**HELP** Low numbers 63 & 55 | Feline Diabetes Message Board - FDMB

**HELP** Low numbers 63 & 55

S

soreto

Member since 2025
I was unable to get a reading this morning (10:30am) because he wasn't cooperating. But I shot anyway because he was acting normal & hungry. He'd also eaten earlier. I fed him. He ate it all. I tested about an hour later & his BG was 63. This is the lowest I've ever seen. Previous to this, the lowest was 66 a couple days ago, but I didnt think much of it because he was acting normal & ate as normal. i fed him some higher carb food & his numbers shot back up to 174 at his PM reading.

So today, he tested 63, I fed some more, and an hour later he tested 55. As per the sticky, I fed him some more high carb food & he is now napping. He did not show any signs of disorientation, etc but I am worried about what to do. Should I call the vet? I do have some honey on hand as well.

I do not have a google chart, but I did make one, please see attached. it includes today's low readings-

he is currently on 2u of Lantus, twice a day.

*****edit: The chart template I used had 68-99 & below 68 as separate sections. Why is this? I thought that anything below 80 is bad/dangerous? Is that wrong? Is 68-80 still OK territory?

Screenshot_31-10-2025_18282_app.ysheet.com-imageonline.co-merged.jpeg
 
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**update: tested again & it is 76 now & then 89 an hour later, i updated the chart.**

i gave him some more food to eat. he's still acting normal, no disorientation. should i give him some honey? how do i give it?
 
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@Sienne and Gabby (GA)

Thanks! If his numbers go back to normal by the time it's for PM dose, should i lessen his dose? Or not give it?

Originally, I was supposed to do a glucose curve to see if I should up his dose, but because he had lower numbers recently, I decided to wait. now it seems he has gotten numbers less than 90 on 3 different days this week, so that means i need to step down his dose, right?
 
soreto said:
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)

Thanks! If his numbers go back to normal by the time it's for PM dose, should i lessen his dose? Or not give it?

Originally, I was supposed to do a glucose curve to see if I should up his dose, but because he had lower numbers recently, I decided to wait. now it seems he has gotten numbers less than 90 on 3 different days this week, so that means i need to step down his dose, right?
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It’s difficult to give you dosing advice based on what you have provided. We can’t see a spreadsheet and don’t know what method of regulation you are following. If it is SLGS, that only allows for one drop below 90 to earn a reduction. The three times below 50 or 68 for an AT is for those following TR, not SLGS. Since you are using an AT, his BGs are low enough to earn a reduction even under TR.

If you need help with doing and posting one of our SSs to your signature, please PM me and I can help. It’s very difficult to read the one you attached and by doing ours and linking it in the signature, you don’t have to re-attach it. Ours also auto updates. Thank you.
 
@Marje and Gracie

I am doing the SLGS, but held at 2u for the past month because my vet told me to. (She had different goals in mind, recommending that goal BG should be 180-220. After speaking with people on this board, I disagree & would like to get my cat to 80-120 range.)

I'm confused about what other data you are looking for from the chart? My spreadsheet is exactly like the ones I looked at. I did it this way because I don't have google.
 
I'm glad he came up for you.

The charts we use are Google Sheets, that we share with anyone with the Link. It allows us to see more data than just a picture. For example, I can't see any data after PMPS+3. I also can't see any recent data because what you posted was a snapshot in time. Google Sheets is a free app.

soreto said:
The chart template I used had 68-99 & below 68 as separate sections. Why is this? I thought that anything below 80 is bad/dangerous? Is that wrong? Is 68-80 still OK territory?
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When people are using the AT for testing, we con't want cats to go below 68. We do have two dosing methods with Lantus, the Tight Regulation (TR) Protocol says that numbers below 68 on the AT mean the dose should be reduced. The Start Low Go Slow Method used 90 as the point below with the dose is reduced. I don't know where you got the 80 value from.
 
@Wendy&Neko

Thank you! I just tested & he's at 150 now.

I see now that SLGS used 90. I must have misread. The '80' value comes from all the literature that says a cat's BG should be between 80-120. I'm confused about what BG numbers I should be expecting to get to if not 80-120? Like, for a well-regulated diabetic cat's curve- what should the range be?

I don't have data past PMPS+3 because my PM dose is usually sometime 10pm to midnight. (when i have to shift the dosage time, i do it days ahead in 30min increments) There were only 2 days that I took data past PMPS +3 & it was weeks ago when his BG was still super high, so it didn't seem relevant.

