Glucose down to 64

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franb

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My Zeke had his glucose checked today after his first 4 days on Lantus. His glucose was initially 557; went down in the 300's on Glipicide and can d/m. Now it is down to 64. My vet's instructions were to skip the insulin tonight, give only 1/2 of the original dosage tomorrow morning; then have glucose checked again 8 hrs after. I'm concerned that the number is now so low. He shows no signs of hypoglycemia. Any thoughts or advice?
 
Can you can test him at home? If he is going to be giving you these nice low numbers, you will need to stay on top of them so you can adjust doses as needed.

If it has been more than 8 hours since the shot (I am assuming it is longer since you are now at home?) he should be okay tonight. But we are really just guessing if we can't get a bg level.

I would be very nervous shooting any amount of insulin in the morning without knowing his number. Can we help you learn how to home test?
 
I haven't done any home testing yet. I was hoping that I would eventually be able to do it but so far have been taking Zeke back and forth to be tested. I didn't expect the level to drop so fast. I have to go to work tomorrow ( I work part time 3 days a week) and I am taking Zeke with me. I'm too afraid to leave him alone without keeping an eye on him.
 
He was prescribed 1 unit twice a day; I was instructed to give him 1/2 unit in the morning tomorrow.
 
This is why we stress the importance of home testing. And unless Zeke is a very mellow cat, his levels at the vet can be affected by anxiety, so the levels you may get at home when testing could show an even lower result.

The sooner you can learn to home test to do it at home, the more confident you will feel about taking care of Zeke. If you need help learning how or getting a kit, please let us know.
 
Hi Fran

It could be that 1/2 unit tomorrow am would be just fine...but there are no guarantees. Note that most of us didn't test at the beginning and in most cases it turned out ok, but it is risky.

Time to read up on hometesting :)

Jen
 
Personally, I would not give any size dose with levels that low and I would learn to home test immediately. At the beginning, I was following the advice of the vet and shooting my cat with no idea of what his levels were and he eventually had a seizure once the BG levels got low. At the time, he was getting 4 u twice a day. After the seizure, the vet said to give him 4 u once a day. I could not and would not give him the same size dose that caused his seizure. That did not make any sense. Then the vet said that we would have to "expect" another seizure. Whoa!!! Not acceptable at all!! After that, I learned how to test and if I could not get any blood to test, I did not give him a shot. No BG test, no shot became my new motto. He eventually got off the juice after only a few weeks on insulin and a diet change to high protein (which can also lower his need for insulin greatly).

When I had to go to work, I would leave food in a timer feeder so that he had something to eat during the day to help with his blood sugar. It made me feel better that he had something to eat when his BG level may be lower while I was gone. By giving him 4 small meals a day instead of just 2, I think that also helped his pancreas to heal and helped him get off insulin.
 
Thank you so much to all of you for your input and advice. As it turns out, I fell at home last night, hurt my foot and can't put any weight on it. So the plan to take Zeke in for a glucose check later today has been derailed. Because of that, I wasn't comfortable about giving him any insulin this morning, not even the small dose, so I did not. When I called the vet, they confirmed to not give him any. I will not administer any insulin until I get a BG level. I am now firmly convinced that I have to test at home. It will be difficult because Zeke does not cooperate - he will not sit still like the kitty in the video - but I have to find a way to do it. I am unable to get out today (can't drive and can barely walk), but asap I must get what I need to home test. I am observing him closely - and so far he seems ok - no signs of hypogycemia. My older girl, Misty is also diabetic and so far she is controlled by diet alone. But I would really like to home test her also between vet visits. She has pancreatitis and high liver enzymes also but the liver enzyme level is controlled with a supplement called Denamarin. It seems to be working well.
 
franb said:
It will be difficult because Zeke does not cooperate - he will not sit still like the kitty in the video
Click to expand...

In the beginning, Bandit would squirm (he still does sometimes). I went out and bought a basket a little bigger than him, and two fleece blankets. I put one blanket in the basket so it would be comfy, and I wrapped Bandit up with the other one like a burrito. After a little while, he just sat still for me on his own because he knew he wasn't getting out of that basket until the blood test was done.

He actually loves his basket. He doesn't get tested often anymore because he's off insulin, but he still sleeps and hangs out in it. He remembers the treats he gets in it after the tests, but not really the tests themselves.
 
Just wanted to say hi, and welcome!!

Get your hands on some low carb treats... freeze dried chicken breast treats (get from the dog treat aisle... same exact product, but much cheaper per ounce!) and bonito fish flakes are particularly popular at our house. with each poke of the ear, give a treat, whether you are successful or not. Soon, your guy will associate pokes with treats, and things go much more smoothly! :)

I hope your foot isn't giving you too much pain! Fingers and paws crossed for quick healing!
 
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