Dexter's glucose has dropped to 33 6 hours after his insulin shot

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Tinytowncatlady

Tinytowncatlady

Member Since 2021
I have given him 4th of the can of friskies extra gravy chunks turkey. More gravy than chunks. I got a really large drop of blood could it have been wrong?
I don't want to stress him further by testing him again right away. How long should I wait after he eats this food to test again?

The last insulin was around 7:30 p.m. - I gave him 1/4 of a can of fancy feast turkey about 30 minutes ago for bedtime snack before I tested him.
 
It's been 20 minutes since I tested him. I just gave him a little bit more of the friskies extra gravy chunks and added a little bit of Karo syrup into the gravy just in case I didn't give him enough food to help. I will test them again in just a few minutes.
 
At 7:00 p.m. his booklet coach was 411.
He had his meal and had his insulin at 7:30 p.m.
I gave everybody some food since it's a long time until 7:00 a.m. and decided to test him. He dropped from 411 to +6 33. Right before I tested him he ate fancy feast with a small scoop of weruva lamb which has a slightly higher carb content but is still under 10. I don't think it tastes been really would help that much.
When I saw he tested low I immediately gave him about a fourth of a can mostly gravy of the extra gravy friskies. He ate that and then I added a little bit more with some of the Karo syrup in it.
I just tested him at +6.5 hours now post shot. He went from 33 up to 234.
Are we good to be able to go to bed now?
I'm not sure how long I need to watch him. He doesn't seem to be in any distress.
 
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Tinytowncatlady said:
I just tested him at 6.5 hours now post shot. He went from 33 up to 234
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It was either a bad test strip or Dexter is bouncing from the low number, which is very possible.
He has earned a reduction in dose from the 33 with the dose moving forward of 1.75.

Just a few comments....
Are you able to get more tests in during the cycles? At the moment we have no idea really how low Dexter is dropping most of the time. He could be dropping low and then bouncing up high at the next preshot. If you could get some tests in that would give us more of an idea what is happening.
A before bed test in every night would be helpful and go towards keeping Dexter safe. If that test is lower than the preshot I would set the alarm and get up and test again to see if the BG drops further.

Also have you thought about another insulin such as Lantus which is much more suitable for cats and is more gentle and longer lasting ?
 
Yes I would definitely like to get him on another insulin. The problem is the vet that diagnosed him only lists prozinc and Vetsulin in their pharmacy. I don't think I could get him to write me a prescription for that. I was hoping to maybe order something from Canada but I am guessing you still have to have a prescription to send to them. My mobile vet mentioned that I could get novulin n from Walmart without a prescription. That is how he treats his own animals at home.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Are you able to get more tests in during the cycles? At the moment we have no idea really how low Dexter is dropping most of the time. He could be dropping low and then bouncing up high at the next preshot. If you could get some tests in that would give us more of an idea what is happening.
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I have planned to get in a lot more test today but it took eight pokes to get his test at 7:00 p.m. tonight. It took a while to finally catch him and I didn't have any way to heat his ear. I know that since he's been on insulin he has not been himself. Before he was diagnosed he still got up and ran around and played a little bit. Now all he does is just sleep. He just came into the room just now and came up to me for scratches. He must be feeling a little bit better.
I had to see if I can pick up the wipes warmer or something to keep his rice bag in at all times.
 
I do need to mention one other thing that could be playing a part in his insulin dropping. It has been at least a month to six weeks since he has had a steroid shot. With that finally leaving his system it could be causing his numbers to start dropping especially if his diabetes was brought on from steroid use.

That is something that my mobile vet talked to me about when I took him to visit with him the other day.
 
