New Member-Megan and Furril

[Mhpfed]

Hello-
I have been using this site as a resource since Furril was dx with diabetes. Last night we had a hypoglycemic episode and I'm just trying to figure out what happened. Just made an account, hopefully all is done correctly.

We have been doing glucose curves at home and last one was done 9/5 and the vet bumped him up to 3 units of prozinc. Last night he was acting weird (unsteady on back legs, kept walking around restlessly) so I did a glucose reading and it was 38! We took him to the hospital and he is recovering well and should be home today.

We are just wondering what happened. He has been eating friskies pate or fancy feast and isn't really in love with it. Has always preferred dry food. Past few days I've been trying Walmart's special kitty and he really liked it. With the others I could only get him to eat about 7 oz per day, vet recommended 340 calories per day so i was hoping to get him to eat 11 oz. This he was eating closer to the calorie goal. But did switching food drop his glucose? The last curve had him in the 200s, I'm surprised it dropped so much.

 

[jt and trouble (GA)]

WELCOME to FDMB I'm glad you finally posted! you already have a spreadsheet thats great please fill out insulin and meter you are using at the top of the sheet.
YES a change of food will directly affect bg numbers a raise in insulin will too! Obviously jumping up a whole unit was too much. If there are NO keytones present then please listen to our veterans @Panic, @Critter Mom. They can guide you on how to proceed.
AS you may have gathered we are ALL pretty dedicated to the treatment of feline diabetes. You and Furril have landed in a safe place!

WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY!
jeanne

 

[Panic]

Good gravy, 38!! I hope you lowered the dose since then! When did you switch him from dry food? Was he already on insulin when you made the switch? A diet change does a lot for cats - some cats go into remission from the food change alone.

What could have happened was 1) the food switch and 2) giving him too much insulin. If you were not checking BG at pre-shot then it's likely he was too low to receive insulin, or at least the amount that you gave him. As you can see, not checking can quickly cause an ER visit, so we do encourage to ALWAYS check before every shot. New diabetics should not be receiving insulin if BG is under 200 to start. You'll want to start getting spot-checks in during the day (and at least one "before bed" test at night, cats drop lower then) to see how low the dose is taking your cat, and adjust the dosage when needed. It's rare that a cat need stay on the same dose for more than a week. Insulin needs are constantly changing, because cats have the amazing ability to repair their damaged pancreas.

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

What Panic said and also here we recommend dose increase and decrease by .25 unit as opposed to a full unit which can make a huge difference too fast and also may zoom you past the ideal dose by not going at smaller increments.

Welcome, glad you got through that scare and he’s a cutie!!

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

Hello-
I have been using this site as a resource since Furril was dx with diabetes. Last night we had a hypoglycemic episode and I'm just trying to figure out what happened. Just made an account, hopefully all is done correctly.

We have been doing glucose curves at home and last one was done 9/5 and the vet bumped him up to 3 units of prozinc. Last night he was acting weird (unsteady on back legs, kept walking around restlessly) so I did a glucose reading and it was 38! We took him to the hospital and he is recovering well and should be home today.

We are just wondering what happened. He has been eating friskies pate or fancy feast and isn't really in love with it. Has always preferred dry food. Past few days I've been trying Walmart's special kitty and he really liked it. With the others I could only get him to eat about 7 oz per day, vet recommended 340 calories per day so i was hoping to get him to eat 11 oz. This he was eating closer to the calorie goal. But did switching food drop his glucose? The last curve had him in the 200s, I'm surprised it dropped so much.

Your spreadsheet is blank so just wondering if you have any test data at all yet? Also, when we do the pre tests Panic mentioned, we make sure kitty hasn’t eaten for at least 2 hours so the number you get is not inflated by food and you know if it’s safe to shoot the regular dose or not.

 

[Mhpfed]

Good gravy, 38!! I hope you lowered the dose since then! When did you switch him from dry food? Was he already on insulin when you made the switch? A diet change does a lot for cats - some cats go into remission from the food change alone.

What could have happened was 1) the food switch and 2) giving him too much insulin. If you were not checking BG at pre-shot then it's likely he was too low to receive insulin, or at least the amount that you gave him. As you can see, not checking can quickly cause an ER visit, so we do encourage to ALWAYS check before every shot. New diabetics should not be receiving insulin if BG is under 200 to start. You'll want to start getting spot-checks in during the day (and at least one "before bed" test at night, cats drop lower then) to see how low the dose is taking your cat, and adjust the dosage when needed. It's rare that a cat need stay on the same dose for more than a week. Insulin needs are constantly changing, because cats have the amazing ability to repair their damaged pancreas.

Thank you! He was on science hill dry diabetic food the first week of insulin (1 unit) when I told the vet I wanted to try wet food we kept on 1 unit for 10 more days before doing the next curve and moving to 2 units. His initial glucose reading upon dx was 600 so I figured he'd still need insulin even with wet food. The food switch this week was wet food brand only, from friskies to special kitty.

We will def check glucose each time before injection from now on! So no food for at least 2 hrs then test then inject if higher than 200?

 

[Ale & Bobo & Minnie (GA)]

Thank you! He was on science hill dry diabetic food the first week of insulin (1 unit) when I told the vet I wanted to try wet food we kept on 1 unit for 10 more days before doing the next curve and moving to 2 units. His initial glucose reading upon dx was 600 so I figured he'd still need insulin even with wet food. The food switch this week was wet food brand only, from friskies to special kitty.

We will def check glucose each time before injection from now on! So no food for at least 2 hrs then test then inject if higher than 200?

Test, feed then inject if over 200 the full dose. You can give a token dose if in between 150-200. Read the yellow sticky notes in the Prozync forum for more dosing guidance