New member 4/19/25 Cat diagnosed with FD completely lost

[Bruce D]

Hi, Our baby is Bruce. He was drinking and urinating a lot, seemed hungry but was losing weight, so I took him to the vet thinking maybe it was a urinary issue. I left the office that day with no information. Two days later she called to tell me that he had FD. She wanted to put him on Senvelgo. I asked about insulin and she insisted it was too expensive, difficult and dangerous. I feel very hesitant about this drug. I also feel at a complete loss of what he and we would need to do to manage insulin. I bought a human BG meter and am having a terrible time getting him to bleed. He is so patient, but I feel terrible, especially since I don't have anything in the moment to make it better.

I want to make dietary changes, but feel unclear about the direction to go. He has been on both wet and dry food, and eats throughout the day. I give him wet 2x a day and had the dry for snaking. He has never been overweight and never over eats. I have taken away the dry food, although it says it is 32% protein. I have gone through all the wet food and done the calculations and the carb % are low. Over the last week he is looking thinner. I weighed him and he doesn't appear to have lost weight, but seems to have lost a lot of muscle. He is starting to look thin.

Here is where we are. I have ordered the Senvelgo, but feel hesitant. It will be here on Wed. I also ordered Blood Sugar Gold. Has anyone tried that? It will be here today. I ordered ketone urine strips. As of last Mon. blood test there weren't any ketones, but the BG was 509. With the human monitor it was in the high 300s the day after the visit. The vet is holding off on insulin because of the Senvelgo. I feel like I have gotten little information from her and have a gut feeling she hasn't dealt with FD much. Everything seems to be moving very slowly.

Questions:
1.How do I convert the numbers on a human meter?
2. How does his body get the glucose if the Senvelgo is taking it out the urine?
3. Where can I read the layout of the process of using insulin to understand all that I need to do to help him? How often do I take a reading? When do I take it? How much do I feed him?

Thank you so much for your help on this,
Darla

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Welcome to FDMB.

Given that this website has been around for 25+ years and Senvelgo was released only a few years ago, I haven't a clue what your vet is thinking by giving such dire warnings about insulin. While Senvelgo and Bexacat are recent additions, just like with insulin, they have their pros and cons. This is a post that will give you more information about these newer treatments. There are also comments by members that follow the information. Senvelgo removes the excess glucose from urine. Your cat still needs glucose for nutrition since glucose is the end product of metabolism. We have members whose cats have been successful using Senvelgo and we've seen disasters. The latter has been the case with vets who are less than knowledgeable about it's use and prescribed for a cats with ketones or other problems where the use is not warranted. The other issue is that there's not a great deal of research on the use of the drug as it relates to remission. With insulin, you can taper off the medication since your cat's pancreas is working again. There's not yet information about how this may relate to Senvelgo.

With Senvelgo, I would strongly encourage you to test for ketones. There are urine test strips, Ketostix, that you can buy at any pharmacy. The presence of ketones or a urinary tract infection are contraindications for the use of Senvelgo.

You do not need a pet specific meter. The strips are quite expensive (about $1.00 each) and if you're running low, you typically need to order online. With a human meter, the cost for the Walmart Relion meter strips is 17 cents. And, you can go to a store and get more in an emergency. There is also no way to convert the numbers between a human and pet meter. The majority of members here use a human meter. With testing, I'm of the school that more is better. The minimum number of tests with insulin is 4 -- one before both the AM and PM shots and at least one test during both the AM and PM cycles. If you look at members spreadsheets, you'll see how people test. Don't be put off if you see hourly tests. Those are likely members who are using a continuous glucose monitor like the Freestyle Libre.

