satan's sugar is 7

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dollsinmyeyes

dollsinmyeyes

Member Since 2012
okay. so he's eating high carb food i'm not having a heart attack anymore. sorry my spread sheet is not up to date. i am a very busy person but we have all sorts of lists hand written all over the kitchen

we've been on 2 units since a vet trip when he told me i was doing excellent (the vet! has a diabetic kitty himself!!!!!!!!)
but he put satan on antibiotics for a mouth infection

but i came home to a cat i couldn't find. who when found was limp and half passed out

got him to eat. checked his sugar while he was eating. it was 7, 15 minutes ago.

will repeat in 5 minutes.


i guess. i'm wondering
do we think his moutb infection clearing up is reducing his insulin need?
or do we think my mom over did the insulin accidentally (she has given him 2 shots ever, and both times we got hypo)

anyway.

ahhhhhhhhhhhh

sorry. i'm stressed. and i know i dont come here often anymore
 
I'm not really the best to reply, since Katie never went hypo. Hopefully someone with more experience will be on here soon.
First, try to remain calm. Your cat will sense your anxiety, and it will make him feel worse. Have you taken his numbers again? Are they going up?
Are you testing his numbers before you give him the insulin? If so, what have the numbers been?
Keep trying to get him to eat the high carb food until his numbers are out of the danger zone.
 
How long ago was his shot? What kind of meter? I think the test was an error, I didn't think meters would read that low.
Test again as soon as you can.
Carl
 
i tested a few times when i got the 7, i got a 7 twice, and 10. so my bayer contour can read that low apparently

we're at 32 now. i gave him another half a can of high carb food

im pretty calm. i'm a nurse. and i do this game with babies who are just born. feeding to bring blood sugars up

but the poor cat was so limp and lifeless that. i knew as soona s i saw him he had low blood sugar. or that was my first guess.

but 7. holy moly.
he's walking around a little bit now instead of being a cat zombie
 
Do you have any Karo syrup or Honey? If he was limp and passed out that is a severe hypo situation, and you may need to bring him to the vet. You need to keep testing! Are you going to be able to stay with him for a while? If you're not taking him to the vet then you need to keep testing him and giving him something high in carbs. Here's the link to how to treat hypos in case you can't find it: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=15887.

Once you take care of dental problems it can drastically lower a cat's insulin need. Bandit's blood sugar dropped by about 200 points after he had his problem teeth pulled. Infection and inflammation often causes higher blood sugar.

I'm checking out your spreadsheet and I see that you're not getting any mid-cycle checks. With Lantus, dose adjustments are made based on the nadir, which occurs mid-cycle. Without mid-cycle tests you don't know how much the dose is lowering blood glucose and that can lead to a hypo-situation. I would not shoot any number lower than 200 without those tests. Too much insulin looks very much like too little insulin in the preshots without daily mid-cycle tests. I know it's hard when you're busy (I was working two jobs, one of which was full time and included a 2 hour commute, and going to grad school when Bandit was on insulin), but taking the extra couple minutes to grab those tests, even if you have to set an alarm and go back to sleep, is 100% worth it for the amount it reduces your stress in knowing your cat is safe, with the added bonus of allowing you to better regulate him and hopefully get him into remission.

And I hope that doesn't sound like scolding--that's not my intention! I just want to help you help Satan out.
 
ahhhhh i wasn't very clear. shot was last night at 9:30om given by my mother who is a nurse and should be able to fill a syringe with 2 units of insulin, and he got a can of his regular friskies, he had had a 7 pm snack as well. hes on lantus

i do keep track of his sugars i just haven't updated it into here.

i've done some curves, and reduced him from his 2.5 to 2 units recently. i just. i get bad at having the time to do the insulin spread sheet.
but i have it written down on paper, i'll update. the last time i updated the spread sheet i just got as far as what you see now. i screwed it all up

before the antibiotics. i'm fairly confident we were good on 2 units. i was getting 5 and 9 hours around 90-130 most of the time

i'm staying awake to check his sugars. i just got home from work about an hour ago.