I don't have google anymore. I will keep looking for better ways to do a chart tho.
 
soreto said:
The '80' value comes from all the literature that says a cat's BG should be between 80-120.
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What literature is that? Is that 80-120 AT or human meter numbers? It's not one of our descriptions. If you test a non diabetic cat, you'll typically find them in the 50-80 range if using a human BG meter, which usually reads lower than the AT.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
What literature is that? Is that 80-120 AT or human meter numbers? It's not one of our descriptions. If you test a non diabetic cat, you'll typically find them in the 50-80 range if using a human BG meter, which usually reads lower than the AT.
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huh. When I search 'what is healthy glucose for cat', top results all say 80-120. petmd-

High Blood Sugar in Cats

I wonder if they are ignoring AlphaTrak meters' values being different, though. So in general, just always assume AlphaTrak # is lower than human meter, right?
 
soreto said:
@Wendy&Neko

Thank you! I just tested & he's at 150 now.

I see now that SLGS used 90. I must have misread. The '80' value comes from all the literature that says a cat's BG should be between 80-120. I'm confused about what BG numbers I should be expecting to get to if not 80-120? Like, for a well-regulated diabetic cat's curve- what should the range be?

I don't have data past PMPS+3 because my PM dose is usually sometime 10pm to midnight. (when i have to shift the dosage time, i do it days ahead in 30min increments) There were only 2 days that I took data past PMPS +3 & it was weeks ago when his BG was still super high, so it didn't seem relevant.

I don't have google anymore. I will keep looking for better ways to do a chart tho.
Click to expand...
We would appreciate it if you could get a google account again. We cannot link other SSs to your signature that will auto-update and have the same formatting. We just can’t allow everyone to do their own thing. There are times when we have multiple people working low numbers and if everyone has a different SS we have to decipher, it doesn’t work and we lose precious time. Your screenshots are really difficult to read and we need to be able to scroll through easily to see the patterns. Most members look at these from their phones or tablets & you then have several disconnected sheets. I just looked at it from my Mac because I have it on and can see it all as one but I am almost always using my iPhone as most members are too.

I think you will find that members will be hesitant to offer advice. They all have a lot going on with their own diabetic cats and if they have to figure out how to look at a nonstandard SS, they will just move on.
soreto said:
I am doing the SLGS, but held at 2u for the past month because my vet told me to. (She had different goals in mind, recommending that goal BG should be 180-220. After speaking with people on this board, I disagree & would like to get my cat to 80-120 range.)
Click to expand...

The issue is you aren’t doing SLGS. You’ve missed taking reductions you should have taken (10/9; 10/28).

I hope you will reconsider on the SS.
 
soreto said:
So in general, just always assume AlphaTrak # is lower than human meter, right?
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No, the other way around. But not something you can count on. Most side by side tests on the same blood drop done by members here using the AT and human meters have shown the AT reading higher, but not always. Don't get bogged down in comparing one meter to another, it gets too confusing.

FYI, I've tested several non diabetics with a human BG meter, most of them in the 50's, one at 49. One was a bit higher on steroids. You don't want to target having your kitty in the same range as a normal non diabetic cat. You want a margin of error for a cat on insulin.
 
@Marje and Gracie

thanks for the explanation. I was so confused by the comment that it was 'hard to read' because i am on a desktop. i didnt realize it would look so different on a phone.

yes, i realize i did not reduce the dose- it was because of my vet's advice to stay at 2u. my biggest question now is what BG range should the goal be for a diabetic cat?
 
soreto said:
@Marje and Gracie

thanks for the explanation. I was so confused by the comment that it was 'hard to read' because i am on a desktop. i didnt realize it would look so different on a phone.

yes, i realize i did not reduce the dose- it was because of my vet's advice to stay at 2u. my biggest question now is what BG range should the goal be for a diabetic cat?
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Depends. If you want your cat tightly regulated and you are using the TR Protocol, you want them to be between 50-100, human meter, most of the time.
soreto said:
@Wendy&Neko

ok thanks!

i looked up the alphatrak 3 brochure & it notes below 65 as low BG & above 250 as high BG. so should the goal range be 65-250?
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We don’t use those numbers. The low end we use is 50 for a human meter for a cat doing TR. Above that, we use the TR protocol for determining whether a cat needs more insulin or not, again if doing TR. If doing SLGS, it’s going to be 90 at the low end whether you are using a human or pet meter.
soreto said:
thanks for the explanation. I was so confused by the comment that it was 'hard to read' because i am on a desktop. i didnt realize it would look so different on a phone.
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Yes, on a phone, it brings up three different screens and one is really tiny. It’s very difficult to read. And it doesn’t auto-update so if you are working low numbers and you enter them in as you get them, you have to keep reposting your SS. With a google SS linked, it auto-updates the link in your signature as soon as you post it.
 
