New Member 9/22 - Vet gave almost no info, 5 weeks in and looking for solid advice

B

Benpowell751

Member Since 2026
Hi, I'm Ben and my cat is Sonja. She was diagnosed 5 weeks ago and my vet gave me essentially no information and has been entirely unhelpful since, so I've spent those 5 weeks trying my best to learn on my own. She started off on a dose of 2u of vetsulin and the vet hasn't said to change a thing since. She stayed on that dose for 4 weeks until I learned that I need to adjust the dose depending on how she's doing, so I adjusted it to 1.5u and she has been amazing ever since, but I suspect it still might be too much insulin

We have been trying to do glucometer tests for the last week, but I've only managed to draw blood twice so far. I've tried every trick in the book: warm her ear up with a sack of rice, rub vaseline on the ear, poke the "sweet spot" on the edge of the ear, use a 26 gauge lancet, freehand instead of using the pen, poke at a 45 degree angle with the bevel of the lancet facing down. No blood after all that. Is there anything else I can try to get her to give blood more consistently?

After all my research I haven't found any info about exactly how to adjust the insulin dose based off her glucometer measurement, just that it needs to be adjusted somehow. Any advice about how I should go about adjusting her insulin dose?

Today I'm going to start feeding her no carb food for the first time. I know I need to adjust her insulin accordingly, but any advice for how to manage that?

I have been doing my best to achieve remission for Sonja ever since the diagnosis. But I worry that after 5 weeks and zero help from my vet, it might be too late. What are my chances of being able to achieve remission for Sonja at this point?
 
Hey Ben. Sorry to hear about the communication with the vet, I had a similar experience and it was actually a blessing because we found this place.

Are you poking the inside or the outside of the ear? It definitely takes some practice though so don't give up. Do you have another person that could help hold her? If so, you could try the paw pad. I had some luck with that early on.

Any chance you could talk to your vet about getting on Lantus or Prozinc for the insulin? Vetsulin is an older treatment option and not recommended under the current guidelines from the big associations.

What was she eating before and what are you moving her towards? Just trying to see how big of a carbohydrate difference you're working with. You're right she could need less insulin with drastically less carbs in her diet.

Don't give up hope on remission though. It definitely seems like the greatest chance is within the first 6 months or so, so you're well within that window.

While you wait on a response more specifically about Vetsulin dosing, can you tackle some of the items in this post? Specifically the signature and spreadsheet sections. It helps the others see what's going on with you and Sonja quickly when trying to help.

P.s. you could consider a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) if the testing struggles continue. They're a great tool, but even with them you will need to be able to manually test the super low readings. So not a perfect solution but better than no readings. The vet would need to prescribe and you can actually apply them yourself at home.
 
Thanks for the info! It defiantly is a blessing that we found this message board, I doubt I would have found it if I wasn't forced to do so much research on my own. I'll work on the spreadsheet and signature. The post you sent mentions the "no shoot" recommendation is a reading of 200 mg/dL on a human glucometer. The two times I've managed to take her measurement she got 87 and 93 mg/dL right before I gave her the 1.5u shot of vetsulin. Does this mean that if she gets readings similar to this I should not give her the shot? Then of course monitor and retest an hour afterwords

I'm poking on the outside of her ear. I've considered recruiting someone to help me poke her paw pad, but Sonja is such a fighter when it comes to her insulin routine that it would not go well. I think I'll try a few more tests on her ear and if it still doesn't work I'll try out her paw pads

I'll talk to the vet about using different kinds of insulin. Honestly they've been such little help so far I could see them saying something like "We only stock vetsulin, sorry." But I'll at least ask and try calling other vets in the area if they aren't helpful

She was given a prescription for Hill's m/d after the diagnosis and that's what she's been eating for the last 5 weeks. Dry kibble most days and a can on Sunday. From what I understand, the kibble is 15% carb and the cans are 18%. I have since learned that cats' bodies prefer a wet food diet with no carbs, so that's what I'm transitioning her to. I'll be making homemade cat food in the future with high quality ingredients and supplements, but I don't have them on hand yet. For now I got some premade cans of no carb cat food
 
Last edited:
Maybe you could try the inside of the ear, that's where I do it for Pookey.

No experience personally with Vetsulin but 87 and 93 mg/dL on a human meter are really good numbers, especially if that was 12 hours or so after the last shot. I think I'd be nervous about continuing to shoot at those numbers without seeing more data about how low she's going during the cycle. Assuming there was no mention of ketones at her diagnosis.

@Wendy&Neko @Marje and Gracie do you have some guidance for Ben about Vetsulin and low numbers?
 
Welcome to FDMB
We all have started this process with a lot of frustration, you are not alone, but it gets better, reference to testing, soon the capillaries will swell and it will be easier to draw blood, I unfortunately that many vets are not helpful, they are used to handle dog diabetes, as Tim said you should ask your vet to switch from Vetusulin, Caninsulin this is a dog insulin is works hard and fast in a cat's system, Lantus and ProZinc are the best insulins for cats they are a 12-hour insulin and gentle on the cat. also, the dose is not increased or decreased according to the BG level, it takes several cycles for the dose giving to take effect in the system, we can also assist you on dosing advice. Make sure that the transition from high carbs to low carb food is a slow process you do not want to upset the stomach, as it will also cause a dive down in the BG, so testing often during the first couple of days is recommended.
The CGM is a good source for fidgety cats, but you will need a manual test now and then since the CGM sensor tends to read low BG's much lower than reality, as well as your cat can remove the sensor or fall off. Once the vet places the first sensor, make sure you get a prescription for many sensors, you do not need the vet to replace the sensor, you can do it yourself and avoid high expenses at the vet, and stress to your cat.
A diabetic cat should have a diet of wet can or raw foods between 0-10% carbs, most members feed Fancy Feast Pates between 0-10% mist feed up to 5%. grazing is not an option, you need to know the true BG reading before shot, so no feeding 2 hours prior to shot.
Many members help their cats to associate a treat with the shot, any low carb treat after shot may help you better to keep your cant happy. I was told at the beginning, "take a step back, breath in. breath out, cats are very sensitive to stress, you stress the cat stresses" Don't give up, in no time you'll be a pro at it ;)
Also remember you are the boss! ask questions, follow your instincts
 
