Fluctuating blood sugar, please help

Status
Not open for further replies.
oliviahartery

oliviahartery

Member Since 2015
Hello everyone,
I'm Olivia, and new here.
I have a recently diagnosed diabetic cat. Tonight his sugar dropped down to 24. It went up to 55 and now its going back down again. I gave him a little corn syrup but I don't know how much to give him to get it up to a normal level. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Do you have any high carb food in the house, like Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers? If you do, the gravy has the most carbs, so what we usually do is pop the top, squeeze the gravy into another bowl and give a couple of teaspoons of the gravy

If you just have corn syrup, if he's below 50, give about 1/2 teaspoon at a time...if you have a little canned food, you can add about a teaspoon of food too. The simple sugars wear off quickly, so the food may help hold him a little longer

It's important that you don't fill him up though....if you need him to continue eating, you want him to be willing

Either way, keep checking his blood glucose about every 20 minutes
 
Thank you so much for responding. I don't have that exact food but i had something similar. I added some corn syrup and he seemed to only lick up the liquids and not even eat the food.
This is the first week I have had him since he left the vet. The instructions I was given by the vet was to feed him diabetic food twice a day and give him insulin once a day. He has been fine all week until tonight, he started stumbling and acting strange. I tested his blood with a regular glucose monitor and it was 24. The highest it has been is 55. I gave him the corn syrup but it dropped within the hour.
If he goes back to normal should I still take him to the vet?
 
As you've learned, home testing is vitally important to keep your kitty safe!! Here, we ALWAYS test before giving a shot, and then test in between shots to see how low they're going....it's the only way to know it's safe to give insulin in the first place and by finding how low it takes them, that tells you if the dose is too high

Got lots of questions for you first though

What insulin are you using? What type of meter?....Also, I'm betting the food isn't a good choice either...Most of the "diabetic" foods that vets send us home with is high carb and lousy for a diabetic!! Most of us feed plain Fancy Feast Classics or Friskies pate's....low carb and a lot cheaper than that "prescription" food!

It really sounds like your vet probably doesn't know how to best treat diabetes (which we hear a LOT around here). The people here can help teach you everything you need to know to keep your sweet cat safe as well as giving him the best chance at remission (yes....cat's have the unique ability to heal their pancreas and be able to be diet controlled only!)

Also, no insulin lasts for 24 hours....it really needs to be given every 12...since you're only giving it once a day now, it sounds like your vet started him on too high a dose so he needs an immediate reduction in dose. What dose did he start you at?

Make sure you test again in about 20-30 minutes.....as you've seen already, they can come up, but they can also come back down and we want him above 50 and climbing for at least 2 hours before you relax
 
Right now, focus on keeping him safe - and safe means higher than a 50 mg/dL on a human glucometer, higher than a 68 mg/dL on a pet meter.

We'll get you set up with our grid to show your numbers later.

Snag another test and let us know what it is.


Always test before you shoot. No shot if below 200 mg/dL, to keep him safe.

 
Last edited:
I am using Protamine Zync Cmpd Insulin U-100
I have been giving him 3 ml a day.
The meter is onetouch ultramini.
Thank you so much for answering so quickly. Its been a stressful night. I've had this cat since I was 3 years old, he is my baby.
I just want to keep him healthy. I appreciate all the advice.
 
The U-100 means 100 units in 1 mL of liquid.
You should be using U-100 syringes with an orange cap, probably 3/10 ml sized.
The amount drawn up should be very, very tiny.
Does that sound accurate?
 
High carb wears off quickly. You need to stay up and re-test in another 20-30 minutes.

How long ago was the shot? Not what time, how many hours and minutes - that provides context for interpretation.

We describe our test data as:
AMPS - morning (AM) pre-shot test
PMPS - evening (PM) pre-shot test
+# - a test taken # hours post-shot
 
That's much better!!....How long has it been since he had his shot?

I'd give him a little bit more of his regular food and test again in 30 minutes

What kind of food is he eating?
 
His shot of insulin was at 8:30 am, so thats 15 and a half hours ago. I tested his sugar at 7 pm when I noticed him stumbling, it was 24. I gave him some corn syrup and he went up to 33 within a half an hour. Within 45 min he was at 55 but then a half hour later he dropped to 43. I just got him to 70 about 15 min ago. The food I have been using from the vet is Hills Science Diet, dry diabetic food. The wet food I mixed with corn syrup is also Hills Science Diet but the regular diet.
 
Lets see if I understood you correctly:
AMPS - unknown pre-shot level, 3 units
+11.5 - 24 mg/dL, corn syrup
+12 - 33 mg/dL
+12.25 - 55 mg/dL
+12.75 - 43 mg/dL
+15.25 - 70 mg/dL
 
OK...I think you mean 3 units....not 3ml though...3ml would be 300 units

No matter what though, I would NOT give him that dose again!! If he dropped that low, that long after dosing, it's way too high a dose for him

As for the food, there are much better choices....the Hills is very high carb, and what diabetics need is low carb food....and never dry....Not only is dry higher in carbs than most wet food, it's very hard on the kidneys since it keeps the cat dehydrated

We have lots of great information to share with you, but right now, we're mostly concerned with keeping him safe.

Just a quick lesson....AMPS is the AM Pre-shot....we always test before shooting.....PMPS is the PM Pre-shot (but right now you're only shooting once a day)

After that, each hour is a "+" number....so 1 hour after the shot is +1....5 hours after the shot is +5.....etc.....We are all in different time zones, so we use this system so we are all using the same times
 
Yes that is correct. The thing is I have not been taking his sugar before the insulin shot because my vet has not instructed me to do so. I took it upon myself to borrow a glucose monitor and see where he was at. I am taking him to the vet as soon as they open tomorrow, I'm just worried about his sugar dropping low tonight. Its 12:22am where I am. What should I do for the rest of the night?
 
