Lactated ringers raising blood glucose?

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Puddensmom

Puddensmom

Member Since 2015
Pudden was diagnosed with Kidney failure on Tuesday. She has a uti and was put on antibiotics. I was given lactated ringers to keep her hydrated. He BG is way higher than normal. She was 217 at the vet on Tuesday and I just got a reading today of 236.
I just noticed on the subq bag it has dextrose in it. Do lactated ringers cause issues for cats with diabetes? I was figuring the UTI was the issue, but now im worried the subqs are going to bring her out of remission.
 
Puddensmom said:
Do lactated ringers cause issues for cats with diabetes?
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Lactated ringers solution is what most of us give our cats when sub-q fluids are needed. I've never heard of it being a problem for diabetics.
Puddensmom said:
Pudden was diagnosed with Kidney failure on Tuesday. She has a uti and was put on antibiotics.
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Health issues and/or antibiotics will often cause elevated blood glucose numbers.
Puddensmom said:
I was figuring the UTI was the issue, but now im worried the subqs are going to bring her out of remission.
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It sounds like she's already out of remission. Did your vet say anything about resuming insulin to help her get past this crisis?
 
She said she wasn't too worried about the 217 as she assumed it was stress. Pudden's numbers have been running high for almost a year now. However these 200 numbers are more often than usual now. She goes up and down and dips into the 120s on her own. No one knew why and when i went back to the vet several times they acted like I was nuts. Now i am guessing kidney failure was beginning and that was causing the crazy numbers. Because she does dip into normal numbers they won't start insulin as they say it is too dangerous.
I was worried the dextrose in the lactated ringers was the cause of the regular 200s. I suppose it could be the uti or just the fact that she is in end of stage kidney failure. I have a vet appointment tomorrow and will bring it up to them. The problem is I am financially drained and to have the added expense of diabetes I honestly don't see how i can afford it this time around. I am so discouraged and burned out.
 
So embarrassing, but false alarm. I ordered a case of 12 of the lactated ringers that my vet prescribed and when you get a box they come with a pamphlet. Well apparently the same pamphlet that is put in the case of regular lactated ringers is also put in the one containing dextrose. You have to look at the bags themselves to see which kind you have. I am just so frazzled that I saw the pamphlet and freaked. I am so relieved that one of the most important parts of her CKD treatment is not harming her. However something is causing her to come out of remission. I am guessing the uti. Hopefully she will go back down when put on a proper antibiotic (clavamox didn't work.) The vet will probably still insist it is just stress and not true diabetes, but I will continue to monitor her and if she starts to approach 300 that is the limit for me and I will demand insulin.
 
Hi,

I'm not 100% sure, but I think lactated ringers can potentially be a problem for diabetic cats (I think lactate can sometimes convert to sugar I've been told).

This site is in German: http://www.katzendiabetes.info/infus.php, but under "Welche Infusionslösungen gibt es wofür?" it says:

"Das Gleiche gilt für Lebererkrankungen und bei Diabetes, auch hier ist Ringer-Lösung ohne Laktatpufferung die bessere Alternative," which means, "The same goes for liver diseases and diabetes, here too is a ringer without a lactate buffer the better alternative." My German isn't perfect, but I'm almost certain that's what it says.

You may want to check with your vet tomorrow.

I hope this helps. Stay strong. I'm dealing with some health issues with my kitty right now, too, and I know it's so hard.

Sending all my best,
Leni
 
Puddensmom said:
However something is causing her to come out of remission. I am guessing the uti. Hopefully she will go back down when put on a proper antibiotic (clavamox didn't work.) The vet will probably still insist it is just stress and not true diabetes, but I will continue to monitor her and if she starts to approach 300 that is the limit for me and I will demand insulin.
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It could be the UTI, but you mentioned Pudden has been running high for almost a year. That makes me wonder which came first... sugar spilling into the urine over time causing a UTI (being over the renal threshold) or the UTI suddenly causing high numbers.

Depending on which veterinary source you're using, renal threshold can be anywhere between 200 and 280 mg/dL. Those are lab values so if you're using a meter calibrated for humans the BG values would be considerably less. For example, years ago, the nearest I could guesstimate Alex's renal threshold (using a human meter and urine glucose drip sticks) was somewhere between 140 and 180 mg/dL on a meter calibrated for humans.

Because of the kidney disease diagnosis and high BG numbers (50 - 120 mg/dL is normal using a meter calibrated for humans), you might want to seriously consider resuming insulin before Pudden hits the 300s. Treating sooner than later may actually help get Pudden back into remission a whole lot faster... if another remission is possible.

Just some food for thought...
 
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