hypoglycemia aftermath

[sandra+kiwi]

Hi everyone, I have been monitoring and regulating our cat, kiwi, myself for the 3 of the 5 years since he was diagnosed with diabetes. Mostly because I had very bad experiences with vets the first two years in which kiwi ended up hospitalized multiple times. Since I have gone rogue he has been very stable for three years until this week. He suddenly became ravenous and upon testing he turned out to be in a state of hypoglycemia. Corn syrup and food quickly raised his bg level from frightening 26 to 180. However, a day and a half later he is still ravenous despite these more normal bg levels (he is hovering in thr 180-200 range). I havent restarted giving him insulin yet, I am taking him to a specialist tomorrow, but I have doctor trust issues and want to inform myself, I was wondering if anybody here encountered this problem. Why is my cat still so hungry even though bg levels are back in the normal range? I do have to say that my cat 1) seems to defy most medical laws and b) is also stressed out because we moved 4 weeks ago. Please help.

 

[phlika29]

Hi Sandra

I am a newbie and so can't really advise at all but just wanted to welcome you to the forum. There should be members with a lot more experience along soon enough. If not then it might be worth re asking your question in the tight regulation board as it has the most traffic.

In the meantime it would be worthwhile clarifying what insulin/dose you are using for kiwi and how often you test? Again not advising but could it be you are perhaps not catching the higher numbers during the cycle? Ideally a cat would stay within the normal range of between 120 and 50 so maybe whilst he off the insulin he is running at a slightly higher blood glucose level than he is used to (as you say up to 200) and that is enough to make him feel hungry??

Best wishes

Sarah

 

[BJM]

Hi Sandra.

Before giving insulin with those minimally elevated glucose levels (what kind of meter), work the low carb, canned or raw diet. See Cat Info if you need the food list and a refresher on feline nutrition. And I wouldn't give insulin below 200 mg/dL.

Ravenous cats may be hyperthyroid. Low cost treatment is methimazole/Tapazole given either oral or compounded to rub in the ear. I-131 treatment may be given to ablate the thyroid. It requires your cat be kept at a specialty vet for a couple days during which you cannot visit (radioactive) and pet waste must not be flushed down the toilet nor placed in the garbage for about 2 weeks until it is less radioactive (at least, that was the rules in Ohio when I did it for my hyper-T civvie.) It is possible to overshoot and wind up with a hypothyroid cat which then needs thyroid hormone supplementation.