we're at 40 minutes since discovery of hypo kitty and his sugar is now 35

so at 10:25am 7, (while he was eating) 10:30ish, rubbed maple syrup on his gums 10:45 32 (more food), 11:05 35, more food
 
OK, so it's been almost 14 hours since his last shot.
First thing, he needs less insulin than 2.0u if he went that low.
Are you going to be around to keep testing? Lantus hypos can go on for a while, and you need to make sure that his numbers come up and stay up.
Carl

Carl
 
Oh, and try not to overfeed him because he might need a spoonful of gravy or gravy style food to bump the BG up again, and you want to make sure he can eat something. Karo, syrup, honey etc will push it up, but it doesn't last long.
Carl
 
and ps. its hard to not sound super selfish here. but most of the time. i can not wake up to spot check his sugars. i have a very stressful high energy job where i need to be sharp to keep people alive. and waking up to check his glucose levels and going back to sleep isn't an option, because i don't go back to sleep. so i just have to do my curves when i can. occasionally i find taking care of a diabetic cat more than really want to deal with. but i love him. so i do it. but. i'm getting caretaker fatigue between being a nurse, my grandmother and the cat.

and i know you arent scolding me. you are trying to help!

and i debated going to the vet. but i just. i can't bring myself to do that right now time or money wise.
if his blood sugar wont come up no matter how much i feed or sugar him. maybe.

but i'm not there yet in panicking.

hes much better looking than he was. i'm worried about how low his sugar might have been over night. ugh

i was hesitant to use the karo or maple syrup too much, because as a nurse, who does this with babies sometimes . and spent all last night doing this with chubster 10 pound newborns. i know that getting real nutrition is always better than sugar. but sugar raises sugar.

thank you guys! i appreciate it. and the venting i just did. that helps too
 
hes much better looking than he was. i'm worried about how low his sugar might have been over night. ugh
Click to expand...

Just to lighten the mood.... it isn't likely it was much lower than 7. ;-) He probably shouldn't have been conscious with a number that low.

Vent as much as you need to. It helps. And don't beat you self up because you can't wake up in the middle of your night to test. We all do what we can, we're only human.
Carl
 
SPREADSHEET!!! PLEASE!!! Let me tell you about the spreadsheet and how important it will be to YOU. I think we all tended to keep those numbers on boards, papers, notebooks at first and couldn't find the time to put it on the spreadsheet. I did the same thing....BUT once I truly began using it, I realized that my method of all the papers and notes truly told me NOTHING other than each single number. A single number isn't worth much other than to be sure they're not hypo or it's safe to give a shot. When I FINALLY demanded of myself that I use the spreadsheet, I began seeing PATTERNS! I began understanding how each thing affected him, I began seeing wierd cycles and calm cycles - why? I could never see this on single papers. NOW the spreadsheet is about my BEST tool in my 'dire beasties' toolbox. I just leave it open on my desktop all the time, type in the number when I get it altho' I do always keep that day's numbers on my whiteboard also.

BIG HUG!!
 
Melissa,
I'm going to hang here for at least another hour, and someone else will be able to stay around as long as you need it.

Keep doing what you're doing. Test every 15 minutes or so and post the numbers.


Carl
 
We all must do the best we can with the options we have; if late night tests aren't an option, then curves on your days off are the next best thing. And some extra daily tests early or late in the cycle before you go to bed --any information you get helps out.

Are you also testing his urine for ketones? If so, they make ketodiastix, which also measures his urine glucose and it might give you some idea if his blood sugar is dropping lower mid-cycle. It doesn't detect hypos, though--just if average blood sugar is below the renal threshold (180-240 in cats) in the time since he last urinated . Knowing if/how much glucose is in his urine during the day would help out in determining if you should raise/lower/hold the dose. Don't shoot those low preshots and lower the dose until you can get some tests in on your days off; low preshots are not always but can be an indication that the dose is too high.

I think even 2u may be too much insulin; most cats on a low carb, canned diet and no secondary health conditions do not need much more than 1u of Lantus. You'll want to drop the dose down and be
vigilant about testing; hypos like this can often make cats very sensitive to insulin, making them drop down to micro doses like .25 or .5u, or even go off insulin completely.

