elevated numbers due to teeth?

[Rachel & Bear]

Just had an appt today and Bear tested around 300 in vet's office. It's been really hot here and just got an A/C today and was away on vacation until yesterday. Vet noticed a couple of teeth had inflammed gums and he wasn't eating normally the last two days (skipping meals etc). Has anyone else had an experience where teeth problems were elevating BG?

 

[max&emmasmommie]

Yes, this happened to my cat, I believe. His BG became regulated after he had a dental and finished a course of antibiotics. About 10 days after the antibiotics were finished he was having near hypo incidents because the amount of insulin was too much. Months before, I had tried just giving him antibiotics without having a dental, and I got no results. However, just the dental with no extractions resulted in a regulated cat! I used a different antibiotic after the dental -- Clavamox -- supposedly a broader spectrum AB. Earlier I had tried Clindamycin.

You could try just the antibiotics to see what happens, and it might work for your cat. It may be that my cat had other issues or the way I was using the insulin was not right. My cat also had pancreatitis. Of course, if you cat needs extractions, the antibiotic will work only short term and the infection will come back, or if the cat desperately needs a dental, same idea.

I had my cat sedated for the dental, not put under full anesthesia because of his unregulated diabetes, and other issues.

This is important: Not only will infection will raise BG, but if you have high BG, infection, and the cat stops eating, you should be very concerned. Any one of these three alone is a good reason to get some Ketosticks and test for ketones. Do you know about ketones? If you get a positive result, rush the cat to the vet.

Let me know if you need more info -- the are some pointers on testing if you need them or you can just search the board for these. You need fresh urine which is a little challenging to get as you can imagine.

Good luck!

 

[max&emmasmommie]

Here's a link about ketoacidosis which is the problem with ketones: http://www.felinediabetes.com/ketones.htm. A lot of the symptoms for ketoacidosis are similar to the symptoms of diabetes. Therefore, please don't panic when you read the list, but the fact that your cat isn't eating well is a big concern, I believe. Some people think that 300 isn't quite high enough if the only risk factor is a high BG, other people feel that 300 is high enough, thank you very much, and get concerned. I think this is because you really don't know if a cat has an infection -- they hide their problems so well.

 

[Rachel & Bear]

I forgot to mention that they did a urine test and it came back clean. No ketones or white blood cells. They said his urine was great. They gave me some antibiotics until I can get him in for a dental and some appetite stimulants. He did eat all his lunch today which is good.

 

[Rachel & Bear]

..... I used a different antibiotic after the dental -- Clavamox -- supposedly a broader spectrum AB. Earlier I had tried Clindamycin.

Thats good to know cuz they gave me Clindamycin today. Historically I have always gotten Clavamox.

 

[max&emmasmommie]

I'm glad he had no ketones! That's really good to hear. If it were me, I would get the Ketosticks anyway in case he does have ketones in the future. They are pretty cheap and available at any pharmacy (usually with the other diabetes stuff.)

Clindamycin, my vet said, is not as "broad spectrum," and I liked that because I hate to take or give antibiotics unnecessarily. I don't like it that you kill off the good bugs as well as the bad. If Clavamox is broader spectrum maybe you want to try Clindamycin first.

There is no way to know if my cat would have responded the the Clindamycin after the dental because I didn't go that route; the Clavamox is supposed to catch almost everything that Clindamycin would and more. So, it doesn't tell us anything that Clavamox worked for Max after the dental. He had a very bad infection in his gums when I gave him the Clindamycin, and I didn't get a dental then. So, I doubt it tell us anything that the Clindamycin had no detectible effect either. There may have been another infection that Max had in addition to the gum infection that the Clavamox killed or it could be that the dental was absolutely necessary to allow the antibiotic to work regardless of which antibiotic we used.

This is a line from Wikipedia: "Clindamycin is used primarily to treat anaerobic infections caused by susceptible anaerobic bacteria, including dental infections,[3] and infections of the respiratory tract, skin and soft tissue infections, and peritonitis.[4".

There is a side-effect of Clindamycin that you need to look out for: This is another line from Wikipedia: "Overgrowth of Clostridium difficile, which is inherently resistant to clindamycin, results in the production of a toxin that causes a range of adverse effects, from diarrhea to colitis and toxic megacolon.[31]". My grandfather had C Diff, and it was very serious. I made sure he got a yogurt almost everyday for the rest of his life. Cats can get C diff, and it can be detected in fecal samples. So if your cat gets diarrhea, you'll want to get his feces tested, and see if another antibiotic that kills C diff can be administered. Fortunately, my cat didn't have any complications.

 

[CoatCheckGirl]

Just had an appt today and Bear tested around 300 in vet's office. It's been really hot here and just got an A/C today and was away on vacation until yesterday. Vet noticed a couple of teeth had inflammed gums and he wasn't eating normally the last two days (skipping meals etc). Has anyone else had an experience where teeth problems were elevating BG?

Oh yes. When Pookie had a dental infection, his glucose remained in the 300-400 range. I had no idea what was going on until he stopped eating. When I brought him to the vet it was discovered that one of his canine teeth was loose. In fact, it was so loose, the vet was able to extract it without the need of ANY sedation.

Since then, Pookie's glucose have greatly improved and loves food again.