New Diagnosis

adrianaa

adrianaa

Member Since 2026
Hi everyone! My name is Adriana and my 8 year old cat Lola just was diagnosed with diabetes 3 days ago. I could really use some help with dosing her insulin correctly. I just started giving her glargine today her first dose was 2 units in the morning at the vet. The vet advised me that I didn’t need to check her glucose levels at home but after reading on this forum I decided it would be best. I checked her glucose and it was 127 before feeding. I’m supposed to give her another 2 units after feeding but I feel like 127 isn’t high enough to give her those 2 units tonight. Am I supposed to wait 30 minutes after feeding her and recheck her glucose levels and see if it warrants 2 units? I’m sorry if this isn’t the correct way to post this, I’m new to this and could really use any tips to help my cat. Please and thank you.
 
Update: I waited around 30-40 minutes after feeding her and her level was 114. I’m very confused and am wondering if maybe the 2 units in the morning was enough? I will be checking her levels again in the AM before feeding her to see what she’s at. I’m glad I held off on giving her the insulin. Any advice would be appreciated please!
 
adrianaa said:
Update: I waited around 30-40 minutes after feeding her and her level was 114. I’m very confused and am wondering if maybe the 2 units in the morning was enough? I will be checking her levels again in the AM before feeding her to see what she’s at. I’m glad I held off on giving her the insulin. Any advice would be appreciated please!
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Hi & welcome. You did the right thing not giving the 2 units tonight. 2units is a lot for a starting dose I'm not supposed to give dosing advice because you don't have a spreadsheet but you are new here. Someone will come along & give you the links for our spreadsheet & signature that you will need to have. I'm not computer savvy so I had help with my spreadsheet.
Make sure you test in the morning before giving insulin & if kitty is still that low or lower ask for advice & add the 911 tab to your post. Did your kitty have ketones when diagnosed? What kind of food are you feeding? Usually with a newly diagnosed kitty the starting dose is 0.5 to 1 unit in the am & pm.
 
adrianaa said:
Hi everyone! My name is Adriana and my 8 year old cat Lola just was diagnosed with diabetes 3 days ago. I could really use some help with dosing her insulin correctly. I just started giving her glargine today her first dose was 2 units in the morning at the vet. The vet advised me that I didn’t need to check her glucose levels at home but after reading on this forum I decided it would be best. I checked her glucose and it was 127 before feeding. I’m supposed to give her another 2 units after feeding but I feel like 127 isn’t high enough to give her those 2 units tonight. Am I supposed to wait 30 minutes after feeding her and recheck her glucose levels and see if it warrants 2 units? I’m sorry if this isn’t the correct way to post this, I’m new to this and could really use any tips to help my cat. Please and thank you.
Click to expand...
In the future you stall don't feed & test again in 30mins. If kitty is still to low or lower like Lola was you stall again & test in 30mins. You can continue to do this but it will push your shot time back to when you actually give it. I think 2 units is way to much for her
 
2 units twice a day is an awfully huge dose for most cats to start with. FDMB recommends no more than 1 unit twice a day to start with unless your cat also has ketones or other health issues.

Blindly giving insulin without testing the blood glucose levels is dangerous. Human diabetics always test themselves before giving insulin and frequently in between doses to keep themselves safe. Cats are no different. Vets have various reasons why they don't like clients to test: it harms the cat, it's not accurate, etc etc. It's fine to ignore the vet about testing. Are you using a Human blood glucose meter or a pet one?

Newbies are generally advised to not give insulin if the cat is at 150 mg/dl or less. You can wait half an hour and re-test. If levels go up over 150 you can give the insulin. If it drops or doesn't change, post here on FDMB if you can for advice or just skip insulin.

Here's some info on using Lantus:

Sticky - Dosing Methods: Start Low, Go Slow (SLGS) & Tight Regulation (TR)
Sticky - Insulin Care & Syringe Info: Proper Handling, Drawing, Fine Dosing
Sticky - What is the Insulin Depot?
Sticky - Don't Panic! or How to Handle Low Numbers

What are you feeding your cat? Diet is an important part of managing the diabetes, just like it is for Humans. Low carb canned food is best for cats. Prescription food is not needed at all despite what your vet may say. Freeze dried meat or seafood treats are best as is plain cooked chicken.

Links to FOOD CHARTS
Cat Food As-Fed Chart
 
Chrispooky12 said:
Hi & welcome. You did the right thing not giving the 2 units tonight. 2units is a lot for a starting dose I'm not supposed to give dosing advice because you don't have a spreadsheet but you are new here. Someone will come along & give you the links for our spreadsheet & signature that you will need to have. I'm not computer savvy so I had help with my spreadsheet.
Make sure you test in the morning before giving insulin & if kitty is still that low or lower ask for advice & add the 911 tab to your post. Did your kitty have ketones when diagnosed? What kind of food are you feeding? Usually with a newly diagnosed kitty the starting dose is 0.5 to 1 unit in the am & pm.
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Hello thank you so much for your advice!! I tested her again this morning before her breakfast and she was at 346. Right now she’s on the hills science urinary hairball control dry food and the fancy feast wet food. I like to mix them both together and feed her once in the morning and once at night. However the vet did prescribe her the Purina diabetic cat food that I have ordered and is set to arrive tomorrow. Lola did not have ketones present when she did her senior cat panel her glucose was at 403. I fed her breakfast this morning after checking her levels and felt it was okay to give her the 2 unit dose. I have been keeping track of her glucose readings so I will for sure transfer it over to the spreadsheet thank you so much.
 
