Rom - BG worse after dental!!

[Sue484]

Hi. I thought dentals were supposed to help with BG numbers? Rom was stable before his dental on 1st June when he had 5 extractions and a major clean because his teeth were atrocious. My vet could not understand how he was so stable with such bad teeth and told me to keep a close eye out for low numbers and obvious reductions needed. He had an injection of Convenia and was on Metacam for a week afterwards. All is looking good at his check up but his BG is now all over the place and higher than ever!! He is on Caninsulin and I use an AT meter. He seems his normal self though, eating fine and all p's in place.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

I can't explain the numbers being all over the place, but when my girl had her dental, I saw no change in her numbers for a good month and even then, I am still not sure the change had anything to do with the dental cleanup or if her insulin resistance (IAA) had started to break. Hopefully others will chime in with their timelines for and degree of improvement. One thing you might want to check is whether they took an xray after the procedure to ensure no fragments of the extracted teeth got left behind.

Is it possible the meds he is/has been on are having an adverse effect on his numbers? Many of us will not allow our cats to have Convenia because it stays in the system long after it's medicinal action is over and has been known to cause adverse reactions in some cats. It is also not marketed as an anitibiotic for dental procedures although many vets use it. Whether that could be affecting his numbers I don't know.

 

[Sue484]

No X-ray was taken, but he does not seem to have problems eating and all inflammation has gone. I agreed to Convenia because he has had it before with no problems and also he will not take antibiotics in any other way. He refuses point blank to eat with anything crushed in it, no matter how well you hide it and as for pilling him? No way can that be done to a 7kg cat with claws that would put Freddy Kruger to shame!!

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

I understand the Freddy Kruger analogy all too well. My old guy can be Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde in the space of a nanosecond. I also understand the 7kg cat being difficult to deal with as my girl is about 6.5kg. and very hard to control when restrained. I initially opted for IM injections of Clindamycin following her dental but I would not recommend that to anyone either. IM injections hurt and kitties don't sit still for them, so I ended up switching to pills and thankfully was pleasantly surprised that she was far more co-operative than I expected. I have a kibble addict who won't eat anything soft so I can't do the crushed pill hidden in food either.

Rom's numbers don't follow the pattern I would expect with Caninsulin. To my untrained eye, he seems to often have his lowest numbers later than expected and the Caninsulin seems to be lasting longer than expected. He is getting huge swings in his numbers so maybe what you are seeing is a lot of bouncing. I know it's more difficult to get other insulins in the UK but have you considered trying one that is longer lasting and doesn't cause such steep drops in the BG like Lantus or Levemir or ProZinc which has recently been approved for use in the UK?

 

[Sue484]

My vet won't change his insulin without a referral to the RVC. Unlike my other diabetic, Rom doesn't travel well. He does everything you could possibly think of and more in his carrier and I would probably pass out from the smell half way down the motorway!! I have a few more Caninsulin vials left. Once they are used up I will see about getting him on ProZinc. She will do that without a referral as it is licensed for animals.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

Sounds like a good plan. I'd be avoiding taking Rom on any roadtrips too! My girl screams in the car loud enough that you'd think I was trying to murder her and I've had some pretty weird looks from the people in cars beside me at stoplights despite having all my windows closed so I am really glad I have a vet close to home!