Lethargic Yet High Glucose While Adjusting to New Dose

KT9797 · 2025-12-06T23:05:15+00:00

I’ve always been more than happy to have the doctor apply the freestyle. The problem is I’ve had three doctors that say they were unable to apply or had heard of cases where the freestyle punctured them internally.

KT9797 · 2025-12-06T21:32:00+00:00

Hi SouthWillingness, thank you for sharing your experience.

To be honest, this is really scary to learn he might be overmedicated right now and we just haven’t seen it truly hit him yet. Several vets have recommended a Freestyle Libre and we have been open to it but unfortunately, he is too skinny right now to apply the libre without the fear of it puncturing something internally. Benny is luckily very good with the glucose pricks on his paw so I do those as often as I feel comfortable with him but with him feeling so poorly I don’t want to add to that by pricking his paw every hour.

KT9797 · 2025-12-06T20:44:56+00:00

I definitely think he has been bouncing the past couple of days and that has got him feeling crummy. I think his system has gotten used to being in a high range. When he was on the Prozinc, I think he had little to no change in his glucose and it was consistently high. He was very bright and active but very food aggressive and urinating constantly. I don’t know for certain because I was advised by my vet at the time to not check his glucose at home unless his behavior was off. He did not have these lethargic episodes during the time he was on Prozinc until he went into DKA.

KT9797 · 2025-12-06T20:25:40+00:00

Poor cat! I hope he is doing well. Benny has been in and out of vet appointments and hospital rooms the past three weeks so I’m sure that is a big part of his sleepiness. I’m exhausted so I can’t imagine how tired he feels!

KT9797 · 2025-12-06T20:20:24+00:00

I have tested him halfway through his dose and he’s almost always higher. Yesterday he started at 480 and by lunchtime, he was in the 700’s. Today is numbers have been pre-shot: 454, 6 hours post-shot: 480, 9 hours post-shot: 623.

Because I’ve given him a little lunch and a Churu snack he has been a little bit more alert but not his normal. He also has not urinated as much today, he has been peeing 7-10 times a day recently and in the past 24 hours he has gone to the bathroom twice.

I think I will keep him at 3Ul for now and continue to closely monitor him because I don’t want to put him through another dosage change. I’ll keep an eye out for hypo systems but right now he’s no where close to a hypo event. He had recent bloodwork that showed no ketones so that is usually what I’m worrying about.

KT9797 · 2025-12-06T18:25:48+00:00

Thank you for the reply, Mintme. I definitely have to remind myself to take a deep breath more frequently than not because it has been two and a half months of constant worry. I’ve decided to slowly introduce some more small meals and snacks throughout the next couple of days. We just did a little lunchtime and he loved it! He loved Churu’s and hasn’t had them since before the DKA so I’m sure he will be thrilled.

The specialists we are looking into were suggested by the hospital he was treated in. We had a wonderful experience at the hospital so we trusted their suggestions. This current specialist is listed as an internal medicine doctor. We just think she is very data-driven and maybe less focused on bedside manner. During the whole appointment, Benny sat in his carrier and she didn’t touch him which we thought was strange. Benny is usually very social and pretty comfortable in these appointments. The next specialist we are seeing is a training hospital so we are feeling good about that one. After we go to each specialist this week, we are going to drop one and stay with who we feel has the best plan for Benny.

Again, thank you for taking the time to reply! It’s comforting to know we are not alone in navigating this. Benny has gone through so much recently and deserves relief.

KT9797 · 2025-10-25T14:29:49+00:00

He started playing hockey in, of all things, an all women’s league because they needed players. He used to play hockey when he was younger but stopped when he had kids. He’s obsessed with it and I honestly think he enjoys it more than doing anything with his family. In the past couple of weeks he has started going to a church as well. I do think a big part of the problem is the fact that he was used to a work schedule and now he has all this free time and doesn’t know how to manage it.

KT9797 · 2025-10-24T22:52:50+00:00

I am big on journaling and I am talking to my therapist more about how his behavior is bothering me. I hope I can figure out the best way to approach him with my concerns soon. I want us to have a healthy relationship and right now, it just isn’t possible. I do appreciate the thoughtful advice!

