Introduction of Coupurr

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Betty F.

Member Since 2026
Sending a warm “hello” to everyone! I am Introducing myself and my kitty. I’m Betty and my precious little kitty is Coupurr. We reside in the SF Bay Area of CA.
A newborn Coupurr and her sister were found on hot blacktop parking lot in May 2015. They were actively being attacked and pecked upon by crows. My husband drove off the crows and collected the little newborn girls. He phoned ahead me so I’d have fresh supplies upon their arrival. I’ve raised many newborn orphan kitties, but these girls were in rough condition. But we made it! Coupurr is now just over 11 years old and after a very rough start to life has always been physically healthy. In April 2026, I saw symptoms that made me believe she had diabetes. DX was confirmed by labs. I’ve had 4 other diabetic cats in the past years. All were brought into full remission with food. We attempted food control with Coupurr but her numbers simply would not adequately respond.
So we (vet) decided to discuss insulin and other options after the July 4th holiday. On July 2 she became sick. And unfortunately it was the dreaded DKA. She was hospitalized on 7-2-26 with a level of 2.8. She was released after 4 days at 2.1 level. Then she had additional complication and went back into the hospital the next day for another day and half. She was put on Lantus insulin and now has a libre 3 plus CGM. I have cared for several of my friends cats with stable insulin dependent diabetes. But Coupurr has been different. We have not been able to get control of the numbers and are struggling. So we are very happy to be here for support and suggestions as we attempt to make our way to a stable place for my sweet kitty Coupurr. Thank you for taking the time!

Betty and Coupurr
 
Welcome! I'm so sorry that Coupurr has been so sick but I'm happy you made it here to the right place! When I adopted Moonie, she had been poorly regulated for 1.5 years and the shelter made her sound like a hospice case. We found our way here and we found so much support. While remission is not likely in the cards for us, she's a happy and healthy girl and her diabetes is pretty well regulated - all thanks to this community. We would never have been able to imagine getting normal blood glucose numbers before we joined FDMB.

I hope (and know) you'll find the same love, support, and guidance that we did!
 
Here's a post that is a good read to start: New? How You Can Help Us Help You! Since you have the Libre on, you do have plenty of blood sugar data. If you could put some of the data in a spreadsheet, we'll be able to help you getting her into better regulation.

Have you used Lantus with cats before? There is a lot of information in the yellow Sticky Notes at the top of the Lantus forum that can help if not, or even read as a refresher.

Are you home testing her for ketones now? She on any medications? How is her appetite? What is she eating now? The link above lists some of the answers to those questions that we like seeing in your signature - so we don't have to keep asking.
 
Thank you for your reply. I have reviewed the recommended reading. I have never used lantus insulin before. I have purchased a keto mojo keytone meter but have not deployed it as of yet. Keytones will be checked today. She is on no other medication except insulin. Appetite is constantly very good. Diet is currently purina DM canned exclusively.
We are struggling here in every aspect. Right now we are having an ongoing issue on disappearing insulin after injection. A few times a week and sometimes on back to back dosing we are not seeing insulin activity on the libre after dosing. It’s as if she never received the dose all. This sometimes happens with back to back injections and the elevated BG levels are scaring me. Is there an explanation for this? I am shooting into a shaved area so it not disappearing into the fur. This is my immediate concern she has been without detectable insulin activity for 24 hours now.
 
Lantus works differently than most of the other insulins. It's a long acting, depot-type of insulin. With only a few exceptions, most of the other insulins are shorter acting and other than Levemir which is no longer available in the US, none are depot drugs. What that translates to is that it can take 5 - 7 days for Lantus to initially establish the insulin depot and it takes a few days for any change in dose to be effective -- the dose needs to stabilize. Basically, any injection of Lantus forms microcrystals that are deposited in the fat tissue. Most of those crystals dissolve over the 12+ hour cycle. However, not all of the crystals fully dissolve thereby creating a "depot" which gradually dissolves and gives Lantus its long duration. Shorter acting insulin doesn't have the same duration -- it's gone after 8 hours or so which causes wide swings in blood glucose levels and it can drop blood glucose numbers hard and fast. It's for this reason that the American Animal Hospital Assn recommends only Lantus and Prozinc for treating feline diabetes.

And, as you're finding out, Lantus teaches us all patience! Being able to see a spreadsheet with Coupurr's progress will also help us to better understand what you're seeing.
 
Thank you for your reply. Most of the time I can detect the insulin dosage in 1-3 hours on the libre 3 and sometimes I can not. This normal?
 
You don't need the Purina DM, canned or wet. There's nothing in the food that helps diabetic cats and it's expensive. Feed it for now while you look into other foods to feed and slowly transition over.

The food charts are here:

Links to FOOD CHARTS
Glutenfree - Felinediabetes.com
Cat Food As-Fed Chart

Any canned food under 10% carbs is good for diabetics. Fancy Feast Classic / Gourmet pates are good and inexpensive. There are many other brands to feed.

Keep some medium (11% to 15%) and higher carb (15%+) food on hand to use in case of a low blood glucose levels.

Blood glucose levels vary all the time. With cats sometimes you give insulin and you see little to no effect on blood glucose levels all day but on another day the same dose of insulin might mean scuba diving time. It's just cats doing their own thing🤪
 
Thank you for your reply. Love the term “scuba diving” but I sure don’t love going scuba diving. We’ve been there and done that a few times. Lately I feel like I am scuba diving without a tank. I feel like I’m completely failing my sweet girl. I’m overwhelmed, exhausted, frustrated and scared all of the time.
I do have multiple levels of carb food here just for that purpose as well as corn syrup on hand. I also am only serving my entire clan low carb/ no carb food options using Young’s zero dry food, but Coupurr stopped eating dry 6 weeks ago and I’m ok with her eating exclusively wet. We attempted BG control by food, but her numbers would not come in compliance. So I have lots of the over the counter low carb/no carb options already on hand. Yes, DM is crazy expensive, but she is eating it well. I plan to add the other options back after we some level of control.
 
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