low sugar too long, help with Contour reader

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barbwhite1

Member Since 2010
Hi, my 14 yr old Prince has been diabetic for 3 years. 6 months ago he became ridiculously picky with food (he was generally picky before), and vet agreed if I had no other choice but to feed him the junk food he preferred. Prince and I settled on Premium Purina One. He would prefer not to eat , to eating prescription food. He won't eat homemade foods, but would eat fresh tuna all day. Anyway, last Wednesday night had a seizure. He screamed, ran into the bedroom and flung around under the bed for under a minute before going limp. I got him in a comfortable bed, gave him Karo twice, then fed him. He stayed at vet 3 days and two nights, then coming home with pain meds and no other ailments known. Sugar balanced, so they said but he walked in circkes when he got home. It may be he has a neurological problem but I can not afford testing. Today I found him limp in the closet. The vet answered her cell phone and suggested no insulin tonight and no pain med (to make him drousy) and to monitor him. I found my Contour blood tester and first results this afternoon said his level was 45. Isn't supposed to be 150? I just fed him some Gravy Lovers Fancy Feast and will test again in 10 min. Are the readings from this machine on the same scale whdn someone tellseme it should be at 150? Please help.

With fair share at mine and my husband's jobs, I am thinking I need to at least come home for lunch and check his sugar...but neither of us can take the day off. I also have 3 other cats. I will need to lock him in the bedroom with plenty of wet food for him to eat. He gets hungry mid day, and I think one of his problems is he decided not to eat thr dry M/D food left out for him.

Anxious over my Prince, Barbara
 
Hi Barbara,

When was the last time he had insulin? His number should be above 50, not 150.

Is he still walking in circles? When he had the seizure, do you know what his blood sugar was? Was it too low?

~Suzanne
 
Hi Suzanne. Thank you so much for the reply. His dose is 6 mm 2x a day with meals. His last dose was 7 a.m. he ate near a can of wet Prurina. Todays test results...45. -20 min later 54. Just now (about 40 min after last test), 54 again and he was fed more Facy Feast gravy.

I didn't test his sugar then, I forgot I had the tester because I couldn't get the hang of it (I hate needles). I am forging thru it now. About 2-3 weeks ago I was awaken by a load odd cat scream and short shuffle, but I was so tired (and a heavy sleeper) I went back to sleep. About that time Prince started sleeping in a pet carrier or on scratch post he necer did before. I noriced he was slow, but he ate regularly (so I thought). It is very possible this was his second seizure, and then neurological. My hope is not and I can figure out how to balance him soon (not to be in pain).
 
Oh, no circles today. He has planted himself in a favorite spot outside on the ground on the patio. In hot FL sun. He is not strong enough to fight me when I pick him up, though is verbally fussing at me. Walking slow and to a short distance to lay back down after blood tests. Normally he would fuss if I bothered him and run somewhere in the house. He is a very skinny 11 lbs. I can't seem to get more weight on him. He has walked slow for about 3 months, where before I would often see him batting his mice around and climbing to the top of cat stands (though skinny).
 
Has he been on that dose of Prozinc for 3 years? It's possible he went too low and is now more sensitive to insulin.

Prozinc isn't my insulin so I don't want to give you bad advice. I'll cross post on the PZI page and see if I can get you some more help.

You do want to keep him above 50, so keep giving him higher carb food until you get two tests above 50.
 
After I found Prince limp, I called vet. She said to reduce his insulin does to 3 units tomorrow morning, letting dose wear off today. And to skip pain med tonight to monitor him (can make him loopy).She did not know I had tester... I thought of it after the call. I am not familiar with testing myself. Vet tested, assigned dose, then he was great. Not the most desired practice, but no one is home and I don't know anyone that can check on him.when it rains it pours, this timing is terrible.
 
Hello Barbara, and welcome to FDMB!

Can you tell us how many hours ago Prince had insulin?
It's easier if you tell us how many hours because this is an international forum and we're in different time zones.

Yes, it could be a neurological problem (what does your vet say about this?) but the symptoms you describe could also be hypoglycemia (dangerously low blood glucose).

Eliz
 
Hi Barbara and welcome to FDMB! Can I ask if 6 units was a starting dose? That's a pretty high amount to give. Some cats do need more insulin but if you started there, it may be too much insulin. Do you test before giving insulin? That will help to make sure the dose isn't too much.

We are here to help!
 
We always say to Feed The Forties. If his last dose was 11.5 hours ago, then it looks like you should be skipping his evening dose.
 
Almost 3 yrs ago he started at 3-4 units. He has been on 6 for about a year. The vet suggested a few months ago to change to a different insulin but the cost would be significantly more and I am not certain I can afford it. We did not change anything. I am beginning to think that shoud've been done and needs to be revisited. Testing is new to me. I did not do that before, though Iwas asked. My problem is no one is available furing the day to monitor his levels.
 