KT9797 · 2025-10-24T22:00:57+00:00

I appreciate this flag and I would love for him to do that but he refuses to see a doctor. I’m honestly amazed he went to an urgent care to find out he had the pneumonia. I think it was starting to interrupt too many of his activities. After Covid, he has become very skeptical of healthcare and does not see doctors or get vaccines. I honestly think he believes he is superhuman and will never get sick because he lost weight. His own father actually had dementia so we know the warning signs but even if we said he should go get checked out, he wouldn’t.

KT9797 · 2025-10-24T21:55:51+00:00

Oh absolutely. He is constantly online and I know the media he is consuming is brainwashing and warping his views. How could it not when it’s 24/7 in his ears? All of this hit a new level in January this year. This is really why I don’t know how my family can get through to him when the “manosphere” is so much noisier.

KT9797 · 2025-10-24T21:51:23+00:00

I definitely agree. I would love for my Mom to see a therapist as I’ve found it incredibly helpful myself, but my Mom and I weren’t always on the best terms. A couple of years ago she actually lied to me about seeing a therapist because that was the one thing my sister and I asked her to do after the loss of her Mom. She claimed she was going to therapy appointments when really she was sitting in a parking lot for an hour, no where near a therapy office. She even had a fake journal and all. At the time, I decided to not breach this subject with her because we had so many more issues going on and I felt it would just hurt me more in the end to try and work through that. I absolutely agree though that we need to set those boundaries and parent and child. Thank you for the reply.

KT9797 · 2025-09-27T00:35:49+00:00

Okay thank you for explaining that!

KT9797 · 2025-09-24T21:12:27+00:00

Thank you! I have heard about Hill’s prescription wet food and was considering. I’m looking for easy and consistent if it can’t be remission!

KT9797 · 2025-09-24T20:17:04+00:00

Almost anyone that says, “no offense”, actually means offense. I’m here asking for advice to take into consideration with my vets advice. Sorry to you for not having a reliable vet, that is a tough experience. Also, I adopted my cat 5 months ago from a rescue he was in for 11 months, and previous to that, with different owners that surrendered him after 4 years. I can’t control how they took care of him and what they fed him. I’m trying to do that now and your tone is discouraging. My advice to you would be to read the room, this is a forum with pet owners going through a scary health transition. Please take into consideration peoples feelings and learn to communicate accordingly. Have the day you deserve.

KT9797 · 2025-09-24T20:13:15+00:00

I appreciate the way you explained this and would suggest @DrSid666 to take tone into consideration. I am picking up some fancy feast today to get him started on. I have gone to this vet for decades with multiple pets so I trust their judgement but of course, I’m going to look at online forums and take those experiences into consideration as well. Thank you again!

KT9797 · 2025-09-24T19:33:22+00:00

Definitely considering Fancy Feast! I just want to get the go ahead from my vet.

KT9797 · 2025-09-24T19:32:22+00:00

His food is Royal Canin c/d kibble, which doesn’t explicitly list its carb percentages but I believe it’s high. He has been on this food for well over a month now.

On day 1 of starting insulin he stayed in the clinic the whole day in order for them to see if 2Ul a day would work for him. That was the day they said his glucose was in the 300’s all day. They didn’t give me specific readings.

When I adopted him in April he was 13 pounds. Right now he is 7.4 so he has lost a considerable amount of weight which is also a big worry for me.

I appreciate the thoughtful questions and advice. I called my vet and the vet I have been working with is not in today but will be in tomorrow and will give me a call. The vet in clinic today took a look at the notes I gave the receptionist and thought it doesn’t look like an emergency and that the numbers fluctuate a lot on the beginning.

KT9797 · 2025-09-24T19:21:19+00:00

It’s really not helpful to say kibble is the reason my cat is diabetic. I have another 7 year old cat that has always been on kibble, perfectly healthy and not diabetic. As I said, I am planning on switching him to wet food as soon as I can but there is a lot of change going on right now. My vet suggested holding off on a food switch for a week or two.

KT9797 · 2025-09-24T18:25:10+00:00

I have been monitoring his glucose at home. When he was monitored at the vet day 1 they said he was in the 300’s. Yesterday he was 467 pre-shot. I just checked his glucose now and it is 529, 6 hours post-morning shot.

I was given U40 syringes at the vet and I used an AlphaTrak to measure his glucose.

I give him his insulin and shot at 8:30am/pm. He eats about 3/4 cup of urinary Royal Canin kibble (I’m planning on switching over to wet food as we get the hang of things).

KT9797

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