not sure what to do next...guidance needed!

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SoniaLovesHerCats

SoniaLovesHerCats

Member Since 2017
Hey everyone, Sorry maybe too long winded....

Luna was diagnosed approx 5 weeks ago. Her reading was close to 27.9. I was sent home to administer insulin twice a day and change her diet. Unfortunately, I was leaving 5 days after the news (for almost 4 weeks) and a cat sitter would be caring for her and my other one. The vet's advice was not to start the insulin until I returned. I changed their diets to wet canned (mostly Hound and Gatos) and thankfully they transitioned quite well and quickly. ( I only had a few days to find something they would both eat). In those few days she seemed to improve (drinking less, peeing less and more alert and jumping around). Returned this past Saturday. Yesterday (Sunday) I did my first at home reading (One Touch) again on my vet's advice, and she was down to 3.8. Where do I go from here? My vet retired on Dec 31st (ugh) and I didn't know this when I saw her in early December. I'll obviously find a new vet but wondering is it possible diet alone has done this to the reading? Should I take her to a vet to do a 'proper' blood test? When should I test her again? Should I start insulin as per my vet's original advice? Please guide me and my lovely Luna :)
 
Good for you for changing diet before giving insulin. You might just have a diet-controlled diabetic!

If it were me, I would continue to monitor (home-testing) for a least a week. I would try to get 4 or so readings a day for a few days - early morning, before food, 2 hours after food. Hope the normal numbers continue for your kitty.
 
I believe 3.8 is a normal number. I would NOT give insulin on that reading!
Just-As-Appy gave you some good advice on testing throughout the day to see how food is influencing the BG readings.
No food 2 hours prior to meal then test before feeding then two hours after eating. If you can do a "curve" which is testing every 2 hours after her meal that would give you an idea of how well her body is working. It's not a guarantee that will be how she reacts every day.
 
I tried diet controlled with my cat when he was first diagnosed and he dropped 200 points from diet alone. It wasn't enough for him so he is on insulin now but it shows how much a proper low carb diet can do for your kitty!
 
Hi Sonia,

Welcome to you and your lovely Luna. :)

3.8 on a human meter is in the normal blood glucose range for cats. Luna may be one of the lucky kitties for whom diet change alone is sufficient to move them into remission. Certainly her clinical signs after the food transition were very promising.

Bearing in mind that Luna has not been tested in your absence this is one of the occasions where a fructosamine test run by your vet may be beneficial. It would give an indication of Luna's average BG levels for the previous couple of weeks and at least you'd have some idea of how she has been doing.

You can continue to do BG spot checks at home and provided Luna stays in the normal range for a period of 14 days she would be considered officially in diabetic remission.


Mogs
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