Pamela and Lightning
Active Member
My name is Pamela and my nearly 7 yr old kitty Lightning (who yes, does have a brother named Thunder
) was diagnosed with diabetes a few weeks ago. I think it runs in my family (or we are just cursed) because both my sister and mom each had cats with diabetes as well. And unfortunately due to other complications, both kitties have since passed on. (Sending love to Simba and Bosco). So luckily or unluckily I suppose, they have been amazing at helping me deal with this since they've had to go through it themselves.
I'm a few weeks into treatment and doing home testing and giving canned food (which from all the posts I've read on here, looks like I'm on the right track). My concern is that even though I'm doing the testing, I really don't know how to interpret the results and don't know how to adjust Lightning's insulin or food intake based on the numbers.
I don't know the exact number when he was diagnosed, but the vet said it was over 400. She prescribed Lantus and thought I should start with 2mL 2x per day and my sister/mom both thought that might be high to start out. So the vet was ok with me starting at 1mL 2x per day. I did that for 1 week, and was unfortunately out of town for most of it so I didn't want Lightning to get stressed by having my mom or sister take his blood. So I only have a few days of BG data at 1mL, and his numbers were in the 400-250 range. So I talked to my vet and we decide to move to the 2mL 2x per day. That seems to be going well....and he's now getting numbers in the mid 100's and even got as low as 84 yesterday! I nearly fell over when I saw that number. But once I got the number, I really wasn't sure what to do with the information. I got the reading at +9 hours after his shot in the morning. I gave him a treat for being a good boy and letting me take the blood and then I gave him a 1/8 cup of HIlls M/D dry food because I was worried he could hypo (which i have no idea is right or not, but I'm so nervous about it that I figured I would rather be safe than sorry). I waited 2 more hours (which would be the normal time of +12) and it had doubled to 168. Since that number was still very low I was worried that giving him 2mL would be too much so I knocked it down to 1.5mL and kept an eye on him. I tested later that night, +2 hours and it was doubled again at 337. So here's where the real question comes in....should I have stuck with giving him 2mL even though he was only at 168 and I was about to feed him? This is where I'm lost and I don't know what the best choice would've been. This morning when I tested him, he was at 364 so I don't know if the number dropped at any point in the night and then came back up or if it only went up.
Is there anywhere I can find information about what to do based on what BG reading I get? I just really have no clue what to do and don't want to do anything to jeopardize his health. Any help anyone can provide is very much appreciated!!
Thanks,
Pamela and Lightning

I'm a few weeks into treatment and doing home testing and giving canned food (which from all the posts I've read on here, looks like I'm on the right track). My concern is that even though I'm doing the testing, I really don't know how to interpret the results and don't know how to adjust Lightning's insulin or food intake based on the numbers.
I don't know the exact number when he was diagnosed, but the vet said it was over 400. She prescribed Lantus and thought I should start with 2mL 2x per day and my sister/mom both thought that might be high to start out. So the vet was ok with me starting at 1mL 2x per day. I did that for 1 week, and was unfortunately out of town for most of it so I didn't want Lightning to get stressed by having my mom or sister take his blood. So I only have a few days of BG data at 1mL, and his numbers were in the 400-250 range. So I talked to my vet and we decide to move to the 2mL 2x per day. That seems to be going well....and he's now getting numbers in the mid 100's and even got as low as 84 yesterday! I nearly fell over when I saw that number. But once I got the number, I really wasn't sure what to do with the information. I got the reading at +9 hours after his shot in the morning. I gave him a treat for being a good boy and letting me take the blood and then I gave him a 1/8 cup of HIlls M/D dry food because I was worried he could hypo (which i have no idea is right or not, but I'm so nervous about it that I figured I would rather be safe than sorry). I waited 2 more hours (which would be the normal time of +12) and it had doubled to 168. Since that number was still very low I was worried that giving him 2mL would be too much so I knocked it down to 1.5mL and kept an eye on him. I tested later that night, +2 hours and it was doubled again at 337. So here's where the real question comes in....should I have stuck with giving him 2mL even though he was only at 168 and I was about to feed him? This is where I'm lost and I don't know what the best choice would've been. This morning when I tested him, he was at 364 so I don't know if the number dropped at any point in the night and then came back up or if it only went up.
Is there anywhere I can find information about what to do based on what BG reading I get? I just really have no clue what to do and don't want to do anything to jeopardize his health. Any help anyone can provide is very much appreciated!!
Thanks,
Pamela and Lightning