I'm new - cat's Blood Glucose is 32.5 please help!?

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Artemis

Member Since 2013
she's been on lantus for about a week. normally hovers in between 23 and 14 but is at 32.5 this mornign. Is there anything I should be doing? Also, I've taken her food away for the time being, should I have?
 
Hi and welcome:) I'm happy to see you are home testing, that is awesome! I'm not an expert, but I do know that others will ask you for more information so I will try to ask some of those questions. The high number you are seeing could be a "bounce". Kitties who have high glucose and are suddenly brought lower can bounce up into higher numbers as a reaction to the low numbers. You can leave the food out. The bounces will clear, how long it takes depends on the cat. Some questions:

Are you outside the US using mmol/L for your glucose reading? (People on this board usually use the mg/dL which is mmol/L x 18 which would make your number 585, the number 32.5 is super low hypoglycemia area if in their numbers!)

What kind of food are you feeding?

Did you test the glucose at least 2 hours after the kitty ate?

Are you dosing Lantus every 12 hours and how much are you giving?

Do you have/can you set up a spreadsheet of the blood glucose tests? Info on how to do this is here:
http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207

Hopefully I helped a bit and didn't confuse you, sorry if I repeated something you already knew:) Ask any questions you have, the people here are amazing and can help you through them all :-D
 
I'm only a newbie, but I think that just 'smelling' for ketones could get you and your kitty into trouble, You probably really need to get some urine ketone testing strips to be sure.
 
Why are you removing/not feeding the cat?

With Lantus, the only time it is recommended to remove food is 2 hours prior to the morning and evening test/injection. And the reason is so as not to get a test result of a food spike.

Other than that, there is no need to remove food. And to be honest, while I tried to follow this 2 hour rule, most of the time I didn't and Maui was able to eat when and however much she wanted.

Also, since you are home testing, would you be able to help us out, by filling out the spreadsheet and attaching it to your signature. This will help anyone get a quick look at what is going on and be able to give better suggestions.

Here is a link on how to do it. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207


I would encourage you to take a look at the starred sticky notes at the top of the Lantus Board.

viewforum.php?f=9

Tight Regulation Protocol: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1581

This sticky contains the dosing protocol that we use here. There are also links to the more formal version -- the “Tilly” Protocol developed by the counterpart of this group in Germany, which was also published by Kirsten Roomp & Jacqui Rand, DVM in one of the top vet journals.


New to the Group: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=18139

Everything you wanted to know about this forum and more. Info on our slang, FAQs, links to sites on feline nutrition and to food charts containing carb counts, how to do a curve and the components to look for, important aspects of diabetes such as ketones, DKA, and neuropathy, and most important, info on hypoglycemia.

Handling Lantus: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=151
how to get the maximum use from your insulin and what to not do with it!

Lantus depot: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=150
This is an important concept for understanding how Lantus works.

Lantus & Levemir: Shooting & Handling Low Numbers: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=147
What data you need in order to be able to work toward remission or tight regulation as well as information if you have a low pre-shot number or a drop into low numbers during the cycle.
 
Alrighty. So yes, I'm outside of the US, and I will post US figures now, seeing as how I see the majority of you are from the States. :) I know I need the urine test strips, but my cat only just got diagnosed with diabetes and the vet bill and purchase of the insulin ate every last ounce of my money for the time being, so i haven't gone to get them yet. I figured smelling for ketones was the next best thing, as that was what the vet suggested. I will work on filling out the spreadsheet as soon as possible.

In the meantime, her blood glucose has dropped back down to 342, which is on par with what I've been seeing over the last 5 days, which is precisely how long I have been giving her 1 unit (that's mmol, sorry I'll get your lingo figured out soon, I promise) of insulin twice a day at 12 hour intervals. I took the food away from my little piglet because her blood glucose was up so high and I didn't want to chance that she would eat and cause her blood glucose to spike even further until I figured out what was going on. Please don't think that I "took her food away" for any great length of time, or that I'm silly enough to starve my cat, lol. That is not the case. She's been nibbling again since. I only picked it up off the floor for about an hour while I figured out what was going on and until she started to come back down after the insulin.

I am still new at this, so if I sound ignorant, I probably am, just without the negative connotation on the word - I just don't know it all yet, and am also having to pull up my socks when it comes to this whole online/computer thing, I rather detest them and the internet, lol, and have avoided them/it as best I can most of my life, not entirely, of course, but it'll take me a minute or so to familiarise myself with the way these forums work and get the spreadsheet going.

