Feb 19, 2026 New member introduction

Sebbie

Sebbie

Member Since 2026
Hi all,
My name is Sam and I've been perusing this forum for quite a while without making an account. It's been such a place of reassurance and valuable research since our cat Sebastian/Sebbie was diagnosed last February with diabetes. It has been a bit of an overwhelming journey that has started to settle some as we've gotten used to syringes, lances, appointments, and scheduling everything.

Sebastian was started on 2 units lantus twice a day, and we were so hopeful because he had a checkup at the vet just five months prior where he had bloodwork that looked great. But his dosage slowly but steadily increased to 7 units twice a day with no effect on his BG values. At that point we would do pre-shot checks and at-home curves every one to two weeks before increasing the dose. We were referred to a specialist in May 2025 to figure out what was going on, and blood tests confirmed acromegaly in June 2025. Thankfully, we were able to afford radiation therapy for him in August, so we proceeded with that, and now he actually responds to insulin! He was reduced to 5 units last september, and now he is at 3 units today based on libre 3 CGM values that were shared with his specialist. It's honestly so amazing to see him respond to insulin.

We've also been dealing with some sort of small bowel disease that requires a biopsy to diagnose it as cancer or IBD, and we just can't afford the tests currently. The vet also wants to first do an abdominal ultrasound, and he would also require a visit with the cardiologist before he could go under anesthesia for the biopsy, as bloodwork has indicated his heart may have been affected by the acromegaly. He was originally diagnosed with diabetes after bringing him in due to rapid weight loss, and still struggles to maintain weight despite having a strong appetite. He previously was having issues with vomiting and diarhea, but since we removed seafood from his diet and added 1/2 tsp psyllium husk powder 2x a day, both of those symptoms have stopped. He currently eats mostly FF pate with a little bit of Young Again zero crunchies. He also gets probiotics and a B12 supplement once a day since bloodwork last month showed he has low B12, and bloodwork last year and last month showed dysbiosis/bacterial imbalance in his gut.

Other than that, I really was interested in the spreadsheet here, since I wanted to keep a better log of his numbers and symptoms. We use the libre 3 CGM from time to time and I keep notes of his spot-checks and at-home ear poke curves but it's just all over the place. The spreadsheet looks great and I'm looking forward to having all of his info in one place.
 
Welcome to FDMB
I am sorry Sebastian is not feeling well, it is overwhelming counting with FD, but you are in the right place, I will tag a member that can assist you with all these medical concerns, she is very knowledgeable with feline illnesses plus she can also assist you with dosing, is great you are home testing, you are using a good insulin for cats, Lantus is a 12 hour insulin and easy on Sebastians system, What are you feeding? Diabetic cats need to have a diet of wet can or raw foods between 0-10% carbs, cats cannot digest carbs, is also important for a feeding schedule and several meals/snack during the day about 3-4 times a day to keep the insulin Depot plus the main meals before shots. Grazing is not a good idea, and kibbles, any dry foods or the so called diabetic foods, they are very high in carbs anywhere between 20-30% carbs, good job on the SS, just for reference, most members use the ReliOn Premier monitor and strips (Walmart) or any human meter, the strips for the Alpha are quite expensive, and the BG numbers in comparison are basically the same, the Alpha does read a bit higher. We are here for you please continue to post your concerns 🤗
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
 
Welcome to FDMB!

I'm tagging @Wendy&Neko -- she's a wealth of knowledge regarding acromegaly.

With regard to Sebastian's GI issues, a biopsy is the best way to diagnose what's going on. Until you're able to finance the procedure, had you given any thought to putting your cat on a diet of novel proteins? If this is IBD, novel proteins will help. You may have addressed the problem by eliminating seafood but it can't hurt to shift over to a different diet. Think about low carb (under 10%) food that includes venison, bison, rabbit, etc. that may not have been a part of your cat's typical food. Either canned or raw food is best. This is a site that I like for IBD kitties.
 
Thank you for the welcome :)

To add more info on his diet, currently he gets canned fancy feast pate: beef, chicken, or the beef and chicken flavors and a small amount of zero carb kibble that has hydrolyzed pork and chicken as the main ingredients (this is mostly because it helped us to switch over to the pates a while back, originally he was not eating enough calories from wet food and it's a calorie-dense option, and it's put in a puzzle feeder to offer some enrichment).

The fancy feast pates that he gets are all low carb (below 10%) according to the wet food cat chart that we found on the forums here. I want to say they're between 3-5% carb, but it's been a hot second since I did that research. He has been on the fancy feast pates since around last August, we were experimenting with other low carb options prior to that. We removed the seafood in November. He currently gets two main meals a day when we administer his insulin, which is due to vet advice and because we've been traveling a lot lately- we wanted him to be used to two meals for the sitter.

I might start giving him a midday snack again now that we're not expecting to travel for a while.

I have been considering a novel protein diet to see if that helps him out, but I'm a little bit reluctant since he has been really picky and sensitive about food in the past. But now I'm tempted to try a couple of options. Thanks for the link to feeding cats with IBD, I'll be sure to check it out!

The alpha strips are sooo expensive! We were just talking about using a human meter, and we even have a couple because my partner is also diabetic. And the money just kind of adds up with all of the food, treatments, supplements, supplies, etc.
 
You are so right! In that case, stick to the human meter!! Good you are feeding low carbs between 0-10% however is important to also feed several small meals or snacks during the day to keep the insulin in check
 
Some people who can't afford diagnostic testing for GI issues just treat their cat as if they have IBD or other GI issues. Many cats with GI issues can't eat common proteins like chicken and beef. Try eliminating these from the diet to see if there's any improvement. It'll take at least a couple of weeks to see. Novel proteins like rabbit and lamb and vension are good to try. Some GI issue cats are ok with turkey and duck but others aren't. Fillers like gums and veggies often don't agree with GI cats. A bland novel protein food is best to feed. None of the big name brands have novel proteins (Fancy Feast, Friskies, etc) so you'll need to look for brands like Koha or Rawz. A local independent pet store will have these brands and more or you can see if the company has online ordering and an auto delivery service. Chewy sells Koha so that's another option.

Home cooked and raw are also options. I feed my diabetic who has IBD a commercially available freeze dried raw in rabbit.

IBDKitties – Helping Save Lives…One Paw at a Time

A suggestion on diabetic supplies since you mention your partner being diabetic: New member Introduction 02/17/26
 
Double check the ingredients label on the Fancy Feast. A lot of the ones labelled chicken or turkey still have fish in them. GI conditions are fairly common in acros. Neko heart condition was bad enough she couldn't get anesthesia needed for a biopsy to differentiate between IBD and small cell lymphoma. The two conditions are treated differently, so it is good to know what you are dealing with.

I do agree that when you can swing it, an echocardiogram is a good idea. So many acros have heart conditions and they can be hard to detect by symptoms.

Out of curiosity, where did you have the radiation therapy done? Was it SRT?
 
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