Fluffy numbers BAD

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Fluffmiester

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His numbers have been running in the 400-500 range. Can not seem to get them down. Drinking and peeing more. Went to vet to be boarded and his weight was 9.19 temp 101.9 BCS 2.5/5 stiff in hips or back. May have a sore tooth. He thinks the diabetes maybe causing the tyhroid problem. I have been feeding him wellness dry because he was not eating much. She says I need to get a fructosamine test and serum glucose test next week. Is serum test the same as what I do every day?
 
Hi Fluffy's mom! I am running out the door so only time for a couple quick comments, I am sure others will be along soon.

Fructosamine - don't bother if you are home testing, it won't tell you anything you don't already know
Serum glucose - ? not something I am familiar with (do they just mean blood glucose maybe?)

If you are feeding dry food he will likely need more insulin to compensate. Can you get a spot test or two in today? I would try to get a test somewhere in +4 - +7 to be sure you aren't seeing blue or green #s. If you aren't, I would consider raising the dose in 0.5 increments every 3 days or so. When Bix was on dry food he needed over 4u of insulin, just for reference.
 
ok, from mom to mom here. something is happening but we can not tell if it is the insulin or not without some more, many spot checks. those 2 a day are not giving us a clear picture of how he is doing on the inside. are you in need of strips? is there anything we can do to help out with fulff's testing.
lori
and tomtom too!
 
oh, also please check for ketones as not to scare you but some of the symptoms you are describing...well, i would just test. any walmart or drug store, over the counter, $10 or so. just ketone not the other kind that check for sugar and ketone in urine...those are more expensive.
 
I bought the ketone strips butI have 3 other cats that use the same box. I had his ketone checked on 3/16 and they were
150 Do not know what normal is. On one of the other test it has k+ which 3.2 .
 
To test for ketones, Rose, you may have to leave him in a room with a litter box filled with aquarium gravel or torn newspaper. Usually they will go right away because the box is clean. Then you swoop in and stick the strip in. You compare it to a new strip to see if there is any color change.

Is Fluffy's infection completely cleared and is he off antibiotics? If not, that can cause an increase in bg levels.

Can you get him to get anything but dry? (I know you were having trouble when he was sick...). Evo is about the fewest carbs in dry food if he refuses to change to wet.

All these factors separately and particularly together can cause higher bg levels - infections, antibiotics, dry food.

And Lori is absolutely right. You can't tell how the insulin is working until you get more numbers- especially mid cycle numbers. Please get us more numbers to work with.
 
I do not know if the UTI is cleared up or not. I forgot to ask the vet if I needed to give all the medicine till it was gone. I will be able to test him more tomorrow. I will get the gravel tomorrow. Where do i get EVO. I looked at Petco and did not see is. The vet where I boarded him says I need to get his teeth cleaned Would that affect his levels? What are normal ketone levels?
 
You do need to make sure the UTI has cleared up and whether he should be on/off antibiotics. Here is some info on ketones: ketones
Here is a site where you can find out where EVO is sold: http://www.evopet.com/where-to-buy/

Yes, dental issues are another problem that can cause higher bg levels. Your vet may want to postpone the dental until Fluffy is better regulated. Some vets do.
 
Hopefully there are no ketones involved, but you need to test. My Kitty had a severe UTI and tested negative for ketones on a Friday and was in DKA on Sunday. I am not trying to alarm you, but I would test for ketones.
 
if you know about when fluff is going to the bathroom. you lock yourself in there with him and get a sample right out of the stream.
as for the uti and the meds....ALWAYS use all the medication. ALWAYS. so you might have to either get his urine checked again or maybe just get another round of antibiotics. the antibiotics should also work on infected gums if there are any as a temp. solution. or a permanent one if you don't plan on a dental...like me.
 
I'm so sorry to hear Fluffy is still not feeling well and giving you high numbers. Keep us posted. We want to help. Hopefully some mid-cycle #'s will give a better idea of what the insulin is doing and you can see if you need to go up or down.
 
Normal ketones are 0. There should not be ketones. It sounds like your vet tested for ketones and there were some? I'm not sure what to make of that if they didn't mention it to you as a problem, only I would guess that's a relatively low level, but I don't really know.

Ketones are very dangerous and can get worse quickly - the combo that you mentioned of not eating well and having an infection worries me - those, combined with too little insulin, are the setup for ketones and DKA. You want to nip the ketones in the bud before you reach a DKA state, which is an emergency situation that requires vet care, is very expensive, and I believe has a relatively low survival rate.

Don't mean to overly scare you, just want to be sure if you do see ketones you get that treated. Good catch Lori on bringing that topic up!

Yes, dental problems can cause higher BGs.

Here is a link to finding a store that carries EVO: http://www.evopet.com/where-to-buy/. The other ones that are lower carb are the ones the vets sell - d/m and MD. I don't know what the carbs are on Wellness. Those 3 (EVO, d/m, MD) were the lowest carb last I checked, which is now a couple years ago.

I believe there is something in the Sticky up top on where you can buy insulin cheaper. Some places are more like $90, but I think the shipping costs are steep so I'm not sure how much savings it is. You can also check the Supply Closet forum - might be someone with a used vial they are looking to sell there, probably would be quite a bit cheaper, it really varies.
 
You live in Lake City right?
My vet in High Springs sells ProZinc to me for 85.00 dollars a bottle.
I have no idea if she is selling it to me at her cost or not because she knows my financial situation.
Also don't know if you could buy it there if your cat is not a patient.
Just a thought.
Have you checked to see if you can buy it at Sam's club?
 
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