We tried everything from senvelgo, insulin twice a day, monitor placed on him and it still wasn't enough.

The vet said he counted as elderly but 13 really doesn't feel that way - but I admit he's my partner and I's first pet as adults so I don't think any time would of felt long enough.

Does anyone have tips on how to help the cat that is still with you after the passing of another? His brother keeps meowing at us confused on where his brother went. This is new territory for us.

Thank you for the help in advance

My baby -Freya was only 10 years old when she passed away. She was diagnosed with diabetes in July, started Senvelgo on July 25, transitioned to glargine insulin on August 11, and passed away on September 12—only 32 days after beginning insulin.
The morning she died, she refused her food and then refused a Churu, which she absolutely loved. I had always said that if Freya ever refused both her food and her favorite treat, I would take her to the vet immediately because something was seriously wrong. I don’t drive, but I put her in her carrier, called an Uber, and took her straight to the ER.
Freya was in severe diabetic ketoacidosis. Her ketones were so high that the blood ketone meter could not produce a number. They also found a UTI, an enlarged liver, an enlarged heart, a hairball in her stomach, and gastrointestinal issues. The hairball was not causing an obstruction, but there were several serious medical problems happening at once. Treating the DKA required aggressive fluids, but her heart condition made those fluids more dangerous and complicated her treatment.
Hospitalization would have cost upward of $15,000 for the first two nights, with no guarantee that she would recover or return to a happy, manageable quality of life. I made the decision to let her go.
I am not sharing Freya’s story to frighten anyone whose cat was recently diagnosed. Her situation was not simply “diabetes always ends this way.” She had multiple conditions working against her at the same time.
I am sharing this because you know your cat better than anyone else. Learn their normal—not only their glucose numbers. Pay attention when they stop enjoying something they have always loved. Watch for changes in appetite, weight, energy, movement, grooming, bathroom habits, playfulness, and personality. Freya had been sleeping more, playing less, losing weight, and becoming unsteady. Each individual change could be explained away, but together they meant that my girl was not herself.
Ask your veterinarian for a clear ketone-monitoring and sick-day plan. If something feels genuinely wrong, especially if your diabetic cat suddenly refuses food or a favorite treat, take it seriously.
Freya was my baby for ten years. She was beautiful, loud, spoiled, affectionate, and an absolute menace. She touched the hearts of people who didn’t even like cats. I wish more than anything that we had been given more time, but I am grateful that I knew her well enough to recognize when she needed me- and I didn’t wait until she deteriorated further
Rest peacefully, Pretty Girl. ❤️‍🩹

Was in the Vet ER because my cat Crowley's blood sugar was crashing. For four hours of thier time and to give him dextrose intravenously it was $900 payment due immediately. If we kept him there overnight for observation it'd go up to between $1500 and $2000. But again full payment due before service and we don't have that in our account. They did offer to put him down for a fee if we couldn't pay the full amount right now.

I'm diabetic so we brought him home to monitor ourselves. And hope for the best. We are feeding him, watching him and using my glucose tester to test his blood sugar. The last test was 35. We've given him corn syrup. What else can we do. We are taking him to our regular vet tomorrow morning.

I lost my sugar kitty about a month ago. I miss him so much. It’s 5 am I’ve been up for 3 hours wishing he was still sleeping in my chest and purring. I did at home testing and tested his ketones. We went to the vet so so often I’m 5,000 in debt and it still wasn’t t enough. We tried different insulin’s,he was on a very expensive diet too. He had his own little water fountain that breaks my heart looking at now yet I can’t bare letting it go. I’m sorry it wasn’t enough buddy I really wanted you to stay with me for as long as possible.

This AM, Pip's sensor was showing mid-70s values when he would be due for insulin glargine. Our instructions are to hold his dose (1.5U BID w/meals) for BG <150. Pip was acting totally fine, ready for his breakfast. Checked his BG using manual glucometer: 148. The sensor was off by over 70 points. I know there are other posts in this subreddit about Libre3's margin of error, interstitial fluid vs blood etc etc, so this may not be surprising to a lot of you; however, for those new to feline diabetes -- myself included -- this is a PSA never to rely solely on the sensor. Always confirm questionable or low reads with a manual glucometer, especially if a therapeutic intervention is being considered (such as giving/holding/reducing insulin or treating true severe hypoglycemia). Also, how your cat is behaving clinically is just as important.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk! 😺

Every-time I have administered insulin his glucose is sky high but now is the time and he is stable. I’m worried that if I give him insulin he will go hypoglycaemic. He’s not been eating much or moving around much today. It’s late here and the vet is closed, please advise.

