? Low numbers need advice

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Slinky_winky

Slinky_winky

Member Since 2022
Hello, New member here my cat inky was recently diagnosed with diabetes last week we started him on 1 unit of lantus twice a day. about five days later I noticed he was having symptoms of hypoglycemia, he was twitching and seem disoriented. At that moment we did not have a monitor yet so I called the vet and she said to give him Karo syrup which we did the twitching went away but ever since then he has not wanted to finish his food anytime it’s feeding time so we haven’t been able to give him his insulin he doesn’t even eat enough for half a dose. We got a meter that same night and his glucose reading was 62 mg/dl. Next morning he was at 64 mg/dl and he did not want to eat we took him to the vet for a recheck and they did a glucose curve. She said that he is in remission and that his reading stayed at 100 mg/dl. She said to stop the insulin keep feeding him how we are because I guess we did good which has me confused because he hasn’t been finishing his food, but he’s always been very picky and sometimes will come back to the food, but he wasn’t this time. Next morning he ate less than half of his food so we did a check and he was at 54 mg/dl we gave him some Karo and got him to eat a lil more and he went up to 64 mg/dl and his latest check was 61 mg/dl. I am not sure what to do now it is really hard to get him to eat he won’t even eat his old food and I can’t afford to take him to the vet again, The reason we found out he was diabetic was because we took him to the vet because he got into some pesticides and got pretty sick with the vet bill, his insulin, food, and everything together we have spent well over $1k. So my question is can a diabetic cat really going to remission that quickly and is it normal for their numbers to be that low when in remission? How many times should I be checking his blood sugar? He doesn’t like it. His blood sugar was at 59 mg/dl this morning he didn’t eat much. My boyfriend brought up that he thinks the glucose monitor is broken because he hasn’t had a higher reading than 64 mg/dl at home. I don’t think it is, but we use the freestyle precision neo. He just left to get some food with gravy in it so we are going to try that. We are very overwhelmed because our vet doesn’t really go into detail or explain much it seems they are always in a hurry.
 
If it's been several days since you last gave insulin, you don't need to give karo at those lovely non diabetic numbers. My non diabetic registers in the low 50's or high 40's. How many days since you last gave a shot?

When he was diagnosed as diabetic, do you know what numbers the vet based that on? Do you have a copy of his blood work? You paid for it. Did he do a urinalysis? Cats can also get high blood sugars from stress at the vet. I had a non diabetic go over 220 at the vet, 53 at home the next day. Just wondering if the cat actually was diabetic at all.
 
I don't have much time so I'll be quick. Others will jump in.

Thank goodness you recognized the hypo symptoms. Well done.

If you are not giving insulin, you do not have to give karo. What you are seeing is normal numbers. Check Inky's BG once a day (before food). For the time being, stick with low carb food – you don't want numbers to start rising and some cat food is crazy high in carbs.

You can check your meter by testing yourself. The same numbers range applies.

Questions other members of the forum will ask:
What tests the vet used to diagnosis the diabetes?
What was the treatment for pesticides? and what were the symptoms?
Did the vet say that there might be secondary problems from the poisoning?

Some reading for you:
 
Wendy&Neko said:
If it's been several days since you last gave insulin, you don't need to give karo at those lovely non diabetic numbers. My non diabetic registers in the low 50's or high 40's. How many days since you last gave a shot?

When he was diagnosed as diabetic, do you know what numbers the vet based that on? Do you have a copy of his blood work? You paid for it. Did he do a urinalysis? Cats can also get high blood sugars from stress at the vet. I had a non diabetic go over 220 at the vet, 53 at home the next day. Just wondering if the cat actually was diabetic at all.
Click to expand...

last shot was 4 days ago. Omg ok see we are very confused because everywhere I read says that’s too low. He was diagnosed on the 15th the vet said there was sugar in his urine and his blood sugar was at I think around 600. I don’t have a copy of the blood work that’s the thing they didn’t provide us with anything. And since this is the first time dealing with a diabetic cat we didn’t know. The experience at this vet wasn’t very good they had us pick him up that day at closing so they didn’t get to show us how to do the insulin we had to ask to come back the next day so they could demonstrate.
 
The normal range for blood glucose is 50 - 120. Your cat's number are in the normal range. There are some non-diabetic cats whose numbers run a little lower.

Many cats also experience stress when at the vet's office. Stress causes a rise in blood glucose numbers. It may have been a temporary spike. The only way to know if your cat was diabetic was if your vet took blood for a fructosamine level. This would give you information as to whether Inky's numbers had been elevated for several weeks prior. In addition, for some cats, it the have a symptomatic hypoglycemic event, they sometimes go into remission. I would encourage you to get a couple of tests a day for a few weeks and make sure your cat's numbers stay in normal range.
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
I don't have much time so I'll be quick. Others will jump in.

Thank goodness you recognized the hypo symptoms. Well done.

If you are not giving insulin, you do not have to give karo. What you are seeing is normal numbers. Check Inky's BG once a day (before food). For the time being, stick with low carb food – you don't want numbers to start rising and some cat food is crazy high in carbs.

You can check your meter by testing yourself. The same numbers range applies.

Questions other members of the forum will ask:
What tests the vet used to diagnosis the diabetes?
What was the treatment for pesticides? and what were the symptoms?
Did the vet say that there might be secondary problems from the poisoning?

Some reading for you:
Click to expand...

Ok thank you so much! We will stop giving him Karo.

the vet did a CBC/chemistry panel and urinalysis.

Treatment for the pesticides was IV fluid therapy cerenia injection. Symptoms from the pesticide he had nausea and he was drooling a lot and foaming. The vet did not say he would have any secondary problems from the poisoning she said he should be good now.
 
You don't want him to go long without eating, sounds like that's the main problem to deal with now. If he's still not eating much, is he at least interested in the food? Just wondering if you should get something like ondansetron for nausea. It's a people med, you get a prescription from the vet and fill it at any pharmacy. Red and Rover posted some good tips for getting a cat to eat, see post #3.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
You don't want him to go long without eating, sounds like that's the main problem to deal with now. If he's still not eating much, is he at least interested in the food? Just wondering if you should get something like ondansetron for nausea. It's a people med, you get a prescription from the vet and fill it at any pharmacy. Red and Rover posted some good tips for getting a cat to eat, see post #3.
Click to expand...

I just wanna say thank you so much we are so relieved to hear his numbers are normal. The vet made it seem like it was bad that he was around 60. But I’m glad that we found out his in remission from that visit.

yes he’s definitely interested in eating and he knows when it’s feeding time but he will just lick up the liquid and not really eat it, he’s always been super picky about food. We are currently feeding him tiki cat after dark pate I mix in water and top with a lil bit of tiki cat dry food. Since he was eating dry before this.

he no longer has nausea thankfully after the initial vet visit.
 
Slinky_winky said:
yes he’s definitely interested in eating and he knows when it’s feeding time but he will just lick up the liquid and not really eat it,
Click to expand...
That is a likely indication of nausea. As already recommended, I would get a script from your vet for ondansetron and administer it as the script says.
 
A nauseous cat will not want to bend its head down to eat. Neither would a human.

Try raising the food bowl 4+6 inches. A couple of old books or telephone directories that you don't care around will do (they may get covered in cat food) or an upside-down cookie tin that has a metal rigid on the bottom end (prevents the plate from slipping off).

You can also try putting a bit of food on your finger and offering it to Inky.
 
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