New Member: Newly Diagnosed

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Bluuberry

Member Since 2024
Hello all!

I hope I’m posting in the right spot! My senior guy, Bluu, was recently diagnosed with diabetes just on Monday. Took him in to the vet due to increased thirst and what looked like neuropathy with his back legs. Honestly, out of the million horrible things it could’ve been I’m grateful it was diabetes.

He had a glucose curve done at the vet today to determine his dosage and he’s on two units every 12 hours. I just gave him his first at home dose myself just about two hours ago. I have a follow up appointment where the vet will show me how to check his blood sugar with a glucose reader, but assured me I shouldn’t worry about hypoglycemia in the meantime.

Regardless that’s the main thing I’m worried about! Right now he’s on a measured kibble diet and has been for several months. I asked the vet if I should make any changes and she advised me that right now, no, because we want to focus on getting him regulated. He is largely a grazer and will eat his meal over the course of several hours. The vet also assured me this is totally fine and even stated it’s actually in his best interest to graze.

I’m not at all doubting the vet, they’ve been wonderful but I’m largely wondering if he only eats a little in the half hour between meal time and insulin will that have negative impacts? The vet mentioned that if he doesn’t eat anything to give him a bit of wet food just to make sure he has something in his system, but just looking for more experiences.

Additionally, I know my worry of hypoglycemia is probably mostly irrational especially in these early stages of treatment, but how long should I be keeping a general eye on him after I give him his insulin? He’s on the slow acting kind and I read that symptoms could pop up any time after two hours basically, but I have to sleep eventually and if he ends up exhibiting symptoms while I’m sleeping I fear for the worst.

Just looking for some advice in that regard, is my anxiety warranted or should I be relatively okay not to have a constant eye on him especially in the late sleeping hours of the night? Once I’m shown how to, I plan to check his blood sugar before giving insulin, but it’s not an option right now.

Sorry for the long post! I really appreciate anyone’s feedback!
 
Hello and welcome. Diabetes is definitely a condition that can be managed. However, I'm going to agree to disagree somewhat with your vet. First, hypos are indeed something to worry about, for all cats, even in the beginning. Here is some information you might want to read and maybe even print out.
Which country to do you live in? We might have some suggestions for you for the best type of blood glucose (BG) meter to buy. And yes, you should get one. You want one with a small requirement for blood drop size, and most important, inexpensive test strips as you'll go through more of those.

Caninsulin is not the best insulin for cats, though it is mandated in some countries as the first to try. My Neko was on Caninsulin first, mostly because that was what the vet was used to. As you can tell by the name, it's more on an insulin for dogs. More information about Caninsulin and dosing with it here:
INTRODUCTION TO CANNISULIN/VETSULIN & N/NPH
BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO CANINSULIN/VETSULIN

As you will see, 2 units is too large a dose to start with. You are "lucky" in that he is eating dry food, as it is probably keeping him safe. Most dry foods are way to high in carbs for a diabetic cat. Can you tell me what brand/type of kibble he's eating? When you go to sleep, make sure to leave out plenty of food for him, food is the tool that will help keep him safe.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Hello and welcome. Diabetes is definitely a condition that can be managed. However, I'm going to agree to disagree somewhat with your vet. First, hypos are indeed something to worry about, for all cats, even in the beginning. Here is some information you might want to read and maybe even print out.
Which country to do you live in? We might have some suggestions for you for the best type of blood glucose (BG) meter to buy. And yes, you should get one. You want one with a small requirement for blood drop size, and most important, inexpensive test strips as you'll go through more of those.

Caninsulin is not the best insulin for cats, though it is mandated in some countries as the first to try. My Neko was on Caninsulin first, mostly because that was what the vet was used to. As you can tell by the name, it's more on an insulin for dogs. More information about Caninsulin and dosing with it here:
INTRODUCTION TO CANNISULIN/VETSULIN & N/NPH
BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO CANINSULIN/VETSULIN

As you will see, 2 units is too large a dose to start with. You are "lucky" in that he is eating dry food, as it is probably keeping him safe. Most dry foods are way to high in carbs for a diabetic cat. Can you tell me what brand/type of kibble he's eating? When you go to sleep, make sure to leave out plenty of food for him, food is the tool that will help keep him safe.
Click to expand...
Good evening! Sorry the late reply, just woke up but was still feeling worried. I think I may have misrepresented my vet’s meaning by “not worrying” about hypoglycemia and that’s completely my bad. Although she did mention it’s important to monitor for symptoms, she mentioned that his likelihood right now for it is low with his current dosage and the curve completed today and that I can be a bit more at ease up until my follow up where she’ll show me how to monitor for glucose.