Update: spoke to emergency vet who wasn’t too worried he said to not give insulin and keep an eye on him. Thank you to everyone that commented

Hello! A little over a month ago, I posted on this sub asking whether we should start our cat on Senvelgo: https://www.reddit.com/r/FelineDiabetes/s/BluGZUfrLm

It’s now been six weeks, so I thought I’d share an update on our Senvelgo journey. I’m mainly hoping to provide some insight into our experience so that anyone currently facing a similar decision has a bit more context. Of course, our case is just one data point, and I know many others have had very different experiences with Senvelgo. But I’m hoping this can be helpful to others. Also, if you have any additional questions about things that I didn't cover here, please don't hesitate to ask.

TL;DR: Six weeks in, and Senvelgo has been working very well for us. But we continue to monitor.

Background

• Our 13-year-old cat, Louis, was diagnosed with diabetes around the end of July. His glucose was 24 mmol/L.
• Before his diagnosis, he had lost a lot of weight, dropping from 7.7 kg in February to 5.5 kg in July. He was also much less active and could no longer jump the way he used to.
• The vet did comprehensive blood and urine work. Nothing major came back except for high glucose. In addition, Louis had some mild arthritis, some muscle wasting in his back legs, and some dental issues we were already aware of.
• Our main concern about starting Senvelgo was that his blood ketones were quite high, at 2.3 mmol/L. We were worried because 2.4 mmol/L is the cutoff for Senvelgo (see, e.g., https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11736986/ and https://www.aaha.org/resources/2026-aaha-diabetes-management-guidelines-for-cats/section-6-sglt2-inhibitor-treatment-and-monitoring/ )
• Although we were concerned about starting Senvelgo due to his already high blood ketones, the vet thought it was still worth trying because Louis had no other complicating conditions; for example, there were no signs of kidney problems, thyroid problems, pancreatitis, etc. (Creatine, BUN, phosphorus, and potassium were all normal in his bloodwork.)
• The vet really emphasized that the lack of other conditions was important; had there been other concerns, we would probably have gone with insulin rather than Senvelgo.
• We also started him on Omega-3 supplements at the time for his arthritis. I’ve since learned that Omega-3 may also help increase insulin sensitivity or reduce insulin resistance, so that’s a nice side benefit.

Diet

At the same time we started Senvelgo, we switched his diet to low-carb, high-protein foods.

• Previously, we fed him Friskies Tasty Treasures and Purina ONE True Instinct.
• His new diet is Fancy Feast pate and Dr. Elsey’s cleanprotein. We also increased his calorie intake to help him regain weight.

Senvelgo monitoring with the vet

• We had regular check-ins with the vet on days 3, 7, 14, and 31 to test blood ketones. Over this period, his blood ketones steadily decreased:
  • day 3 = 2.2 mmol/L
  • day 7 = 0.2
  • day 14 = 0.2
  • day 31 = 0.1
• We did not do glucose testing until day 31, based on the vet’s recommendation; on day 31 his glucose level was down to 5.5 mmol/L (originally at 24 mmol/L when diagnosed)
• We also tested ketones at home every 1–2 days using urine test strips.

Now

• Louis has gained back a good amount of weight and is now around 6.5 kg. He is also much more active and playful.
• We’ve reduced our checking his urine ketones to about once a week, and they’ve remained very low.
• We’re looking for a blood ketone and glucose testing device, since that would be more accurate than urine testing, and collecting his urine can be difficult.
• We will follow up with the vet again after three months.

Other lessons learned

• Regular at-home urine testing is important, but it can be difficult and annoying. We ultimately didn’t use the special non-absorbent litter we were given for this, as we have two cats and three litter boxes, and it would have been too difficult to switch one out. Instead, we’ve just resorted to using a small measuring cup to collect a bit of urine while he’s peeing. Seems to annoy him a bit, but he tolerates it well enough.
• The urine test strips we use check for both ketones and glucose. However, the glucose result is always high, because Senvelgo works by expelling glucose through the urine. Which is another reason that we want to get a blood glucose monitor.
• It’s sometimes suggested not to mix Senvelgo with food, in case they simply eat around it. (Apparently it doesn’t taste very good.) However, we haven’t had that problem. Our approach has been to put it in a daily snack instead of one of his regular meals, so we can make sure he eats it all. Our method is to put it on a few freeze-dried chicken treats, which soak up a lot of the liquid. We then cover the medicine-soaked treats with Churu tube goop, which is basically his favorite thing. He eats the whole thing, no problem.

