Numbers for diet-controlled? Help!

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Kira & Max

Kira & Max

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After two days of curves and following our vet's advice, my husband and I are about to pull our hair out and the cat has way too many red spots on his ears. Our numbers are so low, even as we lower the insulin dose, that we are beginning to suspect Max's food change may have corrected him so much he doesn't need insulin at all right now? He's acting great, alert, playful, coat looking better, gaining a bit of weight.

He got his new dose of .5 Prozinc at 9pm, a half hour after he ate well and tested at 115 bg. Our vet said over 100, give the shot. Now it's midnight and he's reading at 65, which is the as low he was in the last 12 hour cycle at the low point, dosed at 1U. His curves suggest the insulin will peak in three hours.

I just fed him, fearing some kind of hypo response at 3am, and at this point we're afraid to go to sleep in case bad things happen overnight. I'm thinking there's no way I'm giving him a shot in the morning, as his lows get lower even with lower doses. I know this is all new, and I don't have a ton of bg #'s to go on, but I'm wondering if the food change is starting to be enough? What bg numbers mean a cat is diet-controlled?
 
Hi.
Well done making the diet change and now seeing this home testing really paying off.
That is a normal number you have given a dose at.
It looks like you have a night of watchfulness, but you are not alone.
I would feed little snacks and test as you are about every 30 minutes, and if he goes below about 50 before the expected peak, then offer some higher carb food and pick up the testing to every 20 minutes or so. Not too much all at once as you want him to still want to eat of he goes lower.
*You want to see 2-3 increasingly higher levels above about 70, before calling it a night.

I do think that as he is newly diagnosed, a diet change may be working its magic.

I would now think of a safe, "do not shoot under" number that you feel comfortable with.
Many use 180 as that guideline.
A normal cat ranges from about 60-120.

You can certainly lower the dose a bit as well, even if you need to give a little insulin.
Perhaps, 0.25 ( I know this weeeeee tiny, but do what you can ) when your kitty is above 180. Below 180 just monitor.
Have you had a chance to look at the faqs? faq 4.4 has some general guidelines to help you with this.. http://binkyspage.tripod.com/faq.html

Hang in there, I am up for awhile so will be online with you. It would be good to get another test asap, and see where he is at now okay? let me know when you get that reading.
I know it is scary and those little ears are sore, but right now, they are really helping him. Rub his ears gently, hold them after the poke to avoid bruising and after tonight, a little polysporin will help clear it up.
 
Also perhaps you could change the original subject line to " hypo watch, assistance needed" to bring more eyes to your thread?

Okay, waiting for your recent test and to her how your guy is doing.
 
Hi Kira and Max

agreeing with what Kimmee said.

I'm also up (I'm in NZ, so only 9.15pm here), so can keep you company and talk you through what you need to be doing if that bg keeps dropping.
 
Made it though the night okay, his numbers stayed safe with snacks. This morning, he tested at 155 pre-food, so we're skipping the shot and will test in a few hours. This feels like the beginning of a very long day.
 
awww, must have been a worrisome night, for sure.
Now I am no expert by any means, but I consider my cat to be diet controlled. I opted not to start insulin, her numbers were borderline, and did the diet change alone. I was told, by a vet, that anything between 100-200 is ok, considered non-diabetic. In the beginning, it took 2 weeks to get a blood sample for hometesting, all the while urine testing her. Do you have any urine test strips? I considered it a good tool to see if there was any glucose "spill over" into her urine. When they started to come up negative (took about two weeks) I knew she was ok. And her BG level was around 130...150 after finally getting a hometest. I considered that OK since her fructosamine level previously was 487.
I think a level of under 200 is "diet controlled - isn't it, everyone? Since you guys don't shoot if it is - right? I need to understand too.
I don't hometest much anymore, although now I'm curious, since her urine tests (that, I sill do about 3 or 4 times a week, just to be sure) are still always negative.
 
I wouldn't say that under 200 is diet controlled...it depends on the human and the cat. for some, under 200 is acceptable for no insulin, for others, more like 120-150. Another FD grey area...
 
Jen & Squeak said:
I wouldn't say that under 200 is diet controlled...it depends on the human and the cat. for some, under 200 is acceptable for no insulin, for others, more like 120-150. Another FD grey area...
Click to expand...

Hmmm, that is confusing: if you don't give insulin (under 200) wouldn't that be "diet controlled" then?
For me, I was perfectly happy with the 150 (about 1.5 - 2 hours after eating). I know Sweety must be ok though, since her monthly testing I took her for the HyperT meds never showed the vet bg above 148, (and her urine tests are always negative). That's good right? (148 with the vet stress I mean. so it was actually lower since the stress really freaks her out)
I have to read more now. I never tested her before eating - now I'm curious. But how do you guys test before eating? That's got to be hard. Sweety wants to EAT, first thing in the morning.
 
no shot if 200 or under is a guideline for 'newbies' who do not have enough data to support a shot at lower numbers....once a person gets that data (cautiously) then that number can and often does go lower. I would bet that for some cats, going higher than 150 starts to present some issues, while others may be comfortable in the 150-200 range. So that is where the ECID and EBID rule comes in...
 
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