Diabetic cat got into other cat's dry food - BG was over 600

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suwannee79

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My husband and I returned home from a night out to discover our non-diabetic cat's food bowl smashed on the ground and all of the dry food gone - we had left the bowl on top of the fridge so our diabetic cat couldn't eat the dry food but one of the cats must have jumped up and knocked it off. I knew my diabetic cat's BG would be higher tonight regardless because he was 111 this morning so I didn't give him any insulin, but when we checked tonight the reading just said 'HI' which I discovered means over 600. I've never seen that reading before and I'm assuming it's because he ate a decent amount of dry food in addition to his food in addition to not receiving an AM insulin shot; I didn't want to overdose him out of fear but wanted to give extra insulin so I went up a full unit of insulin to try and counteract the high reading, I gave 3.5 units instead of 2.5 units and am checking him every two hours. At the first post shot test he was down to 555 but as I don't know an exact number of what he was before I have no idea how much of a drop this is. He's gotten into the dry food a few times in the last few weeks and had pretty high readings afterwards but nothing like this. We're having a hard time getting the non-diabetic cat off dry food so I guess I just need to be more vigilant about not leaving the cats at all while they eat.

In addition to this I've noticed over the last day and a half that my cat's blood doesn't bubble up anymore when I prick his ear, now it just kind of spreads out - has anyone else seen a change like that and does it mean anything? My cat has a UTI right now and started on Clavamox 2 days ago so I don't know how that impacts numbers or blood either.

Any thoughts or opinions would be much appreciated!!
 
Re: Diabetic cat got into other cat's dry food - BG was over

4 hours in and his BG is at 338 so he's coming down nicely, phew!
 
Re: Diabetic cat got into other cat's dry food - BG was over

glad he is coming down. that is one reason we try to feed all cats the same food. that dry food wrecks havoc on the cats but especially on the peeps nervous system
 
Re: Diabetic cat got into other cat's dry food - BG was over

A short exposure to an extrememly high glucose level may be nerve wracking the first time you see it, but it is unlikely to do anything immediately. Over time, of course, the risk is ketones due to inadequate insulin to allow use of the glucose.
 
Re: Diabetic cat got into other cat's dry food - BG was over

Morning pre-shot number is 54! I did a second check to make sure and got 59 - how does a cat go from over 600 to 54 in 12 hours?? I obviously didn't give him any insulin but that seems nuts to be so low now. His morning numbers the last few days have been low enough to not need insulin but then he's really high at night because of that....this cat has been so hard to regulate and his numbers just continue to mystify me!

As for getting our non-diabetic cat off of dry food, we're trying out various wet foods but she doesn't seem interested. We've tried sprinkling FortiFlora over the food but that doesn't seem to do anything. In the meantime she's on grain free dry food so we're hoping the grain-free aspect as well as feeding the actual recommended amounts and not just filling the bowl up helps a little.

BJM said:
A short exposure to an extrememly high glucose level may be nerve wracking the first time you see it, but it is unlikely to do anything immediately. Over time, of course, the risk is ketones due to inadequate insulin to allow use of the glucose.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately this isn't the first time he's had really high numbers, this is just the first time they've been so high they're off the scale on the meter :sad: I did do a ketone check a few minutes ago and it came back negative so that's good.
 
Re: Diabetic cat got into other cat's dry food - BG was over

Infection can produce some pretty whacky glucose levels. When was the last time she had a dental? A cystocenteseis with culture and sensitivity?

Also, check around the house for signs of vomiting and diarrhea as pancreatitis and inflammatory bowel disease can provoke unexpected glucose drops too.

If you haven't already seen them, Cat Info has a bunch of tips for transitioning dry food addicts
 
Re: Diabetic cat got into other cat's dry food - BG was over

also, if you are having to skip doses, then your dose may be too high. dose needs adjusted so you are able to shoot every 12 hours. some spot checks at +6 will help you to know how the insulin is working
 
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