Cat in remission high numbers

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Puddensmom

Puddensmom

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I posted over in the main thread, but I think I will post here too. Pudden went off insulin in February and has been in the 70's,80's and 90,s since then. Today I got a reading for 145. That was at about 8 this evening. She went down to 128 an hour later and now is 145 again. She has had no food since 8. There is a chance she got some of the dog's food at about 7:30 PM, but I don't think so.

I am reading there have been issues with fancy feast and that is all she eats. She had the turkey liver and chicken liver today.

She acts normally and is very active today. I recently had her to the vet for allergies and she was put on an antihistamine about a month ago. I give it to her with gelatin tabs. I don't know if that would have any connection.

I am struggling very badly with money and the thought of going back to buying insulin, needles and strips is making me panic. I can't afford it this time around. I don't know what to do.
 
Unfortunately I think all the really experienced folks here are in bed. I see you got some help in the main forum, I wish I had advice to give you too :(

But I'll be sending positive thoughts for your and your Pudden!
 
Thank you so much! I checked her and she was 116 this morning. She only got beef FF last night and this morning. I am so grateful she is not going up. I'm worried it's the FF or perhaps a cold maybe. She is sneezing and has watery eyes, but I am sure it is her allergies. She is on antihistamines. but still has some symptoms. The cold symptoms happened last year as well.
 
Good luck with Pudden. She's very cute BTW. I hope she doesn't come out of remission because this is a stressful and expensive condition to treat.
 
Thank you! Hopefully with a food switch I can get her down to normal again. I guess it's for the best since FF is high in phosphorous, but it is so convenient to get and inexpensive. I am reading Sheba is good and is at most grocery and pet stores. Not many flavors though and Pudden is finicky.
 
I would check the antihistamine and see if the ingredients might be high carb; gelatin tabs themselves might be a sugar product. Maybe do some on line research and ask for your specific brand on Health. It is also possible that just having allergies raised the levels - if she is itchy and uncomfortable. And yes, some people have had trouble with some FF and some cats. So, changing one thing at a time (food is a good start and then look at the antihistamine).

If she gets above 180 or so, you might try a drop of insulin, but for now, I would deal with the possibilities you have.
 
I checked the capsule ingredients and all it says is that they are made from 100% bovine hide gelatin. On the bag it says it is made from cow collagen.

The chlorpheniramine ingredients are (per tablet) D&C Yellow #10, lactose, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, pregelatinized starch.

I know lactose is a sugar, but I read cats can't absorb it and so it is safe for diabetic cats (not sure if that is true). Microcrystalline cellulose is wood pulp. Pregelatinized starch is derived from corn. That one could be the culprit, but it is last on the list and the amount might be negligible.

She has been getting the antihistamine for a month with no changes in sugar at all. Always in the 80s or 90s. Could it build up and bother her so suddenly? I would think that if it is sugary she would show higher BG levels right away.

I agree that the food is probably the best bet since there have been complaints about the same flavors she has been eating. I am really hoping the food change does the trick.
 
If she has been getting it for a month, it probably isn't the culprit. (Sorry, missed the time factor). So maybe the food. How are her teeth? As you probably know, even a small infection can raise the levels too.
 
The vet said her teeth are pretty good for a 19 year old cat and showed no concern when I asked about them possibly causing her eye problems. Thankfully it did turn out to be allergies.

I am really happy to report however that she was 83 at about 11 am and when I checked her at 2 pm after eating and getting her antihistamine a few hours earlier, she was 96.

So it looks like it is food related. I am going to the pet store after dinner and getting some different food. So far she is doing fine with the beef FF, but I don't trust they won't eventually change the formula on that too and then deny it like they are doing with the other flavors.
 
Sigh... back up to 120 today and with Sheba pate chicken and turkey. No fancy feast. She had been doing so well too. Does this mean she will most likely be coming out of remission and her pancreas is sputtering on and off and will eventually stop working? Or could this be a phase and she just needs some time for things to return to normal. I am trying to brace myself, as I need to get a second job if it is going to return. I can't make it this time around. I'm to financially strapped.
 
Have you looked at possible infections or tooth issues? Sometimes an infection knocks them out of remission. She is still too low to shoot. I wouldn't shoot under 150 (at the lowest) and then just a drop.

I am sorry you are facing this. Nothing else - no new snacks that might be a little higher carb?
 
Nothing new since the high 156 except the Sheba and she was doing perfect on it until today. All her numbers have been under 100, even a 77 on Monday. I just checked her again and she is 92 a half hour after the 120. She was 111 this morning and 120 this evening.

I had her at the vet a month ago and she looked at her teeth and seemed to think they were fine. She acts like her chipper self, but I know cats can hide things very well and that doesn't really mean anything. I just find the up and down so confusing. To drop almost 30 points in a half hour seems like a lot. I changed the battery in the meter just in case, but I still get these crazy readings.
 
Wanted to give an update. This morning Pudden was 133. I was noticing her right eye looked funny and wasn't improving like the left eye with the antihistamine, so I took her to the vet thinking maybe it was an infection of some kind. The vet said no infection, but she has facial nerve paralysis. She ran into a chair pretty hard a month ago and because her eyes were so bad from the allergies I didn't notice. That could have been was caused it. She checked her teeth and ears real good and everything was fine.

