Blood Glucose levels up after 2.0 years in remission(OTJ)

My cat Mac's BG numbers are up. At remission and for almost 2 years after, his BG was around 70-90, both at home test and semi-annual blood labs at Vet. He was only diabetic for about 6 weeks while I weaned him off of prednisolone. Last week he went in for his usual 6 mo visit. I had not taken a home test since his last set of labs in Dec assuming all was well. At this visit his glucose was 140 and the test lab nor vet highlighted it since it fell within the range. i tend to look over those labs with a fine tooth comb and noticed significant increase in glucose from 6 mos. ago. I then took his BG reading at home and it was 234. Since then it has ranged from 135-190. No clinical symptoms such as thirsty, frequent urination, or inappetence.

Weight is the same. No change in diet. still on Raw Venison, with a few tubes of tuna a day. The only thing that had changed was a big dose of Gabapentin (100 mg) before the office visit and I had started increasing it twice a day (25MB twice a day, taking it for anxiety and arthritis pain). So currently I have backed off the gabapentin. His glucose numbers have not normalized but they are not in the 200's anymore.

I was wondering if due to his age, a history of pancreatitis 2 years ago (those numbers are good now), is there a potential the pancreas has been compromised and he is not producing as much insulin now. The vet says they don't treat until it gets over 250. So at this point I am monitoring it, hoping my gabapentin theory is correct, but I am not super optimistic on that.

Any other theories or experience that might explain why this increase?

Thanks, Jill

 

What do Mac's teeth look like? Needing a dental with infection/inflammation is probably the number one reason cats fall out of remission. Did the vet look in his mouth?

 

Thanks for that reply! She did look in his mouth. He does have tartar build up but not any gingivitis or inflammation and at16 I have been hesitant to put him under for a dental cleaning. Having said that he has never had his teeth cleaned. I almost lost a kitty to anaesthesia one time and have always been hesitant to put my cats under unless an emergency. Something I will inquire again with the vet.
Thanks
Jill

 

Neko went to a specialist dental vet. He always did dental xrays to see what needed to be done. One time the visual inspection (under anaesthesia) showed nothing, but the x-ray showed a tooth that needed to come out. The nice thing about dental specialist is that they are used to dealing with older and more complicated animals. And they do more monitoring during the procedure. The dental vet even had the option to get a board certified anesthesiologist come to assist.

 

Thank you!

 

Might be worth while getting a urine checked for a UTI

 

Thanks!

 

How is Mac doing with his arthritis? Pain can also cause BG numbers to rise.

 

Thanks for your reply! That is hard to assess. He still gets around and jumps up on beds and chairs. He gets gabapentin in the evenings and adequan once a week.
His numbers are continuing to go up so I am having a discussion with vet on next steps.

 

I want to add his monocytes and basophils were slightly elevated. Also his lungs were a little rumbly and the vet wanted me to watch for coughing etc as he may be developing asthma.