Chrispooky12 said:
In the future you stall don't feed & test again in 30mins. If kitty is still to low or lower like Lola was you stall again & test in 30mins. You can continue to do this but it will push your shot time back to when you actually give it. I think 2 units is way to much for her
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for the advice I will be calling her ver first thing Monday when they open and tell them I think 2 units is too much for her! I did already give her 2 units for today but im going to be watching and monitoring her. Yesterday she did fine with the 2 units so I’m hopeful it will be okay.
 
Get a few random blood glucose checks today if you can. The Lantus depot hasn't built up yet but it's still possible for your cat to drop too low. Do you have a corn syrup or honey on hand to use in case of a hypo? Sometimes a cat will not show typical hypo symptoms (staggering around, excessive meowing, lethargy, etc). Hypo levels is considered anything under 60.

You should put together a hypo kit:

Sticky - How to treat HYPOS - THEY CAN KILL! Print this Out!!
Sticky - jojo and bunny's HYPO TOOL BOX
 
squeem3 said:
2 units twice a day is an awfully huge dose for most cats to start with. FDMB recommends no more than 1 unit twice a day to start with unless your cat also has ketones or other health issues.

Blindly giving insulin without testing the blood glucose levels is dangerous. Human diabetics always test themselves before giving insulin and frequently in between doses to keep themselves safe. Cats are no different. Vets have various reasons why they don't like clients to test: it harms the cat, it's not accurate, etc etc. It's fine to ignore the vet about testing. Are you using a Human blood glucose meter or a pet one?

Newbies are generally advised to not give insulin if the cat is at 150 mg/dl or less. You can wait half an hour and re-test. If levels go up over 150 you can give the insulin. If it drops or doesn't change, post here on FDMB if you can for advice or just skip insulin.

Here's some info on using Lantus:

Sticky - Dosing Methods: Start Low, Go Slow (SLGS) & Tight Regulation (TR)
Sticky - Insulin Care & Syringe Info: Proper Handling, Drawing, Fine Dosing
Sticky - What is the Insulin Depot?
Sticky - Don't Panic! or How to Handle Low Numbers

What are you feeding your cat? Diet is an important part of managing the diabetes, just like it is for Humans. Low carb canned food is best for cats. Prescription food is not needed at all despite what your vet may say. Freeze dried meat or seafood treats are best as is plain cooked chicken.

Links to FOOD CHARTS
Cat Food As-Fed Chart
Click to expand...
Hello! I purchased a human reader from Amazon. The contour next gen. I read good reviews on it and I couldn’t afford to get a pet reader because the strips are so expensive! I currently feed her the hills science urinary hairball dry food and the fancy feast wet food. She was prescribed Purina pro diabetic cat food so I ordered that and it’s set to arrive tomorrow. I would love to order her some treats that she can eat! Thank you for the links and the advice anything is appreciated.
squeem3 said:
Get a few random blood glucose checks today if you can. The Lantus depot hasn't built up yet but it's still possible for your cat to drop too low. Do you have a corn syrup or honey on hand to use in case of a hypo? Sometimes a cat will not show typical hypo symptoms (staggering around, excessive meowing, lethargy, etc). Hypo levels is considered anything under 60.

You should put together a hypo kit:

Sticky - How to treat HYPOS - THEY CAN KILL! Print this Out!!
Sticky - jojo and bunny's HYPO TOOL BOX
Click to expand...
I have regular honey at home yes! I will check her levels again throughout the day and make sure she doesn’t drop too low. Thank you so much!
 
The Contour is just fine. Pet meters are too expensive. Are you in the US? Many people use the Relion brand of meters that is sold at Walmart because it's super affordable. Test strips are like less than a dollar each.

If you can get your cat completely off the dry food, that will help blood glucose levels. A diet change is a bit tricky while the cat is on insulin because you need to be testing often. The 2 units twice a day may turn out to be too much. Go slow the the diet change.

See if you can return the diabetic food once it arrives. There's nothing in the ingredient list or formulation that makes it any better than Fancy Feast or any other commercial canned food.

Fancy Feast Classic / Gourmet pates are just fine to feed. Here's a quick list: Glutenfree - Felinediabetes.com Take a look at the food charts for other brands you can feed. Anything under 10% carbs is good. Do keep some higher carb food on hand (11% to 15% medium carb and 15% + high carb) to use in case of a hypo. Honey works in a pinch but the effect doesn't last too long.

Some people choose to feed a raw or home cooked diet to their diabetic cat.

