Recently Diagnosed, dosing/testing | Feline Diabetes Message Board - FDMB

Recently Diagnosed, dosing/testing

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xiaotangmao

Member since 2025
Hello Everyone!

My little man Bee is 7, male and neutered. He was showing all the symptoms and his blood work and urinalysis confirmed he is diabetic. We're currently transitioning to LC Dr. Elsey chicken and Weruva LC wet food options.

He's on 1U 2x.

I've been trying to figure out where to post but my little man has recently been diagnosed with diabetes (I researched about dietary as well as testing but my vet told me they would do a once a week testing and then on the third week they would install a libre). I'm in the process of looking for a different vet as I haven't felt the most supported and there's been a ton of miscommunication with them forgetting appointments, insulin ordering and not following up. One of the VT even made a snarky comment about me not getting the prescription kibble when I declined stating I was doing my own research and wanted to look at other options first.

Long story short vet advise not to start home monitoring, told me to come in once a week to do a reading (I had assumed it would be to leave him for the day and then get a blood curve). Today the day and I can hear the vet techs struggling to figure out how to do a BG reading and once they got the reading they said they'll ring the vet and back to me. I told them I was worried about hypo and they said at the moment he would be fine but do not skip testing (I mentioned I noticed one of the cat vomiting I couldn't figure out who). They told me he's reading at 8.5 (222) and asked if he ate I said about 3 hours ago and could the reading be spiked as well as he's stressed from the visit and poking and they said yes but will reach out to the doctor and get back to me.

I got a monitor on the way home and will test him before I feed and shoot tonight. I plan to start a curve tomorrow as well. I've been off for a week so I've been able to monitor as well as ensure 12h dosing.

My question is with work and commute (takes me about an hour to work and an hour back) it's not a fix schedule meaning some days I can be doing a 3PM-12AM > 12PM-9PM > 9AM-6PM, the only thing is my work is very understaffed and my manager said they'll try to kept me as fixed as much as possible but it'll be hard going into holidays. I live alone and won't be able to do the second shot some days. Would it be best to skip the shot and continue the next day or shoot when I get home after testing and then the next day test to see where he is at before I shoot (let's say I work till 12AM I can shoot at 1AM and then around 11AM before I go to work)?

I know advise is going to be hard to give as I don't have a SS but I will start filling out tonight and tomorrow.

My other questions is should I still test him today? And do the +6, +8, +10, +12 reading? Sorry I'm all over the place it's been a very overwhelming and stressful process for myself and my babies.
 
It sounds like you are well on your way to helping your baby! I will re-read and respond to your message this afternoon. I am just heading out for a little while.

Oh, and it would not hurt to get a test or two today (give a treat!) and record it at the appropriate hour.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Read this if you already have not. Scroll down to the part where it says How to set up a spreadsheet. Hopefully you can get that up and running 🙂

Sticky - NEW TO THE GROUP: THE PROZINC BASICS. PLEASE START HERE.
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Thank you! I saw it but it's just hard trying to open it on my phone I'll have to see if I can set it up from my laptop when it's charged
Suzanne & Darcy said:
It sounds like you are well on your way to helping your baby! I will re-read and respond to your message this afternoon. I am just heading out for a little while.

Oh, and it would not hurt to get a test or two today (give a treat!) and record it at the appropriate hour.
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Hi Suzanne ☺️,

I tried earlier and he saw me setting up and bolted, I have a family member coming afterwards and he's very food motivated so I'm going to see if I can convince him to eat a treat while they or I try to get a test done.

I'm just feeling frustrated as I paid for them to do a BG reading and then was sent on my way when I could have started doing them myself, the second appointment is also booked with a vet tech and not vet and I keep getting the runaround of they'll call you back or we will reach back out.


