how low is too low? (OTJ trial, AlphaTrak #s)

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shadycat

shadycat

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Hi everyone, Shady has been doing well- since I stopped feeding any dry on Friday, his blood sugar started steadily dropping, and he hasn't needed any insulin for 3 days. I was really excited at first but his BG has kept dropping more and more and now is quite low. Last night, 92, this morning, 88, and tonight 78, measured on the AlphaTrak meter. This is before eating, but not really fasting because he tends to graze. What worries me is it keeps dropping, and I'm afraid that something is wrong with his pancreas function that made him first hyperglycemic and is now going to go the other way and make him hypo. He still seems normal, active, eating normally (maybe a little less than usual).

What info I found online looks like he is still in the range for normal, but I think I was told here when he was still on insulin that he could be in the hypo range at 70-80 on the AT (40-50 on a human meter). I called my vet's office and they wanted me to send an email with his BG levels the last few days, diet, and any insulin given instead of just answering the yes or no question (is he too low) which was all I really wanted! >:( So any opinions and advice from the knowledgeable folks here is much appreciated!

Thanks,
Sheri
 
A diabetic cat NOT on insulin cannot hypo. So no worries with those low numbers you are getting :-D Those are GREAT numbers :thumbup Some non-diabetic cats have bgs in the 40s and that's is perfectly normal. See how much of a difference removing all dry food can be for a diabetic cat? :smile: If your cat continues to have these great numbers with no insulin for 2 weeks, he will be officially OTJ.
 
Thanks! I guess I was thinking if there is some rare disease where the pancreas produces too much insulin (not sure if this even exists), like his pancreas is just out of whack and produced too little for a while and now is producing too much. I don't know. :oops: I am a bit of a worrywart! Just wanted to make sure that wasn't out of the range of normal. Double digits look strange after so long of triple digits!

But yes, I am excited that he seems to be diet controlled (so far, fingers crossed!)! And the dry food he was on was Wellness Core, which is one of the lowest carb, so that much of a difference even from removing a "low carb" dry food!
 
Thanks Carl and Libby, fellow PZI-ers! :)

So, I emailed my vet and she said that Shady probably had diabetes caused by glucose toxicity, which makes sense. He developed diabetes after week 2 of a 3-week radiation therapy course for a fibrosarcoma tumor- 3 weeks of daily vet visits for a cat who absolutely hates the vet, daily anesthesia and treatments, living in a hotel 4 days a week (the nearest radiation facility was 3+ hours away, and I didn't want to board him), all of which was very stressful and of course stress raises BG. So 2 straight weeks of stress hyperglycemia resulted in glucose toxicity- temporary insulin resistance brought on by damage caused by persistent hyperglycemia, and it can take weeks and insulin injections and/or dietary changes to overcome it. (now that I type that, I did a search and see it is discussed fairly often here- somehow this is the first I'm learning about it! ohmygod_smile )

I had kept thinking there was probably a link between the radiation and diabetes in Shady's case. Vet did say he might be prone to developing it again. I am still planning to keep him low carb just in case and it sounds like it is better for them anyway. I am SO glad I found FDMB and insisted on home testing. My vet is not really an advocate of it, and I hate to think what would have happened if I had shot 3 units bid like was first prescribed!

What is the routine when it seems a cat is going OTJ? Keep daily testing for 2 weeks- is once a day ok instead of twice? (Shady really hates the ear pokes.) Then how often- once a week? Maybe less, every other week?

By the way, I never posted much about his cancer here, but after undergoing radiation and a second surgery, Shady's biopsy came back last week with no evidence of cancer! So lots of good news lately! :-D I do wish it resolved this quickly and easily for everyone, assuming it is resolving itself (don't want to jinx myself!)
 
Sheri
When I did the OTJ trial with Bob, I just kept testing at the normal "pre-shot" times, I guess just because it was the routine. But I don't think there are any "rules" about when you need to, or how often. Maybe just pick a random time each day, and space them so you end up with a "curve" over the course of a week?

Super news on the biopsy!

Carl
 
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