BG 600 on 2/17 and now 3/1 BG 90. What??

[Athenaglaukopis]

we got fluffy tested on 2/17, she came back with 600 blood glucose and also going to her urine.
She was put on prozinc. We started it on 2/22, one unit every 12 hours.
Fully changed her diet to wet only, FF pate, and transfer factor.
Today I gave her a dose at 6 am, got her glucose tested at the vet at 4 pm, and is 90.

The vet told me not to give her a dose tonight, and to go down to 1/2 unit for this upcoming week. Does that sounds correct to you guys? It does to me, but again I know nothing.
The vet told me she has never seen a possible remission this quick, so we will check on her a bit more closely, but all the ravenous hunger is gone, she even dropped a bit of weight, no loss of water drinking, no lots of peeing, and she is more active than she was.
So I don’t know what to think, please someone explain what could be going on here.

Thank you guys.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

We are very data oriented here and without any information other than a BG from diagnosis and another from today 10 hours after the insulin was given, it's impossible to say if your cat is going into remission, is in remission or just having a good day. There are cats that go into remission strictly from a change of diet to low carb wet food although it appears you have not totally removed all the kibble from the picture. Your description of your cat's clinical signs certainly sound like things have improved a lot and are very encouraging.

If your cat is in remission or going into remission, with a BG of 90 on an AT2 type meter (an assumption since you set up a pet meter spreadsheet) even a half unit dose could overdose your cat and lead to hypoglycemia which can be fatal if not dealt with promptly. I would strongly urge you to start testing your cat at home for safety now that your cat seems to be getting into normal range BG.

We strongly advocate home testing before each shot to ensure it is safe to give insulin and then to test randomly mid cycle both day and night. At night a before bed test will give you a good idea whether the cycle will be active one or not. Normal nadir (peak action) of ProZinc is usually between +4 and +7 post shot. The reading today at the vet 10 hours post shot, assuming it's quite possible there may have been some BG stress elevation involved in that reading, makes me question whether Fluffy's BG could have been even lower at an earlier point in the cycle.

I would definitely exercise caution administering any insulin without home testing at this point in time.

 

[Athenaglaukopis]

We are very data oriented here and without any information other than a BG from diagnosis and another from today 10 hours after the insulin was given, it's impossible to say if your cat is going into remission, is in remission or just having a good day. There are cats that go into remission strictly from a change of diet to low carb wet food although it appears you have not totally removed all the kibble from the picture. Your description of your cat's clinical signs certainly sound like things have improved a lot and are very encouraging.

If your cat is in remission or going into remission, with a BG of 90 on an AT2 meter (an assumption since you set up a pet meter spreadsheet) even a half unit dose could overdose your cat and lead to hypoglycemia which can be fatal if not dealt with promptly. I would strongly urge you to start testing your cat at home for safety now that your cat seems to be getting into normal range BG.

We strongly advocate home testing before each shot to ensure it is safe to give insulin and then to test randomly mid cycle both day and night. At night a before bed test will give you a good idea whether the cycle will be active one or not. Normal nadir (peak action) of ProZinc is usually between +4 and +7 post shot. The reading today at the vet 10 hours post shot, assuming it's quite possible there may have been some BG stress elevation involved in that reading, makes me question whether Fluffy's BG could have been even lower at an earlier point in the cycle.

I would definitely exercise caution administering any insulin without home testing at this point in time.

1- All Kimble removed.
2- bg taken at vets office with their test machine.
3- vet just gave me glucometer due to not having strips
Will be testing soon,

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

If you now have strips to test, and you are skipping the shot tonight, it would be a good idea to test tonight a couple of times starting at regular shot time to see what Fluffy's BG is without insulin.

 

[Athenaglaukopis]

If you now have strips to test, and you are skipping the shot tonight, it would be a good idea to test tonight a couple of times starting at regular shot time to see what Fluffy's BG is without insulin.

Sounds like a great idea, should I test 3 time every 2 hours interval or what do you suggest? I’m trying to do what is best and as quick as I can learn to do things right for fluffy (moving, working, feeding cats separate, new kitten, etc)

The glucometer situation was interesting, I purchased one week ago and when went to test I realized they gave me 1 year expired strips and 2 year expired solution. Took them 4 days to get them in and replace, I just got all items 40 mins ago and they almost had me paid for them again.:/

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Yikes! That's not from the vet's office I hope. That's a shame that you were all set to test and have that happen. And it sounds like you have quite the full plate all ready!

I'd be inclined to test at your regular shot time (if possible having withheld food for 2 hours prior to that first test) and then again every 2 hours until bedtime to do a mini curve. That will give you some idea of what Fluffy's numbers may be like without insulin at this point in time. I say "some idea" because if Fluffy has been going lower than 90, it's possible that numbers could be a little inflated due to a phenomenon called bouncing. All data is good data!

Fingers crossed Fluffy stays in normal range (between 68 and 150 on your pet meter). Please keep us posted. If you have any questions, I suggest you post over on the ProZinc board where there are more experienced folks available to offer assistance and guidance. I also would recommend posting for advice on the ProZinc board tomorrow morning if your pre-shot test number falls within normal range since you don't have a lot of data yet to really know what to expect even from a half unit dose.