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My diabetic cat's sugar is high. Can too much insulin cause this?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Manx | Female | spayed | 9 years and 10 months old | 18 lbs

I have diabetic cat and I am having trouble regulating her sugars. Can too much insulin give a high sugar reading?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

Published on March 27th, 2019

Hi there. Pets who are on an insulin dose that is too high can have something happen called the Somoygi effect, which basically means that their glucose levels can drop suddenly and then get really high afterwards as the body "overshoots" as it tries to compensate for the sudden drop. So yes, it's possible for an animal on a too-high insulin dose to have high glucose readings in some cases.

This is why blood glucose curves are generally needed to assess the pet's response to insulin. This means checking the glucose level every 2 hours for an 8-12 hour period, to give a clearer picture of exactly how the levels are changing throughout the day. I would recommend talking to the veterinarian who is managing Cupcake's diabetes about how best to monitor her glucose levels and determine if any insulin dosage changes are needed.
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