Glucose 139 amps--shoot????

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Ninja & Baby

Ninja & Baby

Member Since 2017
I just checked my cats blood glucose level and it was 139. He had no food for about 8 hours or so. He's had his breakfast. At 139, do I need to go ahead and give him his usual insulin???? He is getting 1 unit of vetsulin twice a day. Sorry to be asking so many questions, but I just don't know. I am blood testing against my vet's orders so I can't ask her any questions.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11z6VC6AVw6USLC9h4v_qpZOfIANWS7wGCWgltShFKFw/edit#gid=0
 
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Hi--

Not a vetsulin expert, but I would hold off on shooting if you can, and get a re-test soon to see if the numbers are coming up (though there will be a food spike from breakfast as well).

If you have already shot, are you able to do more monitoring today, particularly early in the cycle (+2, +3)?
 
I didn't give him his shot. I found a site http://www.sugarcats.net/sites/harry/bgguide.html that said not to inject at that level. At this time yesterday, he was 558 and drinking and peeing nonstop. Strange! I'm new to feline diabetes and still trying to get a grasp on how everything works. I have found the Blood Glucose monitoring with the spreadsheet to be very empowering. This forum has been my lifeline!!
 
Ninja & Baby said:
I didn't give him his shot. I found a site http://www.sugarcats.net/sites/harry/bgguide.html that said not to inject at that level. At this time yesterday, he was 558 and drinking and peeing nonstop. Strange! I'm new to feline diabetes and still trying to get a grasp on how everything works. I have found the Blood Glucose monitoring with the spreadsheet to be very empowering. This forum has been my lifeline!!
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Glad to read you didn't shoot. At that level 1 u would have surely hypoed.
 
Can you get another test to see where he is now?

In the beginning, it's not uncommon for diabetic cats to "bounce" a lot-- basically, when they hit lower-than-they-are-used-to numbers, their body reacts by releasing glucose to bring the numbers back up to the (bad) BG levels they are used to.

The fact that Ninja got down to 139 this morning means that the insulin is having an effect (yay!) but given how high he's been, I fully expect him to rocket back up later today. It's even possible that some of the high numbers you've gotten in this last week are due to bouncing-- hard to say before you get more data on what is happening midcycle.

I don't know what your schedule is like and, as I say, I'm not an expert in Vetsulin dosing, but from this number this morning I suspect that you might need to be more conservative in the amount you shoot, even if he's high tonight. You want something that you can shoot consistently twice a day, so that when he does bounce up from lows, there will be some insulin on board to counteract it.

Hopefully one of the Vetsulin people will be online soon to give you more specific guidelines about how to proceed. But, congrats on hitting that blue number! It's too low for a pre-shot number, granted, but other than that it's right where you want to get Ninja!
 
One thing you could do is stall 20 min without feeding and see if the number is going up. If it is you could give a very tiny dose...
 
Thanks for explaining to me what is going on. I started to give Ninja a half-unit but decided I better err on the side of caution. Unfortunately, I won't be at home during the day today or tomorrow to monitor his BG. At least I can be pretty sure he's not hypoglycemic. I started to not test him this morning, but I decided I better do it because he usually drinks and pees a lot! Last night he slept and didn't get up for a drink or a potty break at all. He was like his old self.

I am so fortunate to you have you guys help!!! :)
 
Ninja & Baby said:
Thanks for explaining to me what is going on. I started to give Ninja a half-unit but decided I better err on the side of caution. Unfortunately, I won't be at home during the day today or tomorrow to monitor his BG. At least I can be pretty sure he's not hypoglycemic. I started to not test him this morning, but I decided I better do it because he usually drinks and pees a lot! Last night he slept and didn't get up for a drink or a potty break at all. He was like his old self.

I am so fortunate to you have you guys help!!! :)
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Sounds like a plan. Glad he's feeling better!
 
If memory serves, you were waiting for EVO to arrive. Have you switched to the lower carb food in the last few days? That can have a dramatic effect on BG in some cats. You don't know how low Ninja went last night on 1u but with that 139 this morning, I think it's reasonable to assume he had a significant BG drop overnight. I suggest that you stick with no more than 0.5u and only if pre-shot is over 200. Even under 250, I'd suggest only shooting if you can monitor. When you have more data especially at the lower dose, then you can decide when it is safe and when you are comfortable giving insulin.
 
Yes, I received the EVO but I haven't fed it to him since the first day. That was the night he was peeing and drinking constantly and his BG was 600 that evening and 558 the next morning. The EVO may not have had anything to do with it but it made me a little paranoid about it. I did receive a sample of Young Again Zero yesterday in the mail. I let him eat some of it and things went pretty well. He seemed to enjoy it. I guess I'm going to have to order some. He enjoys his dry food!! :( Ninja is on 99% low carb canned food. He isn't liking it too much.

I am glad you made that point about Ninja possibly going low last night. I really didn't think about that being the cause of the low reading this morning. Kinda scary!! Thanks for letting me know.
 
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If I am understanding the food situation correctly and you gave Ninja the Young Again dry which is very low carb yesterday, I wonder if he is particularly carb sensitive and the Young Again has made a difference. It's very low carb and could potentially be even lower than the canned food he is eating. Timing seems to fit??!! Something to think about. :)
 
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