Newbie with behavioral questions

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Snoogleface

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Hi,
My 4 yo male cat, Sammy, aka the Snoog, stopped eating a while back and after getting the blood work back from the vet we discovered that diabetes was the cause. His numbers were in the 400s at the time so our vet put him on 2 units of Lantus twice a day. His follow up was 4 days later which was a Sunday, and because he strangely let us sleep in that morning, his insulin dose was administered too late for the vet to get a good reading at that time so she had us leave him there for an hour before a testing that showed him in the high 200s. Of course now I realize that this was likely due to him being super stressed out being in a strange place with other animals lots of loud noises, but at the time I was unaware of that and went along with her advice to increase the insulin dosage to 3 units twice a day. Yet another 4 days later I brought him back and, as you likely guessed, his numbers were too low, reading at about 67. So another couple hours of vet time with syrup and iv sugar administered, I brought him home to do 1 unit that night and stay on a 2 unit twice a day regimen. His most recent visit, 5 days after the low reading, his bg was 89 a good 7.5 hours after insulin administration, which my vet said was a good amount, though I'm still concerned this may be low considering how stressed he gets about going to the vet. I have switched him from 100% dry food to high quality, grain free wet food (a can of Nature's Variety during the day and a can of Weruva for his evening shots/overnight) and am planning to get a home test kit after reading advice to others on here.
My main question is with his really bizarre behavior the last few days. He seems to want to eat much more than I would expect (I'm halfway through a second can of Nature's Variety today and it's only 2pm) and gets downright mean if I don't comply with this. Additionally, he seems to only have 2 modes: superhyperactive kitty that needs constant entertainment and playtime or sleeping in dark places. I get wanting to play and all, but he wanted to chase his toy mousey on a string from 7am to 1pm, and if I put it down he would sprint back and forth across the apartment meowing like he desperately needed something. While the high energy seems inconsistent with hypo, I thought I should just be cautious and administer some syrup, and now he's gone into hide under the couch mode. Are these possibly signs of something odd? Nothing in what I've read mentions this sort of behavior, and my vet seemed to think it was just him getting back to normal, but I'm not so sure. Normally he would be in the living room with me, hanging out calmly instead of sprinting like a mad man and demanding more than his recommended food quantity in just half a day. Any insight anyone could provide would be immensely welcome!


-Teresa (Snoog's mommy)
 
Hi Teresa,

The only way to figure out what is going on is to test him. It may be that he is bouncing from lows (hungry, odd behavior, hiding) to higher numbers when he feels better. You are right that the numbers at the vet are not as accurate as those you can get at home. If he is in double digits at the vet, I worry about how low he could be at home. We have taught hundreds of people how to test over the internet and would be glad to teach you.

Here is a shopping list for testing:

A human glucometer. Any one that sips and takes a tiny sample is fine. The meters are often free at drug stores; it’s the strips that are expensive. You can, however, buy them on ebay at less than half the price of stores. Lots of people here also like the ReliOn from Walmart. It is an inexpensive meter and its strips are the cheapest around. Try the meter out on yourself or someone else before you try it on your cat. You want to be familiar with it before you poke the cat.

Lancets and a lancet device. Usually, until the ears “learn” to bleed, a 26-28 gauge is good. Any brand will work as long as the lancets match your device.

Ketone strips. (Ketostix) Just like human diabetics use. You will sometimes need to test urine if the numbers are high.

Rice sack. Make this out of thinnish sock, filled with raw rice or oatmeal and then knotted. You heat this in the microwave until very warm but not hot. Then heat the ears before poking.

Also nice to have. Flashlight: so you can look at the ears and find the little capillaries that come off the vein running down the ear. Vaseline: Put a tiny smear where you want to poke. It will help the blood bead up.

And some lo carb treats to give your kitty, successful test or not Lo carb treats
 
Thanks Sue and Oliver, I'm pretty much sold on the ReliOn after your recommendation and reading the great reviews on Wallmart's website. One question however, when you say, "tiny sample," am I correct in assuming you mean the .3 microliter variety?

-Teresa
 
Want to say welcome and to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE test at home... sounds like your baby could be going too low!
My Beans bg was 27!!!! the first test I actually got to work (momma was not that good with the routine at first). It really is not that hard after you get it down and start a routine with you as well as your baby.... Low carb treats make this issue very much allowed with your furry one! I know Bean loved the extra attention and of course the few treats before testing and the few after... I believe it really saved her life as the vet wanted to raise from 1 unit to 2.
Keep us posted and furry hugs to ya :smile:
 
Note: the ReliOn Confirm is the branded version of the Glucocard 01 by Arkray.

It may be purchased online (for those who don't like walMart) at American Diabetes Wholesale This web site offers occasional coupons (search on-line), and discounts for auto-shipping, or large purchases.
 
Thanks for all the great advice! It was such a godsend to find a site like this for information! Without the material I have found on here I was going to go insane with all the guesswork and worrying I was doing! :-D

-T
 
Teresa,
One thing you mentioned caught my eye. His insistence on food, when it seems odd to you. At times, when kitty's blood glucose goes low, they instinctively know that they need food to boost their BG. It could be that his numbers are low, or that his body thinks they are low enough that they need a lift. Home testing in between shots will let you know for sure how much the insulin is pushing his BG down.

Carl
 
One thing I'll add to that. At first, a diabetic cat will eat more than normal because they can't process food as well as they could before diabetes. So they eat more in order to get "enough" if that makes sense. That will calm down as his BG becomes better regulated.

Carl
 
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