The issue with food is carbohydrates. You want your cat on a low carb diet which we consider as under 10% carbs. This is a link to a food chart that has most of the canned foods in the US along with nurtritional information, including carbs. You have lots of choices!! Many people here feed their cat Fancy Feast Classics which are a low carb, pate style food. I'm fairly certain the dry food you're using is high in carbs -- most of them are. You can give your cat canned food throughout the day or set up a timed feeder. Some of the feeders have room for an ice pack. Since it sounds like you're on top of what to feed, at least for now, I would suggest feeding as much as your cat wants to eat especially if you think he's losing weight or muscle mass. Weight loss is not uncommon when diabetes is unregulated.

To know more about how to use insulin, it would depend on the insulin you're using. While there are similarities, there are some differences. We strongly recommend the use of either Lantus (glargine) or Prozinc. These are the two insulins that the American Animal Hospital Assn guidelines recommend. I'm linking the dosing information for Lantus so you have a feel for the two methods we use.

Keep asking questions. We're here to help.

 

[Bruce D]

I replied, but it isn't showing here. If it shows later, I apologize for the repeat.

Thank you for your response. I will check out the links. I have seen that food chart. So anything under 10% is ok for FD, but the lower the better, correct?

With regard to the BG meter readings, what am I looking for on a human meter? I finally found somewhere that you add 35% to get the cat reading from a human meter.

Finally, the reason I was considering the Senvelgo is because we have a family trip planned. We were going to be gone for 2 weeks. His normal sitter is concerned about testing and shots. I wanted to make it as safe as possible for Bruce and easier for a caregiver. The plan was to put him on, stabilize, and upon our return see if remission was happening and possibly transition to insulin.

Thanks again!

 

[squeem3]

You just need a basic blood glucose meter. Some Human meters include food tracking, apps, and other bells and whistles that you do not need for a cat. A meter that simply gives you a reading is good enough. WalMart's Relion meter is what many US members use because the test strips are affordable. No local WalMart? Any brand of meter you can find at your local pharmacy will work. I use the AccuChek Guide and buy my test strips online.

You do not need to convert the Human meter reading. The reading you get is what your cat's level is. There are pet blood glucose meters but they're expensive, test strips are not sold at any pharmacy, and no more accurate than a Human meter.

Testing tips: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

Warming the ear first helps to get the blood flowing. Also try a higher depth setting on the lancet device.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

We've had members do comparisons between a human and pet meter. There's no formula to convert the numbers. What ever place you found the instructions to multiply by 35% is wrong. The difference at lower ranges is smaller than when a cat is experiencing high blood glucose levels.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Here is the link for the meter and test strips so you don't have to search for them. Most of us use human meters
Relion Premier Classic Meter at Walmart for 9 dollars
https://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Premier-CLASSIC-Blood-Glucose-Monitoring-System/552134103

The tests strips are 17.88 for 100
https://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Premier-Blood-Glucose-Test-Strips-100-Count/575088197
At least if you need more test strips you can run into Walmart and pick them up or if you're running low you can just order them from Walmart on line



Always aim for the sweet spot warm the ears up first, you can put rice in a sock and put it in the microwave, test it on the inside of your wrist to be sure it's not to hot, like you would test a babies bottle. Youcan fill a pill bottle with warm water and roll it on the ears also.Just keep rubbing the ears with your fingers to warm them up

6. As the ears get used to bleeding and grow more capillaries it gets easier to get the amount of blood you need on the first try. If he won’t stand still, you can get the blood onto a clean finger nail and test from there.
When you do get some blood you can try milking the ear.
Get you finger and gently push up toward the blood , more will appear
You will put the cotton round behind his ear in case you poke your finger, after you are done testing you will fold the cotton round over his ear to stop the bleeding , press gently for about 10 or 20 seconds until it stops
Get 26 or 28 gauge lancets any brand
A lot of us use the lancets to test freehand not the lancing device
I find it better to see where I'm aiming
Look at the lancet under a light and you will see one side is curved upward, that's the side you want to poke with

Try putting a thin layer of Vaseline on the ear so the blood will bead up


Here is a video one of our members made, just ignore when she has to code it, that's because she is using a pet meter ,with a human meter like the Relion no coding is needed
VIDEO: How to test your cat's blood sugar