Non-urgent glucose curve question

[Vinnie Van Gogh's Mom]

My vet did a glucose curve on my cat BEFORE putting him on insulin. Now that I know more about diabetes thanks to this forum, I'm curious about this. Aren't glucose curves done to see the effect of the insulin? Is there any point to doing a glucose curve without being on insulin? She also commented that his graph should be a smile shape and not a jagged line. Again, wouldn't the smile shape only be if he is on insulin? (BTW I am checking out a new vet this weekend).

I'm also curious as to what a non-diabetic cat's "glucose curve" should look like. I can't seem to find that anywhere.

 

[Johann_marcel]

I'm sure someone with more knowledge can pipe in, but I wanted to share my experience. Even though my kitty has been in remission for awhile (since 2019ish), we still do bg curves at home just to see how his body is doing. Sometimes we do full curves every 2 hours, sometimes just every 3 or 4 hours. Doing this has allowed us to see that his highest level in the day is historically around 3:30pm, right after his long afternoon nap - he's just guaranteed to have a in-range but higher level. We've learned to accept this higher level because of the curves done.. His curves (when in remission) aren't smiley faces either, they are a generally straight but jagged-ish line. These bg levels are snapshots of him throughout the day, sometimes effected by meals and circadian rhythms and sometimes stress. So, yeah, doing curves when injectable insulin isn't involved has been beneficial in our case.

Hopefully someone else can offer more input

 

[Vinnie Van Gogh's Mom]

Thanks for sharing and congrats on getting your kitty into remission!

 

[Panic]

I agree with Joann, a cat's BG can rise and fall based on many things but for a non-diabetic cats just seeing numbers staying below 120 is what matters. A smiley face curve is often a textbook version of how Prozinc acts, which must be where your vet got that idea. Typically when a cat is flirting with remission we recommend feeding and checking the BG in a few hours. The BG will rise naturally and then if the pancreas is working, it will kick in and start bringing the BG down. In a cat that still needs insulin therapy, it would keep rising.

 

[Vinnie Van Gogh's Mom]

I agree with Joann, a cat's BG can rise and fall based on many things but for a non-diabetic cats just seeing numbers staying below 120 is what matters. A smiley face curve is often a textbook version of how Prozinc acts, which must be where your vet got that idea. Typically when a cat is flirting with remission we recommend feeding and checking the BG in a few hours. The BG will rise naturally and then if the pancreas is working, it will kick in and start bringing the BG down. In a cat that still needs insulin therapy, it would keep rising.

Thank you!

 

[Vyktors Mum]

You are correct about the smile shape only being expected in cats taking insulin, it is a result of the insulin. I can’t see that ever happening in a cat that’s not on insulin - it doesn’t even always happen with cats that are taking insulin until they get regulated.