My five-year-old cat, Pippin, was diagnosed back in November 2024. Despite a couple of hiccups (mostly regarding Libre sensors), it was pretty smooth sailing at first. Four months into his treatment, his vets were certain he was on the cusp of going into remission.
A few months later, seemingly out of nowhere, Pippin‘s glucose levels had spiralled out of control. His units were changed from 2 units of Toujeo twice a day, then to 3, 4, and then 5. There was little change. His vet believed that perhaps Pippin just wasn’t responding to insulin anymore, and so, back in February of this year, they switched him to Senvelgo.
Three days after being on Senvelgo, Pippin developed DKA. He was in the hospital for four days, where I racked up $6000 in debt. He was put back on Toujeo and eventually stabilised. I spent another $2000 in the following weeks for regular vet visits and Libre sensors. Pippin’s insulin dosage was adjusted, including switching from injections twice a day to just once (as Toujeo is longer lasting), I adjusted the length of the needle pen tips to ensure Pippin is getting his full dosage, I make sure to use a different injection location every time, I gently invert the pen before every use, I got a new script for his insulin in case it was the particular batch of pens that were the problem, his pens are kept in the fridge at 5 degrees Celsius when unopened and in my bedroom at 18 degrees Celsius when opened, he’s on a strict diet of Fancy Feast Pate, he’s strictly an indoor only cat, and he certainly isn’t getting into anything he shouldn’t be because I am unable to work and am at home with him in my company nearly 24/7. All other food (cats and human) is locked away. His behaviour is completely normal. He’s very affectionate, happy, and playful. His eating, drinking, and bathroom habits are all entirely normal and have been since he came home from the hospital in mid February. He sits at roughly 6kgs.
I’m doing everything I can and it feels like it’s not enough.
His glucose levels continue to randomly drop low in the late evening and spike overnight, and then continue to be sporadic throughout the day. I feed him at 8:30 am and pm, but his glucose often drops before I feed him in the evening.
His vet believed this was due to the Somogyi effect. After some weeks of daily check ins, his vet told me she was moving across the country and wouldn’t be seeing or checking in on Pippin anymore. She believed since Pippin’s behaviour was completely normal, there was no need to continue constant vet visits for now, and discharged us from the medicine department of the vet hospital, and she encouraged me to just continue with his usual vet. But now his usual vet wants constant visits as well, and I can’t keep up with all these costs.
I thought his glucose levels would have evened out by now, but they’re still up and down. I don’t know what to do. If it wasn’t for the readings on this sensor, you wouldn’t know there’s a thing wrong with him. I get different answer depending on the vet I go to. I don’t have much money. I’ve never cared for a diabetic pet before and I’m all alone. Is this worse than it looks? Am I overreacting? Is this normal? I don’t know where to go from here.