My 14 year old cat Lucy was diagnosed with diabetes just recently. We have been giving her 1 unit of Prozinc twice a day for about 5 days now. Last night maybe 4 hours after her meal and insulin dose her glucose levels began to dip way down. They pretty highto start , probably close to 400. After a few hours they finally began to creep back up and appeared to level off. This happened again this morning and dipped down even lower. They did eventually begin to go back up but according to the freestyle libre sensor readings, way up. What is causing this drastic up and down? Of course it is Sunday and cannot contact my vet. This is all so terrifying. Any advice GREATLY appreciated.
Glucose levels
- Thread starter CatNinja
- Start date
Suzanne & Darcy
Very Active Member
What do you mean by low. What kind pf numbers was the Libre giving you? One thing about the Libre is that it is not really reliable in the lower numbers. That is why we recommend that you always have a handheld glucose meter to check the Libre when it gives you a low number (50-80 at least.). If you had a spreadsheet set up or if you could provide specific numbers and what hours they were taken (how many hours after the shot), I could comment more on the cycle.
Suzanne & Darcy
Very Active Member
What are you feeding him and what is your feeding schedule. It’s very important to feed many small meals spread throughout the early portion of the cycle (before nadir.)
When diagnosed levels in the 500s? Scary high. She's a small cat we started her at 1/2 unit. This did lower her numbers my vet said to 400s so we upped it to 1 full unit about 5 days ago. It was 350 mg/dl i think according to her graph. Last night went as low as 188 before rising again. But kept going up. I'm sorry this is all very new to me.
Suzanne & Darcy
Very Active Member
Okay. Not to worry. 188 is very safe. That’s not unusual for a recently diagnosed kitty. It can take a while for their bodies to get used to the insulin. Usually things will smooth out over time.
Suzanne & Darcy
Very Active Member
Yes. A typical onset time (the time when ProZinc begins to lower blood glucose) is +2 (two hours after the shot). It should continue to lower BG for the next several hours. Many cats will have a nadir (lowest point in the cycle) at around +6 (6 hours after the shot .) in the beginning though, things can be kind of wonky.
Suzanne & Darcy
Very Active Member
Wet or dry?
Suzanne & Darcy
Very Active Member
Hopefully it’s not the dry as I just looked it up and it’s over 40 percent carbs. Yikes! There are more appropriate foods for a diabetic cat with chronic kidney disease.
Oh no! She had been eating that since diagnosed originally with the kidney disease and had thus far been doing really well.
Suzanne & Darcy
Very Active Member
So don’t worry at all about the 188; that’s actually a pretty decent response to the insulin. We can do better than that because we would like to see her numbers a bit lower, but gradually. Normal cat blood glucose levels will be from about 50 to no higher than 120. At 188 she is very far from hypoglycemia.
Suzanne & Darcy
Very Active Member
High carb food raises blood sugar levels in cats (and people). She’s doing very well considering the HC food. Diabetic cats should be on a low carb (ten percent or below) wet food diet. There are only a couple of dry foods on the market that are low enough in carbs for a diabetic cat.
All food changes need to be made very gradually with cats (to help prevent GI upset). If you don’t transition slowly enough it can cause diarrhea.
Anyway, in a diabetic cat on insulin you also must be very careful to transition to lower carb food slowly because switching to low carb food lowers blood sugar and the cat usually needs reduced insulin as well.
All food changes need to be made very gradually with cats (to help prevent GI upset). If you don’t transition slowly enough it can cause diarrhea.
Anyway, in a diabetic cat on insulin you also must be very careful to transition to lower carb food slowly because switching to low carb food lowers blood sugar and the cat usually needs reduced insulin as well.
Suzanne & Darcy
Very Active Member
It is important for cats with kidney disease to eat lower phosphorus food. We can talk about food later though. Some of the wet foods that are Rx kidney foods are lower in carbs. I have a list of foods that are lower in phosphorus and also low in carbs. Do you know how advanced her kidney disease is? Do you know her Creatinine, BUN -and Phosphorus levels? Her urine specific gravity?
Suzanne & Darcy
Very Active Member
When cats are in very high numbers they usually are very hungry. When they are in more normal numbers they usually are not as hungry. If their BG drops suddenly, they can be hungry. However, when a cat has kidney disease that add a whole other level of complexity. They can be nauseated, but that’s usually when their BUN is high.
Has she been hiding when she’s in those lower numbers (like the 188?) It’s not uncommon for cats to feel strange and hide or act lethargic when they first get into blood glucose numbers that they aren’t used to anymore.
JL and Chip
Very Active Member
Does she have a history of ketones or DKA?
Even without a history, it’s a good idea to check for ketones occasionally, especially when they’re having an “off” day.
Suzanne & Darcy
Very Active Member
Was last checked about a week ago. She was ok at that time
Suzanne & Darcy
Very Active Member
Good. I would check a little more frequently if you can catch her in the litter box. I bought a blood ketone meter to check my boy. Ketones can form very quickly.
Suzanne & Darcy
Very Active Member
Are you doing all right @CatNinja ?
I hope we didn’t overwhelm you. It’s all really worrisome and overwhelming at first.
We can take things a step at a time. One thing that is crucial, though, is to watch for signs of lethargy, vomiting, lack of appetite and to check ketones if you see that. If they are high and Lucy appears sick, then take her to the vet. If ketones are not high, it could just be due to the cat feeling odd in the new glucose numbers. Always best to check.
I hope we didn’t overwhelm you. It’s all really worrisome and overwhelming at first.
We can take things a step at a time. One thing that is crucial, though, is to watch for signs of lethargy, vomiting, lack of appetite and to check ketones if you see that. If they are high and Lucy appears sick, then take her to the vet. If ketones are not high, it could just be due to the cat feeling odd in the new glucose numbers. Always best to check.
Thank you for checking back in on us. I have definitely been overwhelmed by this whole process! She did seem lethargic yesterday and wasn't eating much. I gave her just a bit of lickable treat to see if interested. She did throw it up a while later. Since she didn't really eat i skipped the insulin dose last night. I gave her something for nausea and a little appetite stimulant that I had still. She seemed to feel slightly better during night and ate a small portion of wet food this morning but I'm not sure if it's enough to give her insulin. Definitely not her usual appetite and doesn't want her dry food. I am waiting on a call back from my vet.
Suzanne & Darcy
Very Active Member
Oh that is worrisome. Maybe you should have her checked out. What was her BG this morning at shot time?
Not give her insulin yet wasn't sure if should. She only ate small amount wet food. G Still in high range. Usually do scan. Feed. Then insulin right after. How long can you go between meal and injection?
Last edited:
Suzanne & Darcy
Very Active Member
Well, with ProZinc you don’t need to wait any time after they eat to go ahead and give insulin since it takes about 2 hours to lower the numbers anyway. But of you are having problems with vomiting you could wait a bit to make sure everything stays down.