I am skipping evening does of insulin. Going to 3 units in the morning, and will come home at lunch to check on him. Because Ihave 3 other cats, I will put Prince in our bedroom when I go to work with a couple bowls of wet food near the water dish already in the room. He has chosen not to ear any of the dry food available (Hills Prescription MD).
 
I am so glad you came here and learned to test and did not give him 6 units on that 41. That's what testing is good for is keeping your kitty safe, besides helping with making dosing decisions.
 
barbwhite1 said:
I am skipping evening does of insulin. Going to 3 units in the morning, and will come home at lunch to check on him. Because Ihave 3 other cats, I will put Prince in our bedroom when I go to work with a couple bowls of wet food near the water dish already in the room. He has chosen not to ear any of the dry food available (Hills Prescription MD).
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This sounds like a good plan. I think the dose is likely too high and it sounds like he has had several hypo incidents. Sometimes just having a hypo will reduce the insulin needed. Also if he has recently begun to eat wet and quit dry, that can reduce the amount of insulin needed.

Tomorrow morning he may be fairly high (after the skipped shot - wise decision- and 24 hours since the last insulin). But I would go with the lower dose regardless. If he is under 200 in the morning, stall by waiting 20 minutes without feeding and retest. Meanwhile come on here for dosing advice. You want to be sure he is rising, not falling and over 200..

You can always increase the dose as your testing indicates, but you can't get the insulin out of the cat once shot. :mrgreen: Now that you are home testing, you can get a clear picture of how low the insulin takes him during a 12 hour cycle and how the new dose is working. And you can keep him safe, not dropping low.
 
Dyana, Thank you. I appreciate pointers.
Sue, Thank you too. I will monitor him tonight and early as possible tomorrow.
I am making every attempt to balance his insulin before letting the thought of neurological problems are assumed. Vet informed me many cats get brain injuries (often and several types) that cause seizures. They have referred me to a hospital that will charge + $1,000 for brainscan/tests that I can not afford. Prince is 14 yrs old and a kitten rescue. He is my first cat and baby, but I am concerned about his quality of life. He has had good health until the diabetes turned on. An important piece to my situation is my attention has primarily been on my young stroke surviving husband over the last 1.5 years. I am part caretaker (he is working), 100% house keeper, full time employed and we have 4 cats. My plate is full, and guilt for not capturing Prince's issues sooner is very heavy right now. I love him dearly.

Thank you for any info on testing guidelines for tonight thru tomorrow I will let my vet know tomorrow I found the tester and am trying to use it. I am buying more testing strips for immediate delivery.
 
You have had a tiring experience and it looks like he is moving up fom the low numbers. You might get another test tonight, just to know where he is and that he is okay and then both of you get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, test him before feeding so you could stall if you need to.
 
Don't feel guilty! I know how easy it is to beat yourself up but you shouldn't. So many of us didn't notice our cats issues at first. The point is that you are doing the right thing now to help your kitty. Definitely get some sleep tonight! You deserve it.
 
Thank you. 12 hrs after taking him in from his seizure, and not getting the morning shot, his level was 300. It was 74 at 8:45pm and I will test it again at 10:30pm. He is up and about as normal right now, no apoarent pain so he is off the pain meds for the moment. I will probably wake at 3 am and test knowing how high his level can get. I ordered more test strips and needles due Wednesday. I feel better about testing now. Ever thankful for this site!!
 
Though at 8:45pm his level was 72, it dropped to 42 by 11pm. I fed him a bit more food and went to bed. I woke up at 4 a.m. and he tested at 199. So I gave him 3 units of insulin. I am waiting 30 minutes and I will test him. I have 3.5 hrs to test and help balance him before I goto work.
 
I am not experienced with Prozinc, but I would not give any more insulin.
I'm sure he is bouncing from those low numbers from yesterday.
 
I am not sure what is happening (we have to get you a spreadsheet set up so we can see. We are in different time zones and countries and can't tell by your time. Until you get the spreadsheet set up, let's deal with +#s. That is, it is now +1 (1 hour since the shot) and he is 267? If he ate after the shot, it is not unusual for him to rise. And his system may still be a little wonky since the hypo.

Get a couple tests in before you have to leave so you have more data. Can you plan to shoot 12 hours after this early morning shot so you can stay on a 12/12 schedule?
 
Thank you to all on this thread.I posted in Grief. The vet found Prince had two massive growths in his chest and belly that were most likely contributing to his sugars being off so much. He was 15 yrs old and a severe diabetic. He was long worn of the shots and foods he didn't like. It was time, I could not bear for him to have any more attacks or suffer any longer. :cry:
 
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