Just diagnosed ...

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

JayDi

Member Since 2018
Good morning from Miami!

My 12.5 year old male was just diagnosed yesterday morning. I have just dropped him off for the blood glucose curve analysis and am a complete mess.

I noticed his symptoms of significantly increased thirst/appetite/litter box use last week and brought him in on Monday. The vet reported his levels to be at 396. The interesting things is after I brought him home Monday and all day yesterday he has been completely normal. I removed the dry food and only fed him his canned Royal Canin. He ate it voraciously (this is not new) and only drank water once, also as normal. Used the litter box twice and that was that. He was back to being very active and playful. I was already very hesitant to bring him in for a 24 hours period but this made me more so. Today when I dropped him off, the vet mentioned that this would most likely be a 48 hours visit. Is this normal? This made me extremely uncomfortable. Also, the vet did not ask at any point what I was feeding him, how much, intervals, etc... Has anyone else experienced this? I might just be extremely over protective of my little (big) guy, but I don't want to be at the mercy of the clinic and put my pet through any unnecessary stress. Additionally, if there are alternative treatments such as diet change, I'd rather try that than the insulin route.

I trust that something was wrong because his behavior last week was so noticeably different, thus the reason for the visit. But I can't help to feel that important things may have been overlooked by the Vet.


Appreciate any thoughts, shared experiences or reassurance!!!!


Thank you,
JayDi from Miami
 
JayDi, Hi and welcome. I am sorry for the delay in response to your introduction, and response to your questions. I am not one of the "wise ones" (the more experienced members here) but I have not read in all my time here that it takes a 48 hour period to do a curve for blood glucose. A curve is BG measurements on a 2 hourly basis and my cat was only at the vet for a period of less than 8 hours. Is there any other medical condition your cat has that you think warrants even a 24 hour stay? Time at the vet is very expensive, and it's also very stressful for our cats. Stress can raise the BG level significantly, so the results may not be entirely accurate in that case.
I urge you to post this concern in the Main Health forum to get more eyes on the issue. You are entitled to an explanation from the vet, exactly what tests are going to be performed, why these tests, and the costs of these procedures and the lengthy stay.
Here is a link to the Main Health forum: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/
I am going to tag some other members, to get some more immediate response. These are members that have knowledge and experience, and that I trust without question. @Chris & China @Kris & Teasel @MrWorfMen's Mom @Wendy&Neko
 
Hello and welcome. You can learn to do blood glucose testing at home. In fact, we strongly encourage it so you'll keep your baby safe. I once did a "curve" at the vet and it wasn't even 12 hours. Her numbers were all high, it was a complete waste of time and my money. Neko was stressed and unhappy enough the vet even told me about it. I can buy a lot of blood glucose test strips and a meter for what that one part day cost me. When kitty is home and relaxed, their blood sugar numbers are much more indicative of what normal realy is for them.
 
Welcome to FDMB. It's quite possible that the diet change has improved your kitty's BG levels and given that only happened in the couple of days, any improvement may not have yet been fully realized. A curve is usually done for a period of 12 hours with testing every 2 hours or over 18 hours with testing every 3 hours. I have never heard of testing for 48 hours straight. Curves at the vet are notoriously inaccurate given the stress our kitties experience in a strange environment and that means the testing done at the vet's office often suggests BG is considerably higher than it really is under normal circumstances.
In short curves done at the vet are a total waste of money.

It sounds to me like your vet might be intending to try to start regulating your cat with insulin while there, which again is not realistic and usually results in the vet prescribing a dose of insulin that proves to be too high once you bring kitty home.

If I were you, I would call the vet and ask exactly what they are doing and why. I'd ask them for results of any BG testing they did for reference, get a human glucometer from a local pharmacy and start testing your cat at home to see if his BG levels have come down with the diet change and what they are in his normal stress free environment.
 
First, thank you so much for your reply!!! This makes me feel better about my initial intuition. I dropped him off this morning and was told that this is very normal and needed to get the full picture. It just didn’t seem right... he also did not ask about his diet, ask me to leave any food or anything. Which I thought would have happened to keep the “environment” as close to what we have at home. All that to say, out of fear for his health and ignorance I went along with it. But after both replies, I’m considering picking him up after 24 hrs. I don’t know if that would be more damaging or if I would be safe to do so. There are no other conditions requiring the stay.


Thank you!

Idjit's mom said:
JayDi, Hi and welcome. I am sorry for the delay in response to your introduction, and response to your questions. I am not one of the "wise ones" (the more experienced members here) but I have not read in all my time here that it takes a 48 hour period to do a curve for blood glucose. A curve is BG measurements on a 2 hourly basis and my cat was only at the vet for a period of less than 8 hours. Is there any other medical condition your cat has that you think warrants even a 24 hour stay? Time at the vet is very expensive, and it's also very stressful for our cats. Stress can raise the BG level significantly, so the results may not be entirely accurate in that case.
I urge you to post this concern in the Main Health forum to get more eyes on the issue. You are entitled to an explanation from the vet, exactly what tests are going to be performed, why these tests, and the costs of these procedures and the lengthy stay.
Here is a link to the Main Health forum: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/
I am going to tag some other members, to get some more immediate response. These are members that have knowledge and experience, and that I trust without question. @Chris & China @Kris & Teasel @MrWorfMen's Mom @Wendy&Neko
Click to expand...
F
 
JayDi said:
I don’t know if that would be more damaging or if I would be safe to do so. There are no other conditions requiring the stay.
Click to expand...
If all they are doing is a curve, then there is no harm bringing the cat home other than a possible issue with the vet about prescribing insulin if it is needed given they don't seem to be very forthcoming about their intentions/treatment plan.

If they have given the cat any insulin, then you need to know what insulin it was, when it was given and how much was given and it might be better to leave the cat there overnight in case there were any issues with the cat's reaction to the insulin unless the dose was given at least 8 hours prior to your picking him up. I'd also have them do a BG test immediately before you leave the vet's office to ensure you are not going to have any issues with hypoglycemia once you get home and the cat calms down.
 
I spoke with the vet and he stated that they gave him the first dose of insulin this morning and have noted the levels going down from 356-281-184 at their last testing. My thought is that the inflated reading would be stress induced. However I was told they are about to administer the second insulin shot to see how that goes. I told him I want to pick him up tomorrow and was told to call back in tomorrow to see where the levels are. If everything is good; he’ll let him be released.

I 100% agree that it would be challenging to get an accurate reading because of the elevated stress being in a foreign environment with unknown people.
 
I don't mean to sound anti-vet ( I think it's got to be one of the hardest professions going in a lot of ways!) but they seem to be hedging and weren't up front with you about what their intentions were for that 48 hours or they are just seriously bad communicators. They obviously didn't run any curve.....the curve they were referring to is to try to get him on a good dose of insulin and that is a waste of time and money. The stress will have no doubt increased his BG levels and they will come down once home so any dose the vet claims is right, will likely be too high once your cat comes home. This may be their normal procedure but it is a costly and useless one.

I trust they have staff on duty all night to monitor the animals in their care?
 
Out of curiosity, did you find out what type of insulin they gave, and how much?

It’s probably time to start a new post on the Feline Health forum, now that we are getting into details.
 
No reason for a cat to stay overnight unless he has developed ketones, which doesn't sound like the case her. Youve already gotten great advice so I will just say we are here for you and can help you along the way. You aren't alone!!!! And after the first couple of shots it's really no big deal.

As for testing, I have a video in my signature showing how I test my cat CC at home.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top