ETA:

His blood sugar reading at the vet was around 22.8 (444) and fructosamine was 600

I also live alone but might be able to get family to help the only other issues is my downstairs neighbours are very loud and have dogs and he does hide when he hear them barking or the neighbours yelling :(
 
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xiaotangmao said:
Thank you! I saw it but it's just hard trying to open it on my phone I'll have to see if I can set it up from my laptop when it's charged

Hi Suzanne ☺️,

I tried earlier and he saw me setting up and bolted, I have a family member coming afterwards and he's very food motivated so I'm going to see if I can convince him to eat a treat while they or I try to get a test done.

I'm just feeling frustrated as I paid for them to do a BG reading and then was sent on my way when I could have started doing them myself, the second appointment is also booked with a vet tech and not vet and I keep getting the runaround of they'll call you back or we will reach back out.


ETA:

His blood sugar reading at the vet was around 22.8 (444) and fructosamine was 600

I also live alone but might be able to get family to help the only other issues is my downstairs neighbours are very loud and have dogs and he does hide when he hear them barking or the neighbours yelling :(
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Oh that does sound stressful for him… not to mention annoying for you (at least I would be annoyed!)

At the vet, it is extremely common for a cat’s blood glucose to be elevated (sometimes quite a bit— I see this in my own cats and not even the high stress ones.) The bottom line is that your own home BG tests are going to be a much better indicator of his actual BG levels.
 
xiaotangmao said:
fructosamine was 600
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Now that is a useful piece of information since it goves us an average of BG over the course of 2/3 weeks. It’s high. But that fructosamine test is useful for diagnosing diabetes, but after that you don’t really need to pay for that test again because hour own home glucose meter will give you more important information.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Now that is a useful piece of information since it goves us an average of BG over the course of 2/3 weeks. It’s high. But that fructosamine test is useful for diagnosing diabetes, but after that you don’t really need to pay for that test again because hour own home glucose meter will give you more important information.
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Thank you, this is very helpful info! I wasn't sure how often I should be getting blood work and urinalysis done!

It's very annoying I've been jolted awake many times and sometimes when giving injections I have to send them a quick hey I need 5 mins of silence so he doesn't get startled.

About two days ago when my little Bee threw up (or could have been either of his siblings! I couldn't tell I had just gotten home from an errand) hairball and some undigested kibbles I panicked and called the vet and asked if I should skip the shot and test to see. They told me testing wasn't needed and to not skip the shot. They also told me the day before that they vet would call me back but twice now I haven't heard back at all. Even today which makes it the third day now I haven't heard any updates on the plan for him. They did the reading and then just sent me on my way saying the vet will call. I wish they just outlined a plan for me for these visits because $30 for a test I could do at home is a little steep and without any follow up information such as next appointment we will look at this or if it looks better we will increase/decrease.

He was also sleeping all day and didn't come out to play with me or even graze like he usually does. His sister was also cuddling with him too.

Tonight after he woke up about an hour before shot time he came out attacked my pants string and then went to use the litter.

My neighbour was able to help me test him! I got 10.4/293 (I think that's the US conversion).

5AM - mini breakfast just to make sure he has something in his system as I had something urgent
630AM - fed then insulin
8AM - vet visit 8.5/222
830AM - reached home and gave him a churu stick (I'm hearing mix things if their HC or LC)
10AM - had about 7-10 kibble pieces of his regular kibble (unfortunately HC)
12PM - neighbour dogs were going crazy downstairs and he hide for a bit
5PM - came to greet me, use the litter box and then played and cuddle a little (he used it about 3-4 times since we gotten home and the pee was actually smaller a couple of times! No longer flooding the litter)
550PM - neighbour came over to check up on me and little man as they know I've been crying and stressed and offered to help me test
610 - he was grazing a little while I prepped his meal and insulin
620 - shot

He wasn't happy that I kept stopping him from eating his siblings portion either and now is sleeping in his little house.

I'm unable to get my old laptop to start up and the doc won't load on my Google drive/can't open in excel but I'm going to see if I have any luck doing a curve for him tomorrow as well as getting my laptop to work.

