OTJ but hypo symptoms

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HeidiandMax

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Hi All!

Max has been OTJ for about two weeks now. He consistently tests in 70-140 range at various times of the day. However, he's been having odd hypo symptoms. Sometimes he just sits and stares off into space and yesterday he started head twitching. I tested him at those times (about 3 and 4 hours after eating) and sits in the 70's range. My vet feels this is a little low. Today we made a run to the vet as Max couldn't walk, eventually hobbled around, ate half his a.m. meal, and went and hid. At the vet's office he had a 103.4 temp, BG was 248. He had been very cranky at home, acting like he was hurting, but at the vet's office he didn't show any discomfort. He also has pancreatitis issues (confirmed by blood test). We have another appointment this afternoon with a specialist, but I'm very confused by all this. I thought low numbers were good, but in his case they don't seem to be.

Thanks!
Heidi
 
Heidi,
A cat not on insulin can't 'hypo', it's not that....I don't know enough to suggest what it IS but I do know that's what it's not...

HUGS,
 
When there is no exogenous insulin being put into his body the low numbers are good. I would think he may have something going on, especially with the head twitching. Maybe somethingin his ear. I know their bg's can go up due to vet stress but also can go up from infection. What kind of specialist are you going to see? I do hope Max will be fine.
 
I also thought a cat could not go hypo with no insulin, but I looked into it and evidently it can happen, but it's not diabetes related. We will be seeing an internal specialist as I suspect this all has something to do with his pancreatitis. I had made the mistake of trying to switch foods to a gluten free type, but that didn't go over well. I should have left him alone and continued the FF Elegant Medleys. I just didn't like the "garden greens" in them. I don't know that the diet change has anything to do with the hypo symptoms, however.
 
From: http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/cancer/c_ct_insulinoma?page=show

"Insulinoma in Cats
Insulinomas are malignant neoplasms – fast growing cancerous tissue - of the beta cells in the pancreas. The beta cells primarily make and secrete insulin, which has a variety of effects in the body, the primary one being to regulate glucose throughout the body's cells. Because insulinomas secrete excessive insulin, the blood stream becomes low in glucose (hypoglycemia), which causes weakness and/or neurological problems. This disease does not effect cats as much as it does some other household pets, but it can and does occur."

So yes, the blood glucose could be low from something other than diabetes or giving too much insulin.

Also, if the cat is not eating well, you don't have any food available to digest into insulin. At that point, the cat may start breaking down fat and develope ketones (a byproduct of breaking down fats and too much can be toxic) or fatty liver disease (hepatic lipidosis).
 
70 is not a hypoglycemic number. It's within the normal range if you're using a human meter.

Is it possible he's reacting to abdominal pain from the pancreatitis? That would be my guess, but a vet visit is in order. Do you have pain meds for him?
 
I can't see a vet saying that 70 is a little low; one of my civies is usually around 42 - 48, so 70 is a fine number.
For pancreatitis, there is a fpli test - can you ask the vet if that is the test that was run and what was the result number of that test.
 
Update:
Well, it looks as if the leg weakness/pain is not connected to any of Max's current issues. At the specialist's office she had a surgeon examine him and it appears one of his knee joints "pops" rather easily. He had knee surgery as a youngster so he is pre-disposed to knee issues that may have chosen now to pop (haha) up again.
She also agreed that a bg level of 70 is normal. And she said that a cat that has been diabetic would not have an insulin producing tumor (otherwise how would they have diabetes?) and therefore could not go hypo. Max also had no other issues that would cause his body to produce too much insulin. So I'm not sure what caused the "hypo" symptoms other than I've been off for two weeks and have been hovering a little too much!
His fPLI number was 20 about a month ago, but they took another test and I should have that number within a day or two. Until then she put him on Metronidazole 1/4 tab once a day. He's back on his FF Elegant Medley diet since he seemed to do best on that.
So mostly good news. I'll continue to monitor his BG levels (which were a little high today, probably caused by the joint pain). Thanks for all the caring advice and thoughts.
 
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