Cats preshot number is 9.1

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kittycat88

Member Since 2013
My cats preshot number is 9.1. I have just recently switched him from dry food to canned food the last few days because his numbers were all over the place and very high with dry food. I lowered his insulin from 6 units caninsulin to 2 units when I switched him. Do I still give him insulin when he is at 9.1? Should I decrease to 1 unit? How low is too low of a blood sugar for a cat? Thank you!!
 
A glucose of 9.1 is roughly 164 in the US

Until you have collected test data showing it is safe to do, we suggest you not give insulin below 11 (about 200 for US).

As you get test data showing that is safe, you may gradually decrease that.

If you are still using Caninsulin, dropping back to 1 unit might let you shoot safely if you have some tests showing how low he goes with the 2 units on wet food.
 
By the way - you've managed to post this topic twice. If you go to the 2nd one and click the [x] button, you may be able to delete it before anyone starts responding to it.
 
Okay thank you I deleted the second one. I did not notice I posted twice. My cats sugar preshot this morning was 11.9. I gave him two units and his sugar went down to 6.1 after six hours. (6 hours is usually the lowest point I have seen his sugar before it starts rising) so I wasnt sure if I should still shoot or maybe shoot only one unit. Can anyone tell me what the lowest acceptable number is for a cats BS?
 
My non-diabetic cats are usually in the 3.5 to 4.5 range. The problem with caninsulin is the big drop from preshot to nadir (the lowest point in the cycle). Where are you located? Even though I did use caninsulin for a while, I switched to Levemir (a longer acting with a much more gentle action) and found that my cat felt much better on it. I did not try to push him down into non-diabetic numbers with caninsulin.
 
The lowest you'd want to go is about 2.7 (50 US).

If you'll start recording on our world spreadsheet, posted to Google Docs, it'll help folks give better feedback. Instructions are in the Tech Support Forum here
 
I ended up feeding him and giving only one unit of insulin. I rechecked again after about 6 hours and his sugar was 8.7. This morning preshot (before eating as well) was 20.4. Any ideas why his number was so high again this morning? I was hoping switching him to canned Evo food would stop these high numbers! Do most people get preshot numbers before or after feeding?
 
Hi, and welcome :-D I'm not much help on the technical questions, but I can tell you I was using Caninsulin for the first month after diagnosis for my cat. It had a fast drop at the beginning of the cycle and then the glucose climbed back up to high numbers by the next shot as it wasn't a long enough lasting insulin for her. We ended up switching to Lantus which was a much gentler curve and longer lasting.

Preshot numbers are done before feeding:) It's recommended to take food away 2-3 hours before testing glucose (if you leave food out) since food will affect your number and make it higher. Good going on the change to wet food, and the home testing:)
 
kittycat88 said:
I ended up feeding him and giving only one unit of insulin. I rechecked again after about 6 hours and his sugar was 8.7. This morning preshot (before eating as well) was 20.4. Any ideas why his number was so high again this morning? I was hoping switching him to canned Evo food would stop these high numbers! Do most people get preshot numbers before or after feeding?
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Caninsulin was developed for canines, not felines. Felines have a much faster metabolic rate, so it wears off within about 8-10 hours, leaving you with 2-4 hours of no insulin. This'll make the numbers shoot right on up, as you've discovered.

If you can't get switched to a better feline insulin - Lantus, Levemir, Prozinc, or PZI - an option is to pick up all food about 6-8 hours post shot so you don't fuel the skyrocket.
 
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