Edit; spelling
 
xiaotangmao said:
I'm unable to get my old laptop to start up and the doc won't load on my Google drive/can't open in excel but I'm going to see if I have any luck doing a curve for him tomorrow as well as getting my laptop to work.
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it’s all right. You will get there. Just write down any tests you get and the time.
 
xiaotangmao said:
610 - he was grazing a little while I prepped his meal and insulin
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He isn’t supposed to eat for two hours prior to the pre-shot tests. The reason is so that you know the BG test number is a fasting glucose number and you can make the decision about whether it is safe to give the dose, skip, or give a reduced dose. Sorry for so much being dumped on you at once!
 
xiaotangmao said:
had about 7-10 kibble pieces of his regular kibble (unfortunately HC)
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You are transitioning to LC food, correct? It will make a big difference in his BG and also our dosing decisions.

It sounds like you are not getting help from your vet and that they don’t really know much about feline diabetes we can help you though. All you need from them at this point is insulin. If he becomes ill with something else you may need to take him in, but not in general to manage his diabetes.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
He isn’t supposed to eat for two hours prior to the pre-shot tests. The reason is so that you know the BG test number is a fasting glucose number and you can make the decision about whether it is safe to give the dose, skip, or give a reduced dose. Sorry for so much being dumped on you at once!
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Noooo thank you!! I really appreciate you taking time out of your day and helping me navigate this overwhelming part of my life. You’re really sweet for reading all of this and breaking it all down for me! I know I’m also not making sense and just super anxious so I’m blabbering a lot.

Sorry I meant he didn't eat food at all just a treat while I we did the test because he wouldn't keep still. He had woke up when he heard me getting out of bed (he was sleeping in a little make shift fort under my bed) and followed me and I was able to try and test him on my own but my neighbour helped as I distracted him with some treats. It was after we tested he ate some kibbles. Sorry my explaining is confusing.
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Are they eating the same food (I hope.)
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yes I made all three of them transitioned! They're all on the same LC wet food and slowly taking out their HC wet food, their kibbles a little harder they were all for mixing in the LC kibble now they eat around it or won't eat and I'm worried about leaving wet food out all day (they also won't eat it if I tried smaller meals)
Suzanne & Darcy said:
153
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omg..he could have been hypo yesterday as I still gave him a shot and I just didn’t know (I made sure he ate and drank as much as I could and added in some HC stuff as I didn’t have a monitor and the one I order never came) I’m kicking myself, I also really need to make his kit ASAP with instructions for my family as I have the stuff just not all in one place.
Suzanne & Darcy said:
No. A 10.4 is 187. You multiply the number by 18 to get the U.S. number. When you get the spreadsheet set up, it will automatically populate the U.S. numbers for you on the US tab.
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omg thank you!!! I was for the life of me trying to figure out how to convert and was using references!! The SS is going to be a life saver once I get it up and running
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Did the vet test for ketones? Have you tested Bee for ketones? Do you have any ketone test strips or a blood ketone meter? Again… sorry for the fire hose.

Ketones, Ketoacidosis, and Diabetic Cats: A Primer on Ketones
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The only time they did was when he got his urinalysis and it was negative same with the one from about 3/4 years ago, I was looking into getting sticks but I wasn’t sure which brand would be best and no you’re good I’m soooo appreciative of everything you’re doing for me!
 
xiaotangmao said:
My question is with work and commute (takes me about an hour to work and an hour back) it's not a fix schedule meaning some days I can be doing a 3PM-12AM > 12PM-9PM > 9AM-6PM, the only thing is my work is very understaffed and my manager said they'll try to kept me as fixed as much as possible but it'll be hard going into holidays. I live alone and won't be able to do the second shot some days. Would it be best to skip the shot and continue the next day or shoot when I get home after testing and then the next day test to see where he is at before I shoot (let's say I work till 12AM I can shoot at 1AM and then around 11AM before I go to work)?
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That is wild and really confusing. I do hope your manager will be able to keep your schedule somewhat regular, but we will take it as it comes. I have worked with another person who had a challenging work schedule, but it was usually not more than two hours off. We may have to adjust the dose more frequently than would be typical.
 
