New Member 911 Help Hypo Cat

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Madams75

Member Since 2024
Hi , I posted the other day about my cat K, she is 18 and we are having trouble stabilizing her. I know there is a spreadsheet and process but I havent had time to read through it all and have an immediate situation I am hoping I could get some insight on.

Past few days she has mostly been in range, a couple dips below 50 but past 2 days mid 200s on average. This morning at 11am EST she went to the 40's or "Lo" which on the Libre sensor is out of range below 40. She is not showing any symptoms and we have tried 2 feedings of wet food, and then some treats all which she ate up. however it is now almost 3pm and she is still bouncing between 45-below 40. I called the vet because it is Friday and I believe her Libre is about to die, and they close through the weekend. The vet said to give her molasses and dont do any insulin over the weekend and to call back on Monday.

My husband is saying no, he wants to demand another libre for the weekend and for us to do insulin based on readings. I am just not sure what is right, how dangerous a situation this is etc. Is it ok to not give insulin until Monday and then start a new libre then? Or should we insist on a monitor for the weekend and keep insulin as needed? She seems to be highly insulin sensitive and the vet will only communicate through techs or via email and right now stress levels are high.

I dont have permission to share files it seems, but I can share her daily scores or 7 day averages etc. if helpful
 
Good to see your cat K is not showing symptoms of hypo. Just to check, here is the description of hypo symptoms: How to treat HYPOS - THEY CAN KILL! Print this Out!! I wouldn't give molasses, but rather syrup or karo or honey if needed.

Do you have a backup manual blood glucose tester? We have noticed that often the Libres will test lower than the BG meters in low numbers. We do recommend manual testing if kitty goes below 100 on the Libre. It could be that the Libre is just testing lower than it should.

Was your kitty diagnosed with any other conditions, such as DKA or ketones? The biggest concern about stopping insulin is if she has ketones in the past, you need to keep giving insulin or it could turn into DKA. Are you home testing for ketones?

Here is the link to your last post here: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-member-elderly-kitty-help.285740/ In that post, you said you were going to lower her dose to 0.5 units. Did you do that? If she is still on the kidney diet and she is on 0.5 units and getting dips below 50, you need to lower her dose even more. You can eyeball a 0.25 units dose, halfway between the half unit marks and the zero line on the syringe.

Summary, I think you should get a new Libre quickly if you can, or if you do not have one, get a human blood glucose meter and learn to test with it. We have posts that can help you learn to do that. Many people use the Relion meters from Walmart, their test strips are the cheapest.
 
Thank you, no we don't have a back up. Our vet really doesn't give us any information and we are scrambling to figure things out. We have been in this cycle for weeks and every weekend we live in pure panic. I did do the .5 unit and she stayed steady in the mid to high 200's. My husband felt this was too high and wanted to go back to 1 unit, which I did this am. I worry we are changing dose around too much, but he feels we should adjust on the fly to the libre reading. And the vet, we send in our 20 questions and in a day or two she replies with one sentence. I know we are nervous parents here but she is so healthy for an 18 year old, even when her glucose was below 40 today she is running around and playing and purring. I feel much better knowing that the Libre's read low, because I feel like that matches what we see, because she almost seems happiest when its low. Anyway sorry for the ramble, the vet cant see us for a new libre until Tuesday. We are definitely not doing insulin tonight, but tomorrow when we see the reading, we will have to decide then I guess what to do.

She has Kidney Disease, but as far as ketones etc I have no idea, the vet has never said anything. She only shows symptoms when her glucose is high, typically over 400. Then she is spacey, lethargic, stops grooming etc. The vet has never mentioned anything and all blood tests are done through them.

I have honey, but right now she just tested at 60 and seems fine so I may wait on that. I love my cats but this is so stressful! Thank you for replying to my panic emails.
 
If you think the 0.5 unit was too low, you could try 0.75 unit. Which you have to eyeball partway between the 0.5 and the 1.0. The 1.0 units of insulin was clearly too much. Once you get that spreadsheet set up, we'll be able to help you better with dosing.

The other possibility with the 0.5 unit dose is that she was bouncing. Which is a temporary response to the lower numbers she saw previously. Definition of bouncing:
Bouncing is simply a natural reaction to what the cat's system perceives as a BG value that is "too low". "Too low" is relative. If a cat is used to BGs in the 200's, 300's, or higher for a long time, then even a BG that drops to 150 can trigger a "bounce". Bouncing can also be triggered if the blood glucose drops too low and/or too fast.The pancreas, then the liver, release glucogon, glycogen and counter-regulatory hormones. The end result is a dumping of "sugar" into the bloodstream to save the cat from going hypoglycemic from a perceived low. The action is often referred to as "liver panic" or "panicky liver". *Usually*, a bounce will clear kitty's system within 3 days (6 cycles).
Click to expand...
You don't do anything to the dose in response to a bounce, just be patient, and the numbers will come back down again.

The lethargy symptom is a little worrying. I'm hoping the fact that the vet didn't say anything about ketones is because it wasn't a concern, but some vets fail to mention it. Mine too. If you have a copy of her blood and urinalysis from diagnosis, (which you should), the urinalysis should say if there were ketones present. More info here:
Ketones, Ketoacidosis, and Diabetic Cats: A Primer on Ketones
 
Thank you! This is really helpful, she is now at 155 and my husband is going to get the test strips. This is all new info for us so really appreciate it. She is still acting completely normal despite being in the 40s or below for about 5 hours. I don't have any of the test results, I will ask for them when we sit down with them Tuesday.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top