Cat's Blood Glucose lower after eating?

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Ally and Luno Bear!!

Member Since 2023
Hey guys,

Super new to the forum here. Luno Bear was diagnosed a few weeks ago.

This morning I tested my little guy at 6, BG was 178 on one monitor (Accuchek Guide) and 166 on the other (CVS brand). I tested again an hour after he finished eating (docs orders) and he was 158 and 131. I tested again on the CVS one and it was 132, 1 point above. Has anyone seen this before? I won't give him insulin, but I'm super nervous as I have work in about an hour.
 
Welcome to FDMB!!

First, your kitty's blood glucose (BG) numbers are not that high, comparatively speaking. For a non-diabetic, it's not unusual to see BG numbers drop a bit shortly after eating. The normal process is that food stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin. Insulin then helps to transport glucose into the cells so the body has the fuel necessary to support bodily functions. A diabetic's pancreas isn't working normally so it isn't producing the normal amount of endogenous insulin. As a result, we supply exogenous insulin to get the glucose out of the blood stream and into the cells. It's entirely possible that when Luno Bear is eating, the food is stimulating his pancreas to produce insulin, the insulin moves the glucose out of his blood, and you see lower numbers.

If your vet neglected to mention this or if you've not yet come across this information in your reading, cats can go into remission. If your cat's pancreas is still working, it is very likely that BG numbers will drop when you feed your cat. The other factor to consider is that there is a 20% measurement error with any test. Your numbers on the same meter, even with the same drop of blood, may show a + 20% difference in tests even if you re-tested within a very short period of time.

It would be helpful to know what insulin you're using since when insulin starts working varies depending on the insulin. It would also help to know what you're feeding your cat.

You may want to look over this information in our helping us to help you post. It contains useful information if you are wanting to set up a spreadsheet, signature, etc.
 
Hey Guys,

Apologies for not replying sooner--

I'll update my profile today; Luno's insulin is ProZinc and his diet changed from Purina Naturals OG dry food to Tikicat wet food a few weeks ago.

Thank you for the warm welcome, Sienne and Gabby! I've been googling cat diabetes all week, and I've been directed to this website almost every time. Everyone's posts have been so helpful.

My vet is amazing; she's been so supportive and kind through my stress. She did mention that he may go into remission, I just didn't think it could be so early (we started insulin last Monday).

Initially directions were to give 2 units of insulin if his BG was 250 1 hour after eating, but then we dropped it down to 1 unit to be safer.
Through my research I also learned human glucometers tend to read lower than cat (waiting for paycheck to order Alphatrak 3, *recommendations welcome*), so I've been trying to account for that as well.

I'm about to test him post-food, I'll start my spread sheet after.

Thank you!
 
You don’t need an expensive pet meter. Most of us use Walmart’s ReliOn which works great and you can buy 100 test strips for $17.99. Most of us will give advice based on human meter numbers including myself. I’ll look at the spreadsheet’s conversion tab for members that do use pet meters.

the change in diet from high carb to low carb can make a huge difference in the numbers. It sounds like your vet doses by the preshot tests, as most vets, but we don’t do that. We dose by the lowest the dose takes your cat in a 12-hour cycle. We also do dose adjustments in 1/4 unit increments. Going from 2 to 1 unit is a big jump. If you can get your signature and spreadsheet set up, we can help you with dosing adjustments.

prozinc is a great insulin and I suggest you read all the yellow sticky notes in the prozinc forum, especially the one about our dosing methods.
 
What Ale failed to note is the difference in the price for strips. The AlphaTrack strips cost $1.00 each. (I'm not sure if the AT3 strips are more.) Even if you get a minimum number of tests (4) each day, that's a difference of $4 per day vs $0.72 or $120 vs $21.60 per month. All of our dosing guidelines were developed using a human meter given that it's only been in recent years that pet meters were more widely available. Personally, I think the cost for the pet meter strips is prohibitive.

Also, you don't need to wait an hour after you feed your cat to give a dose of Prozinc. Those directions are more for faster acting insulin. You are able to test, feed, and shoot all within a few minutes with Prozinc. Also, getting a test an hour after your cat has eaten is potentially giving you a false sense of confidence. The food may be bumping up your cat's numbers and as soon as the effect of the food wears off, numbers may drop. We recommend that you don't feed your cat in the 2 hours prior to giving a shot (unless your cat's numbers happen to drop into a lower than desirable range). That way, you are basing your pre-shot test on what the numbers are vs what the numbers are when influenced by food.

This is the link to the Prozinc forum.
 
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