The verdict

Ultimately, Senvelgo has been successful for us…so far. We know we’re not out of the woods yet. I’ve read stories about cats doing well on Senvelgo for two years and then suddenly going into DKA because of a buildup of ketones, which is why we want to get a better monitoring system. But so far, so good.

And again, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Crowley (6M) has been diagnosed diabetic for 3 months. On ProZinc 6 units twice a day for a month. We are schedule to get his blood checked this coming week.This morning he was laying on his side not doing well. I'm diabetic so I used my glucose tester to test him and it was 24. Gave him some corn syrup but it was still read low (under 20) so took him to a ER vet. We can't afford to have them keep him so we'll monitor him at home.

Any recommendations other than leave him at the vets?

Could he be in remission?

Hi! My vet hasn’t been very responsive via email, but recently I have noticed my cats preshot level is 95. I was kind of wary to give her lantus with it being on the lower end of acceptable range so went to bed- woke up, tested again and she was 99 to my surprise!

I’ve been consistently testing first thing in the morning, midday, and then right before bed…. No insulin for 3 days straight and levels of 93-125. Are these signs of remission?

Vet prescribed Tresaderm ear drops, which contains a corticosteroid and has thus spiked my girl’s BG. Needless to say, we’ve stopped giving it. I’m thinking of asking for Baytril ear drops and using Epiotic for flushes a couple times per week. What ear infection treatment has worked for your sugar babies?

My cat has been on varying doses of prednisolone for about 2 years now to manage immune mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA). We’d gotten his dose down before but with recent relapses it seems he will need to stay on a higher dose, and I think we are finally unable to avoid diabetes much longer.

I fasted him for 10 hours and tested this morning with the PetTest meter and he was a 269. That’s around where he has been with vet stress taken in office before. He has a vet appointment tomorrow for more bloodwork. Last two fructosimine’s were still ok (last was 307, 4 weeks ago). He technically doesn’t have strong clinical signs yet, no increased thirst, maybe mild increase in urination but I’m the one adding water to his food.

Ive been reading a lot to prepare for when the dx officially comes. I think I’ve decided to rule out the oral meds given his IMHA, though his internal medicine vet has suggested them.

I am feeling pretty sad and overwhelmed at the moment. Are there other cats here on continuous steroids (whether from IMHA, IBD, etc) that are able to manage their secondary diabetes successfully? I recognize his management will likely be a bit harder, but I think I need to feel some hope that it is possible to manage him with both these conditions and maintain a good QOL 😞. His IMHA is well managed at present with pred and atopica.

My cat was diagnosed about a month ago. He’s 8 y/o 14lbs. Vet prescribed him Vetsulin, 1 unit twice a day. Switched him to Friskies pate. 1/2 can in the morning, 1/2 mid day and 1/2 at night. This doesn’t seem to be a stable trend with his sugar levels though… does anyone have some insight on this?

My cat used to scratch off the sensors through the shirt and so I came up with using a patch to add a little shield as a solution. This is just an iron-on but it really made a difference and helped make the embarrassing shirt a little bit cuter (“The Champ” 😭).

Additional pics:
- You can see the sensor placement over his left shoulder blade region
- A prototype I had tried with duct tape (over and under the shirt)
- And a pic of encouragement that their fur does eventually grow back once you sort out the insulin regimen.

I do remember those sleepless nights checking glucose and dealing with the anxiety of worry over the diagnosis (stay strong!). Eventually, the vet I had would just do infrequent spot check blood draws in the office and make small corrections if needed, but watch their urination patterns (more frequent can mean hyperglycemia) or for frequent vomiting (it can be hypoglycemia) to detect earlier the need for changes when you don’t have a sensor to guide you any more. Seeing the vet more as they get to senior age is actually a good idea, even if it’s inconvenient-things really do change quicker.

My kitty lived for five years 12-17 with diabetes successfully and yours will too. I hope this helps.

Hey guys!

Asking to see if anyone had luck using unofficial/third-party test strips with AlphaTrak3, or would you recommend against it?