Any brand of freeze dried treats are good. PureBites is one popular brand and there are many, many others. Just look for a treat that only contains 100% meat or seafood. I currently give my cat these freeze dried minnow treats: https://www.chewy.com/totally-hookd-minnow-dehydrated-dog/dp/3853886?utm_campaign=Impact_2095213 He's had Northwest Naturals treats before.

Tip: sometimes a company makes the exact same treat for dogs and cats but sell them separately at different prices and in slightly different bags. Buy the dog treats instead of the cat ones. The dog treat bag is larger and sometimes the treats are larger which you can easily break up into pieces. The dog treats usually aren't that much more than the cat ones.

If you're cooking chicken or other meat for yourself, cut off a piece and poach it in plain water until cooked. Shred the meat and offer it as treats. Freeze leftovers for later use. The cooking liquid can be frozen and used to add extra moisture to canned food.
 
Do you have any recommendations for a high carb food to keep on hand in case she has a low? I will for sure be looking into returning the Purina prescribed food and keeping her on fancy feast.
 
adrianaa said:
Do you have any recommendations for a high carb food to keep on hand in case she has a low? I will for sure be looking into returning the Purina prescribed food and keeping her on fancy feast.
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Any canned food over 15% carbs is considered high carb. I think some of the Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers foods are suitable. Double check with the food chart. I've fed Science Diet pate at 30%-something carbs before.

You'll want to keep some medium carb 11% to 14% on hand to use if blood glucose levels need just a tiny boost. You wouldn't need to give much for a boost, a teaspoon or so until bgs are at safer level.
 
adrianaa said:
Thank you! I will be creating a spreadsheet later today. I see the link you provided is how to create the spreadsheet but how do I input the information? The numbers are kind of confusing me. Is there a link for that as well?
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instructions are included, you will download the SS on GOOLE DRIVE, and give the Forum permission to read, and for you to post BG's, if you have any trouble let us know, we can have one of the members create for you also need to create your signature, link below
Sticky - New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
 
adrianaa said:
I've gone ahead and done both! TY so much.
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I just looked at your spreadsheet. She's probably just high because of the skip last night or she could be bouncing, also the dry food is probably keeping her higher than she should be you have slowly transition her off of the dry food & be able to test because her numbers will likely drop once she's on an all wet food diet. I would just stick with 1unit for now & get a few more tests in before bed. Also diabetic cats do better with several small meals a day. The 2 meals a day is more suitable for dogs. I feed my boy 4xs a day & sometimes he gets a snack which is him & my other boy splitting half of a half can of Fancy feast.
 
Chrispooky12 said:
I just looked at your spreadsheet. She's probably just high because of the skip last night or she could be bouncing, also the dry food is probably keeping her higher than she should be you have slowly transition her off of the dry food & be able to test because her numbers will likely drop once she's on an all wet food diet. I would just stick with 1unit for now & get a few more tests in before bed. Also diabetic cats do better with several small meals a day. The 2 meals a day is more suitable for dogs. I feed my boy 4xs a day & sometimes he gets a snack which is him & my other boy splitting half of a half can of Fancy feast.
Click to expand...
I want to transition her off the dry food after reading a bunch on it. Do you happen to know the recommended amount of wet food to be giving her? She's 8 pounds and I give her the Fancy Feast Pate.
 
adrianaa said:
I want to transition her off the dry food after reading a bunch on it. Do you happen to know the recommended amount of wet food to be giving her? She's 8 pounds and I give her the Fancy Feast Pate.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure on that I'm not good with math & how many calories per lb. My boys are both 15lbs each & they get 2 cans of the fancy feast pate each & occasionally half of a half can between the 2 of them. Let me tag someone who might know!
 
Corky is a very large cat, he has had the same exact weight for 4 years 16.5 lbs if you look under remarks you can get an idea on how, when and what I feed daily, which is 1/2 can each meal 4 times during the day till +4 after PMPS I feed both cats the same, and they are very very satisfied, and Coco is 1/2 Main Coon she’s 4’ 1/2” tall on two legs I cannot talk about calories, because I have been more concerned on the carbs he eats I personally don’t fix what’s not broken if it works for Corky and Coco, all cats are different, but is a start :cat:
 
CORKY said:
Corky is a very large cat, he has had the same exact weight for 4 years 16.5 lbs if you look under remarks you can get an idea on how, when and what I feed daily, which is 1/2 can each meal 4 times during the day till +4 after PMPS I feed both cats the same, and they are very very satisfied, and Coco is 1/2 Main Coon she’s 4’ 1/2” tall on two legs I cannot talk about calories, because I have been more concerned on the carbs he eats I personally don’t fix what’s not broken if it works for Corky and Coco, all cats are different, but is a start :cat:
Click to expand...
Thank you so much! I will be taking a look at your spreadsheet for inspo and help!
 
Unregulated diabetics are always hungry so most people just feed as much as the cats wants. Some cats may need 5 or more of those Fancy Feast cans. in the beginning. A programable timed feeder works great to provide meals if you're not at home.
 
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