New Member- low blood sugar help!

[Isabelcpresley]

Hello everyone,
My cat Finnick is a 10 year old orange tabby. He was diagnosed with diabetes in April. He was originally on 2 units of Vetsulin twice a day and then got bumped up to 2 1/2 then 3. He is currently having low blood sugar issues and I don’t know if I should give him insulin.

I took him in for a routine check up on Thursday. He was acting normal before the vet other than taking a nap but honestly he naps at that time every day. At the vet his blood sugar was 35 when my vet said it should be 120-150. My vet gave him some emergency high sugar food and said that since Finn wasn’t crashing I could take him home. I was told to feed him, skip his insulin that night and Friday morning if it was still low, as well as give him high calorie food if he blood sugar continued to be low. He said that I could go back to 2 units twice a day (a decrease compared to what he was on before) after that. He also mentioned that there is a chance that my cat could be headed toward remission but we shouldn’t get our hopes up yet.

Here is my dilemma, his blood sugar has yet to get back into normal range as far as what I’ve seen (it’s still too low) so I have not given him insulin since Thursday morning. My vet is out of town this weekend but gave me his cell number for emergencies. Finn has been acting perfectly fine since Friday morning. He’s been active, snuggly, and eating normally. Should I be giving him insulin even though his blood sugar has been low?

Here are his numbers from the past few days:
Thursday 7:00 43
Friday 7:30AM 103
Friday 2:00PM 105
Saturday 8:45AM 90
Saturday 8:30PM 83


He is usually given insulin at 9AM and 9PM. Am I testing at the wrong time of day and that’s why I’m getting such low results? I’m terrified that if I give him insulin that he will crash.

I used to home test very frequently but my vet said that I could slow down the home testing to make my cat more comfortable (he fights me and the vet no matter what methods we try) but honestly home testing has been few and far between for the past month. I know that’s awful of me but it’s the truth. I really don’t have recent numbers to compare his current blood sugar to.

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you all!
-Isabel

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Hello and welcome. I'm glad to hear he survived those low numbers. First question, what brand of blood glucose meter are you using for testing for those numbers the last few days? Pet meters typically read a bit higher than human meters. 43 is too low, much less 35, regardless of meter type.

I wouldn't give him insulin if his numbers stay in the range they have been. That does mean keeping on testing him, at least before his normal shot time. If his numbers do start to creep up, you may want to give insulin, but not 2 units. That is too much insulin now.

There are a few other things we'd like to hear about him, such as what food you are feeding. Have there been any recent changes in food? Answers to those questions we'll all ask can go in your signature. This post tells you what we like to know about Finnick. New? How You Can Help Us Help You!

 

[Isabelcpresley]

Hello,
Thank you for the quick response.
I use the iPet Pro which I believe is made by UltiCare. I’m not sure what brand my vet uses.

There has been no changes in food since June. He eats fancy feast pate. I feed him one can four times per day. He usually eats around 3 1/2 of them total (leaves a little in the bowl every time.) Finn is about 14 pounds.

I will add it to my signature! Thank you.
-Isabel

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Good to hear he's on low carb food, I presume that's been for a while?

Since you are using a pet meter, all the numbers you have listed above are normal blood sugar numbers for a non diabetic cat. If you test and he starts going higher, post here and we can help you decide if he should be started back on insulin at a much lower dose.