Hello!
I posted this on another forum, and was pointed this direction. I'm copy and pasting a couple of things togther to save time, so please forgive me if it sounds a bit scattered!
Does anyone here know how much a bacterial infection and stress could possibly raise blood sugar? Also, once the infection is treated, how long before the sugar starts dropping, and how long before it hits a stable number?
The situation: my girl, Ivanna, had a severe ear infection that showed no symptoms until it became very bad. We don't know how long it was there. Tuesday the vet put her under to remove a very stubborn polyp and infection that she said was like cottage cheese from her middle ear. (they got 99% of it out) When running her blood panel on Monday before the surgery, her sugar came back as 323, with no keto. They ran it again Tuesday and it was 325 with no countable keto, but was supposedly turning the test strip a color that indicated that there might be a very low number there. There was also a small amount of sugar in her urine on Monday.
I know infection and stress can both raise sugar in cats, but can't find by how much or how long it would take for things to go back down to a true number once the infection is gone.
Another thing that could have factored into the sugar is that, once the infection started to affect her, I started giving her more dry food and treats to keep her eating.
She has shown no symptoms common with diabetes. No frequent drinking, no frequent urination, no weight loss. She is not overweight. The vet is actually surprised about all of this.
Other information: she already is on what is considered a low carb diet. The food she eats runs 8-11 carbs , which I am told is low. I know there are some lower ones, but I am hesitant to change while everything is in flux at the moment. The vet said I could change if I wanted to, since so much was changing now...but I've heard elsewhere not to change diet when first starting insulin?
On Tuesday after the surgery they prescribed 1 unit twice a day of Prozinc. They had given her a dose in the morning before the surgery, but none was given in the evening as they wanted to withhold fooduntil the anesthesia was out of her system. On Wednesday she had a morning dose and was taken to the vet for a blood check before the second dose. Her sugar was at 173 which was an hour after eating, and I was told to change the dose to once a day only in the morning. On Thursday she went in again and it was up to 345, but that definitely could have been stress : there was a cat screaming its head off in another room and Ivanna was going into a bit of a panic. The vet changed it back to 2 doses a day.
The vet never suggested monitoring at home, but that seems smart. At the suggestion of others, (especially the coworker who lost a dog by blindly following her dosing schedule) I am going to buy a monitor on the way home today. I already told the vet, and she was all for it. She told me that I should test before she eats, and before insulin, and only to give a dose if her sugar is above 180. Tomorrow I'll be home all day and will do a curve.
Next vet appointment is Tuesday.
Anyone have information on infections and sugar numbers or any suggestions at all? I'm new to this all!
I posted this on another forum, and was pointed this direction. I'm copy and pasting a couple of things togther to save time, so please forgive me if it sounds a bit scattered!
Does anyone here know how much a bacterial infection and stress could possibly raise blood sugar? Also, once the infection is treated, how long before the sugar starts dropping, and how long before it hits a stable number?
The situation: my girl, Ivanna, had a severe ear infection that showed no symptoms until it became very bad. We don't know how long it was there. Tuesday the vet put her under to remove a very stubborn polyp and infection that she said was like cottage cheese from her middle ear. (they got 99% of it out) When running her blood panel on Monday before the surgery, her sugar came back as 323, with no keto. They ran it again Tuesday and it was 325 with no countable keto, but was supposedly turning the test strip a color that indicated that there might be a very low number there. There was also a small amount of sugar in her urine on Monday.
I know infection and stress can both raise sugar in cats, but can't find by how much or how long it would take for things to go back down to a true number once the infection is gone.
Another thing that could have factored into the sugar is that, once the infection started to affect her, I started giving her more dry food and treats to keep her eating.
She has shown no symptoms common with diabetes. No frequent drinking, no frequent urination, no weight loss. She is not overweight. The vet is actually surprised about all of this.
Other information: she already is on what is considered a low carb diet. The food she eats runs 8-11 carbs , which I am told is low. I know there are some lower ones, but I am hesitant to change while everything is in flux at the moment. The vet said I could change if I wanted to, since so much was changing now...but I've heard elsewhere not to change diet when first starting insulin?
On Tuesday after the surgery they prescribed 1 unit twice a day of Prozinc. They had given her a dose in the morning before the surgery, but none was given in the evening as they wanted to withhold fooduntil the anesthesia was out of her system. On Wednesday she had a morning dose and was taken to the vet for a blood check before the second dose. Her sugar was at 173 which was an hour after eating, and I was told to change the dose to once a day only in the morning. On Thursday she went in again and it was up to 345, but that definitely could have been stress : there was a cat screaming its head off in another room and Ivanna was going into a bit of a panic. The vet changed it back to 2 doses a day.
The vet never suggested monitoring at home, but that seems smart. At the suggestion of others, (especially the coworker who lost a dog by blindly following her dosing schedule) I am going to buy a monitor on the way home today. I already told the vet, and she was all for it. She told me that I should test before she eats, and before insulin, and only to give a dose if her sugar is above 180. Tomorrow I'll be home all day and will do a curve.
Next vet appointment is Tuesday.
Anyone have information on infections and sugar numbers or any suggestions at all? I'm new to this all!