Keep at testing! As Carl said, hypos with Lantus can last quite some time, so you will need to monitor him for a bit. Once the high carb food wears off he might drop back down again.
 
his sugar was just 42 at 11:45. he's still nibbling at food i have out. i'm trying to stay awake but i've been awake for over 20 hours already and hahahaha
i'm tired. he's very mad at me for the ear pokes.

i'll be a little hyper vilagent about more frequent glucose checks.

going to go check his sugar again in a few minutes!
 
I really think your cat needs to be at an ER. A BG of 7 is generally not compatible with life. Call your mom. Since she's a nurse, she can tell you that. This is extreme hypoglycemia. Satan's numbers may be coming up but you are looking at quite literally hours of monitoring every 20 - 30 min. since it's quite possible that numbers will fluctuate. It would be far better to have your cat on a dextrose drip and monitored by a vet.
 
no offense but i am a nurse.
and one of the things i do with people. is monitor their blood sugars. mostly on human newborns.
i know 7 is very low. thats why i made him eat and stayed with him and made him eat.
i also understand that the lantus may work for longer than 12 hours and keep making his sugar lower. and will continue to check his sugar.
there are differences in human meters vs cat meters, and i am comfortable with an asymptomatic cat with low blood sugar right now.

he's purring and wandering around and acting normal. he's clawing at his catnip matt.
his sugar is 51 now. i'll keep checking. but i might just wait to post until later because i need to start to nap. i've been awake for 22 hours now. and i am quite tired.

he ate a whole can of low carb food, and a can of high carb food. even if that sounds like a lot to you. my cat is 20lbs but not obese. he can eat a lot. i've left him out more high carb food, and low carb stuff he likes better. he's nibbling and purring and seems fine except mad at me for poking his poor bruised ears so much.

i think he's okay. but i will update.
 
Melissa,
I have to go to work soon, but will check for updates with my phone when I can find a signal (very crappy cell service here). Please keep checking and if you see another drop, the ER would probably be your best option.

Carl
 
By some WILD chance, is your meter set for European measurements instead of American? If so, that 7 would be more like 126. His actions sound more like 126....
 
dollsinmyeyes said:
but i came home to a cat i couldn't find. who when found was limp and half passed out
Click to expand...

Losing consciousness is a sign of severe hypoglycemia. Cats are asymptomatic until the hypoglycemia becomes severe. I agree with Sienne that he should be going to the vet and that's what I would do with my cat in any severe hypo situation; but if you aren't going to you need to stay with him and keep testing and feeding for the long haul--which could mean many more hours.
 
i am aware he was severely hypoglycemic, and if i didnt see an immediate improvement i might have taken him to the vet
don't freak out on me that i say might. i have a high tolerance of **** hitting the fan before i need assistance and in this case everything is fine.

since i was napping between blood sugar tests i wasn't able to up date till now

when i went to sleep, he was 67, at 2 pm, 110, 3 pm, 142, and now at 7 pm his sugar is 214. he slept curled up with me purring all afternoon and seems fine.

his regular cat self.


thank you for everyones concern and kindness.
 
Thanks for the update!
All of those are great numbers, and so far, I don't see a bounce (that doesn't mean one isn't coming of course). Have you thought about a dose going forward?

Carl
 
i'm not going to give any insulin tonight.
and tomorrow morning, depending on where his blood sugar is. i'll probably give him 1 unit. or half a unit. and see how he does on that for a few days.
i am having a sneaking suspicion that if his mouth infection is getting better, his insulin needs will decrease.

kitty seems perfectly normal right now.
 
Part of that is probably bounce, part of it is no shot for 24 hours, so it's high but expected. Let us know how he does today.
Carl
 
i've been away from the internet ! sorry.

Carl thank you so much for your concern,

my cat seems fine now, i will update teh spread sheet as soon as i have time, but his sugars have been 200-300 with the shots and i've been giving 1 unit of insulin, i will get a curve done as soon as i can. but human life has to come before cat life.

thank you again.
i will update more.
 
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