New to FD, our Ed has a blood sugar reading of 41, threw up his food - help! I'm so scared for him.

[EddieBear]

Hello everyone! Our Edward was recently diagnosed with FD. Today he was acting weird and he threw up about an hour ago. We checked his blood glucose and it read at 45. We gave him honey, waited 15 minutes and tested again. This time it read 41. We gave him a little wet food (low carb) which he ate up like a champ but threw it all up about two minutes later. We decided to give him more honey, 1/2 teaspoon more. We'll test him again in another 15 minutes.

I'm in super panic mode. We just lost one of our other cats to a brain tumor and I'm the panic person in the house. Is Ed going to be okay? Any advice, tips, anything would be really appreciated. I don't know what to do here. Do we rush him to the emergency vet? Do we keep giving him honey every 15 minutes until he levels off? His blood sugar went down instead of up, is that normal? I'm so lost and scared.

 

[Chrispooky12]

Hello everyone! Our Edward was recently diagnosed with FD. Today he was acting weird and he threw up about an hour ago. We checked his blood glucose and it read at 45. We gave him honey, waited 15 minutes and tested again. This time it read 41. We gave him a little wet food (low carb) which he ate up like a champ but threw it all up about two minutes later. We decided to give him more honey, 1/2 teaspoon more. We'll test him again in another 15 minutes.

I'm in super panic mode. We just lost one of our other cats to a brain tumor and I'm the panic person in the house. Is Ed going to be okay? Any advice, tips, anything would be really appreciated. I don't know what to do here. Do we rush him to the emergency vet? Do we keep giving him honey every 15 minutes until he levels off? His blood sugar went down instead of up, is that normal? I'm so lost and scared.

Do you have any medium or high carb food the ones with gravy in them?

 

[Chrispooky12]

Hello everyone! Our Edward was recently diagnosed with FD. Today he was acting weird and he threw up about an hour ago. We checked his blood glucose and it read at 45. We gave him honey, waited 15 minutes and tested again. This time it read 41. We gave him a little wet food (low carb) which he ate up like a champ but threw it all up about two minutes later. We decided to give him more honey, 1/2 teaspoon more. We'll test him again in another 15 minutes.

I'm in super panic mode. We just lost one of our other cats to a brain tumor and I'm the panic person in the house. Is Ed going to be okay? Any advice, tips, anything would be really appreciated. I don't know what to do here. Do we rush him to the emergency vet? Do we keep giving him honey every 15 minutes until he levels off? His blood sugar went down instead of up, is that normal? I'm so lost and scared.

 

[Chrispooky12]

We got a 911 on the main forum @Sienne and Gabby (GA) @Bron and Sheba (GA) @Bandit's Mom @Wendy&Neko @Suzanne & Darcy @CORKY

 

[Chrispooky12]

Hello everyone! Our Edward was recently diagnosed with FD. Today he was acting weird and he threw up about an hour ago. We checked his blood glucose and it read at 45. We gave him honey, waited 15 minutes and tested again. This time it read 41. We gave him a little wet food (low carb) which he ate up like a champ but threw it all up about two minutes later. We decided to give him more honey, 1/2 teaspoon more. We'll test him again in another 15 minutes.

I'm in super panic mode. We just lost one of our other cats to a brain tumor and I'm the panic person in the house. Is Ed going to be okay? Any advice, tips, anything would be really appreciated. I don't know what to do here. Do we rush him to the emergency vet? Do we keep giving him honey every 15 minutes until he levels off? His blood sugar went down instead of up, is that normal? I'm so lost and scared.

@EddieBear

 

[Chrispooky12]

@EddieBear

Feed a tsp or 2 of high or medium carb food now & test again in 20mins

 

[Chrispooky12]

I hope your kitty is okay. Please let me know when you see this. It's 130am here & I don't know if your getting a notification that I'm trying to help you. I'm going to bed now. Hopefully your kitty is okay or someone else comes along & helps you.

 

[EddieBear]

Feed a tsp or 2 of high or medium carb food now & test again in 20mins

Thank you for the response! This is such a weird experience, it's so difficult not to be worried. We didn't realize until the smell hit us that he had a massive diarrhea after we tested him the first time. The second test where he dropped to a 41, I made the mistake of giving him one of those Chuppa like treats hoping it would be good for the high calories. (I have no idea what I'm doing.) He threw that up so my husband gave him more honey. We waited 15 minutes and his last test read at 68 so I gave him a tablespoon of good, no carb, all protein food. He ate it up, doesn't seem to have any stomach issues beyond GI issues most likely related to the insulin, that's my guess anyway. He seems to be doing well now. It's been about five minutes and he hasn't thrown up, he's relaxing on his catnip pad. We'll test again in 20 minutes to see if he's leveled off.

