Hypo - help please

[Bex and Penny (UK)]

Penny's numbers have been a little low the last few days and I reduced her insulin this evening but got up to check at 12am (approx. 3.5 hours post 3u insulin) after PMPS of 12mmol. She was 3.5mmol 15 mins ago. I've given her medium carb wet food from her hypo kit and retested and she's now 3.6mmol (approx. 3.75 hours post insulin).

She has no hypo symptoms. Do I continue with med carb, should I up high carb/sugar? Still half asleep and having a slight panic so any help appreciated.

She's never dropped below 5mmol that I've recorded before. Thank you

 

[Bex and Penny (UK)]

She seems hungry (in fairness she's always hungry so I've give her some of the high carb food (Gourmet Gold - 25% carbs)

 

[THH & Snowcrash (GA)]

Is her nadir normally around +4?

 

[Bex and Penny (UK)]

Normally around +5

 

[THH & Snowcrash (GA)]

@Chris & China (GA) @JanetNJ

 

[THH & Snowcrash (GA)]

Is the Gourmet Gold dry or canned?

 

[Bex and Penny (UK)]

Is the Gourmet Gold dry or canned?

Canned

 

[Bex and Penny (UK)]

She's eaten nearly a whole tin of it, I'm going to retest now (approx 4 hours post insulin)

 

[THH & Snowcrash (GA)]

Okay. Retest in 15 minutes?

Hopefully someone more experienced will chime in!

 

[Bex and Penny (UK)]

She's up to 4.1mmol

 

[THH & Snowcrash (GA)]

Check again in 15 minutes?

 

[Librarianista]

Good catch! It takes about 20 minutes for the high carb food to kick in. Test again in 15 minutes, especially if her nadir is consistently at +5.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

(Gourmet Gold - 25% carbs)

Which flavor/variety? I think the Gourmet Gold are comparable to our Fancy Feasts. Some are low carb, some medium and some high

She's up to 4.1mmol

That's a good safe number. No more food right now and test again in 30 minutes

3.5 isn't a hypo number...just a low one. We don't usually start with the high carb until they drop below 2.8. (but I totally understand why you were concerned when you're not used to seeing numbers that low!)

It'll also really help when things settle down if you'd get at least the last week or two's worth of tests entered on your spreadsheet. We really depend on the data there to give the best advice possible

 

[Bex and Penny (UK)]

Which flavor/variety? I think the Gourmet Gold are comparable to our Fancy Feasts. Some are low carb, some medium and some high



That's a good safe number. No more food right now and test again in 30 minutes

Thanks Chris. It was a tuna one that I gave her

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

It was a tuna one that I gave her

Pate? With sauce or gravy? If it was this one, it's low carb

 

[Bex and Penny (UK)]

https://www.bitiba.de/shop/katze/katzenfutter_nass/gourmet/gold_schmelzender_kern/678346

Potentially! It's this one (for some reason the tin is in German and I can't find an English version anywhere online!)

 

[Bex and Penny (UK)]

Great news, she's up to 5.7mmol at +4.5

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

No worries....my browser translated it for me. It's like our Fancy Feast Savory Centers....and yes, it's low carb!

Great news, she's up to 5.7mmol at +4.5

Good...that also tells you that the low carb food was enough to bring her up to where you're more comfortable.

I'd test again in 1 hour if you can stay up that long. I know it's the middle of the night there!

 

[Bex and Penny (UK)]

Thanks so much for all your help!! I live alone so it was so nice to know you were here! And that's good news that the low carb has helped! I've got chicken and liver in gravy gourmet gold too, is that the high carb one?

I'll get my spreadsheet updated tomorrow with her recent numbers. She's just come off antibiotics so I wonder if that's what's caused her lower numbers the last few days

 

[Bex and Penny (UK)]

6.3mmol at around +5 (her usual nadir)

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

I've got chicken and liver in gravy gourmet gold too, is that the high carb one?

Usually the ones "with gravy" or "with sauce" are higher carb. Most of the carbs is usually in the "gravy" part. What I used to do is pop the top, put it back and squeeze the gravy into another bowl. Then I could give China a teaspoon or two of just the gravy with a little meat. It was good because I didn't want to "fill her up" in case she dropped back down again and I needed her to eat more. You don't want to feed too much at once just in case you really need them to eat again later.

She's just come off antibiotics so I wonder if that's what's caused her lower numbers the last few days

If she had an infection that was treated by the antibiotics, it's totally possible. Infection, inflammation and pain are all things that can raise the blood glucose number. Get rid of them and the numbers can come down.

6.3mmol at around +5 (her usual nadir)

Good deal! You did a great job tonight!

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

I've got chicken and liver in gravy gourmet gold too, is that the high carb one?

Hi Bex, the Gourmet Gold 'in gravy' ones are high carb. And it's the gravy bit in particular that is useful (meat can be squished down with a spoon and the gravy scooped up).
Something else that some UKers like to have in their hypo kits is the Webbox Lick-E-Lix salmon treats (the yoghurty ones) and/or the Webbox salmon Lick-E-Licious treats. The latter seems to be the most high carb.

Well done for catching that number and dealing with that as you did.
Are you still using Caninsulin? ...With Caninsulin we don't advise waiting until numbers drop below 2.8 before giving high carb. That 2.8 is just above the hypo range, and Caninsulin can drop the blood glucose really fast. So it's simply not safe to wait until the blood glucose gets to that level before giving high carb.
The general advice with Caninsulin is to try to not let the blood glucose drop much below about 5 at the peak of the cycle, unless the caregiver has really good control of the numbers and the cat's BG history on Caninsulin suggests that it is safe to do so.

Eliz x