Geriatric Cat

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

RICHARD FRITZ

Member Since 2020
We took our 14 year old girl in for a "geriatric checkup", but were unable to be in the exam room with her (covid-19). The Vet said her glucose level was over 227, and that here was so much blood in her urine (he had to express it) that he couldn't get an accurate Ph value. We took her to Blue Pearl (an emergency vet service that has more abilities than our standard vet) they did an ultrasound looking for kidney/bladder stones or crystals, but found none. When they checked her glucose, it had dropped to around 200, and the urine sample they collected (by syringe) showed no trace of blood. She won't eat any of the "prescription foods even if mixed with her "normal food". So we went back to feeding her her regular diet of "fancy Feast"canned food in the evenings (weekend only) and IAMS urinary health dry the rest of the time. We started testing her blood glucose 3 days ago with a freestyle lite meter & strips (designed for humans) her readings are as follows: 7/28/2020@10:17pm glucose=87 weight 13#, 7-29/2020@10:15pm glucose=76 weight=13#, 7/30/2020@9pm glucose=77 weight=13, 7/31/2020@9:00pm glucose=64 weight#, last night at 11:30 pm, it was 62 & weight 13#, and tonight 8/2/2020 after dinner (7:30 - 8:00pm) it was 60 with a weight if 13.25#. My wife is very concerned about this, as we have been told that normal range for cats is similar to humans (80 to 120). Is her concern valid or superfluous? what should we be doing/not doing?
 
Hello! Yes, Main Health will be more what you need, a mod should move it over shortly. In the meantime, those numbers that you and your wife tested are quite good. Some cats you'll find, will naturally run a little higher or lower than the "average". On a human meter, numbers run a little lower for cats as well. Those numbers are fabulous for a non-diabetic, nothing to be concerned about.

Did you kitty have an infection or anything by chance when you went to the vet? Infections and stress both increase blood sugar which would explain the 200+ at the vet. Food-wise, Fancy Feast is an excellent choice. We don't feed dry around here due to all the negatives related (too high in carbs for diabetics to start, but it is also water-depleted which causes many issues later in life with cats) so you're good there.
 
RICHARD FRITZ said:
We took our 14 year old girl in for a "geriatric checkup", but were unable to be in the exam room with her (covid-19). The Vet said her glucose level was over 227, and that here was so much blood in her urine (he had to express it) that he couldn't get an accurate Ph value. We took her to Blue Pearl (an emergency vet service that has more abilities than our standard vet) they did an ultrasound looking for kidney/bladder stones or crystals, but found none. When they checked her glucose, it had dropped to around 200, and the urine sample they collected (by syringe) showed no trace of blood. She won't eat any of the "prescription foods even if mixed with her "normal food". So we went back to feeding her her regular diet of "fancy Feast"canned food in the evenings (weekend only) and IAMS urinary health dry the rest of the time. We started testing her blood glucose 3 days ago with a freestyle lite meter & strips (designed for humans) her readings are as follows: 7/28/2020@10:17pm glucose=87 weight 13#, 7-29/2020@10:15pm glucose=76 weight=13#, 7/30/2020@9pm glucose=77 weight=13, 7/31/2020@9:00pm glucose=64 weight#, last night at 11:30 pm, it was 62 & weight 13#, and tonight 8/2/2020 after dinner (7:30 - 8:00pm) it was 60 with a weight if 13.25#. My wife is very concerned about this, as we have been told that normal range for cats is similar to humans (80 to 120). Is her concern valid or superfluous? what should we be doing/not doing?
Click to expand...
I will Never understand why Vets who have dedicated their lives to helping animals would recommend these prescription diets or hills . The ingredients are garbage and they know it , it is beyond me . There are so many better choices of human grade cat foods that Vets mention nothing about . I just read an article this week about how Iams is not made well Please be careful with Iams .
 
So your cat is not on insulin? Correct?

Those BG (blood glucose) tests you have been getting are perfectly normal, and nothing to worry about if your cat is not getting insulin. Using a human meter, non-diabetic cats have been known to test in the 40's and there is no problem with that. My own civie (non-diabetic) cat Dancer has tested in the 40's, 50's and 60's. She is perfectly fine. So tell your wife there is nothing to worry about with those lower BG levels you have been getting.

The higher BG levels at the vet could very well have been caused by a well known phenomenon called "vet stress", which can raise the BG levels in only a few minutes and keep them higher for several hours. Levels can be 100-180 mg/dL points higher at the vet. If you are interested, I'll link the scientific article that studied this.

Is there an outstanding urinary problem? Or kidney issues? Or something else going on?
 
Hi Richard. Welcome to you, your good lady, and your kitty. :)


RICHARD FRITZ said:
My wife is very concerned about [blood glucose levels at vets], as we have been told that normal range for cats is similar to humans (80 to 120). Is her concern valid or superfluous? what should we be doing/not doing?
Click to expand...

First up, the home BG readings for your little one are all in the normal range for a cat as measured on a human glucometer (50-99 mg/dL).

Secondly, it is very common for travel and vet stress to temporarily elevate blood glucose levels (just one of the reasons why we are strong advocates of home monitoring of blood glucose levels here).

Thirdly, infectious processes can definitely raise blood glucose levels in diabetics. According to drugs.com, UTIs can hike BG levels in non-diabetics. That said, your girl is running in normal numbers at home.

Assuming that they were collected close together timewise, if there was blood in the urine sample that was expressed but not in the sample taken by cystocentesis (drawn via needle directly from the bladder) then perhaps there might be something awry lower down in your kitty's urinary tract?

Vets can offer a fructosamine test which would return an average BG value for the previous fortnight but, given your girl's in normal numbers, keeping an eye on her BG at home for a couple of weeks going forward will give you better information about your girl's blood glucose regulation, and hopefully assuage your good lady's worries on the diabetes front.

If I were in your predicament I'd be looking to find out what's going on in the urinary tract and sorting that out.

For general info, here's a link to information on urinary tract issues by Lisa Pierson DVM. Maybe there might be something there of help.

Other members may have additional/better suggestions for you.


Mogs
.
 
RICHARD FRITZ said:
So we went back to feeding her her regular diet of "fancy Feast"canned food in the evenings (weekend only) and IAMS urinary health dry the rest of the time
Click to expand...
Another reason why you may have been seeing higher numbers at the vet.

The Iams Urinary Tract Health dry food is very high carb. Well over 35% carbs (under 10% is considered low carb). Just look at the top ingredients: Chicken, Chicken By-Product Meal, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Corn Grits, Brewers Rice, Dried Beet Pulp

The Fancy Feast pates are low carb. Most of the other Fancy Feasts are not. Their Gravy Lovers, for example, is very high carb.
 
Panic said:
Hello! Yes, Main Health will be more what you need, a mod should move it over shortly. In the meantime, those numbers that you and your wife tested are quite good. Some cats you'll find, will naturally run a little higher or lower than the "average". On a human meter, numbers run a little lower for cats as well. Those numbers are fabulous for a non-diabetic, nothing to be concerned about.

Did you kitty have an infection or anything by chance when you went to the vet? Infections and stress both increase blood sugar which would explain the 200+ at the vet. Food-wise, Fancy Feast is an excellent choice. We don't feed dry around here due to all the negatives related (too high in carbs for diabetics to start, but it is also water-depleted which causes many issues later in life with cats) so you're good there.
Click to expand...

The other Vet that did the ultrasound mentioned that her kidneys were rather small (she felt that it was probably due to age).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top