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Marje and Gracie said:
Depends. If you want your cat tightly regulated and you are using the TR Protocol, you want them to be between 50-100, human meter, most of the time.

We don’t use those numbers. The low end we use is 50 for a human meter for a cat doing TR. Above that, we use the TR protocol for determining whether a cat needs more insulin or not, again if doing TR. If doing SLGS, it’s going to be 90 at the low end whether you are using a human or pet meter.
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in the second paragraph, did you mean '68 for a pet meter for a cat doing TR'? otherwise, it contradicts the first line that says TR protocol wants them to be between 50-100 human meter.

tbh, i'm overwhelmed by all the contradicting info on BG range. i originally picked SLGS because it seemed less complicated than TR. what i didn't realize was how big of a difference the goal BG range is between the two different protocols. so far, on this website,

TR says range should be 50-100
SLGS says range should be 90-?

but then the internet tells me normal cat BG is either 70-120 or 80-120

but my vet told me diabetic cat's BG should be 180-220

why such giant differences? Because yesterday when I freaked out about the '63' & '55' readings, it would actually be ok if it was TR protocol? This makes no sense to me. how is it dangerous under one protocol but not dangerous under another? it's the same cat?

i just have no idea what number is 'good' anymore. i lowered the dosage last night by 0.25. this morning's reading was '158' & i have no idea if that is 'good' or 'bad.'

this whole time, i thought the goal was to get the cat to 80-120. i'm worried about glucose toxicity if the BG is too high, but now i have no idea what 'too high' even is.
 
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I think you are confusing some pieces of information. First, a pet meter and a human meter are calibrated differently. There is only one article that I'm aware of that gives a comparison between the meters and the comparison is for the point at which you decrease the dose if you are using Lantus and following TR. On a human meter, if your cat is within the first year since diagnosis, you reduce the dose if blood glucose drops below 50. On a pet meter, the decrease point is 68. If you are following SLGS, you decrease at 90 regardless of the meter you're using.

All of the dosing information that we use here is based on readings from a human meter. If using a pet glucometer, you have to approximate since there is no formula for converting the numbers between the different types of meters. Our dosing approaches were developed quite some time ago and pet meters were not widely used. Even now, many people stick with a human meter due to the cost of strips for a pet meter.

The dose reduction points are largely unrelated what a normal blood glucose range is and this may be what's getting you confused. There is also some variability around normal blood glucose range between sources although in doing a quick search, it looks like there may be greater consensus with the range being what you noted, 80 - 120. We use 50 - 120 as a normal range. My cat's lab results give a different range (72 - 175) and that is from IDEXX which is a very reliable lab. Many vets will give you a different (higher) range because many of their clients do not home test and they want a caregiver to have a margin for safety. And to be honest, many cats have higher blood glucose when at the vet's office ("stress hyperglycemia") due to the stress of being at the vet's office. I've also heard other members have the same experience you've had -- their vet gave them a much higher range for what's "normal." I don't know if it's a matter of the ranges having changed based on when the vet was in school or not. It does make it rather frustrating if you are the kind of person who does research to get a better handle on what's going on with your cat and the vet tells you one thing and your reading tells you something else.

At the minimum, you want to do your best to keep your cat's blood glucose numbers below renal threshold. (I know -- more numbers!) Renal threshold does vary from cat to cat but a reasonable approximation is about 220. If your cat is staying in the mid-100s or below, that's good!! Getting a cat regulated generally takes more than a few weeks although I've seen cats take almost no time whatsoever and some cats who went into remission after 2 years.
 
The results I mentioned were from my cat's annual check-up. The vet does a blood read that she sends off to a veterinary laboratory (i.e., IDEXX). This is a similar process as when you go in for your annual physical and your primary care doctor draws your blood and you get measures of your red and white blood cells, tests for your liver and kidneys, etc. I did all of my curves at home. You can see them on Gabby's spreadsheet.
 
soreto said:
what is the reasoning for the two protocols to have such different glucose ranges?
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First of all, Tight Regulation is the only protocol, and has been published and peer reviewed in vet journals. SLGS is a dosing method developed here over time, first starting before TR was published. The differences in blood sugar ranges targeted are based on safety mechanisms, including how much people can test, and type of food given to the cat. Those following TR have to test more often, in order to hold their cat at a dose in lower numbers - for safety. It is the more aggressive of the two dosing methods.
 
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