Casey's at 177! What the heck?

[ohiogal]

Hi all,

After literally months and months of trying to get Casey regulated, and after raising her insulin and getting readings at pre-shot in the mid to upper 200s, and nadirs never below 180, I took her BG this morning and got 169! I thought that must be wrong, tried again and got 177.

The numbers sound great, but I'm flummoxed. That's the lowest number I've EVER gotten. She's currently up to 6 units of Lantus (very high I know, but nothing lower even made a dent, trust me, me and the vet have been trying at this since January).

Should I shoot? Not shoot? Did her pancreas suddenly kick in or something? I just can't figure out how a cat whose preshot last night was 368 is suddenly giving me a preshot of 177. Can it really fluctuate that wildly?

I have to leave for work in an hour, so some quick advice would be much appreciated! I'll try to test her again before I leave (she's eating now).

 

[BJM]

I would suggest being on the alert for signs of other problems - upset stomach, furrball, etc - which may reduce food consumption, resulting in lower glucose levels.

Check your Ps - poo, pee, play, purr, preening - and make sure those are all OK.
Watch for "meatloafing" where the cat huddles down and doesn't move much.

And have you read the stickies from the acromegaly/IAAA forum? That high of a dose could suggest one of those possible co-existing diagnoses. If the descriptions sound like what you've seen, it could be worth testing for them.

 

[ohiogal]

I would suggest being on the alert for signs of other problems - upset stomach, furrball, etc - which may reduce food consumption, resulting in lower glucose levels.

Check your Ps - poo, pee, play, purr, preening - and make sure those are all OK.
Watch for "meatloafing" where the cat huddles down and doesn't move much.

And have you read the stickies from the acromegaly/IAAA forum? That high of a dose could suggest one of those possible co-existing diagnoses. If the descriptions sound like what you've seen, it could be worth testing for them.

Hi BJM! Thanks for the response!

It turned out to be a "false alarm", because I tested Casey again about 45 minutes later and her BG was up to 260. It hasn't been low since - the numbers are right back where they were, mid-200s to low 300s pre-shot. I haven't done a curve in a while.

Her Ps are all fine, and she seems hydrated enough. She does meatloaf occasionally but I didn't know that was a problem. Isn't meatloafing a natural posture for cats?

I'll go check the acromegaly forum and see what they say. The vet took a look at her in June and didn't see anything out of the ordinary besides the diabetes. Thanks again!

 

[BJM]

Meatloafing in the context of a decrease in eating may occur when there are GI problems.
Also, pain reduces the interest in moving and being stretched out can be uncomfortable if there is inflammation or infection in the GI tract.