New Member April 5

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CheechMama

Member Since 2026
Hello all! My girl Cheech is 13 and was diagnosed March 13/26. At time of diagnosis, no ketosis in urine and she was started on vetsulin 2x a day 1u. Our vet said he was “old school” and had only ever prescribed Vetsulin. He also did not see a need for at home testing or to take her off her dry food, z/d (she is a pukey girl and he thought this food would help).

We got her into a cat clinic who immediately changed her to 1u Lantus 2x a day, no more dry food and that we can start home monitoring. When she went in, on Friday 4/3, her blood ketones were 0.4. This new vet said she will probably need a tooth pulled and her puking could be GI disease. Goal is to get her diabetes managed before addressing other issues.

I am terrified she will hypo when I’m not home and die. Or I’ll miss signs something is wrong. I would do anything in the world for her but I am so scared.

Any advice is appreciated!
 
Hello and welcome. You did a good job getting to a vet who is more in tuned with treating feline diabetes. Lantus is a great insulin for cats. A low carb wet or raw food is best - vet is right that no more dry is best for cats. Have you switched food yet? If not, do it slowly or it can cause more GI upset. Home monitoring blood sugars is also how you keep Cheech safe. If you are interested in learning how, we have lots of information in this post, along with videos: Hometesting Links and Tips

Fixing bad teeth can help get a cat regulated faster, to good to know the vet is on top of that. However, it it's needed, a dental shouldn't be delayed too much or you won't get the cat regulated.

For the times when you aren't home, you can get an automated feeder that dispenses wet food. Some of them have the ability to put a freezer or gel pack below the tray to keep food cool. Food is what we use to raise a cat's blood sugars when they are low.

What food was she eating before her diabetes diagnosis? What is she eating now? Sometimes puking can just be a food allergy.

Some of the answers to my questions above can be put in your signature, details here: New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
 
Hello!

Thank you for your response!

She was previously on (pre 2022ish) a dry kibble and she was very constipated (was hospitalized) so we switched her to Hill’s z/d as our other cat also has allergies and introduced wet food with water mixed in for hydration. She’s been on z/d since and we added in the wet food at dinner time at the same time (Blue Buffalo Wilderness High Protein Grain Free). We are just eliminating the dry food and feeding her more wet food and also making sure she has it accessible during the day. Our vet did mention it could be allergies, and that we can do a GI blood panel and a food trial, but she wants us to get her diabetes under control first. We haven’t switched any food, so hopefully no tummy issues! Please let me know if we should be doing anything different.

I have purchased the Alpha Trak 3 and the kind folks on the FB group made me a spreadsheet to keep track so we will start testing her blood sugar this week.

Something to note was at diagnosis, her urinalysis had no ketones but at her vet visit 04/03 (April 3rd) her blood ketones were 0.4. Not sure if stress can impact that, or if we need to be worried about ketosis.

I’m happy to provide more information!! She is my best friend and I am hoping for lots more years together. Just want to make sure I am doing everything I can.
 
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If you could link your spreadsheet into your signature, as per the post link in my last sentence in the post above, that will help us help you better. How is the testing going so far? The Alphatrak test strips are quite expensive. Many of the members here use human blood glucose meters because the test strips are so much cheaper. That and our dosing methods were developed before the AT was even invented.

The z/d food is way higher than a diabetic cat should get, so good that you are transitioning to something lower carb. We have many members with kitties and food sensitivities. There are a lot of low carb novel protein foods that work for those cats.

I wouldn't worry about blood ketones of 0.4. Good to hear you are testing for ketones too.
 
Hello! We are having some trouble just getting testing started (more human error, just learning the machine and also not being scared to poke her). Thank you for the link, it’s hard to tell ourselves we aren’t hurting her.

As soon as we can, I will post a spreadsheet.

We also have a reliOn— our vet said if we can, use the AlphaTrak for numbers just so it’s consistent for them as well but worse case we have both.

Thank you!
 
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