 

[Chrispooky12]

Okay good. When they eat really fast like that it's called a scarf & barf so it's probably nothing to be concerned about unless he continues to throw up. You may have to stay up for awhile to get his number back up I would say to at least 100+ feed a tsp or even just some gravy every 20mins & test until you get him into safe numbers. You don't want to feed a lot so he will be hungry if you have to keep giving him some every 20mins.What insulin is he on & how many hours ago did you give it.

 

[EddieBear]

He is on Novolin, 2 units. His last dose was at 7:30pm so about 6 1/2 hours ago. He's still chilling on his kittynip pad, has not thrown up. Phew! Scarf & barf, that is an excellent summary of what happened!

 

[EddieBear]

We just tested again, he went up one point to 69. Gave him another tblsp of cat food. I'm really hoping this is because he's stabilizing and will go into remission. We think his diabetes is due to his diet of prescription cat food from the Vet. Long story! Thank you so much for your help @Chrispooky12. We really appreciate it. I might be able to actually get some sleep tonight because of you. Thanks again!

 

[Chrispooky12]

He is on Novolin, 2 units. His last dose was at 7:30pm so about 6 1/2 hours ago. He's still chilling on his kittynip pad, has not thrown up. Phew! Scarf & barf, that is an excellent summary of what happened!

Okay my boy was on novlin in the beginning before I knew that it isn't meant for cats. It hits hard & fast &; it doesn't last for 12hrs, so expect him to have high numbers when it's time for his next shot. Lantus & Prozinc are the 2 insulins recommended for cats.

We need to get you a spreadsheet & a signature setup. Hopefully one of the members I tagged can give you the link for those. We also have a member who can help you set it up if you need help.

Do you have any other wet food that is higher in carbs that you can feed? You will also need to setup what we call a hypo kit.

 

[Chrispooky12]

We just tested again, he went up one point to 69. Gave him another tblsp of cat food. I'm really hoping this is because he's stabilizing and will go into remission. We think his diabetes is due to his diet of prescription cat food from the Vet. Long story! Thank you so much for your help @Chrispooky12. We really appreciate it. I might be able to actually get some sleep tonight because of you. Thanks again!

I'm not supposed to giving dosing advise but since he dropped into the 40s I would only give him 1 unit at his shot time. When was he diagnosed?

 

[Chrispooky12]

We just tested again, he went up one point to 69. Gave him another tblsp of cat food. I'm really hoping this is because he's stabilizing and will go into remission. We think his diabetes is due to his diet of prescription cat food from the Vet. Long story! Thank you so much for your help @Chrispooky12. We really appreciate it. I might be able to actually get some sleep tonight because of you. Thanks again!

I think we are in the same time zone it's 213am here where I'm at. I have to get up at 530am for my boys shot then back up at 830 to test give a snack & head to work.

 

[EddieBear]

I'm not supposed to giving dosing advise but since he dropped into the 40s I would only give him 1 unit at his shot time. When was he diagnosed?

He was diagnosed last Thursday, the 5th. I do have wet food that has some carbs in it. That's what he does eat every day, it's the Petco Wholehearted brand. I just gave him the Honest Kitchen zero carbs as I got worried the carbs were what was making him throw up. We're still transitioning the cats off of their vet prescription high carb kibble so I do give some of that dry food to one of our other cats who is a tougher transition (the other four are off completely including Ed). Ed ate some of that dry food and that was what he initially threw up. Our vet told us to give him the sugar/honey if he crashes and skip his next insulin dose. We'll test him in the morning again before it's time to give him his shot which is at 7:30. If his numbers are good, do you think it would be prudent to avoid the insulin all together? We're really hoping he regulates and goes into remission which I've read can be done and it can be done quickly in some cats who became diabetic due to diet. His diet changes were quick, from eating nothing but no grain/low carb, high protein wet food twice a day to free-feeding high carb, vet prescription diet. This all happened in less than 3 months time. This whole thing is just frustrating and scary, I can't imagine what it's like for the little guy. At least we're now experts at getting blood samples for testing! I almost passed out the first time I tried, I'm such a wimp!

