Danielle & Goose
New Member
Hello, my cat Goose was diagnosed on Dec. 11. At the clinic his glucose was 26.68mmol/L / 479mg/dL. I've voraciously read all the FAQs and beginners guides and once I had everything to start testing him at home, I started building his spreadsheet. I worked as a veterinary nurse for a few years about 10 years ago, but it was in a state that allowed learning on the job. I only encountered one diabetic cat during that time, so didn't get to learn much about feline diabetes.. the learning curve has been steep especially as it seems I haven't gotten the best advice from my veterinary clinic (plus dealing with the differences from US to Europe and some of this needing to be done in Dutch as I'm in the Netherlands now.
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I was told to give him 2.5 units of Vetsulin BID. We came back to the clinic 3 days later for the first +4 test and his number was around 5.2/94. 4 days later another +4 test was 137. During both of these visits he was incredibly stressed. I told the nurse that he had been seeming quite lethargic and was suspecting maybe the dosage was too high. She assured me his numbers were in normal values, so to keep going, I could test again in another week. Whilst the clinic does advocate home testing, they only recommended testing every few days, then weekly, or even monthly. No pre-meal testing was ever advised. I was also talked into getting a VetPen which I really regret getting now due to no .25unit adjustments available.
(The clinic sold me wet and dry Hills MD which thanks to Dr. Lisa, I now see still isn't good enough. I moved him to Purina Gourmet Gold pate, which is the European version of Fancy Feast. I feed him about 20 minutes before giving insulin, allow him 6 hours to come and go eating his portion, then don't let him eat 6 hours before the pre-meal blood test.)
When I did that first test at home and saw the 2.9/52, I freaked out a bit. The spreadsheet tells the rest. For what it is worth, his energy levels have been much better after I stopped the high dosage. He's been much more like his old self, which is important.
So I've been trying to ascertain what the correct dose for him is. Sometimes 1.0unit does very little for him, other times it works great. Sometimes the 0.5 works great. It seems he reacts more to insulin in the evening. He's also had quite a few times when he's been at the threshold of giving insulin or not (per the beginners thread recommendations.)
The last 3 times I've given no insulin... but even those numbers aren't what a normal cat would have pre-meal.
I am wondering if I should get some u100 syringes and try 0.25units (and yes, I'm aware of converting from u40 to u100)? I'm just not sure what to do when he's around the numbers he's been at for the last day and a half. I'm paranoid about plunging him into hypoglycemia, but I very much want him to be well regulated. (edit: just tested him and he's at 6.2/112 after not receiving insulin for 2 days. Is his pancreas waking back up? I hope it's not teasing me!)
Apologies for the mini essay!

I was told to give him 2.5 units of Vetsulin BID. We came back to the clinic 3 days later for the first +4 test and his number was around 5.2/94. 4 days later another +4 test was 137. During both of these visits he was incredibly stressed. I told the nurse that he had been seeming quite lethargic and was suspecting maybe the dosage was too high. She assured me his numbers were in normal values, so to keep going, I could test again in another week. Whilst the clinic does advocate home testing, they only recommended testing every few days, then weekly, or even monthly. No pre-meal testing was ever advised. I was also talked into getting a VetPen which I really regret getting now due to no .25unit adjustments available.
(The clinic sold me wet and dry Hills MD which thanks to Dr. Lisa, I now see still isn't good enough. I moved him to Purina Gourmet Gold pate, which is the European version of Fancy Feast. I feed him about 20 minutes before giving insulin, allow him 6 hours to come and go eating his portion, then don't let him eat 6 hours before the pre-meal blood test.)
When I did that first test at home and saw the 2.9/52, I freaked out a bit. The spreadsheet tells the rest. For what it is worth, his energy levels have been much better after I stopped the high dosage. He's been much more like his old self, which is important.
So I've been trying to ascertain what the correct dose for him is. Sometimes 1.0unit does very little for him, other times it works great. Sometimes the 0.5 works great. It seems he reacts more to insulin in the evening. He's also had quite a few times when he's been at the threshold of giving insulin or not (per the beginners thread recommendations.)
The last 3 times I've given no insulin... but even those numbers aren't what a normal cat would have pre-meal.
I am wondering if I should get some u100 syringes and try 0.25units (and yes, I'm aware of converting from u40 to u100)? I'm just not sure what to do when he's around the numbers he's been at for the last day and a half. I'm paranoid about plunging him into hypoglycemia, but I very much want him to be well regulated. (edit: just tested him and he's at 6.2/112 after not receiving insulin for 2 days. Is his pancreas waking back up? I hope it's not teasing me!)
Apologies for the mini essay!

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