Luca & Scooter
Member Since 2026
Hello. This may be too lengthy, apologies.
Scooter is a 14-year-old male cat who joined our family in 2023. He was diagnosed with diabetes on January 27, 2026.
From the beginning, he did not eat a lot and disliked most foods. He settled on a vet-recommended urinary health gravy wet food and a high-protein kibble. In 2025, despite eating more, he began losing weight, drinking more, and urinating more.
Following a vet visit, he was diagnosed with diabetes. He started on Vetsulin, which was changed to Lantus after a few follow-up appointments.
The guidance we were given at the beginning was to bring him in once a week to check his blood sugar, increase the dose as instructed (ended up being 4 units twice daily), keep an eye on his behavior, and check his blood glucose at home if he is behaving oddly.
This was our routine until 4/29/2026, when he caught something. Whether it was due to his immune response or the medications he was on, Scooter’s response to his insulin became odd, and it was suspected that he was in remission. He was not.
We again got him to a decent place with 2 units of insulin. We switched him to the Tiki Cat Friends Shrimp/Calamari wet foods. I suspect he is allergic since he began itching a lot since then, but it is all he will eat (we have tried MANY foods, an appetite stimulant, toppers). I did my first glucose curve at home, which looked promising. Scooter was happy, playful, occasionally bratty, and had an excellent appetite for the first time ever.
Around July, he began occasionally regurgitating around the +12-hour mark after eating kibble. After a vet visit on August 22nd, he was put on an antacid, and kibble was cut out.
On August 25th, Scooter was behaving a bit too calm at the +10-hour mark, so I decided to test his blood sugar, which was 48. I was horrified and raced to the vet, who gave him dextrose.
NOTE: I am the only one who gives insulin, so he was not injected twice. We weigh his food prior to each injection. I also distinctly remember there was a bubble in the needle, which made the dose slightly less than the usual 2 units.
It was again suspected that he was in remission, but following 10 days of no insulin, that did not seem to be the case (upper 300s consistently).
He is again on Lantus (bumped from 1 unit to 1.5 units this morning rather than the instructed 2 units). I am now in the habit of checking his blood sugar before shots and periodically throughout the day when I am able, but his curve continues to look very strange to me. His low points seem to be at the +12-hour mark. I have been emailing the vet, but the guidance given is making me more anxious. Over the past four days, I have skipped three of his shots. My worry is that I am stacking his shots and explaining myself poorly to the vet, which is causing confusion.
Since I have only just started checking blood glucose, this may all be normal, but I am hopeful some fresh eyes can help me understand what I am seeing.
Scooter is a 14-year-old male cat who joined our family in 2023. He was diagnosed with diabetes on January 27, 2026.
From the beginning, he did not eat a lot and disliked most foods. He settled on a vet-recommended urinary health gravy wet food and a high-protein kibble. In 2025, despite eating more, he began losing weight, drinking more, and urinating more.
Following a vet visit, he was diagnosed with diabetes. He started on Vetsulin, which was changed to Lantus after a few follow-up appointments.
The guidance we were given at the beginning was to bring him in once a week to check his blood sugar, increase the dose as instructed (ended up being 4 units twice daily), keep an eye on his behavior, and check his blood glucose at home if he is behaving oddly.
This was our routine until 4/29/2026, when he caught something. Whether it was due to his immune response or the medications he was on, Scooter’s response to his insulin became odd, and it was suspected that he was in remission. He was not.
We again got him to a decent place with 2 units of insulin. We switched him to the Tiki Cat Friends Shrimp/Calamari wet foods. I suspect he is allergic since he began itching a lot since then, but it is all he will eat (we have tried MANY foods, an appetite stimulant, toppers). I did my first glucose curve at home, which looked promising. Scooter was happy, playful, occasionally bratty, and had an excellent appetite for the first time ever.
Around July, he began occasionally regurgitating around the +12-hour mark after eating kibble. After a vet visit on August 22nd, he was put on an antacid, and kibble was cut out.
On August 25th, Scooter was behaving a bit too calm at the +10-hour mark, so I decided to test his blood sugar, which was 48. I was horrified and raced to the vet, who gave him dextrose.
NOTE: I am the only one who gives insulin, so he was not injected twice. We weigh his food prior to each injection. I also distinctly remember there was a bubble in the needle, which made the dose slightly less than the usual 2 units.
It was again suspected that he was in remission, but following 10 days of no insulin, that did not seem to be the case (upper 300s consistently).
He is again on Lantus (bumped from 1 unit to 1.5 units this morning rather than the instructed 2 units). I am now in the habit of checking his blood sugar before shots and periodically throughout the day when I am able, but his curve continues to look very strange to me. His low points seem to be at the +12-hour mark. I have been emailing the vet, but the guidance given is making me more anxious. Over the past four days, I have skipped three of his shots. My worry is that I am stacking his shots and explaining myself poorly to the vet, which is causing confusion.
Since I have only just started checking blood glucose, this may all be normal, but I am hopeful some fresh eyes can help me understand what I am seeing.
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