Low BG Reading - Need Advice!

Bearcat86

Bearcat86

Member
I just tested Bear at +7h and his BG was 66 - this is much lower than I've ever seen and I'm worried! I tested again immediately after and got 69. Fed him a few tablespoons of Purina ProPlan DM Savory Selects (10% carb) in addition to the rest of his breakfast (1 6oz can Tiki Cat Puka Puka Luau - chicken, 0% carb; plus 1 tbsp of pumpkin tummy topper for fiber) - he had eaten most of it, and only had a few spoonfuls left which he ate in addition to the Savory Selects I gave him. Tested again a half hour later, and now he's at 96 - so he's heading in the right direction, and I'll keep testing every half hour to make sure he keeps going that way. He seems totally fine, not showing any of the symptoms mentioned in the "How to treat HYPOs" sticky, but it's scary to see him so low after being high for so long...

@MrWorfMen's Mom, I could use some advice on his dose tonight - should I lower him to 2.5U? We've had him at 2.75u for a while and he's been doing well - we've even started seeing small signs of improvement in his neuropathy (he's able to jump up on the couch again and he's almost up off his front ankles!).

Here's the link to our previous thread in case you need a refresher on Bear's journey :) Thanks so much for your help!
 
Well that must have been a surprise.:) I would lower dose to 2.5u tonight and hold that dose for a period of 3 days as long as pre-shots are high enough to give insulin and no further lows below 90, then re-evaluate. You've held the 2.75u dose for quite some time and it looks like Bear got a bit stuck. Hopefully he'll show better numbers now but you may find the dose needs to go back up again before he levels off. Let's see how he does on the 2.5u dose.
 
Thanks for your response @MrWorfMen's Mom! Today will be the third day we've been holding Bear steady at 2.5u; no readings below 90, although he went into the blues late Monday night. His numbers have been in the same range as he was with 2.75u, so I'm not sure whether I should up him back to 2.75u tonight? Also, we're going out of town for two nights this weekend - so I'm tempted to keep him at the lower dose until we get back on Sunday...

Curious what you mean by "got a bit stuck"? I was encouraged that we were finally starting to see some stability, so I maintained the 2.75u dose hoping that Bear's numbers would slowly start to come down as his body got more used to being below 300 - previously he was bouncing all over the place. His 7-, 14-, and 30-day averages have been steadily decreasing and we're starting to see some signs of improvement with his neuropathy, so I thought we were on the right track. The low on Sunday was definitely a big surprise - could that mean that the 2.75u dose was still too high? This is all so confusing! Would really appreciate any insights or advice you can offer :)
 
It would be nice if this was a totally black and white situation but it's not because so much can affect BG and BG is never the same every day. Bear appears to be bouncing a bit right now probably from that lovely blue the other night. If you are going to be away on the weekend, I think you can hold the 2.5u dose since you did see that blue reading and then decide if he needs an increase again or not when you get home.

When I said "stuck", I simply meant his BG wasn't moving much for quite some time. It's Ok to hold a dose for a week but if there is no improvement in that time frame, then it's time for a dose adjustment. When you hold doses for too long and you aren't seeing any results the body gets used to it and the dose loses it's effectiveness. Interestingly Bear finally dropped into those low numbers on that dose but why it took that long is the burning question.

I notice you are feeding 0% carb food. Although it's totally counter intuitive, you might want to try something a wee bit higher in carbs to see how that effects Bear's BG......something 2% to 6%. Some kitties do better with a bit of carbs rather than none. Just something to consider trying.
 
Thanks @MrWorfMen's Mom, good to know that it typically takes about a week to see the full impact of a changed dose. I suspect that Bear has a pretty slow metabolism, so I thought maybe holding for a bit longer might be necessary to see the full effect.

I actually just changed his food to 0% carb (he used to be on the ProPlan DM Savory Selects, which apparently is 10% carb!). He had a bad reaction to one of the new flavors I tried, so I went back and slowly transitioned him, adding spoonfuls of his old food to the 0% carb flavor that agrees with him. He's probably only actually been 0% carb for the last 5 days or so. I wonder if that's what triggered the 66 on 9/22; that was probably the second day he'd been totally 0% carb... Any idea how long it takes for a diet change to impact BG?

I'll plan on keeping him at 2.5u until we get back into town and then reassess his dose next week. Thanks for guiding me through this, it's really helpful! :bighug:
 
Bearcat86 said:
He's probably only actually been 0% carb for the last 5 days or so. I wonder if that's what triggered the 66 on 9/22; that was probably the second day he'd been totally 0% carb... Any idea how long it takes for a diet change to impact BG?
Click to expand...

You may be right. The clearing of the carbs from his system could have affected his BG but if you were mixing the 10% with the 0% it may not have been the only factor. Sometimes they just surprise us for no apparent reason.
 
Hi @MrWorfMen's Mom, I could use some help figuring out what's going on. I brought Bear back up to 2.75u after we returned from our weekend trip, thinking that he needed the increase after another day of high readings at 2.5u. After a few cycles at 2.75u with readings all >240, he dropped down to 97 in the middle of the night on October 2nd and now appears to be bouncing. I dropped his dose back down to 2.5u the morning of Oct 3rd, but he's still bouncing and I'm not sure if I did the right thing.

Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated! I'm at my wits end trying to get his BG under some sort of control :banghead: His legs also seem a bit weaker today than they have been, this whole time he's had good days and bad days, but it makes me more worried about his BG being so high right now...
 
You didn't do anything wrong. Technically I probably wouldn't have reduced unless Bear's BG went below 90 however he wasn't far off and who knows wehre he was just before that 97 reading. What you are seeing now in the way of higher numbers is in all likelihood bouncing as you've suggested. Bounces can take up to 6 cycles to clear so it's likely he just hasn't cleared the bounce yet. Some cats are bouncier than others and there is nothing you can do about it but wait it out. Give the 2.5u dose another 3 to 5 cycles and make sure you get those night time tests even if it's only a test before bed every night and some day time mid cycle tests if possible to see if you can catch lower BGs that might be happening without your knowledge.
 
Gray Lee, or Lee as I call him suddenly started showing higher numbers. I took him to vet and vet recommended a dental cleaning. I try to brush him but he has tusks and drools a lot. The vet did a dental, found his canines were infected in the roots and removed them. He also found he has roof of mouth ulcers. He tested for all the diseases and all came up negative. He put him on a second round of Clavamox. He is lively and his insulin had been 7.5(u_100 syringe)and I reduced to usual dose of 6.5 at first after he returned home. However his numbers appear more high still to me. I upped to 7 units this morning and he seems more satisfied with food. I am just worried about mouth ulcers as vet said to keep him separated from other cats. Any thoughts? Also, I need to make his chart visible and I have forgotten how. It has been an awful summer and fall so far. I lost my mare and I've been so forgetful.....
 
@Iris Deary I am so sorry to hear about your mare. It's so difficult to lose our four footer family members. We'd be delighted to help you out with Gray Lee but this thread belongs to Bearcat86 so it would be best if you could repost your message in your new thread of your own in this forum. We don't want to get kitties confused in the same thread and info given to Bearcat86 or to you may not be pertinent to both your kitties. If you need help to make a new post, please holler. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top