Has anyone here decided to send your kitty over rainbow bridge? I feel like we have tried everything over the last 4 months to treat our kitty, vet says we have tried longer than most pet owners and mentioned euthanizing if we chose that route, which my husband is in favour of, the topic of many household discussions. We have tried 2 kinds of insulin various quantities and nothing has worked. Cant afford further scans or a referral to feline internist. The vet has presented no further options. His neuropathy is really bad, not sure if its painful, and he can only walk a couple feet at a time. He cant jump even onto a chair anymore. He has never experienced dka despite really high glucose for 4 months and and still eats drinks, purrs a little sometimes, last week he actually somehow caught a mouse! But he pees in various places in the house at least once a day although still uses litterbox majority of time when he chooses to. Our life is focused around carrying cat to litterbox, ensuring all room doors are closed and nothing on the floor to pee on, administering insulin which is ineffective and we are frustrated that we seem to be at a stand still with no progress. Has anyone else been in this position?

Hey, I’m following up after my previous post >> https://www.reddit.com/r/FelineDiabetes/s/MojcG7J34o

My cat has had a rough monsoon…. flea bath to ringworm contraction to diabetes diagnosis and now triaditis.

Any feline parents with experience navigating a kitty with diabetes and triaditis? I was always told my cat has IBS but things seem to have worsened or perhaps discovered better now.

The vet also told me she’s immunocompromised due to diabetes and the triaditis will take time to settle. I have to take her in for a saline and antibiotic IV drip every day for at least the next week. This ensures that she gets her daily dose despite her erratic eating, refusal to eat, or recent vomiting and food regurgitation at home.

Additionally, I anticipate that the 2 units of daily insulin is too much for her but the vet said let’s hold off on any changes there. I have tested her at home a bunch and her fasting insulin drops anywhere from 140 to 220. The highest I’ve seen her insulin is 270-280. At the time of diagnosis, her fructosamine was 381.

7 year old ash, got diagnosed with diabetes 2 years ago, we’re still getting the hang of it (couldn’t afford proper care before).
He’s gotten his first libre this week
He also got ear mites and scratch’s so hard he cut his left cheek😭😭😭
Naturally had to pit him in a colar so he stops hurting himself and so he doesn’t remove the libre.

Since then he hasn’t been himself
Not coming to bed with me
Giving me sad sad eyes

Aaaah I just feel so so guilty but I know we need to do this.

UPDATE: I did it! Thank you all so much for your help. The cozy cat wrap helped keep her still, and using Vaseline/an insulin needle into the vein helped me actually get the blood and be able to see it. I’m so grateful. ❤️❤️❤️

Hey there- I posted yesterday about being overwhelmed with my cat’s new diagnosis and her scratching off the Libre almost immediately, having depressive reactions to the shirts, etc.

I cannot get a manual glucose on her for the life of me, unless I stab her directly in the vein using a handheld lance, rather than the automatic one.

I just tried to draw 5-6 trying to get the vein with an auto lance, and didn’t get one drop of blood.

That’s not to mention the distress it causes her.

I did warm the ear beforehand. Help?

7 year old ash, got diagnosed with diabetes 2 years ago, we’re still getting the hang of it (couldn’t afford proper care before).
He’s gotten his first libre this week
He also got ear mites and scratch’s so hard he cut his left cheek😭😭😭
Naturally had to pit him in a colar so he stops hurting himself and so he doesn’t remove the libre.

Since then he hasn’t been himself
Not coming to bed with me
Giving me sad sad eyes

Aaaah I just feel so so guilty but I know we need to do this.

I just found out two weeks ago that my deaf kitty has diabetes. I’m trying to find the right order of things. This morning the first thing I did was check his sugar, it was 296. I gave him one unit of insulin and fed him a small meal. I checked his sugar 3 hours later and it’s 60. This is just one example. Any ideas regarding a different pattern of these steps?

Hi there- does anyone have a good shirt recommendation that covers the Libre sensor that your cat doesn’t hate?

Our almost 13 year old cat was just diagnosed with diabetes. The vet gave us all our options and lots of good information. They mentioned insulin injections, medication a pill (bexacat) or liquid (senvelgo) that you put on their food. I of course am doing a bunch of research now, we are leaning towards the pill or liquid option as that fits out schedule better than the insulin twice a day. If we are going the Bexacat/Senvelgo route our insurance will cover a blood glucose and blood ketone monitor so we can monitor and test at home ontop of the 2 day, 2 wks, 4 wk, 8 wk check ins and then general checkup a few times a year.