Okay. I understand about the feeding. It’s good to give a treat when trying to test. Sometimes they need a lot of treats. 🙂 freeze dried chicken pieces like Pure Bites are popular low carb treats.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
You are transitioning to LC food, correct? It will make a big difference in his BG and also our dosing decisions.

It sounds like you are not getting help from your vet and that they don’t really know much about feline diabetes we can help you though. All you need from them at this point is insulin. If he becomes ill with something else you may need to take him in, but not in general to manage his diabetes.
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Yes, I started the moment I found out his results and started looking into food and was super overwhelmed but atm I’m swapping out their FF gravy lovers to weruva LC selections and Dr Elsey chicken kibble (I made the stupid mistake of getting open farm grain free kibble thinking it was LC but then I googled and it was 30%! Almost cried on the spot still lower than their old kibbles at 42%…)

Unfortunately they haven’t and they’re the closest to me and he doesn’t do well with car rides or long distance. The main vet that used to see my cat left and the other one here missed all the signs even when I brought it up it. Even in the summer when he got super sick they told me to just monitored him and sent me on my way and since he stopped throwing up and went back to normal I had assumed he was fine. Then he started peeing everywhere, excessive peeing and drinking and dropped so much weight (he used to be BIG boy at 20 pounds and none of the dieting helped) but it was always the same old monitor him it was probably just the stress from my move. Then last week I woke up to him vomiting for a min straight and called them and asked for blood work as his weight loss and the excuses peeing with the throwing up was super concerning to me. I also was in a bad time in my life mentally during the summer (moving, family, work and a boss from hell) that looking back I wished I did more for him.

I’m planning on cancelling the next couple of BG reading I booked; should I still move forward with the libre? They want to install one. Are they also able to deny giving me insulin if I don’t go in for readings with them and let them know I’m doing it on my own?
 
Well those numbers in the 100s are perfectly safe. It kind of depends on what time of the cycle it was (number of hours after the shot was given). A cat on ProZinc will typically nadir (lowest point in the cycle) at around +6 (although it can vary and some cats new to ProZinc will nadir earlier. So depending on how many hours after the shot those readings in the 100s were taken they may have been perfectly fine.
 
xiaotangmao said:
I’m planning on cancelling the next couple of BG reading I booked; should I still move forward with the libre? They want to install one. Are they also able to deny giving me insulin if I don’t go in for readings with them and let them know I’m doing it on my own?
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This depends upon your vet. Some people here have super ultra controlling vets who get angry and threaten to not see them anymore and some people don’t have any trouble after their vet sees how well their cat is doing. Some people end up switching vets.
 
xiaotangmao said:
should I still move forward with the libre? They want to install one
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I wonder if they have a lot of experience putting on the Libre sensors. If you are gone from home for long hours then maybe it would be helpful— as long as you can still get readings with a handheld meter. The Libre sensors don’t measure blood glucose but the glucose in interstitial fluid. In the lower numbers, the Libres can read very low and be alarming. You need to be able to check those lower numbers (under 100) with a regular meter to get a more accurate number.

We do have members here who install their own Libre sensors and can help a lot when you get to that point. (They did say a few more weeks, right?)
 
The symptoms you describe with all the vomiting and everything is extremely frightening. He could have gone into diabetic ketoacidosis and died. This doesn’t give me much confidence in your vet. I would get a blood ketone meter and track it myself. I don’t trust them after what you have described. Ketones can also fluctuate a lot so a single negative on the urine dip stick is good, but it’s just a single point in time.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Well those numbers in the 100s are perfectly safe. It kind of depends on what time of the cycle it was (number of hours after the shot was given). A cat on ProZinc will typically nadir (lowest point in the cycle) at around +6 (although it can vary and some cats new to ProZinc will nadir earlier. So depending on how many hours after the shot those readings in the 100s were taken they may have been perfectly fine.
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The first time he tested today was about 2h-2.5h (I put 8AM his vet visit but I meant 9am! Sorry I was typing really fast and missed that until I re-read!) after his meal and insulin and I know he hadn’t eaten anything as he was sleeping in my blanket and I tried to do more research

The second test was done about 11.5h before his shot as I couldn’t get any reading from him because he kept hiding and I didn’t want to wake his siblings up and make it an entire circus
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Okay. I understand about the feeding. It’s good to give a treat when trying to test. Sometimes they need a lot of treats. 🙂 freeze dried chicken pieces like Pure Bites are popular low carb treats.
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thank you! I saw that as well he doesn’t like to chew, might have to break it into smaller pieces and see how he does!

