12/6 Bleeker AMBG 28 +0 - Hypoglycemia + seizure, no appetite

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Yes, it's been a long night for you.

The take action number when using a pet meter (AlphaTrak 3) is 68. Human meters, for which the take action number is 50, read slightly different than pet meters.
In order to be considered safe and out of the woods, a cat needs to be above 68 and stay above 68 without the benefit of food or honey.
If the cat drops below 68, the clock starts again.
 
delacreme said:
BG is at 81 as of 15 minutes ago! Should we keep doing honey?
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Great! no don’t give any more honey unless the BG drops under 68 again.
but I would try and get him to eat some food now. The food should keep him from dropping. Little bits often.
The honey will wear off after about 1 to 1 1/2 hours and the BG could drop again.
This often happens and the BGs can wobble about a bit before finally going back up.
So you will need to keep testing each 30 minutes and to see the BG is not dropping.
If after 2 hours of no honey or high carb food, the BG stays up on its own, you can ease up on the testing.

Would you like me to ask @Bandit's Mom ti set up a spreadsheet for you so you can add data?
I would not give any more insulin without either asking us or, if you are confident in your vet, asking him.
You will definitely have to reduce the dose
Well done keeping your kitty safe.
Can you tell us your name and your kitty name please.
My name is Bron
 
He is at 112 as of about 15 minutes ago, so I'm hopeful we are out of the woods now!

As for the spreadsheet, sure, that would be great! I had just been using the Notes app in my phone, but obviously it wasn't a great visual to track trends.

We will continue monitoring his BG before meals to ensure that we are dosing correctly. Prior to an increase in insulin in October when he levels were consistently elevated, he was getting 1.5 units in the AM and 1 unit in the PM. I am thinking about returning to this and doing a glucose curve this weekend to see how he reacts to it throughout the day.

Thank you and Red & Rover for all of your help through this. It is extra stressful being in a community that does not have a lot of resources for diabetic felines, so I am very thankful for this forum!

My name is Anna, and my cat's name is Bleeker. Nice to meet you, Bron. :)
 
Hi Anna and Bleeker.
I would keep testing for a couple of hours to make sure he can stay up on his own without the help of the honey.
How is his appetite now.?
After a symptomatic hypo, a cat can be very sensitive to insulin, so I would caution you to be very careful about the dose when restarting.
Would you be happy for us to help you with it?
He will definitely need a reduction in dose as the dose you were giving him was too high. Bleeker has told you this because he dropped to low and took ages to get back into safe numbers again.
Do you ever test during the cycles to see how low the insulin takes Bleeker? Lantus dosing is based on the lowest BG in the cycles, not the preshot BG.
What food are you feeding him?
Are you giving a main meal before all the doses and then giving snacks during the cycles?
I’ll tag @Bandit's Mom and she will be in touch with you about setting up your spreadsheet.
you have done a great job today keeping Bleeker safe.

Would you mind removing the 911 now that Bleeker is in safe numbers please?
Bron.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Hi Anna and Bleeker.
I would keep testing for a couple of hours to make sure he can stay up on his own without the help of the honey.
How is his appetite now.?
After a symptomatic hypo, a cat can be very sensitive to insulin, so I would caution you to be very careful about the dose when restarting.
Would you be happy for us to help you with it?
He will definitely need a reduction in dose as the dose you were giving him was too high. Bleeker has told you this because he dropped to low and took ages to get back into safe numbers again.
Do you ever test during the cycles to see how low the insulin takes Bleeker? Lantus dosing is based on the lowest BG in the cycles, not the preshot BG.
What food are you feeding him?
Are you giving a main meal before all the doses and then giving snacks during the cycles?
I’ll tag @Bandit's Mom and she will be in touch with you about setting up your spreadsheet.
you have done a great job today keeping Bleeker safe.

Would you mind removing the 911 now that Bleeker is in safe numbers please?
Bron.
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His appetite is improved - he isn't seeking out the food in its spot on his own, but if I bring him some wet food he will eat it which is great. He also is just seeming much more relaxed and like he's feeling better in his behavior.

I would be happy for some help with restarting the insulin - what steps do you suggest, and what info do you need?

As for testing during the cycle, I used to do monthly glucose curves taking his BG every two hours for twelve hours to trace the development, but I will admit I have been remiss in doing that lately. It is difficult to get the test strips here, so I have been cautious about using them. I think I will just need to deal with the extra costs and ensure we have plenty of them on hand. I got the Alpha Trak from our vet in the states, but they don't carry that brand here and it is difficult to find pet glucometers in Saudi in general.

Another symptom of being in Saudi is the more limited food choices. It is difficult to maintain a consistent diet since the vendors will be routinely out of brands for months on end, and the brands they stock in most of the stores are low quality. Right now he is eating Taste of the Wild and the only wet food he will touch is Whiska's chicken and gravy.

I have two cats, one diabetic and one not, so we leave a bowl of dry food and a bowl of wet food out (roughly equivalent to what they should be eating in a day based on weight). Typically the routine is to give him his insulin and meals at the same time twelve hours apart.

I have removed the 911 - it took me a minute to figure it out!
 
Have you testing again since the 112?
Do you know if the wet food you are feeding him is low carb? I doubt if the dry food is low carb though. It is good he is eating better now. Keep trying to get him to eat well for you. Even if he isn’t getting any insulin at the moment, it is important he eats well.

I would recommend you look at buying a human meter. Most of us use a human meter here and the test strips should be much cheaper and easier to buy. The human meter is quite safe to use on a cat. The numbers are just a bit lower.

Moving forward, I would test before every dose of insulin to make sure it is safe for you to give the dose. And if you can get some tests in during either the am or the pm cycles most days, that will give us data to show how low the dose is taking him. Lantus dosing is based on how low the insulin is taking him each cycle.
I don’t know what time it is where you are at the moment. I am just about to head to bed here in Australia.
For now…I would not give any insulin for the next cycle but test every so often so we can see what the BGs are doing.
Hopefully @Bandit's Mom will be along soon to help you with the spreadsheet. She can also help you with any questions you might have about dosing or anything else.
I’ll also tag @tiffmaxee and @Wendy&Neko.
I will send you a couple of links to look at.
Keep asking questions and posting with any concerns.
 
Anna,

I know a lot has happened in the last 48 hours and im glad the last update Bleeker's numbers had improved.

We all know how quickly that can change and are curious to see how both of you are doing.

I am sending positive and healing energy to you both.

I will keep checking to see if you have updated the group.
 
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