? How much does stress really affect BG?

[Juliet & Diggy]

I know that readings can be higher while stressed, say at the vet or something, so that's why we test at home. But how soon does the stress affect it?

For example, I was trying to test him tonight and the dog was barking like crazy and trying to play, which made Diggy start struggling and he wanted to go hide. Shortly after I got a reading of 481. I'm still new to this whole testing thing and don't have much data to see where Diggy's really settling to since we upped his dosage, but 481 seems a bit high, and I'm wondering if it's because it was getting kind of stressful for him. Is that how it works?

 

[BJM]

In one study someone reported here last year, vet stress may raise glucose level 100-180 mg/dL.

Novolin NPH typically lasts only 8-10 hours in most cats, so the return to elevated glucose before a full 12 hours is quite common.

You might be seeing some bouncing, too. This happens when
1) the glucose drops very suddenly, and/or
2) the glucose drops to an unfamiliar, lower level, and/or
3) the glucose drops into a hypoglycemic level - if it goes below 50 mg/dL, a dose reduction is earned.
The body responds by releasing stored glucose (glycogen) to raise the level back up to 'safe'. Unfortunately, it often overshoots and the effects last up to 3 days. Keep the dose the same and it eventually settles down.

Guidelines for using NPH optimally.

 

[manxcat419]

While vet stress can raise BG by a significant amount, I do also feel obliged to say that it very much depends on the cat. My Rosa fights, howls, growls and generally stresses out completely at the vet. Yet her readings there are in exactly the same range as they are at home...even when she was on insulin, there was no significant difference between a vet reading and a home reading. You will get more of an idea of how stress affects Diggy as time goes on and you have more data to work from, but it is not unreasonable to assume at this stage that his readings at the vet will be higher than they will at home - from what I understand, Rosa is very much in the minority by not having her numbers affected by stress.