It is also important to feed 3-4 small meals or Snacks during the day and the two main meals before shot to keep the insulin and BG in check, starting with two-3 hours before shot, since the insulin you are giving hits hard and fast, if you are not home during the day a wet food feeder is recommended, they are programmable and some have chips (Walmart or Chewy.com ) have great prices
 
Hi Ben

Welcome to you and Sonja!

One thing I saw right away is you want the bevel on the lancet to be upward facing, not down. That way, the sharpest point goes in first. Here is a post on testing tips. As a note, you also want the bevel up when injecting insulin.

I agree Lantus is your best bet for a more suitable insulin but ProZinc would be fine as well. I also want to add that feeding zero carbs is not the best idea. Insulin needs a bit of carbs to work with so we find cats actually do better with foods which are 5-10% carbs on an as-fed or dry matter basis (not guaranteed analysis). As mentioned, as you are transitioning foods, you want to go slowly as her insulin needs will likely change.

It is difficult to advise on a dose without seeing her BGs so if you could set up the spreadsheet and enter any data you have, that would help. If you need help with the spreadsheet, please send me a direct message and I can do it for you.

For now, I would not shoot below 150 without asking for help here. If you get 150 or below at preshot, please stall the shot and post for help. Whoever helps you can help you determine if it’s safe to shoot and monitor or whether you should skip.

You’ll want to be sure you have a hypo tool box set up for lower numbers.

Lastly, you might want to change your user name for more security. Most members use their first name & kitty’s name but you can use whatever you prefer that doesn’t include your first and last name. You can change it by clicking on your current username in the upper right corner and then “account details”.
 
Thanks to everyone for all this information! You have no idea how relieving it is to finally get some support after 5 weeks of going it alone. I managed to draw just a little bit of blood by using the lancet bevel-up rather than bevel-down. Not enough blood to test, but it was very reassuring to see and seemed to hurt her less than bevel-down. We'll try again in a few hours and hopefully we'll get consistent testing soon

I've been concerned about how low energy she's been for a few weeks after the diagnosis. After I reduced her dose a week ago she got much more energy. I now realize that I've probably been over-dosing her pretty much since the start

I've been worried that I haven't been doing enough to help her because of how little info my vet gave, but I'm now comfortable saying that I've been doing better than I thought I was. I really wish I found this message board sooner so I could have given her appropriate dosages and better food

Lots of good advice from you all and lots to do. Here's hoping we can achieve remission!
 
I banged it alone with Corky for 3 months, his vet for 10 years fired me on the first visit with his diagnosis, no reason, Finding this Forum surfing the Net and sticking to every advice suggestion, I began to see a better me and a healthier Corky, I felt guilt, failure, The members in this Forum gave me hope, trial and error is expected, but I’m sure you are a great mommie, stick around to a healthier fur baby, you will not regret it. See Corky’s spreadsheet down below and as you go from 2023 to today you can tell the difference this Forum and only the members here has made Corky a Hero! Today he is tightly regulated, I have learned to shoot on low number with time, Corky only goes to the vet for his annual rabies shot, that’s it, I never skip a shot, I follow to the letter how the amazing volunteers save cats lives, including my Corky🫶
 
I'm not sure where you're located, but at least here, I get Crowley's insulin from a regular pharmacy, not directly from my vet. They write a prescription and I go pick it up (I have to give his DOB to pick it up lol). It does say Crowley [last name] on it even! Which is very funny to me personally.

As far as testing, I give him treats after (chicken breast) so he looks forward to testing time. I know that that doesn't help with getting the blood, but if it helps keep her calm and relaxed, then that can only help.
 
I use to get Corky's insulin from Walmart but now I get both cat’s fancy feast s and insulin AUTOSHIPED , I buy the food by the case and is less expensive,I’m in Miami, Fl
 
We have dosing methods for Vetsulin, described in this post: BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO CANINSULIN/VETSULIN. In this document, we suggest that if you see anything under 90, it's time to reduce the dose by 0.25 units.

My vet started us on Caninsulin - what Vetsulin is called outside of the US. The name might give you a clue which species it is best for. Vetsulin typically doesn't last long enough in the cat, who has a higher metabolism than dogs. Lantus and Prozinc are longer lasting. It took me a while to convince the vet to make the switch to a better insulin. Actually, I was lucky is was a locum vet that suggested I switch.
Benpowell751 said:
But I worry that after 5 weeks and zero help from my vet, it might be too late.
Click to expand...
Don't worry, feline diabetes is a marathon, not a sprint. Studies show that the best chances for remission are within six months. Focus on regulation first, that's a prerequisite and a good goal by itself.
 
Very helpful, thank you. I'm going to try to get her on a different insulin, but it's good to have solid info for handling vetsulin specifically
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top