you can catch her in the litter box, with Ketostix or equivalent. Much cheaper than a vet visit. Tips to catch and test a urine sample There are also blood ketones meters should urine testing prove too difficult.

Getting tired of the expensive DM wet food is a common experience here. Find something commercially available that she likes that is low carb. An all wet food diet is best. If you feed the YA, add it slowly to the diet, GI upset is not uncommon.

As long as you feed dry food, you'd have to follow the Start Low Go Slow dosing method. We would have suggested starting at 1.0 units. I wouldn't give 2 units tonight, her numbers today say her insulin dose needs to be lowered.

Hi! Thanks for all this helpful information. I ended up holding the insulin dose tonight (it’s been a long weekend of managing her vomiting/diarrhea symptoms at home) and I plan on taking her to the vet first thing in the AM. Of course she finally started eating around 9pm (I should’ve just gave her 1 unit)..I spot checked her at 10:30pm before going to bed now and it was 236. Blah. Going to try again in the AM… considering doing 1.5 units and seeing how she does through the day but also to note the vet visit will probably skew her #’s

I will add more info to my signature once I’m back at my computer tomorrow

Relion also has a line of inexpensive insulin syringes. There's a picture of the box you want in this old thread New. Need help with insulin does

You'll need a prescription to buy these at Walmart. I don't think you can buy these from Walmart's web site.