To answer some of your questions I’m located in Canada and he’s currently eating Iams dry food meant for senior cats. I did end up getting a glucose reader from a family member to save me some expense (my emergency budget has seen better days haha) and the one I’ve picked up is OneTouch Ultra 2. It came with a handy tool for lancing as well, just waiting for my follow up with the vet to show me how to use it properly.

Thank-you for the resource on caninsulin! I gave it a read and it was so informative. I was so relieved to see that a lot of the information there matched what my vet told me specifically regarding what to ultimately look for on the glucose reader. Regarding his dosage, my understanding it’s due to his weight. They had started him on 2.5 units at the vet for his glucose curve but reduced that to 2 units for at home. Weight has always been a struggle with him, he’s just barely above 13 pounds.

I appreciate your comment about making sure food is out for him as well! I feel I can sleep easier just from that alone. This certainly makes me feel better about his grazing habit as his food from mealtime generally lasts him from 5-6 hours depending on his mood.

I’m 100% a worrier so these beginning stages are definitely going to be the hardest for me so I truly appreciate your informative reply. Although you mentioned that caninsulin may not always be right for cats, if I end up seeing positive improvements with him (increased mobility/normal drinking and bathroom habits) would it be reasonable to assume that it is a good fit for him?

I did have an additional question. So far he’s had two doses of insulin and it might be crazy to say but he’s definitely TRYING to be more active. His back legs obviously have no improvement yet after only a day of treatment; I don’t want to discourage his increase in activity but I don’t want him to hurt himself with his wobbly back legs. Do you have any recommendations here? Sorry if it’s an odd question.

I’ll try and update a spreadsheet when I can, but in the meantime I’m keeping a physical journal of feeding times/dosage times which I’ll also include blood glucose readings once I’m able.

If you have any other general tips you think it’d be good for me to know I’d really appreciate it! I apologize again for the length of this message haha
 
As Wendy said, caninsulin is not the best insulin for cats. It was made for canines who have a much slower metabolism so it doesn’t last the full 12 hours and your cat is not protected 24/7. It’s also a harsh insulin that hits fast so you have to make sure your cat has eaten at least 30 minutes before giving the shot.

Unfortunately most vets do not know a lot about feline diabetes….they have many animals to look after and they all have different diseases and treatments. A dry high carb diet is not good for any cat, especially a diabetic cat. That’s like feeding your diabetic child a diet of chips, ice cream and sweets.

With a diabetic cat you need:

  • A low carb wet diet that is 10% carbs or under. Most of us use around 4-7% carbs
  • A suitable insulin such as Lantus or Prozinc which are long acting, more gentle insulins than the old insulins.
  • We recommend hometesting the blood glucose with a human meter…it is not necessary to use a pet meter which is expensive to run and is no better. It will keep your kitty safe and you will know how the dose is working for your kitty. Only testing every so often will not tell you what is happening in between those times and an awful lot can happen in even a day.
  • HELP US HELP YOU has information about the spreadsheet, signature and hypo box which you will need to be able to look after your beloved kitty properly
A word of warning though…don’t change the food you are feeding at the moment over to the low carb food until you are testing the blood glucose because a change over can drop the BGs by up to 100 points and we don’t want you to have a hypo on your hands. 2 units would likely be too high a dose if you were to remove the dry food. How often are you feeding him? Is he on dry food only?

The weakness in the back legs is called neuropathy and it’s a common issue brought on by the diabetes. It’s reversible and it will improve once the diabetes is regulated.
We are happy to help you with setting up the spreadsheet, sorting out what food to buy, how to transition safely to a low carb diet, how to learn to home test and much more. This is an excellent site for diabetic cats…it has been around for more than 25 years and has very experienced people to help you.

Keep asking lots of questions!
 
Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA) said:
As Wendy said, caninsulin is not the best insulin for cats. It was made for canines who have a much slower metabolism so it doesn’t last the full 12 hours and your cat is not protected 24/7. It’s also a harsh insulin that hits fast so you have to make sure your cat has eaten at least 30 minutes before giving the shot.

Unfortunately most vets do not know a lot about feline diabetes….they have many animals to look after and they all have different diseases and treatments. A dry high carb diet is not good for any cat, especially a diabetic cat. That’s like feeding your diabetic child a diet of chips, ice cream and sweets.

With a diabetic cat you need:

  • A low carb wet diet that is 10% carbs or under. Most of us use around 4-7% carbs
  • A suitable insulin such as Lantus or Prozinc which are long acting, more gentle insulins than the old insulins.
  • We recommend hometesting the blood glucose with a human meter…it is not necessary to use a pet meter which is expensive to run and is no better. It will keep your kitty safe and you will know how the dose is working for your kitty. Only testing every so often will not tell you what is happening in between those times and an awful lot can happen in even a day.
  • HELP US HELP YOU has information about the spreadsheet, signature and hypo box which you will need to be able to look after your beloved kitty properly
A word of warning though…don’t change the food you are feeding at the moment over to the low carb food until you are testing the blood glucose because a change over can drop the BGs by up to 100 points and we don’t want you to have a hypo on your hands. 2 units would likely be too high a dose if you were to remove the dry food. How often are you feeding him? Is he on dry food only?

The weakness in the back legs is called neuropathy and it’s a common issue brought on by the diabetes. It’s reversible and it will improve once the diabetes is regulated.
We are happy to help you with setting up the spreadsheet, sorting out what food to buy, how to transition safely to a low carb diet, how to learn to home test and much more. This is an excellent site for diabetic cats…it has been around for more than 25 years and has very experienced people to help you.

Keep asking lots of questions!
Click to expand...

Thank-you for the reply! I’ll definitely be monitoring at home with a human glucose meter once I have my follow up appointment with the vet this Friday. I appreciate all the feedback regarding caninsulin, I’ll definitely be monitoring to doubly make sure it’s a good fit for him. If I’m seeing that it’s not having the results I’d like to see I’ll definitely follow up with my vet to discuss alternatives.

As for his meals, right now he gets fed twice daily (morning/evening) of dry food. I was fortunate enough that his insulin doses kind of coincide nicely with his meal times. I do have a bit of wet food on hand to give him a small amount if he’s not feeling super hungry in the half hour between meal time and insulin just to make sure he has something in his system. He grazes on the dry stuff in between mealtimes and sometimes doesn’t finish all of it, other times he’s ravenous and finishes it all (this has been consistent even before his diagnosis). He’s not the type to come running when it’s meal time most days so I imagine he’ll be getting a wet food snack in that half hour (lucky him, he loves the stuff).

I do plan on ultimately changing his diet to one better suited for his age and his diabetes but as you mentioned right now I’m keeping consistent until I can start monitoring his blood sugar.

So far though, I want to say he’s doing great! I’m definitely keeping a close eye on him, but he’s just my typical lazy guy, he does seem to be in slightly better spirits and seems to be drinking somewhat less already, too soon to tell I think, but I am really enjoying seeing even the small effects insulin is having on him.
 
Welcome to FDMB!

With the dosing method we use with Caninsulin, the initial dose is not based on weight. This is due to Caninsulin having a fast onset and it's tendency to drop blood glucose quickly. Rather than causing the caregiver to have a panic attack if their cat's numbers drop into a low range, we encourage starting at a slower pace. We suggest a starting dose of 0.5u. Please make sure you are using U40 syringes. (We recently had a member whose cat was prescribed Caninsulin and the vet gave her U100 syringes.)

I would also encourage you to start home testing. This is not something your vet needs to give you permission to do. This is our link on home testing. There's a great deal of information, including videos, included.

With Caninsulin, you really need to make sure Bluu has eaten roughly 30 minutes prior to giving him his insulin. Again, Caninsulin drops numbers quickly so food acts as a buffer.

In all honesty, I'd suggest you talk to your vet about switching over to either Lantus (glargine) or Prozinc for managing Bluu's diabetes. The American Animal Hospital Association stopped recommending Caninsulin for treating feline diabetes in 2018. This is a link to their guidelines if you need to bring evidence in to your vet.
 
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