Newly Diagnosed Numbers/Dose

Loquaciouslj

Loquaciouslj

Member Since 2026
My 14 yer old girl was diagnosed three weeks ago with diabetes. BG a little over 300. No ketones. She had been drinking water a lot, peeing a lot, and very lethargic. She has experienced severe hind end muscle wasting and plantigarde stance over the past 2.5 years, and was on 5 mg prednisolone daily during that time to help with that problem. Since diabetes diagnosis she is weaning off the prednisolone - now down to 5 mg every three days.

The past two weeks, she has received 1 unit Lantus every 12 hours (9:30 am/9:30 pm) with her meal. She eats duck pâté .. very low carbs (mid 3’s), approx 2.75 ounces each meal. I give her about 1 tablespoon of the same food around 6:30 pm, because my other 5 cats get dinner then and she expects some too!

At the end of the first two weeks, the vet gave a BG curve, It began 45 minutes after she had her am meal and 1 unit Lantus.The numbers looked like this: *NOTE* RESULTS FROM ALPHA TRAK, PET MODEL:

BEGIN 7/31/2026
10:15 am. 154
11:15 am. 111
12:15 pm. 104
1:15 pm. 111
2:15 pm. 131
3:15 pm 130
4:15 pm. 117
5:02 pm. 118
END
No ketones in urine.

The vet immediately said to drop her insulin to 1 unit ONCE per day. This concerns me a bit. I am new to this and don’t know much, but I am wondering if only one dose/one unit every 24 hours will allow her BG to bounce around a lot later in the day? Her curve readings seemed like they were very nicely regulated, although the last four hours preceeding the second daily dose are not accounted for. I’ve also read the pancreas may kick in and then I could be giving too much insulin. I’ve continued with 1 unit twice daily the past week, while watching her closely for any negative (hypoglycemic) reactions. She gets another curve test in two weeks, 8/21/26. She acts so happy and perky with the original dose schedule that I hate to change her. I also don’t want to harm her and am not a doctor, but what I’ve read about Lantus seems to encourage twice daily use, not once every 24 hours.

I just bought a human grade glucometer and will begin home testing in another day .. after I watch some instructional videos! Is it true pet glucometers and human glucometers don’t shoe BG numbers the same? So, the numbers on her first curve, which appear great and in no danger zone, may be lower or higher translated to human terms?

Am hoping the experience of the group can help me understand all this. As I read through more of the website instructions for posting, I’ll hopefully understand more of what you need from me to be able to help me. In the meantime, thanks so much for your input!
 
what insulin are you using? and yes the human glucometer is accurate, most members use the ReliOn human meter and strips, we actually base on them
 
Welcome to FDMB.

Human meters and pet meters are calibrated a bit differently and there isn't a way to convert the numbers from a pet meter to a human meter (or vice versa). It's best to pick a meter and not try to switch back and forth since it will drive you a bit crazy.

With apologies to your vet, once a day dosing is not effective. Your instincts are spot on -- you'll see some response during the cycle where you've given insulin and the numbers will then continue to rise and look less than lovely by the next time you give a shot. A more effective alternative is to reduce the dose and give the same amount of insulin twice a day. A cat's metabolism is too fast to sustain once a day dosing. To be honest, based on the dosing methods we use, your cat isn't ready for a dose reduction quite yet. However, if you're not home testing, it may be safest to make a reduction in the dose. We generally change doses in 0.25u increments.

It would be helpful to know a bit more about your cat. This post on helping us to help you contains a good deal of basic information. Two important details are how to set up your signature and your cat's spreadsheet. The signature contains information such as when your cat'sn name, diagnosis date, any other medical conditions or medications, the insulin you're using, etc. The spreadsheet contains your cat's blood glucose test data. Having a record allows you to see your kitty's progress and it allows us to follow along and provide input. There are also instructions on how to attach both pieces of information so they are visible when you post. You can see the information both on the bottom of Maria's post as well as on mine.

You mentioned wanting to do some additional homework on home testing. This is our link on home testing.
 
CORKY said:
what insulin are you using? and yes the human glucometer is accurate, most members use the ReliOn human meter and strips, we actually base on them
Click to expand...
I’m using Lantus. Thank you for the info .. I purchased the ReliOn. Purchased 33g lancets, then saw another person’s post indicating they don’t provide enough blood volume to test properly? True? What is the recommended gauge?
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Welcome to FDMB.

Human meters and pet meters are calibrated a bit differently and there isn't a way to convert the numbers from a pet meter to a human meter (or vice versa). It's best to pick a meter and not try to switch back and forth since it will drive you a bit crazy.

With apologies to your vet, once a day dosing is not effective. Your instincts are spot on -- you'll see some response during the cycle where you've given insulin and the numbers will then continue to rise and look less than lovely by the next time you give a shot. A more effective alternative is to reduce the dose and give the same amount of insulin twice a day. A cat's metabolism is too fast to sustain once a day dosing. To be honest, based on the dosing methods we use, your cat isn't ready for a dose reduction quite yet. However, if you're not home testing, it may be safest to make a reduction in the dose. We generally change doses in 0.25u increments.

It would be helpful to know a bit more about your cat. This post on helping us to help you contains a good deal of basic information. Two important details are how to set up your signature and your cat's spreadsheet. The signature contains information such as when your cat'sn name, diagnosis date, any other medical conditions or medications, the insulin you're using, etc. The spreadsheet contains your cat's blood glucose test data. Having a record allows you to see your kitty's progress and it allows us to follow along and provide input. There are also instructions on how to attach both pieces of information so they are visible when you post. You can see the information both on the bottom of Maria's post as well as on mine.

You mentioned wanting to do some additional homework on home testing. This is our link on home testing.
Click to expand...
 
Using a lancet that's around 26 or 28 gauge is wider -- the lower the gauge the wider the needle. As a comparison, most insulin syringes have a 30 -31 gauge needle. It's really thin. If you have a 33 gauge lancet, it will be thinner than your syringe.
 
Thank you for the info. I have purchased a ReliOn meter and hope to begin tonight. I’m still giving 1 unit twice daily, but want to be sure I’m not putting her in danger. The link to home testing is very much appreciated. I’ll get the spreadsheet set up .. it’s wonderful to have a resource such as this, with so much support.
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Using a lancet that's around 26 or 28 gauge is wider -- the lower the gauge the wider the needle. As a comparison, most insulin syringes have a 30 -31 gauge needle. It's really thin. If you have a 33 gauge lancet, it will be thinner than your syringe.
Click to expand...
OK, thank you! I’ll exchange what I have for the correct gauge.
 
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