I have two cats, the other a non-diabetic, and have been leaving food out so they can both eat at their leisure. When Artemis' BG was 585 this morning prior to getting her insulin, I believe she must have just eaten and really pigged out before we woke up for the morning, tested her, and gave her her insulin. I'm thinking it would probably be wise to remove the cats' food at night so this doesn't happen again? What do you think? The vet did tell me to make sure she ate AFTER the insulin, this makes sense... but I'm also really attached to the idea of letting my cats graze... Is their a general consensus out there on that? Not so sure what to do here... As for what kind of food, my cousin brought the lowest-carb dry food she was able to find and that's what she's been feeding her diabetic cat who is now in remission, can't remember what brand, atm...

I 'll get some more info together, like the particular brand of cat foods, and translate it all to/familiarise myself with - US terms, fill out the spreadsheet and get back to you all.

Thank you all for everything thus far, especially your patience :)
Danielle
 
Hi Danielle,

You are not being silly and honestly, don't worry about learning the US terms, it's really more of feline diabetes lingo to learn... ;-)

To calculate the US BG take your number and multiply by 18 - it's that's easy.

If you take some time to familiarize yourself with the links I provided, it will help you with the learning curve.

One thing you didn't say is where in the world you are located. We have lots of non-US members and it is helpful to know, especially when it comes to supplies, food, etc.

One more link I will provide is the one to Dr. Lisa (a huge supporter of this board) website. She talks about the dangers of dry food and in addition, has provided a food comparison chart that lists the carb contents of food. www.catinfo.org

We highly recommended feeding a wet/canned food only diet to all your cats. Dry food, even quality, low carb is not really good for cats and can be one of the reasons your cat got diabetes to begin with.

When you remove the dry and start the wet food only diet, you may see a huge drop in BG levels! Which further proves that dry is not a good food option. It is also why it's important to test - because you may need to adjust the insulin dose as a result of removing dry food.

I realize money is tight, but if you can feed something like friskies or fancy feast - they are economical brands and most are low carb - the key to this is you want foods that are pate style - no gravy, chunks, sliced, grilled flavors - as they are all high carb.

If you tell us where you are, we can help you with better food choices that are available in your area.
 
You're doing great! It's very overwhelming and there is so much to learn, not to mention the cost so I totally understand. I only bought the ketostix for ketones (some strips you can buy do glucose and ketones) and it was around $9 but I also understand flat broke, lol.

For the measurement of insulin, the units is universal, we all use that :-D It's the blood glucose that is different (I'm from Canada and my meter is in mmol/L but I convert it before I post the numbers. The google spreadsheet I use actually does it for me as it has two tabs, I fill in the mmol/L and when I click the tab to the US mg/dL sheet it shows up as that).

As Hillary said, you should consider switching to all wet food if you can. I was amazed at how much it improved my cats numbers and it's much better for diabetic cats. Dr Lisas site is terrific and has so much useful info on cats and foods. Her food chart is a lifesaver.

Some people do only two meals a day with the insulin shot (and it's important they do have food around that time) but others do also free feed and some do mini meals through the day. I have an autofeeder and feed only wet food in mini meals throughout the day/night. I mix the food with water and freeze them in ice cubes so they stay fresher. My cat is in remission "OTJ" right now, but when she was on insulin her nadir was early so she got most of her food in the first 4-6 hours after the shot to help balance it. Some cats have a late nadir so it all depends.

Sorry to give you more reading online to do ;-)
 
There are quite a few of us here who aren't from the US, so you're certainly not alone there!

Welcome to the FDMB 'rest of the world' club! :lol:

Eliz in UK
 
Welcome, Danielle

While you work on figuring everything out, check my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for some tips on ketone testing when you do get strips, as well as some additional monitoring tools. They are secondary because they are either accumulated over time, or less precise ways to identify problems. They can be useful - even when the glucose is high, if the cat is peeing, poohing, purring, preening (grooming), and playing, you've got some progress.
 
leaving food out for grazing is fine - my kitties have access to low carb canned food 24 hours per day

as you get close to the right dose, your kitty's appetite will return to normal - right now she is starving because --- she is starving. The shortage of insulin prevents her body from getting the energy from the food, and it is just peed out.
 
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