? 7/15 Phoenix , BG over 500 all week, can't get it to stay down

[Scdal]

@Bandit's Mom

Please anyone help me. Just over a week ago, Phoenix had been doing really good on his insulin. Over our 4th of July holiday, Phoenix started losing interest in his food and was running a fever of 104.3. All of his veterinarians that I use were off for the 4 day holiday. In case you don't remember, Phoenix is hard to handle at the vet and other vets have to sedate him to examine him. Now that he has asthma, it is dangerous to sedate him.

Anyway, when I couldn't get hold of a doctor, I gave Phoenix amoxicillin. He has taken this numerous times and it has never had any effect on his blood sugar but this time I was forced to use over the counter amoxicillin. Since then, Phoenix's BG has gone really high.

Phoenix has only had numbers in the 500 range a few times in the 2 years he has been diabetic. Now, he is having them every day. I have increased his insulin from 8 units to 10 units over the past week. Phoenix has been following TR. I am getting really scared. I can't get his BG to stay down. PLEASE HELP!!

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Is it liquid amoxicillin. That’s usually full of sugar.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

Can you get Phoenix to the vet today to see about getting a different (or different formulation) of the antibiotic? Are you testing for ketones? With a fever (infection) And high BG, I worry about DKA. is Phoenix eating normally?

 

[Scdal]

Can you get Phoenix to the vet today to see about getting a different (or different formulation) of the antibiotic? Are you testing for ketones? With a fever (infection) And high BG, I worry about DKA. is Phoenix eating normally?

The amoxicillin was capsules. He has been off them for 4 days. He is eating fine now and is acting okay but his BG won't come down.

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Hi Susan, good to hear from you. Glad to hear that Phoenix is fine now. It might just be a matter of getting him to a good dose. He might be bouncing from the 189 he saw a couple of days back and the blacks last night could be the highe before he breaks the bounce. See what he does today.

As you know over 10U, dose increases are in multiples of 1u. I hope he breaks into good numbers soon.

 

[Scdal]

Hi Susan, good to hear from you. Glad to hear that Phoenix is fine now. It might just be a matter of getting him to a good dose. He might be bouncing from the 189 he saw a couple of days back and the blacks last night could be the highe before he breaks the bounce. See what he does today.

As you know over 10U, dose increases are in multiples of 1u. I hope he breaks into good numbers soon.

Hi Bhooma, it is great to hear from you. I hope you are doing well. I haven't posted in a while because Phoenix has been doing great. I don't have a lot of time to spend on the internet and am usually so exhausted from yard work that I fall asleep early.

Phoenix is alert and seems fine but do you think I should call his vet about the high BG? This is terrifying me.

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Phoenix is alert and seems fine but do you think I should call his vet about the high BG? This is terrifying me.

If he is fine and it's only the higher BG, I would try increasing (per TR) and see if it's just glucose toxicity and a matter of finding a breakthrough dose. He did have similarly high numbers last month and taking up to 9.5U got him back to good numbers.

 

[Scdal]

If he is fine and it's only the higher BG, I would try increasing (per TR) and see if it's just glucose toxicity and a matter of finding a breakthrough dose. He did have similarly high numbers last month and taking up to 9.5U got him back to good numbers.

Thank you, Bhooma, you really calm me down and I value your advice more than Phoenix's vet. He is a great veterinarian but you are a lot more knowledgeable about feline diabetes. Have a great day and take care.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

The amoxicillin was capsules. He has been off them for 4 days. He is eating fine now and is acting okay but his BG won't come down.

Okay. Your post did not say that he was already off of the antibiotics for 4 days when you were inquiring about these high BG numbers. Your thread was dated 7/15 (yesterday) and so I assumed that this was a current/ongoing problem with the amoxicillin and concurrent high BG. The high temperature was scary for me to read about, and I was concerned. High fevers like that don’t occur for no reason, as you already know. I am glad you were able to medicate him over the holiday weekend, and I hope you had enough days of the amoxicillin to treat whatever it was.

Hopefully, Phoenix just needs an increase as Bhooma says and he will soon be back into better numbers. Paws crossed for that!
Question: Have you had him tested for insulin autoantibodies (IAA) or Acromegaly? With his high dose, something seems to be causing insulin resistance. Sorry if you have had him tested. I looked at your signature and didn’t see anything, so I am simply inquiring.

 

[Scdal]

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply. If you look at Phoenix's spreadsheet, you can see that I have had very little time to sleep the past few days and I have been very busy. Yes, Phoenix has been tested and he does not have either of these conditions. His dose has gone high because of the infection and the amoxicillin. He has done this before when he has been sick. Now, his BG is dropping fast and I am reducing the amount of insulin. Usually, he stabilizes around 7.5 or 8 units. Phoenix is a very large cat and I don't know if this makes a difference on the insulin units I have to give. He is doing excellent now. He is eating great and very active.

Thank you for your concern. That is very nice of you. I hope you are doing well and have a great day.

Okay. Your post did not say that he was already off of the antibiotics for 4 days when you were inquiring about these high BG numbers. Your thread was dated 7/15 (yesterday) and so I assumed that this was a current/ongoing problem with the amoxicillin and concurrent high BG. The high temperature was scary for me to read about, and I was concerned. High fevers like that don’t occur for no reason, as you already know. I am glad you were able to medicate him over the holiday weekend, and I hope you had enough days of the amoxicillin to treat whatever it was.

Hopefully, Phoenix just needs an increase as Bhooma says and he will soon be back into better numbers. Paws crossed for that!
Question: Have you had him tested for insulin autoantibodies (IAA) or Acromegaly? With his high dose, something seems to be causing insulin resistance. Sorry if you have had him tested. I looked at your signature and didn’t see anything, so I am simply inquiring.

 

[Suzanne & Darcy]

I see Phoenix has had some good numbers lately and that you really have had very little sleep I hope this means things are improving for Phoenix!

 

[Scdal]

I see Phoenix has had some good numbers lately and that you really have had very little sleep I hope this means things are improving for Phoenix!

Thank you, Phoenix will probably go down to 7 to 8 units really fast. I had to check every hour again last night and keep feeding him fancy feast LC & HC all night. I am reducing to 9 units this morning. This has happened before when he has been sick and his BG goes high.

I really do appreciate your concern and help. Bhooma has helped me a lot with Phoenix and she is familiar with the way Phoenix’s BG can drop really fast. That is why I responded to her first. I hope you are having a wonderful day and thanks again for caring. I really do appreciate your input this week.