Confused by low (in-range) readings

Status
Not open for further replies.
seagullcanfly

seagullcanfly

Member Since 2013
I haven't been at this long as you can tell from my spreadsheet, but I haven't given an insulin shot in three days and my cat's measurements have been consistently low.

I'm planning on doing a curve this Sunday, which I've been assuming means I'll be measuring her glucose levels every two hours for a 12 hour period. I recently posted about getting syringes that could do smaller doses of insulin, but I set my no dose at below 200 and I haven't seen that since Tuesday night.

I have no problem continuing to test her as she's very easy to take blood from, but am I just seeing something that's easily explainable for a diabetic cat?
 
With those numbers, you don't need insulin.
How many days has it been ... 14 days and it is officially off the juice.
Feed small meals often to space out the pancreas workload.
 
It's only been three days and yesterday there was a 152 . You need 14 days of 50-130 to be officially off the juice. But it's good news that she is this low.. Let's see how it goes!!

Help her pancreas a little by feeding more mini meals instead of 2-3 larger ones (if you aren't already). Give No dry at all. What food are you feeding ?

Wendy
 
Okay I wasn't sure what the range I should be looking for was.

Wendy are you saying that if you saw a 152 that you'd give some dose of insulin? I was reading here that a conservative no dose number for newbies is 200, but as the lowest accurate dose I can give with my current syringes is 1 unit on ProZinc, I'd worry about getting dangerously low giving a dose at lower numbers.

Thank you for the advice about giving smaller meals. She's routinely eating Halo Spot's Pate for Cats Grain-Free Ground Chicken only, no dry food normally, and her measure treats are just some shredded chicken breast. The only time I've given her a little bit of dry food was when I got worried at the readings which were around 30.
 
For now I am saying we just wait and watch and see. If she creeps up over 200 consistently then we might restart her on a smaller dose.

152 is a little higher than ideal but as a newbie you' wouldn't be shooting that low..

Let's see how things go.. Keep us updated!

Wendy
 
Wendy are you saying that if you saw a 152 that you'd give some dose of insulin? I was reading here that a conservative no dose number for newbies is 200, but as the lowest accurate dose I can give with my current syringes is 1 unit on ProZinc, I'd worry about getting dangerously low giving a dose at lower numbers.
Click to expand...

With Prozinc, and especially since you've just started gathering data, you don't want to be trying to shoot on a 152. And especially with the notes you have in your SS from a few days ago:
Showed signs of hypoglycemia today. Fed her honey and some dry food. She seemed disoriented, weak, lethargic, evidence of drooling, staggering while walking, and tried to hide in the closet. 81 was an hour and a half after honey and eating.
Click to expand...
If the 81 came an hour and a half after giving honey and dry food, then her number was lower, probably way too low when she was staggering around.
Same thing when you gave 1u on Monday, and got a 32 two hours later. Yikes!

Here's what looks good on your numbers - she started the day today at 127, got no shot. Six hours later, her BG was lower (92). She hasn't had insulin for 3 days, and her numbers are in the "normal range" all day today.

What is she eating, and when does she eat. I'm assuming you are feeding at the "AMPS" and "PMPS" times? But does she eat other meals or snacks during the day?

Right now, your baby doesn't need insulin, which is fantastic! If she ends up needing some, you will need to practice drawing up doses under 1 unit with the syringes you have, unless you want to use "U100" syringes and a "conversion chart" that might help you to give smaller doses more accurately. If it gets to that point, we can help out with that with a detailed explanation. But hopefully, that won't be necessary. :smile:
 
Carl & Bob said:
Wendy are you saying that if you saw a 152 that you'd give some dose of insulin? I was reading here that a conservative no dose number for newbies is 200, but as the lowest accurate dose I can give with my current syringes is 1 unit on ProZinc, I'd worry about getting dangerously low giving a dose at lower numbers.
Click to expand...

With Prozinc, and especially since you've just started gathering data, you don't want to be trying to shoot on a 152. And especially with the notes you have in your SS from a few days ago:
Showed signs of hypoglycemia today. Fed her honey and some dry food. She seemed disoriented, weak, lethargic, evidence of drooling, staggering while walking, and tried to hide in the closet. 81 was an hour and a half after honey and eating.
Click to expand...
If the 81 came an hour and a half after giving honey and dry food, then her number was lower, probably way too low when she was staggering around.
Same thing when you gave 1u on Monday, and got a 32 two hours later. Yikes!

Here's what looks good on your numbers - she started the day today at 127, got no shot. Six hours later, her BG was lower (92). She hasn't had insulin for 3 days, and her numbers are in the "normal range" all day today.

What is she eating, and when does she eat. I'm assuming you are feeding at the "AMPS" and "PMPS" times? But does she eat other meals or snacks during the day?

Right now, your baby doesn't need insulin, which is fantastic! If she ends up needing some, you will need to practice drawing up doses under 1 unit with the syringes you have, unless you want to use "U100" syringes and a "conversion chart" that might help you to give smaller doses more accurately. If it gets to that point, we can help out with that with a detailed explanation. But hopefully, that won't be necessary. :smile:
Click to expand...

Thanks, yes, I gave some insulin shots I shouldn't have earlier. Initially, I continued with the vet's advice to give 2 units twice a day before the glucometer I ordered arrived. She measured 222 at the vet's in the morning, and by the next afternoon she was showing those hypo symptoms. Then the other time I gave that 1 unit and her numbers went really low, so I gave her some dry food and honey, and measured her again later that night at 1:30am since I was nervous.

