Hi, My cat has always had a nadir of over 200 and then when checking today after 5 hours it was 69?? I panicked as never seen a number anywhere near that and gave him high carb food and treats, he’s now 133 but still keep checking as the nadir is around this time. These are the following numbers Had shot at 9.40 14.44 - 69 14.46 - 70 14.59 - 77 15.14 - 98 15.34 - 133 I don’t think he ate for around an hour before that number but I’m not entirely sure how long, he’s ravenous a lot of times so I regularly get up all the time checking on him and feed him when he’s meowing at me for food! (I work nights) He was maybe more ravenous than usual but again hard to tell as he goes through stages of eating a lot and then not being hungry throughout the day/night. Does anyone know why this has happened as this has now made me petrified of low numbers!
He’s earned a reduction back down to 3 units. That’s the first thing. You did fine because you are using an Alpha Trak so the take action number where you give high carb is 68 so you were very close. Normally, you don’t give HC until kitty is at the take action number. You give a very small amount of food, like 1 tsp. HC and retest in 20 minutes. You keep testing every 20-30 minutes (and as the numbers improve you can stretch out the time between tests.). You only want to give small amounts of food because you need to keep your cat hungry and not fill him up on food — because sometimes you may need to repeat this process many times to bring up the BG until it starts to stay up on its own. Also, you must test for two hours after the last HC was given. If the cat has dropped below 68 on your Alpha Trak, go ahead and give a small amount of Karo syrup or honey and follow the same procedure as above.
Also, you need to put every test on your spreadsheet. Just put them in the cell that is closest to the time you tested. E.g. 75@4.25 (for four hours and 15 minutes, etc). Then you have to manually color code the cell — sometimes needing to change the text color as well, depending on the background color (text color either black or white.)
Also, 69 is not a hypo number so we just want to be vigilant but not panic. It's a long way from the danger zone and we want to keep it that way. Remember, when you are testing and feeding you are in control and can steer the numbers. It’s great that Piggy is having a good response to the insulin finally. That’s progress. Reduce the dose tonight and test. Be sure to reduce even if he bounces and the numbers are high. Okay? Good job catching the 69 today!
Make sure he always gets a teaspoon or two low carb wet food at +2, +4 and possibly +6 - regardless of numbers. Just don’t feed after the typical nadir hour as that can disrupt the cycle and shorten the duration of the insulin.
Thanks so much for all the information, I stupidly fed him too many carbs then I expect as I went into full panic mode as it was so unexpected. It’s still proving extremely difficult trying to accurately see the levels with testing as he’s still eating so much and hungry for a lot of the day, meowing etc!. I’ll shoot 3 tonight like you said. Thanks again, I really appreciate it.
You are seeing a few good numbers (blues today) I am sorry about the bouncing. Don’t stress over those blues!
Hi! Thanks for your help, Was pleased with the numbers today and then felt a bit disheartened at the high red number tonight! But is that the bouncing? The last few days he’s seemed so bright and starting chasing his laser pen and jumping on the worktop for the first time since late January which has been so lovely to see
It’s great to hear that Piggy is feeling better! He’s proven that he can have a good response to insulin, but yes the dramatic rise in numbers is what we call a bounce. It’s his body’s response to being in BG numbers that he’s not used to anymore. It’s a reaction either to glucose falling too rapidly or the cat being in the numbers he’s not accustomed to. Piggy’s body releases hormones like epinephrine and subsequently cortisol, glucagon, and growth hormone. This causes a steep rise in BG. Bounces can last for up to six cycles. They won’t necessarily last that long, but they can. This is one reason why we want to prevent steep drops by giving snacks during the early portion of the cycle. The +2 snack is really important, but another snack by at least +4 is also important. These snacks help prevent steep drops in BG (helping to prevent bounces) and smooth the cycle.) We just don’t recommend feeding after nadir because it can shorten the duration of the insulin and cause numbers to rise prematurely. In the beginning, I usually say no food after +6, but nadirs can vary among cats so as you go along you will have a better idea of when Piggy’s nadir usually is.
Does Piggy take the Prednisolone every day or every other day? How was the IBD diagnosed? An ultrasound? I’ve had a few IBD cats and some with small cell lymphoma. If it comes to that, the treatment with chlorambucil is very effective. But for now, is Piggy on a probiotic? I cannot recommend the probiotic called Visbiome Vet more highly. My IBD boy was on a daily dose of 5 mg. Pred. Every time I tried to go to every other day he would start having diarrhea again. After I started him on Visbiome Vet, I was able to go to every other day dosing of the Prednisolone without diarrhea. Also, just last week I took him for his sox month abdominal ultrasound recheck and his intestinal measurements were the smallest they’ve ever been so far (he goes every six months.). Nothing else had changed except the addition of the Visbiome Vet probiotic daily mixed into a little food.
Thats interesting to know, it seems to be such a minefield! He’s having snacks all the time really as he’s still really hungry for a large majority of the day which makes it difficult to not feed him for testing etc but I’m trying, he was 7.4lb in February and I weighed him yesterday and he’s 9.2lb which I was really pleased about as he got so thin. We’ve only had him for around 18 months, he always suffered with ‘on and off’ poops but they were good the majority of the time but in February when the diabetes come along he appeared to have tummy ache and was going toilet 12+ times a day, so both things seem to have happened all at once. He was put on 5mg Pred per day and had an ultrasound and said there was thickness and his tummy felt very lumpy etc, she said it could be IBD or lymphoma but suggested not to do the biopsy as the treatment with steroids was the same. He improved a lot after starting the steroids, poos got a lot better and didn’t seem to have tummy ache etc but after a course of antibiotics last month they seem to have turned very runny again plus there’s quite a few per day due to the amount he’s still eating but still nothing compared to how bad it was before. He’s on Vetri Science Mega Probiotics at the moment which I managed to get shipped from America (as I’m in the UK) but I will definitely look into the Viobiome, is it available in the UK? If not I can try and see if I can get it shipped over here as that sounds really good. Thank you yet again for all the information and help, I just seem to be worrying all the time about him!
