Cat, 10 years old, constantly sniffing the ground, pupils are large

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Nan & Amber (GA) said:
They don't have to be Relion brand-- you can use whatever brand you like. To start, you want a larger size, which is a smaller gauge-- 26 or 28 would be best. The thin ones make tiny holes, so it's harder to get blood when you are starting out.
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Yes, the gauges do not have to match the glucometer brand. The 26 gauge do say "Thin" on the box though for ReliOn brand.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
I'm so glad you are on your way to the vet, just a heads up I would still pick up a meter tonight or tomorrow , the only way to keep Stewie safe it to test him, you said it's been a month since he was at the vets. Please let us know what happens
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I will try to get a meter, but I don't want to stress out anybody more than they already yet. So we might pick it up tomorrow. Thank you all so much!
 
Thank you all so much. After taking him to the vet, we found out that his levels were very low. They helped him out and gave him sugar water to bring his levels back to normal. When he got home, he was fine, but after a bit, back to sniffing everything, and then, he was fine again. I think his levels need time to stabilize, and he should be good soon. The vet thinks his levels were low because he his going into remission from his diabetes which were caused by steroid shots for asthma treatments. Now I know where to turn if the vet is not an immediate option. Again, I want to thank all of you for your help. This whole ordeal made me realize how uneducated I am on feline diabetes. I will be looking into home monitoring if its needed and if his diabetes stay, but for right now, thank you.
 
Oh wow! What a story!

In a way, it was very very lucky that he showed obvious signs like that, so you knew to take him in. We've seen some terrible situations where no one realized that the cat went into remission until too late :(.

It's not uncommon for steroid-induced diabetes to resolve after a while, looks like that might have been the case for lucky Stewie. Still, I do think it would still be a good idea to get the kit for home testing; it's possible that Stewie may need a little more insulin support in the future (just less than 3U), and hometesting will help you keep him safe through it.

Whew! Give him a big hug and some skritches from all of us here! :cat:
 
I am so happy to hear he was okay! So glad you came here to get him help. Did the vet say how much insulin to give him or are you stopping it?

I do so hope that his insulin-dependance was temporary. If you want to keep him from relapsing back we have a lot of information to help, but mainly focus on low-carb wet food because dry food will knock them right back into it. Let us know if you would like to learn more, don't want to overwhelm you. :)
 
Panic said:
I am so happy to hear he was okay! So glad you came here to get him help. Did the vet say how much insulin to give him or are you stopping it?

I do so hope that his insulin-dependance was temporary. If you want to keep him from relapsing back we have a lot of information to help, but mainly focus on low-carb wet food because dry food will knock them right back into it. Let us know if you would like to learn more, don't want to overwhelm you. :)
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We will still be continuing the insulin for now, but obviously we skipped it tonight. I might be back here on this website looking for more info soon. But again, thank you all.:cat::cat:
 
So glad your Stewie is better! I just wanted to chime in and encourage you on the home-testing. I was nervous/intimidated by it at first, but the machines are super simple and it's very easy to get the hang of. There are great resources and tips on this site--and lots of wonderful folks who will guide you. My vet started my kitty on 4 units twice a day--way too much--and she went drastically hypo and temporarily blind, like Stewie today, after a few cycles at that dose. Immediately dropped her dose to 1.5 units--and soon got another hypo but not as severe. After all that, I started home-testing, and it's kept us out of trouble ever since (knock on wood). Best of luck to you and Stewie--so glad you found the good resources here!
 
Of course! Please do decrease the dose tomorrow however, @Deb & Wink thoughts on safe decrease amount? I know we don't have any numbers to go by.

At least 0.25 unit decrease.

Also Stewie's dad it's a good idea to pick up those Gravy Lovers cans in case it happens again. The high carb wet food hits faster than dry to pull BG up and low-carb wet like you had today isn't always enough to save them.

Here is a hypo kit link, perfect example of what happened today:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/
 
So glad to hear Stewie is ok. How many units did the vet tell you to go with.
I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but if I were you I would go pick up the meter , test strips and lancets tomorrow and the Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers tomorrow
This could happen again. You need to test him in the AM to see what his BG is before giving him insulin, same thing at night and also test him during each cycle to see how low he is dropping, how is the insulin working.
How would you ever know if it's safe to give him the insulin
Like we all told you we will help you with testing
You wouldn't want this to happen again
 
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At LEAST a 0.25U reduction in the insulin dose. Maybe more.

Switching to low carb wet food can cause the overall BG levels to drop dramatically.
Plus, the steroids clearing from Stewie's system can also cause a dramatic drop in the need for such a large insulin dose.
Or any insulin dose at all.

Please, learn to home test. It's the best way for you to keep Stewie safe in the future.
 
I'm sorry to be blunt, but every shot of insulin you give without testing first is risking his life. He will be more sensitive to insulin after having symptomatic hypoglycemia. We also have no idea if his sugars have dropped too low too frequently to allow him to withstand more low sugars.
If you can't test, then at least reduce the insulin dose, and do not lower carb content of food.
 
83 is a very normal number. When during the cycle was the 83?
I would make it a priority to go out and get a glucose testing kit and start testing immediately. it is the only way to keep your cat safe. Especially after what has happened.
If you gave insulin when the BG was 83 and you were not testing, you would be risking another hypo.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
83 is a very normal number. When during the cycle was the 83?
I would make it a priority to go out and get a glucose testing kit and start testing immediately. it is the only way to keep your cat safe. Especially after what has happened.
If you gave insulin when the BG was 83 and you were not testing, you would be risking another hypo.
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Agree
 
So she got her insulin @ 8am. The event happend around 2pm (5 now still acting odd but better)

I gave her some food before the vet (345pm visit) just a moment ago with a tiny amout if honey this time(5). Insulin and amount given hasn't changed in a year. I believe she didn't eat as much breakfast as she normally does.


I'm getting a new bottle of insulin and a test kit tomorrow


Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
83 is a very normal number. When during the cycle was the 83?
I would make it a priority to go out and get a glucose testing kit and start testing immediately. it is the only way to keep your cat safe. Especially after what has happened.
If you gave insulin when the BG was 83 and you were not testing, you would be risking another hypo.
Click to expand...
 
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