I'm struggling with conflicting information from my veterinarian on how to manage Boo's diabetes and what the feline diabetes group recommends. Also, my kitty was put on early kidney care prescription diet in June 2025, before being diagnosed with diabetes in November 2025. Could the early kidney care diet have hastened the diabetes diagnosis? They are opposite dietary protocols. Upon review with another veterinarian, his labs show minimal signs of kidney disease, yet they had me change his diet to a high carb diet. And to stay on it while giving insulin!!! This makes no sense and I'm livid as I think it may have caused or hastened the arrival of diabetes. He's only 12.5 years old. Thanks for letting me rant, I'm so upset! We've done two all-day glucose panels and she wants to do another one, even tho he's very stressed and unhappy being there. The numbers are not improving. She wants to raise his dose from 2 to 3, altho this group advises to lower to 1 unit of Lantus, which I'm doing. And I'm now free feeding at the group's advice. I haven't started home testing yet but that will come I'm sure. Thank you in advance for the support - I'm overwhelmed at this time.
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- Thread starter BooHenry
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CORKY
Member Since 2023
Welcome to FDMB
You are in the right place, and rant all you want, your instincts are correct, the “so called Prescribed” food has nothing in it that’s good for your especially a diabetic cat, this food contain over 20% carbs, when a diabetic cat need to have a diet of wet can or raw food between 0-10% and at least I’m glad you were prescribed the right insulin Lantus and ProZinc are the best insulin for cats they are a 12- hour insulin, I do not give dosing advice but I can assure you that the increase your vet wants to give to start off is way too high, it is recommended here to increase/decrease in 0.25u at a time, and you are beginning to get to know how your cat reacts to the insulin, did your vet tell you to home test?? Of the two glucose panels you are referring to we’re done at the vet’s office, because if it was this numbers will not be realistic, cats get very stressed at the vet, and glucose numbers raise,,therefore the likelihoods of the vet increasing the dose is unnecessary, thiscIS called a curve, which you can do at home without stressing your cat, is simply testing every 2 hour for 1 cycle (12 Hours) It is very important to test your cat before giving insulin to avoid hypoglycemia, you can purchase any human meter at any pharmacy with the strips you do not need to invest on a pet meter, the strips are over a $1.00 each, feeding several meals a day is importantly as well, also transitioning from dry to wet or low carbs needs to be a slow process, you do not want to upset your cats stomach, perhaps you may want to ask questions to your vet, make sure she is very well schooled on Feline diabetes, in our main menu, are sticky notes with valuable information, please keep posting, rant all you want we all have, ask us about any concerns, also I will tag several members that can also give you advice on dosing and have more input, we are here for you
@Wendy&Neko
[USER=110]@squeem3
@Staci & Ivy
You are in the right place, and rant all you want, your instincts are correct, the “so called Prescribed” food has nothing in it that’s good for your especially a diabetic cat, this food contain over 20% carbs, when a diabetic cat need to have a diet of wet can or raw food between 0-10% and at least I’m glad you were prescribed the right insulin Lantus and ProZinc are the best insulin for cats they are a 12- hour insulin, I do not give dosing advice but I can assure you that the increase your vet wants to give to start off is way too high, it is recommended here to increase/decrease in 0.25u at a time, and you are beginning to get to know how your cat reacts to the insulin, did your vet tell you to home test?? Of the two glucose panels you are referring to we’re done at the vet’s office, because if it was this numbers will not be realistic, cats get very stressed at the vet, and glucose numbers raise,,therefore the likelihoods of the vet increasing the dose is unnecessary, thiscIS called a curve, which you can do at home without stressing your cat, is simply testing every 2 hour for 1 cycle (12 Hours) It is very important to test your cat before giving insulin to avoid hypoglycemia, you can purchase any human meter at any pharmacy with the strips you do not need to invest on a pet meter, the strips are over a $1.00 each, feeding several meals a day is importantly as well, also transitioning from dry to wet or low carbs needs to be a slow process, you do not want to upset your cats stomach, perhaps you may want to ask questions to your vet, make sure she is very well schooled on Feline diabetes, in our main menu, are sticky notes with valuable information, please keep posting, rant all you want we all have, ask us about any concerns, also I will tag several members that can also give you advice on dosing and have more input, we are here for you
@Wendy&Neko
[USER=110]@squeem3
@Staci & Ivy
Last edited:
Thank you so much. Its crazy to pay so much for vet care and then to be given old/outdated treatments, for dogs! I posted his last labs for his kidney blood work, from November. His last curve numbers at 2 units were off the charts high.Vet suggested upping dose to 3 units. I have since switched diet to non prescription but suitsble for both conditions weruva pho canned recommended by fb group, removed kibble, lowered dose to 1 unit, and free feed, asked for fructosimine test, cancelled scheduled vet office all day bg curve, and am switching veterinarians to one up to date on Feline Diabetes. I have the utmost empathy for vets as I know it's an impossibly hard job, AND am mad because it's their job to be up to date on new treatment protocols; my $ is real, it's expensive to get their guidance, and my cat's health is my responsibility.