Tinytowncatlady said:
Yes I would definitely like to get him on another insulin. The problem is the vet that diagnosed him only lists prozinc and Vetsulin in their pharmacy. I don't think I could get him to write me a prescription for that. I was hoping to maybe order something from Canada but I am guessing you still have to have a prescription to send to them. My mobile vet mentioned that I could get novulin n from Walmart without a prescription. That is how he treats his own animals at home.
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Don’t get the Novolin insulin.....that is no better than the vetsulin and acts in the same harsh way and is not as long acting as Lantus.
Prozinc is an Ok insulin and a lot of people use it. I used Lantus so I am biased. There are a lot more people who use Lantus and Levemir here so it is easier to get help and advice.
I’m sure Dexter would feel a lot better if he was on a more suitable insulin that did not have his BG levels going up and down so much.
Do you think the mobile vet would write you a script for Lantus and you could get it from Canada? You only need the first script and you can keep getting it when needed.

Tinytowncatlady said:
I do need to mention one other thing that could be playing a part in his insulin dropping. It has been at least a month to six weeks since he has had a steroid shot. With that finally leaving his system it could be causing his numbers to start dropping especially if his diabetes was brought on from steroid use.

That is something that my mobile vet talked to me about when I took him to visit with him the other day.
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It is possible the steroid could be influencing things. All the more reason you need to be testing more often.
 
He seems to be feeling better right now. I think the food helped but I am seriously considering dropping his dose to one unit going forward until I know all of the steroids are out of his system and we start getting consistent numbers. Also until I can actually get a better insulin..

Before he was diagnosed with diabetes he only had really rough days when he needed a steroid injection and that's what parked him back up. He will no longer be getting those so we just have to see how things go trying to see what his quality of life is going to be using insulin. So far he seems to be feeling worse when he's taking the insulin than he does when he's not taking insulin.
It will be one month since diagnosis in just a few days
 
Tinytowncatlady said:
He seems to be feeling better right now. I think the food helped but I am seriously considering dropping his dose to one unit going forward until I know all of the steroids are out of his system and we start getting consistent numbers. Also until I can actually get a better insulin..

Before he was diagnosed with diabetes he only had really rough days when he needed a steroid injection and that's what parked him back up. He will no longer be getting those so we just have to see how things go trying to see what his quality of life is going to be using insulin. So far he seems to be feeling worse when he's taking the insulin than he does when he's not taking insulin.
It will be one month since diagnosis in just a few days
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My goal will be to try to get more testing in starting in the morning. I am so exhausted right now and not feeling well. I'm just thankful that I tested him when I did tonight. He thoroughly enjoyed having the gravy food.
 
Thank you for your help I'm going to try to get a little bit of sleep because 5:00 in the morning comes and just two and a half hours when I have to get up again. I'll probably try to test Dexter then also.
 
Ok if you think the 1 unit would be safer, do that, but make sure you are testing to see it is enough insulin.
Are you giving snacks during the day and evening as well as the preshot meals?

I’m sure he would feel much better on a more suitable insulin..diabetic cats can lead normal lives.
Please keep in touch and if we can help in any way let us know.
And please let us know how you get on with getting the Lantus insulin.

Hope you can get some sleep. I’d leave another snack out him just in case the BG drops again after the high carb food and Karo wears off.
 
I removed the 911. Thanks for reminding me.
I tested Dexter as soon as I got up this morning at 6:45. His bg was 343. It's still another hour and a half before breakfast but he went straight to his feeding cage so I went ahead and gave him his breakfast this morning. I'll feed him a second breakfast when everybody else eats. I have five cats that live in his area of the house. I will test again hopefully in an hour. Bless his heart I had to poke him five times to get blood this morning for this test. Will definitely use the other ear that worked well last night.
Thank you for all the help.
 
Wow, what a night you guys had! Hope you were able to get a little sleep, and/or have a chance to grab a nap today.

Definitely worth asking about switching to Prozinc or Lantus. While some cats do well on the fast-acting insulins like Vetsulin or Novolin, the steep drops on those insulins can be harder to manage, and leave the cat feeling yucky (might be one reason he's been feeling a bit "off" since starting insulin).
 
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