 

[Catrazina]

He was diagnosed last Thursday, the 5th. I do have wet food that has some carbs in it. That's what he does eat every day, it's the Petco Wholehearted brand. I just gave him the Honest Kitchen zero carbs as I got worried the carbs were what was making him throw up. We're still transitioning the cats off of their vet prescription high carb kibble so I do give some of that dry food to one of our other cats who is a tougher transition (the other four are off completely including Ed). Ed ate some of that dry food and that was what he initially threw up. Our vet told us to give him the sugar/honey if he crashes and skip his next insulin dose. We'll test him in the morning again before it's time to give him his shot which is at 7:30. If his numbers are good, do you think it would be prudent to avoid the insulin all together? We're really hoping he regulates and goes into remission which I've read can be done and it can be done quickly in some cats who became diabetic due to diet. His diet changes were quick, from eating nothing but no grain/low carb, high protein wet food twice a day to free-feeding high carb, vet prescription diet. This all happened in less than 3 months time. This whole thing is just frustrating and scary, I can't imagine what it's like for the little guy. At least we're now experts at getting blood samples for testing! I almost passed out the first time I tried, I'm such a wimp!

I hope as you move forward with the no kibble, high protein low carb wet food you precious kitty will recover wonderfully. You’ve had a stressful day on top of your fur baby being newly diagnosed as a diabetic I wish for you to have a peaceful nights sleep and wake up refreshed tomorrow.
Take Care and hang in there I’m a new member as well I relate to your stress and anxiety mine has already started to decrease after reading the very helpful reply’s to my post today.
Keep us updated, Hugs, Cathy

 

[CORKY]

@EddieBear

Oh dear! I just read you post how’s your Kitty doing this morning??

 

[EddieBear]

@Chrispooky12 He's doing well this morning, phew! My husband stayed up with him and fed him every hour until about 4:00, just a tablespoon or two to keep his blood sugar regulated. I got a few hours sleep and fed him his regular meal at 6:30, he enjoyed almost all of it and then started eating Dave's food which is the same brand but different flavor that Ed used to dislike. We're due to give him his insulin at 7:30 so we'll test his BS and go from there. Hoping it looks good and we are safe to skip the dose. Thank you again for everything!

@Catrazina Thank you! I got about four hours of sleep. I'm so tired but it's worth it! We recently lost our Julius to a brain tumor which came on fast and strong. Three weeks from beginning to end and those last two weeks were just terrible. We didn't know what hit us. I'm so over panicky now when it comes to anything happening with the cats, always on high alert and worried. I'm glad I found this forum, it's nice to not feel alone in this not so fun adventure with Ed. Thank you for the kind words. I hope your kitty is doing well too!

 

[CORKY]

Great I got up St 6 AM for line taking as noise for a bit, and I’ll be crack to explain some things, I am so sorry I did not hear the phone last night,

 

[EddieBear]

Great I got up St 6 AM for line taking as noise for a bit, and I’ll be crack to explain some things, I am so sorry I did not hear the phone last night,

Oh my goodness, no worries at all! I absolutely appreciate you for everything, you made it a lot easier to get through this and avoid my typical state of constant panic when it comes to the cats. This is our first crash with him and not knowing what to expect but then having someone answer some questions and give advice at such a late hour was amazing. I even joined facebook just in hopes of finding someone to chat with which is crazy for me if you know me and my absolute loathing of social media. I really am so very grateful for your replies and guidance. You know how it goes with looking for answers on the internet, these days AI always seems to give you the worst ones so it's wonderful to be able to talk with someone who actually has experienced these things and can give some more encouraging info and advice. Thank you! I hope you have a great day and you and your kitty are doing well. I am off to work in about 15 minutes. My husband works from home so he's going to be hanging with Ed all day, making sure he's good to go.