How is he acting now?

PZI insulin tends to last roughly 12 hours, although that can be extended when the dose is too high. You might give it another hour with a couple more tests, just to be sure he doesn't drop again. Then you can crash for the night.

It is very common for a cat to much more sensitive to insulin after having a hypoglycemic event, as yours did.
Also, the body releases compensatory hormones which will boost the glucose very high in reaction to going low, so in the morning, he may test pretty high. We call that bouncing.

Post here after getting the morning test and folks will take a look and offer ideas.
 
Can you set an alarm and get 1 more test in about an hour? We'd like to just make 100% sure he's up and going to stay up

One thing...he may be VERY high tomorrow morning....we call that a "bounce"....it's normal so don't let your vet try to raise his dose! When they drop too low, their liver releases stored sugar and hormones to bring them back up fast....That "bounce" can take up to 3 days to clear, so it's important not to increase the dose when they're bouncing because when the bounce is over, they're going to come back down and if you've also increased, you could end up with tragic consequences

If you're going to go to your vet in the morning that's fine...Hopefully he'll tell you to reduce the dose since a 24 is VERY low....and some cats would have had seizures (or worse) at that low of a blood glucose. Thank goodness you decided to test!!!

Vets just don't have the time to stay up to date on the latest treatments for every disease in every type of animal they see. The people here do nothing but deal with feline diabetes so they have a lot of real life experience to share with you
 
Glad he's doing better. Take a nice big breath!

Lets start getting you set up on the message board to help others give you feedback.

First, you'll add a few tidbits to your signature as follows:

Editing your Signature

In the upper right corner of the screen, within the dark blue bar, you will see ID, Inbox, and Alerts

Click on your ID.

On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature.
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback. You are limited to 2hard returns, so separate pieces by | or -.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as your name | cat's name | date of Dx (diagnosis) | insulin | meter general location (city and state/province) any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.

Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.

Always click the Save Changes button at the bottom when you have changed anything.
 
I tried taking his sugar again but theres just not enough blood coming out when I poke him. I'm going to massage his ear for a few minutes and try again. Hopefully it hasn't dropped and I can go to bed. Thank you both so much for the help, I was so lost and stressed about this. I'm glad I found this site with such nice people. I will report back in the morning. Again, thank you.
 
Warming the ear can help with getting a successful blood test. Also, it really helps if you use lancets for alternate site testing, which are 26-28 gauge (a thicker pin).

If you'll be up for a bit, the next step is to get you started using our grid to record your glucose tests. Instructions are here.

Understanding the spreadsheet/grid:

The colored headings at the top are the ranges of glucose values. They are color-coded to clue you in as to meaning.

Each day is 1 row. Each column stores different data for the day.

From left to right, you enter
the Date in the first column
the AMPS (morning, pre-shot, test) in the 2nd column
the Units given (turquoise column)

Then, there are 11 columns labeled +1 through +11
If you test at +5 (5 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +5 column
If you test at +7 (7 hours after the shot), you enter the test number in the +7 column
and so on.

Halfway across the page is the column for PMPS (evening, pre-shot, test)
To the right is another turquoise column for Units given at the evening shot.

There is second set of columns labeled +1 through +11
If you snag a before bed test at +3, you enter the test number in the +3 column.

We separate day and night numbers like that because many cats go lower at night.

The nadir is the lowest glucose between shots. There is a general period when it will happen which is specific to the insulin being used and testing then helps make sure your cat doesn't go too low.

It is merely a grid for storing the info; no math required.
 
We have a lot of people who come here in the exact same circumstances!! The important part is you're here now, and we're all here to help you!!

There's a LOT to learn, but the people here are great and we're all "paying it forward" from the time we were new, scared, confused and reaching out for help.

You did a great job tonight...You knew your baby was in trouble and you acted....Now the important part is to learn how to keep him safe and as healthy as you can get him!
 
oliviahartery said:
Hello everyone,
I'm Olivia, and new here.
I have a recently diagnosed diabetic cat. Tonight his sugar dropped down to 24. It went up to 55 and now its going back down again. I gave him a little corn syrup but I don't know how much to give him to get it up to a normal level. Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Hope your baby is doing good this morning.im new to this too.my cat miss kitty was diagnosed in October.it is very very stressful and overwhelming at first but gets better.my mind was mush from reading so much at first.im still learning but got the basics down.take a deep breath you did a great job taking care of your fur baby.
 
Good-morning everyone,
Last night when I checked Autumn's sugar he was at 140. This morning, 7 and a half hours later, his sugar is 94.
I just want to thank you all! Autumn and I are in a much better place because of you guys and this site! Forever grateful.
 
I fed him this morning and he seemed to be fine. He just threw up all his food. I'm not sure if he ate too fast or if it has anything to do with this. Do you think it does?
 
Scarf 'n' barf is the most likely issue. Spreading the food thinly on a big plate, feeding mini-meals, raising it up a few inches, and/or add a bit of water are all tactics to reduce this.
 
I checked Autumns sugar 2 and a half hours after he ate and he was at 110. 3 and half hours later I checked again and he was still at 110. If he stays within the normal range I will not give him insulin. At what number would I start giving him insulin? Should I give him half the dosage I was giving prior?
 
If he's not over 200, I wouldn't give him anything, but keep testing at least several times a day....if he starts to head back up, we'll want to start him back on insulin but at a much reduced dose

His numbers are looking great for now!!

If you can transitioning him onto a low carb canned diet like Fancy Feast Classics, Friskies pate's or 9-Lives pate's, it'll also really help! He may be able to be diet controlled if you can get him eating low carb food (Under 10% carbs) and get rid of the dry
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top