I also realized the freeze dried I got from open farm has 13% carbs, every time I’m at the pet store I’m pulling up spreadsheets and I’m still not calculating right
Suzanne & Darcy said:
That is wild and really confusing. I do hope your manager will be able to keep your schedule somewhat regular, but we will take it as it comes. I have worked with another person who had a challenging work schedule, but it was usually not more than two hours off. We may have to adjust the dose more frequently than would be typical.
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yes! Super! My schedule this month was a little more stable I had more back to back same shifts and was able to come half an hour late to leaving half an hour early but with cooperate visiting soon and black out period I’m praying I can get a set schedule so I can start adjusting his shots time to a match my hopefully fixed schedule, I want to do whatever I can for him to get better but work is the biggest obstacle and if I don’t work no money for his treatments/vet bills and most importantly his treats!
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I wonder if they have a lot of experience putting on the Libre sensors. If you are gone from home for long hours then maybe it would be helpful— as long as you can still get readings with a handheld meter. The Libre sensors don’t measure blood glucose but the glucose in interstitial fluid. In the lower numbers, the Libres can read very low and be alarming. You need to be able to check those lower numbers (under 100) with a regular meter to get a more accurate number.

We do have members here who install their own Libre sensors and can help a lot when you get to that point. (They did say a few more weeks, right?)
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I had assumed they did but with the way I could hear the vet techs struggling and trying to figure out how to do BG reading today I’m a little hesitant, they mentioned to me that they used a human meter but today I heard them trying to calibrate it from dog to cat and they did it from his paw not his ears because they couldn’t figure out how to draw from his ears

I should have about 2-3 more weeks!
Suzanne & Darcy said:
This depends upon your vet. Some people here have super ultra controlling vets who get angry and threaten to not see them anymore and some people don’t have any trouble after their vet sees how well their cat is doing. Some people end up switching vets.
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My vet seemed fine although hard to get a hold of, it’s the VT and receptionist who I’m having a harder time with, one had called me yesterday (before I called about worrying he was hypo) saying I could pick up my insulin when I have had it for a week now! When I mentioned researching more to my vet about food she was totally opened to me getting it from them or else where but the VT made a comment about how I can only get prescription/diabetic food through them and that commercial retailers are bad and will ruin his treatment. I also had to look up how to draw/administer insulin as well as they briefly showed me and said you’re good to go (I was not). Then when I noticed his next 3 weeks of follow up wasn’t booked in they told me they’ll look into it and never called back and I had to keep calling back. Every time it’s a “that’s weird I’ll look into it” and nothing more.
Suzanne & Darcy said:
The symptoms you describe with all the vomiting and everything is extremely frightening. He could have gone into diabetic ketoacidosis and died. This doesn’t give me much confidence in your vet. I would get a blood ketone meter and track it myself. I don’t trust them after what you have described. Ketones can also fluctuate a lot so a single negative on the urine dip stick is good, but it’s just a single point in time.
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yes I even mentioned that it was about 3-4 times that week and sometimes it was bile and sometimes it was undigested food but some days it’ll be up to 4 times! They told me it could have been something he ate and to monitor it and if symptoms persists to call back and then they’ll do blood work or go to the er! At the time I was living with family so they were able to help keep and eye on him

Honestly I was thinking of switching waaaay before this because a coworker of mine goes to them as well and she has been just as unhappy it’s just hard because I don’t drive atm and a lot of the vets are about 30-50 away by car but once I’m settled down more and have my own stuff figured out I will switch vet
 
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