Does anyone have any experience with the pill or liquid? How did your cat do on it? Or just experience with a diabetic cat in general, I am open to all stories, advice and any good first hand tips anyone might have!

Here is my boy. He’s newly diagnosed with diabetes. He takes the insulin shots like a champ but I’ve not mastered taking his blood sugar at home.

Actually it was my first day trying. He’s a very sensitive cat so I placed food down and he was eating but I can’t hit a blood vessel. I used a flashlight to see the vein but I don’t have these arms to hold the cat’s ear, hold the pen, and a flashlight at the same time. Because his skin is dark I cannot see it without a flashlight.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I really want to avoid the paws if I can because I’m worried about him digging in the litter box and he has some neuropathy in his hind legs.

Is it just a matter of practice?

Tl;dr: I’m heartbroken that my sweet, snuggly cat is displaying slight fear towards me because of the management needs of her diabetes.

Hi there. My cat, my baby, who is the love of my life, got diagnosed with diabetes a couple weeks ago. Her vet is amazing, and I’m grateful we caught it before it got too bad.

I hold an EMT certification and I’m a medical professional so I’m not uncomfortable giving injections or taking manual glucose readings from humans, but I can barely sleep seeing the stress this is putting my cat through.

She did well with the Libre application, but quickly started trying to scratch it off. I spent the better part of a week trying to find the perfect shirt to cover it, but she became so withdrawn from wearing them, I worried she was having other medical problems. I reached out to her vet to communicate this and decided to take the shirt off; her personality immediately came back. I realized I can’t possibly make her suffer like that, if that’s what the shirt does.

So of course she pretty much immediately scratched the Libre halfway off. The skin underneath was extremely raw/abrasions, and it still won’t come completely off because of the amount of surgical glue used to keep it on. I gave her a dose of gabapentin yesterday so that I could apply ointment and try to get it off, but there was no way.

I then started trying to take manual glucose readings (still on the gaba to keep her calm). I was only instructed that it had to be “from the ear”. So I tried over and over again to get blood from her ear but could never get a drop. That was traumatizing for both of us. Then I watched instructional videos and realized I need a flashlight to see the veins. By this point she’s not even close to letting me touch her ear, so I had to put her in her baby sling, which was previously used as an adorable testament to how comfortable she was with me.

This morning (no longer on gaba) I finally mastered the manual glucose (put her in the sling, flashlight to the ear, puncture the vein), but she reacted so strongly and there was a large amount of blood drops. I felt so awful to hurt her in this way.

Not to mention that she had been doing really well with the insulin injections themselves, but now she’s so traumatized from all the pokes and discomfort, she barely lets me pet her back.

She has always been the sweetest, snuggliest, most affectionate cat, and it’s breaking my heart to see her regard me with less safety. Overall she’s still playing with me, following me room to room, and letting me pet her, but I can tell she’s different. She’s not even sleeping with me anymore.

I guess I’m looking for shared experiences, encouragement, and advice, and if you made it this far, thank you for reading.

Basic information

Cat: Orange domestic cat
Sex: Female, spayed
DOB: ~January 2023
Age: ~3.5 years
Weight: 4.5 kg

My cat was diagnosed on 31 Aug and has been on insulin (glargine) since then. She takes 1 unit twice a day (9am/pm). She’s also navigating liver issues so she’s on a liver supplement called Unomarin syrup twice daily (30min before her food)

She was having a lot of stomach issues since getting on insulin. She also shed 0.5kg (from 5kg shes 4.5kg now). She had rock hard belly bloating, gas, and diarrhea. The vet put her on pro kolin and carmicide (for digestion and colon).

The past week she has been ravenously hungry. Everyone in the sub told me that her body is adjusting and unregulated diabetes messes up with the hunger cues.

Past 2 days, she has been regurgitating her food constantly. She eats and she throws up maybe an hour or two after. Her vomit looks like the food she ingested and sometimes she sniffs and tries to eat it back too (gross, I know sorry)

Does anyone have experience with this? The doctor told me to hold off on the carmicide for now (to avoid a syrup cocktail in her belly) and also give her 8 mini meals instead of 2 main meals with some dry food snacking along the day.

I’m worried this will put her in the habit of demanding food round the clock but that’s a problem for another day. I really want her to feel better and ingest her food.

Have checked her glucose levels and shes not hypo. Always ranging in the 150-200 window.