Changing to wet food - LOW numbers

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atajev

atajev

Member Since 2014
Hello, everyone! My cat, Mona, was diagnosed with diabetes about 2 months ago and her BG has been all over the place on W/D. I home-monitor every weekend when I'm home all day. After doing research, it seemed like a good idea to change to wet food. I asked my vet about changing to wet food about 3 weeks ago now, and still haven't gotten a return call, despite calling them to leave BG numbers regularly. So, my vet is essentially non-responsive (we need to switch) and I decided to do this on my own since I think I have a better handle on current research in this area than she does anyway at this point.

She's getting 2u of Lantus twice a day. She's about 12lbs. We're using an Alphatrak BG monitor.

I just started changing her to low carb wet food (TJ's Turkey and Giblets), from W/D dry food (mixing it half and half right now). Yesterday her curve had an oddly high nadir (it's usually around 80 and yesterday the lowest I got was 242).

This morning it was quite low (128), and I stupidly gave her the shot anyway since I was feeding her right after and with the W/D she would bounce back up again pretty high and dosing that low wasn't generally an issue. She's had very low numbers since them, but completely hypo-symptom-free all day. So far I've been feeding her every hour with the W/D, but she's stopped taking food (I think she's full since she's not used to eating now) and my attempts to give her honey have resulted in me covered with scratches. She's certainly not acting weak or lethargic.

Suggestions at this point? My guts tells me that we're really not at a critical juncture, but the numbers are quite low and just started ticking up...

Yesterday

pre-shot 336 + food
+2 242
+4 314
+6 264 + food
+8 298
+10 267
pre-shot 313 +food

Today

preshot 128 + food
+2 77 + food
+3 + food
+4 45 + food and honey (tiny bit)
+5 51 + food
+6 58 tried food and she disdainfully rejected even treats
+7 97
 
The Good News is that she earned herself a dose decrease. :thumbup

The Great News is that you caught her early drop and propped her up with food to keep her from going too low. With Lantus, the nadir is usually around +6, so she'll probably start rising on her own in the next hour or so, without needing food. I would suggest grabbing another test at +7 to make sure her levels haven't dropped again and is either the same or is going up. If they've dropped again, she might be willing to eat a little bit more then, if necessary (if it's not too big a drop and she's still hanging out in the 50s, I'd say just test again at +8 and not worry to much if she doesn't eat).

And the Really Great News is that there is no bad news. ;-) :lol: You did a fantastic job!
 
Thank you! I just tested at +7 and she was up quite a bit (from 58 to 97), so it looks like we're out of the woods.

I'm feeling better all around, especially after your supportive words.

I'll definitely be doing 1.5u tonight and tomorrow, that's for sure!
 
Be prepared for a possible bounce! If she does bounce, they can last up to 72 hours, so ignore those highs for the next couple of days and stick with the 1.5u for now (unless she drops below 50 again, which means another decrease).
 
Ack! Just realized you are using an AlphaTrak! :oops: You want to make sure she doesn't drop below 70-80. You still did good, although those numbers now seem much lower in context. You might even consider dropping her to 1 or 1.25u for the next couple of days as you continue the transition to low carb. Has she ever had any ketones or DKA?

I'd also suggest for now not to give shots if she's under 200, but post here for advice first and/or stall without feeding and test again in a half hour to see if the number is "rising."
 
Yeah, they were very low numbers, but she's fortunately looking good at this point. Thanks for clarifying the cut off for the Alphatrak though. I just ordered an Arkray/Relion, so I'll be using the same "scale" as most on here soon. That'll be a relief to the wallet, too!

I'll keep you guys posted on how things go over the next few days.
 
All meters sold in the US must read within + or - 20% of what a lab would get.

We do not adjust the readings from human meters; we ask you to note in you signature what meter you are using.

