Glucoses worse on low carb diet

[Crusch]

My cat Theo is 7 and I started prozinc 6 days ago while on purina wet food (not low carb yet) and his glucoses on the libre sensor ranged 250-350 consistently. To do things one at a time, I began prozinc 1 unit twice daily and he would drop to high 100s (great!) then slowly go back to 300s. His graphs were a perfect V shape.

3 days in, I made the switch to the DM pate and chunk food from purina prescription and he sampled the dry option one day as a snack. Since then, his glucoses have been “HI” above 400 and only come down to low 300s with his prozinc.

Any ideas as to why this is happening?? I thought the food switch would help and not hurt. It’s been 3 days and he is still running high and it’s scary because I thought I was doing everything right.

 

[CORKY]

Welcome to FDMB
One of the reasons you are seeing such high BG's is the high carb you are feeding. ( Purina "prescribed") as well as the DM, food are not a good choice these foods are between 20-30% carbs, some cats are very sensitive to carbs as well. a diabetic cat needs to have a diet of low carb or raw foods between 0-10%, most members feed Fancy Feast Pate between 0-10% carbs some feed up to 5%, a feeding schedule is also recommended feeding 3-4 small meals or snack during the day plus the two main meals before shot, and ne feeding 2 hours prior to shot, so grazing is not an option with ProZinc the protocol is test/feed/shoot, a non diabetic cats' glucose levels is between 50-120, so 100 is a good number, it takes at least 2 cycles (2 days) with the dose given to begin to see results in your cat's system, it is also recommended to increase or decrease the dose by 0.25 units at a time.
Using the CGM is a good source, but the sensor tends to read low numbers much lower than reality, so we highly recommend to have a hand monitor to re-test if glucose level is less than 100, most members use the ReliOn Premier monitor and strips (Walmart) or any other human monitor and always use the human monitor level as value.
We are very numbers oriented, so we can all be on the same page, we would like you to create your signature and spreadsheet, links below, please keep posting, we are here to help you in your concerns and dosing advice.
For your reference, you may look at Corky's Spreadsheet, to see how it looks, Corky uses ProZinc as well, although he will be a lifetime diabetic his glucose levels are tight, I shoot in low numbers, but that takes time it achieve, also you can scroll to the left on the SS to see what/how much/ and feeding schedules
Also, transitioning front high carbs to low carbs is a slow process, you do not want to upset your cat's stomach as well as it tends to dive down the glucose level, so checking the glucose level during this transition is important for the 1-2 weeks

Sticky - New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/spreadsheets-tech-support-testing-area.6/

 

[Crusch]

Welcome to FDMB
One of the reasons you are seeing such high BG's is the high carb you are feeding. ( Purina "prescribed") as well as the DM, food are not a good choice these foods are between 20-30% carbs, some cats are very sensitive to carbs as well. a diabetic cat needs to have a diet of low carb or raw foods between 0-10%, most members feed Fancy Feast Pate between 0-10% carbs some feed up to 5%, a feeding schedule is also recommended feeding 3-4 small meals or snack during the day plus the two main meals before shot, and ne feeding 2 hours prior to shot, so grazing is not an option with ProZinc the protocol is test/feed/shoot, a non diabetic cats' glucose levels is between 50-120, so 100 is a good number, it takes at least 2 cycles (2 days) with the dose given to begin to see results in your cat's system, it is also recommended to increase or decrease the dose by 0.25 units at a time.
Using the CGM is a good source, but the sensor tends to read low numbers much lower than reality, so we highly recommend to have a hand monitor to re-test if glucose level is less than 100, most members use the ReliOn Premier monitor and strips (Walmart) or any other human monitor and always use the human monitor level as value.
We are very numbers oriented, so we can all be on the same page, we would like you to create your signature and spreadsheet, links below, please keep posting, we are here to help you in your concerns and dosing advice.
For your reference, you may look at Corky's Spreadsheet, to see how it looks, Corky uses ProZinc as well, although he will be a lifetime diabetic his glucose levels are tight, I shoot in low numbers, but that takes time it achieve, also you can scroll to the left on the SS to see what/how much/ and feeding schedules
Also, transitioning front high carbs to low carbs is a slow process, you do not want to upset your cat's stomach as well as it tends to dive down the glucose level, so checking the glucose level during this transition is important for the 1-2 weeks

Sticky - New? How You Can Help Us Help You!
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/spreadsheets-tech-support-testing-area.6/

Luckily he didn’t have stomach upset and loved the food, but it’s a bummer there is so much conflicting info on the food! I read the pate is okay, but I’m hopefully he’ll enjoy other better brands. I have switched to fancy feast pate as of last night and have yet to see the drop, hopefully in the next couple days he will recalibrate down.

It’s just strange that he got so much worse so fast. Thank you for your quick reply!

 

[CORKY]

Luckily he didn’t have stomach upset and loved the food, but it’s a bummer there is so much conflicting info on the food! I read the pate is okay, but I’m hopefully he’ll enjoy other better brands. I have switched to fancy feast pate as of last night and have yet to see the drop, hopefully in the next couple days he will recalibrate down.

It’s just strange that he got so much worse so fast. Thank you for your quick reply!

Fancy Feast is not the only brand that is 0-10% carbs,, also Fancy Feast has many 0-10% carb foods, that are chunky, flaked, good for kibble addict cats; most member like the FF because is US made, regulated, therefore no waste goes into the food,, by feeding low carbs you will notice a change behavior in the litter box, since they are not eating waste, they will probably not poop as often. probably every other day or so, below is a link of an approved Drs food list, with many brands, the third column contains the carb %, We are looking for DRY CARB MATTER, also a carb calculator, take the nutrients of the food from the label insert them in the cells, unfortunately, Vets, most of the time are not aware what's in the foods they are selling you, a salesman sales it, makes commission, he sells to you, he makes commission, there's NO SUCH THING AS DIABETIC FOODS, humans that have diabetes, they regulate their glucose level by eating low carbs, and maintaining the levels with several meals or snacks during the day, also a link to create a HYPO KIT, in our Health Forum you will find sticky notes with much valuable information
P.S.
he did not get worse, is just the high carbs in the food you were feeding, he can be very sensitive to carbs, as well as the transition will have him bouncing numbers, ProZinc is an excellent insulin, make sure to keep the same dose for a few week, and you will begin to see better numbers
0-10% low carbs
11-15% medium carbs
16-24% HIGH CARBS
Info - Dr. Pierson - new Food Chart
Carb Calculator - Felinediabetes.com
Sticky - jojo and bunny's HYPO TOOL BOX