Questions switching from Bexacat to Insulin

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sleepysonk

Member Since 2026
Hello, sorry for long pots. My cat was diagnosed with Diabetes a little over a week ago. 09/28/26. She is 5.2lbs right now and 10 years old. (she has always been a small cat her max weight being <10 lbs and she was very round then). She had blood work done originally that read BG of 460 mg/dL (no ketones recorded), then I switched her to wet food only since she has never been picky and I was fear. 3 days after that switch she was measured at the vet and her BG was 350 and her Ketones were 2.9. Our vet had her trial Bexacat for 3 days to see if it would bring her BG down. In 3 days on Bexacat, her BG was 125, but Ketones were 5. The vet recommended we put her on Insulin. This happened today. Insulin starts tomorrow (after training).

We gave her a dose of Bexacat this morning and then tomorrow we will be going to the vet in the morning to be shown how to administer insulin. I have been poking my head around here since the beginning and had a few questions I could not find answers to. I do have a ReliOn Meter, strips, etc ready to go too.

  • Our vet is starting her on 2 units twice daily of NHP. This seemed high based on what I found on the forum, so I was looking for some feedback.
  • I plan on giving her insulin in the morning around 7 after her morning meal and then around 6 pm after I am home from work and after her dinner. Lets say on a Saturday I accidentally sleep through my alarm and wake up at 9, would I just test her BG, feed, then shoot at that point? Then wait the same amount of time to do the second dose? So instead of 6pm, it would be 8pm.
    • (i am still figuring out her feeding schedule here, she was a free eater before this). Right now, I feed her 1.5oz of Pate in the morning at 7am, a small measured portion of dry food at 10 and 2, then her dinner is around 5:30 which is the other 1.5oz of Pate. Then before bed another 1.5oz of Pate. Before Bexacat for the 3 days I was feeding her wet food only she was polishing the plate of 3 3 oz cans of Pate at those same meal times, but since her appetite decreased I changed it up.
    • SO if I wake up late, like 2 or 3 hours late, is it okay to just shift everything that same amount of time?
    • Is there no wait period between ending Bexacat and starting Insulin? We gave Bexacat at 6am this morning and will be giving her insulin tomorrow morning at 9 am at our vet appointment.
 
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I don't give advice, being very very new at this, but I see no one has replied to your post. You can edit your heading to include a question mark from the drop down menu, and maybe add "advice needed" and see if one of the experienced helpers sees this. Good luck.
 
Why NHP? That is not a recommended insulin for cats. The best insulins are Prozinc or Lantus (glargine). Yes it is a high dose. Most insulins we start around 0.5 or 1.0 units, depending on what type of food they are eating. I would absolutely make sure you practice testing her blood sugar before giving a shot.

Some information that might help you:
INTRODUCTION TO CANNISULIN/VETSULIN & N/NPH and BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO HUMULIN N/NOVOLIN N/NPH. These posts talk about time of shots and feeding, as well as how long the insulin will last.

Are you home testing for ketones? That is also highly recommended with the amount of ketones she's been seeing. That may be why the vet has suggested a higher than normal insulin dose. Over 2.6 ketones may be indicative of DKA. Is she eating and drinking well, good energy level?
 
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