We have reference values for human meters, so that is not an issue in most cases. Many of us in the US like the WalMart ReliOn Confirm, Confirm Micro, or Prime meters. If you're not a fan of WalMart, you can to our shopping partner Americal Diabetes Wholesale and purchase the Arkray Glucocard 01 or 01 Mini which are the unbranded version of the Confirm models made by Arkray USA.

Comparing a human glucometer to a pet-specific glucometer is like reading temperature in Celsius vs Fahrenheit. Both are correct. You just need to know the reference ranges to interpret what the numbers mean.

[Glucose reference ranges are unsubstantiated and have been removed by Moderator]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *​
Examples of using the chart:

Ex. You are a new insulin user and you test your cat before giving insulin. The test is 300. It probably is safe to give insulin.

Ex. You are an established user of Lantus, following the Tight Regulation protocol. You've tested around +5 to +7 to spot the nadir. It is 200 mg/dL. You probably need to increase the dose, following the instructions for the protocol.

Ex. Your cat is acting funny. The eyes are a bit dilated. You are concerned and test the glucose. The number is 35 mg/dL. ACK! The cat may be in a hypoglycemic state. You quickly follow the HYPO protocol linked in the glucose reference values chart. (which we really, really, suggest you print out and post on your refrigerator.)
 
Thanks, I'll keep this chart handy, particularly over the next few weeks while we're transitioning the food.
 
Just posting to update - things have been going well the last few days!

Mona is switched over to wet food entirely now (no more W/D), and I cut her down to 1 unit to make sure we were far away from those low, low numbers, especially since I work full-time and can't test her midday on weekdays. Her curves so far have been better than I ever saw on the dry food (between the high 200s pre-shot and down to the mid 100s at the nadir, vs. roughly 400 and 80 on W/D).

I'm planning to hold her at this dose and food routine all week without making any changes, and hopefully the curves this weekend will look just as good if not better!

I can't believe my vet didn't suggest at all that I switch to wet food rather than giving me the dry W/D.
 
I started the spreadsheet. Thanks for the link to the template page!

She was on 3 units of insulin just a week and a half ago and is now down to only 1 unit with much lower and steadier numbers. I'm really feeling hopeful at this point. Thank you, everyone! This site is fabulous.
 
Spreadsheet (aka SS) setup was done perfectly!

Yes, isn't it amazing how a change in food from a high carb one like the Hill's W/d to a low carb one like Fancy Feast pates or Friskies pates can do for our extra sweet kitties BG levels? Wink was on the Hill's W/d at the shelter, but once I switched him to low carb canned, he got so much better and bonus, surprise, went OTJ (off-the-juice, insulin being the juice) under my care.
 
Heh, I work in IT, so spreadsheets aren't daunting to me in any way. Perk of the trade. ;)

I'm really hoping that we'll be able to get her OTJ after such an immediate and drastic change in numbers. Even if we can't, this still much better right now, though I'm not sure what to do with consistent numbers right around 200 at her shot times.
 
Were you thinking of following the Tight Regulation protocol? Or does the more Relaxed style protocol suit you better?

Just thinking you might want to switch over to one of the insulin specific forums, for guidance on the dosing and numbers with your kitty.
 
In a perfect world, I'd definitely want to do the Tight Protocol, but the rest of my life and responsibilities won't allow for consistent testing, so I'll be joining the Relaxed group.
 
I had the same experience you're having when Tink was diagnosed. Luckily, thanks to these guys, I never even opened the w/d and was able to return it. I also switched vets and now have one that fully supports both my home testing and my feeding preferences. Tink had been a dry food junkie and it was HARD to switch him to low carb canned, especially since he had no appetite anyway. So congrats on getting past "the hard part". :) Once we got on low carb canned, we also needed almost instant reduction of insulin - and VERY shortly thereafter, he went OTJ. That lasted for 6mo, and for some reason we're recently back on insulin... but yes, it's amazing what the low carb food will do!
 
That's so great to hear! Seeing how many people on here have had such great success managing this is really encouraging. It makes the effort worth it!
 
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