Consistently in the 60s

[imrug]

Hello, recently my cat Lemon (8yr old male) got diagnosed and we started insulin. He was started off on an incorrect dosage (3u) of Lantus but after a hypoglycemic event switched to 1U. After bouncing for a couple days he has been consistently in the 60s. I've skipped the past 3 shots because its been reading like that.

Just wondering if there's some kind of reason for this. Side note, hes now limping but I think he may have just sprained it.

 

[squeem3]

Normal blood glucose levels are roughly 60 to150 mg/dl. No insulin is needed if a cat tests within this range, although there are some exceptions for experienced members.

How was your cat diagnosed with diabetes? Did you see the common symptoms of excessive peeing (and very sugary smelling pee), weight loss but always hungry? Did your vet do any blood work, particularly a fructosamine test? What were you feeding your cat before and after the diabetes diagnosis?

Limping can be a minor injury that will heal on its own or could indicate arthritis. I would keep an eye on it for now and if it gets worse, take a video and show it to the vet.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Sometimes, a hypoglycemic event can cause a cat to go into more normal numbers. I would keep testing for a couple of weeks to make sure your cat stays in these numbers.

 

[imrug]

Normal blood glucose levels are roughly 60 to150 mg/dl. No insulin is needed if a cat tests within this range, although there are some exceptions for experienced members.

How was your cat diagnosed with diabetes? Did you see the common symptoms of excessive peeing (and very sugary smelling pee), weight loss but always hungry? Did your vet do any blood work, particularly a fructosamine test? What were you feeding your cat before and after the diabetes diagnosis?

Limping can be a minor injury that will heal on its own or could indicate arthritis. I would keep an eye on it for now and if it gets worse, take a video and show it to the vet.

yep all the symptoms you listed. im not sure what blood tests they took exactly, but they did a full panel plus urine and stool tests. I was feeding purina liveclear but now im feeding him high protein tiki cat

 

[squeem3]

Is the Tiki Cat dry or canned? Some of the canned are suitable. Dry food should ideally not be fed.

 

[Mary & Jude]

Here's your previous post: NEW MEMBER!! 66 mg/dL BEFORE feeding and infection. We like for people to include the previous post on a new post for the sake of continuity in looking back at Lemon's progress.

 

[JL and Chip]

What blood glucose meter are you using?

Have the aforementioned symptoms subsided with the recent lower BG numbers or are you still seeing them?

 

[imrug]

Is the Tiki Cat dry or canned? Some of the canned are suitable. Dry food should ideally not be fed.

both, canned foods I'm giving him have a crude protein percentage of 15%-17% and the dry food is the tiki cat high protein.

 

[imrug]

What blood glucose meter are you using?

Have the aforementioned symptoms subsided with the recent lower BG numbers or are you still seeing them?

ReliOn platinum

He stopped having his symptoms from before diagnosis about 2 days after we initially started lantus. Past couple days he's just been a little lethargic, small gastrointestinal issues, and the limping.

 

[JL and Chip]

As Sienne mentioned, sometimes a hypo, especially if significant, can (for lack of a better term) “shock” the system into remission. At least for awhile. That’s why it’s important to continue BG testing — you want to catch it if/when the BG starts to creep up again.

Changing to a low-carb food can also have a dramatic effect on BG, sometimes even eliminating the need for insulin (happened with one of mine). Most cats need at least a brief course of insulin, but not always. Low-carb canned is ideal. There are very few dry foods** that are truly low carb so you might want to check the carb percentages for what you’re feeding. Many canned foods are listed on the food chart linked in this site; dry foods can be calculated using a food calculator or checking a site such as chewy.com. Low-carb is generally considered less than 10% “as fed.”

Stress (such as when visiting the vet) can cause significantly elevated BG levels, which is why you were asked whether a fructosamine test was performed. Fructosamine indicates BG over the past few weeks, so it’s a better diagnostic tool than a single BG reading that could be influenced by stress. Two of my non-diabetics throw pretty high BG values at the clinic but are completely normal once back at home. It’s easy for vets to misdiagnose diabetes if they’re not familiar with the possibility. I doubt that’s what happened with your cat, however, given the classic diabetes symptoms you were observing prior to diagnosis and the cessation of those symptoms now that kitty is back in normal BG numbers.

You might want to ask the vet clinic to send you a copy of the bloodwork to have for your file. Most will either mail/email you the results. It’s good to have on hand to reference and compare to future tests.

**Low-carb dry foods: Dr. Elseys, Young Again Zero

 

[squeem3]

Some cats are carb sensitive. If you can get rid of the Tiki Cat dry, you may see even better blood glucose levels. For crunchies, you can offer air dried raw or freeze dried raw..