I spoke with her about Pudden's numbers and she kept reassuring me they were normal numbers. I explained multiple times they are not normal for Pudden, but she just kept stating it was normal.

I have discovered that her numbers go down in a hour or two after eating. I fed her at 8:30 PM and by 10:30 PM she was 82. The numbers creep up when she has not eaten for a while. So what I get from that is that her pancreas is releasing insulin for the glucose in her food, but doesn't get the signal to turn on when there is no food and only glucose from the liver releasing it through out the day.

I don't know if this is just one of those things and her pancreas is not doing so well again just because or if there is an outside variable contributing. I am suspicious of the clorpheniramine, but several other members on this board have used it with no issue. Unfortunately I can't stop it to see because her eyes were being destroyed with chronic corneal abrasions. It was horrific and as much as I hate dealing with the diabetes, I can't stand to see my Pudden in pain and would rather starve to buy her supplies than see her suffering.

So in conclusion, I read that for a cat that's BG goes up when fasting it is a good idea to feed several small meals all day long to always keep the BG levels low and never let them creep up. My only concern is that it will tire out a pancreas that is not functioning at it's best. I am unsure if that is a possibility or perhaps forcing the pancreas to always work would switch it back on? I guess it is worth a shot since it does seem to be getting worse and doing nothing isn't helping anything.
 
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I have no expertise with this but some people on the forum have said that feeding several small meals a day is easier on their pancreas.

Are her corneal abrasions from scratching her eyes because the allergies make them itchy? Poor girl ... I know that's very painful.
 
Generally, we think if the levels go down after eating, it means the pancreas is functioning. That's good news. And yes, the general suggestion is to feed small frequent meals at that point, to help "support" the pancreas, not force it to function. But I have no direct experience either.

I hope you get some responses about the eye issue and meds on Health.

You are certainly doing your best to support her and help her heal. Give yourself credit. And remember, those deep healing breaths. :bighug:
 
Thank you guys :) I am happy to hear that several small meals is actually good for the pancreas. I will carry on with that plan then.

Kris & Teasel said:
Are her corneal abrasions from scratching her eyes because the allergies make them itchy? Poor girl ... I know that's very painful.
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Her allergies made her eyes extremely sensitive. They were like wet tissue paper. The slightest bump, swipe or scratch would turn into an abrasion. I had no idea allergies could do such a thing, but her vet assured me it could and put her on the antihistamine. That was a month ago and she has not had one abrasion since. Poor little thing feels so much better now.
 
I'm glad the antihistamine helped. She obviously needs it so that's a constant you have to dose around if it has an effect on BG.
 
UPDATE: Today marks week 3 of the higher numbers and she is still having them.

I tried lowering her antihistamine and saw no changes at all. I switched her to Pro Plan true nature chicken and liver with no change. She had a minor infection on her nose from the mask used to administer her inhaler ( I really thought this one was the culprit when I discovered it). I used neosporin to clear it up and still no change.

She ranges anywhere from 80-141. Yesterday morning she was 96 and at night she was 127. There seems to be no rhyme or reason and everything I try doesn't matter.

So, since this has been going on for 3 weeks with no changes, I was wondering if it would be alright to go back to just checking once a week. She seems perfectly normal and happy. She eats great, drinks normal amounts, uses her litter box, urinates normal amounts, has normal bowel movements and acts perfectly fine.

I suspect her allergies are causing the issues as I see nothing else to do it. I know many diabetics claim their allergies raise their numbers and antihistamines don't seem to have an impact on that either way. Her BG did not react this way last year, but I know the body can react one way a certain time and than completely differently another. If it is allergies, nothing can be done and this will go on until Spring when the furnace is turned off.

If it was an infection of some kind I'm sure 3 weeks in we would be seeing her health decline and her numbers would be without a doubt in the require insulin range. I would assume it is not a disease or illness of the organs since she is not losing weight, eats very well and over all acts completely normal.

If she was going to relapse wouldn't she have most likely done it by now? Is it a very slow process? I thought it was something that came on suddenly.

Anyway I am finding the constant limbo very distressing and would like to get back to a normal routine again. I am the type of person that hates not knowing, but this is driving me nuts and I need to relax a little and enjoy what is left of the holidays.
 
Well, as long as she is in normal ranges (even if occasionally a little higher than desirable) and too low for insulin, I think testing once or twice a week would be fine. With her other issues and meds, any of those could inflate the numbers. And it's important that her conditions are stabilized.

It is important to catch evaluated levels early (if she has any). I'd suggest checking her numbers if things seem off - more drinking, more peeing, sleeping more than usual, looking more scruffy - -anything out of the usual. And then the weekly regular checks. If she is acting happy and healthy and eating/peeing/pooping, maybe the meds are just going to keep her running a little higher than average.
 
Thanks Sue! That's what I figured. The only thing all this testing has accomplished is given Pudden sore ears, lol. I figure since nothing is changing and she is not needing insulin, it is really a waste of strips. So I will follow your advice and be sure to check if she seems off, but go back to the weekly schedule. :)
 
Puddensmom said:
Thanks Sue! That's what I figured. The only thing all this testing has accomplished is given Pudden sore ears, lol. I figure since nothing is changing and she is not needing insulin, it is really a waste of strips. So I will follow your advice and be sure to check if she seems off, but go back to the weekly schedule. :)
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Sometimes less really is more ...:)
 
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