Off the insulin, is he still too low?

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Mr. Oreo

Member Since 2016
Hello,
We took our cat into the vet last week because we noticed he became obsessed with drinking water. The vet diagnosed him with diabetes and put him on insulin and medical wet food. A few days after giving him insulin every 12 hours, we had to take him in for hypoglycemia, because he had a glucose reading of 2.2.

The vet thinks he may have already gone into remission and just needed the diet change so since then, we haven't been giving him any insulin, just the food every 12 hours.

We have been monitoring his glucose without the insulin and it still seems to be decreasing, we fed him around 8am today and took a glucose reading of 3.2 and then at 11:30am and got a reading of 2.6, we gave him a few regular cat treats and took another reading at 2pm and still got 2.6.

We are worried because the vet has not explained to us what is normal and what we should be expecting for a cat who doesn't need insulin anymore? Is he too low even though he's not on insulin? This all happened so fast so we are super confused.
Thanks guys! :confused:
 
Hey thanks for the reply! We are using a human meter, although it is the same one his vet uses.

So to decrease after food is good? Do you know if a reading in the 2 range is too low for his situation? Thanks a lot haha we have been stressing out all week :p
 
If there is no insulin Hypo should not be an issue. Non diabetic cats often read below our "not safe" number.
 
The high 2s on a human meter are around the bottom of the healthy 'euglycaemic' range. For a kitty not on insulin it's very good news! :) The FDMB guideline for the lower boundary of the euglycaemic range is 50mg/dL / 2.8mmol/L as measured on a human meter, although some cats not on insulin may naturally run a smidgen lower than 2.8 (which is OK because they're not in danger of a hypo!).

A healthy pancreas trickles insulin 24/7 (basal secretion) and the liver releases glucose into the bloodstream as needed between meals to sustain energy supply for normal cell metabolism. When a meal is eaten, the pancreas produces pulses of insulin in response and this can produce a lowering of blood glucose levels a few hours after the meal.


Mogs
.
 
He is on a food called pro plan veterinary diets. The vet finally just called back and said he should be fine where he's at. She mentioned that sometimes cats over produce insulin after they first get their needles so he may still need shots in the future if he rebounds but she said no insulin unless he goes up to 15 range. :D
Thanks guys for replying!
 
Was just checking the amount of kilocalories from carbs and it comes out at 6.7% which is a good level (the recommendation is to feed a wet food with less than 10% kilocalories from carbs).

I just checked the ingredients on the Purina website:

DM Wet
Meat and animal derivatives, fish and fish derivatives, derivatives of vegetable origin, minerals. Carbohydrate source: corn starch.
Click to expand...

[Emphasis mine]

Just worth noting that the highlighted ingredient above sometimes refers to soy-based products and some cats are allergic so one to keep an eye on.

If you let us know which country you're located in we can point you to diabetic-friendly food lists if your kitty ever fancies a change. :)


Mogs
.
 
Wow thanks so much! We're from Ontario Canada. Our cat has had some ear irritations in the past that we thought may be due to a food allergy (although the vets aren't really sure the exact reason) so that's good to know!
 
Hello from another Ontario Canadian. So happy for you that your cat has gone OFF THE JUICE (OTJ) so quickly although sorry you had to deal with the hypoglycemia. Good luck with kitty! As Mogs pointed out the ingredients in that DM cat food is a little iffy. HERE is a list of foods easily available to us Canucks that are ideal for our sugar prone kitties. Hope this helps you find something your kitty likes. And again Congrats!
 
OH Mogs I didn't compile any list other than kibble crap! The honour goes to Brashworks whose kitty went OTJ. I certainly don't want to steal her thunder either! Gotta remember to hit the refresh button more often! :rolleyes::oops:
 
Haha thanks for the info guys!!

we're monitoring him pretty closely with pricking his ear and getting the reading on glucose strips, but its a real pain haha he hates it and sometimes we don't get any drop of blood to come out. Any chance there's a trick to this? I think we hate it even more than the cat does :p
 
Mr. Oreo said:
Any chance there's a trick to this?
Click to expand...
Ooh, lots! :) Some forum stickies for you:

Home Testing Tips and Links

Testing and Injecting Tips (has a really helpful diagram of testing 'sweet spot' on the ear)

One of the best tips for the early days is to warm the edge of the ear for much longer than you think might be necessary. Smear a thin film of Vaseline over the test area to help the blood sample bead up. As you continue to test more capillaries form at the test sites so it gets easier to draw a blood sample.


Mogs
.
 
PS ... forgot the most important 'trick' of all: Treats. Lots of Treats.* (Even when you don't manage to get a blood sample!).


Mogs


(* Diabetic-friendly, of course. Freeze-dried protein treats are a big hit with a lot of kitties.)
.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top