CORKY
Member Since 2023
I agree with 100% in everything you are saying, at least you were blessed to get the right insulin, if Boo has no other issues and is only FD, you can actually manage that right here! I have for 4 years, regulating Boo with your dedication and our guidance you can stabilize Boo, without spending $$ on Vets, of course there are exceptions if illnesses occurs, We are very numbers oriented so we would like you to create your signature and Boo's Spreadsheet this way w all the members and yourself can be on the same page, and we get to know more about Boo, links below, also a link to a carb calculator please use it by checking the nutrient on the food, you can also go to the CHEWY.COM web site find the food click on the can, scroll down to ingredients click, there you will placing the nutrients values, those are the numbers you will place in the calculator, we are looking for Dry Matter Carbs,
Are you in US? we can send you a Drs approved list as well according of where you live and connect with members from your Country
Are you home testing?
Sticky - New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/
Cat Food Nutrition Calculator | Elizabeth C Scheyder
Are you in US? we can send you a Drs approved list as well according of where you live and connect with members from your Country
Are you home testing?
Sticky - New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/
Cat Food Nutrition Calculator | Elizabeth C Scheyder
There are plenty of cats here who have both kidney disease and diabetes. You can find foods that are suitable for both conditions, low carb and low phosphorus. Take a look at this list and the fourth one down is for both diabetes and kidneys. CKD food Chart
Having said that, his kidney numbers are actually not something I'd worry about and he's concentrating his urine well (USG or urine specific gravity). I'm glad you got a second opinion about his kidney numbers.
Having said that, his kidney numbers are actually not something I'd worry about and he's concentrating his urine well (USG or urine specific gravity). I'm glad you got a second opinion about his kidney numbers.
I'm glad you trusted your instincts. BG testing at the vet is notoriously higher than it would be at home, one of many reasons we advocate home testing. If you aren't home testing his blood sugars yet, are you interesting in learning how to? It's the best way to both keep him safe and save money.
A lot of people in the US use the Relion Premier meter and test strips from Walmart, if there is one near you. It has a relatively small requirement for blood drop, and the test strips are cheap. Important as that's what you'll go through most of. We have tips and videos in this post: Hometesting Links and Tips Along with the meter and test strips, you'll need some lancets, best to start with gauge size 26-28 to start.
If you are on a low dose of insulin, it'd be better to stick with giving insulin until the blood sugar numbers tell you otherwise. It's also a good idea to be blood testing before you switch to lower carb foods, so you can see if you need to lower the dose. Food transitions should be slow, to make it easy on his tummy too. My concern if you drop the insulin is that he might develop ketones, and worse case get DKA. You can use urine test strips to test for ketones:
Tips to catch and test a urine sample
If you are on a low dose of insulin, it'd be better to stick with giving insulin until the blood sugar numbers tell you otherwise. It's also a good idea to be blood testing before you switch to lower carb foods, so you can see if you need to lower the dose. Food transitions should be slow, to make it easy on his tummy too. My concern if you drop the insulin is that he might develop ketones, and worse case get DKA. You can use urine test strips to test for ketones:
Tips to catch and test a urine sample
Good information from Wendy!!
To test for ketones, one way is with a urine test. One urine ketone test product is Ketostix but there are other brands that are fine. You pass the strip through your cat's urine stream and then follow the instructions to compare the color on the strip to the color(s) on the container. The alternative is testing for blood ketones. You need a meter to do this. It's the same process as testing for blood glucose.
To test for ketones, one way is with a urine test. One urine ketone test product is Ketostix but there are other brands that are fine. You pass the strip through your cat's urine stream and then follow the instructions to compare the color on the strip to the color(s) on the container. The alternative is testing for blood ketones. You need a meter to do this. It's the same process as testing for blood glucose.