Right now she's just eating Halo Spot's Pate for Cats Grain-Free Ground Chicken at 7:30am and 7:30pm. The snacks she gets are just a few pieces of shredded chicken breast, less than an ounce. I'm now going to try and feed her the same amount but spread out a bit more as others suggested here.

And by writing all of this I'm sure I've jinxed myself and she'll be in insulin territory by tomorrow morning. :)
 
Day 10 now!! 4 days to go

Tips for staying OTJ if/when we get there:

1. Never feed dry - not even treats. If you change wet food types, be 100% sure the new food is also low carb and same low carb % as your current food. Some cats are very carb sensitive and an increase from 3-6% to 8-10% can spike the BG’s. Don’t feed if you aren’t sure!
2. Weigh every 2 weeks to 1 month to watch for weight changes. Too much of a weight gain can cause loss of remission.
3. Measure blood once a week, indefinitely. You want to catch a relapse quickly. Some people only do checks every 2 weeks to a month.
4. No steroids or oral meds with sugar - remind your vet whenever giving you any medication. Always double check.
5. Monitor food intake, peeing and drinking. If increasing, a sign of losing remission.
6. Regular vet checks for infection such as dental , ear or UTI. And get them treated quick!

If he does fall out of remission you need to be more aggressive and resolve issues/ back on insulin as soon as possible as the window for a second remission is tight if any.
 
Fluffy is on day 10,
of a trial and then,
off the juice,
running loose,
an easy life at the falls,
where the tales told are talls!
 

Attachments

  • OTJ day 10 downing st.jpg
    OTJ day 10 downing st.jpg
    4.8 KB · Views: 962
Thank you so much everyone for continuing to notice Fluffy's progress. I almost feel like I could have OTJ guilt since her numbers have responded so well to diet change. Here's to hoping the rest of the week goes as well. She's currently preventing me from typing too much by butting her head into my hands repeatedly.
 
This makes day 13 for Fluffy. Ahem, here is today's OTJ trial poem from Deb & Wink.

A life at the falls,
is the best place for alls,
tomorrow is the day,
when Fluffy goes away,
to the falls to enjoy,
a life of leisure and she'll jump for joy,
headbutting mom's hands,
and making demands,
for yummy low carb foods,
and cheerful moods.
 

Attachments

  • OTJ day 13 lucky.jpg
    OTJ day 13 lucky.jpg
    4.8 KB · Views: 930
OTJ!!! You made it!! Great job to both of you!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Tips to stay OTJ

1. Never feed dry - not even treats. If you change wet food types, be 100% sure the new food is also low carb and same low carb % as your current food. Some cats are very carb sensitive and an increase from 3-6% to 8-10% can spike the BG’s. Don’t feed if you aren’t sure!
2. Weigh every 2 weeks to 1 month to watch for weight changes. Too much of a weight gain can cause loss of remission.
3. Measure blood once a week, indefinitely. You want to catch a relapse quickly. Some people only do checks every 2 weeks to a month.
4. No steroids or oral meds with sugar - remind your vet whenever giving you any medication. Always double check.
5. Monitor food intake, peeing and drinking. If increasing, a sign of losing remission.
6. Regular vet checks for infection such as dental , ear or UTI. And get them treated quick!

If he does fall out of remission you need to be more aggressive and resolve issues/ back on insulin as soon as possible as the window for a second remission is tight if any.
 
:RAHCAT dancing_cat Fluffy is otj_icon flip_cat party_cat​

Great job getting her there!
 
Thank you again so much :)

I uploaded this short video to youtube just so everyone could see the little kitty you guys helped bring back to health.

[youtube]e2nynNjdndQ[/youtube]


1. I'm lucky in that my cat loves wet food, so this shouldn't be an issue. We didn't give her treats, so she's been very happy switching over to the canned.
2. Ok great, I'll keep an eye on her weight.
3. No problem with measuring her blood. Is that just one time once a week, or do people normally measure two times that day to see how she responds to a meal?
4. Thank you so much. She's not on medication, but that's good to know.
5. Wish I had seen this as a symptom before, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it.
6. I should have found a much better vet so this will be no problem.

I'll be making a donation to the site right away, just noticed that they take them.
 
She is a pretty girl.. Even if she wouldn't play for the camera.. A little camera shy methinks!

If you want to pay it forward its always nice to pop in and offer moral support to other newbies if you have the time. With over 125 newbies on here right now just in the last month sometimes we can miss them and it would help draw our attention to them.

When my Tiggy was OTJ I only measured randomly once a week but its up to you if you want to do it twice.

FYI Tiggy was OTJ and i messed up and gave him high carb (by vets recommendation for an allergy ... "yes it's low carb"... It was 14%... ) for a few months a year ago and he fell out of remission and hasn't gone back in.

Wendy
 
105 today, higher than the older numbers, but it was a half hour after she ate, so seemed good? I'll be weighing her on Saturday.
 
Didn't see this message about testing daily, but went a week and now we're back at 64. Looks like we're still in the clear.
 
Looking good! :thumbup If the next time you test her a half hour after she's eaten and she seems a bit higher, wait a couple of hours and test again and she should be back down to normal range.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top