 

[CORKY]

Welcome to FDMB
Now I can welcome you appropriately. You did great last night and you had members there to guide you along, having multiple cats at home and you mentioning you have gone thru other situations, Feline diabetes is a walk in the park for you, you're a good kitty parent, FD is very manageable, Novolin is a short-acting insulin; the best insulin for cats are ProZinc and Lantus they are a 12-hour insulin easy on the cat, home testing is very important, which showed you are doing a good job at it, we are very numbers oriented so we don't have to ask you the same question all the time we would like you to create your signature and Edward's spreadsheet, this way we can all be on the same page, links below, is important as well to see the days progress in case you find yourself , in a situation as this morning. A non-diabetic cats' glucose level is between 50-120, so if you find yourself you need us to be there for you as last night please make another thread and click on the arrow next to title click on the red 911 you can title it HELP LOW BG, and post your concerns, this title gets everyone's attention and I am sure one of the members will plug in with you to walk thru the hypo episode. A hypo episode is best handled with food rather than Karo or Honey, since this is a quick fix, of course counting on the BG not being lower than 50, this was not your case, you did great last night and the members assisting as well. We would like you to create a HYPO KIT this contains some medium carb foods between 11-15% carbs some high carb foods between 15-24% carbs some Karo syrup or honey, these last two are giving either by rubbing the gums with a bit or giving a small amount by mouth, these are just a quick fix to avoid further dive in BG, but is best to hike up the BG with food rather than the other.
0-10% low carbs / 11-15% medium carbs / 16/24% high carbs

Avoiding shot / I do not give dosing advice and do not know the protocols for Novolin, however there can be the time where the shot should not be giving, especially if as an example Edward's BG is as it was last night, but we are always told that skipping a shot on the next shot if BG is safe can interrupt the insulin balance, I for one use ProZinc I do not miss a dose, then again I shoot on 2 digit BG's, it took a lot of practice, guts, and knowing your cat very well (see Corky's spreadsheet below) each insulin has its own shooting protocol, I use ProZinc, with this insulin the protocol is test, feed, shoot, you can stall the shot with food till BG is safe to shoot stalling up to two hours, you can reduce the dose by drops if need to , Lantus has other protocols, Take your time processing, the more you learn how Edward processes insulin, the easier it will be for the both of you. We are always here for you

Sticky - New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/

 

[EddieBear]

Welcome to FDMB
Now I can welcome you appropriately. You did great last night and you had members there to guide you along, having multiple cats at home and you mentioning you have gone thru other situations, Feline diabetes is a walk in the park for you, you're a good kitty parent, FD is very manageable, Novolin is a short-acting insulin; the best insulin for cats are ProZinc and Lantus they are a 12-hour insulin easy on the cat, home testing is very important, which showed you are doing a good job at it, we are very numbers oriented so we don't have to ask you the same question all the time we would like you to create your signature and Edward's spreadsheet, this way we can all be on the same page, links below, is important as well to see the days progress in case you find yourself , in a situation as this morning. A non-diabetic cats' glucose level is between 50-120, so if you find yourself you need us to be there for you as last night please make another thread and click on the arrow next to title click on the red 911 you can title it HELP LOW BG, and post your concerns, this title gets everyone's attention and I am sure one of the members will plug in with you to walk thru the hypo episode. A hypo episode is best handled with food rather than Karo or Honey, since this is a quick fix, of course counting on the BG not being lower than 50, this was not your case, you did great last night and the members assisting as well. We would like you to create a HYPO KIT this contains some medium carb foods between 11-15% carbs some high carb foods between 15-24% carbs some Karo syrup or honey, these last two are giving either by rubbing the gums with a bit or giving a small amount by mouth, these are just a quick fix to avoid further dive in BG, but is best to hike up the BG with food rather than the other.
0-10% low carbs / 11-15% medium carbs / 16/24% high carbs

Avoiding shot / I do not give dosing advice and do not know the protocols for Novolin, however there can be the time where the shot should not be giving, especially if as an example Edward's BG is as it was last night, but we are always told that skipping a shot on the next shot if BG is safe can interrupt the insulin balance, I for one use ProZinc I do not miss a dose, then again I shoot on 2 digit BG's, it took a lot of practice, guts, and knowing your cat very well (see Corky's spreadsheet below) each insulin has its own shooting protocol, I use ProZinc, with this insulin the protocol is test, feed, shoot, you can stall the shot with food till BG is safe to shoot stalling up to two hours, you can reduce the dose by drops if need to , Lantus has other protocols, Take your time processing, the more you learn how Edward processes insulin, the easier it will be for the both of you. We are always here for you

Sticky - New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-create-a-spreadsheet.241706/

Thank you for all the info and help! I'm going to make a post regarding an update on Ed. I'm curious what others have to say about what we've recently learned.

 

[CORKY]

You do not need to make a new thread, you can post any other concern here up to 50 post thiscIS how long we like to keep the threads 50 post, then you can start a new thread by placing Continuation, with the same title as this one a member will join both threads