Should I be worried at 186 on undiagnosed cat?

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J

Jester's mom

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Well I am back. My sugar cat Jasper passed 6 years ago. BUT... now I think I have another one. Jester is only 5 years old. He has slowly lost weight in the last 6 months. Recently he is water focused and very often jumping on the counter asking us to turn the water on. (He has a bowl but perfers the sink.) Today I tested him 2 hours after he had eaten a small snack. He was at 186 on the Beyer Elite. Should I be concerned at that number? BTW, my vet is out of town until after the New Year.
 
It isn't a shootable number for a new diabetic, but it's close. We ask newbies not to shoot under 200.

What are you feeding? If you choose a really low carb wet food under 8%, that might help reduce the numbers. Any chance he has an infection? The symptoms do sound right...
 
couple more questions for you :-)

how old are the test strips? do you have another kitty you can test or test yourself? just to get a feel for if the meter and strips are working properly?

if meter checks out seemingly ok, it's certainly high enough to be a concern and i'd have kitty checked out. i don't think it's ER time or anything and could wait until your vet gets back, unless kitty starts showing bad symptoms (vomiting, inappetance, etc.....)

(fwiw, all my civies i can test have always tested in the 40's up to the 60's and never higher)
 
Bayer stopped making Elite strips quite some time ago so I'm sure you're using outdated strips. My biggest concern is that his number may actually be higher, given that he's symptomatic.

A vet visit is definitely in order.
 
I was just at the vet tonight w/my Spot (FD) and civvie Ralph. Ralph had some bloodwork done a few weeks ago and his bg was over 250. Usually, his bg's are between 50-70. I have been testing him daily for two weeks. He is now ranging 70-177. Vet said that unless kittie is over 180 on a consistent basis, she would not suggest insulin shots.
First, I'd buy new strips. Then I'd test a few times to get a base line. Then make a decision as to be worried or not.
 
Thanks for the input all.

Yes the strips are older...I tested the family and all 4 showed between 94 and 102. I tried to test the other cat and he refused to bleed even after warming his ears...very odd. (I had a sugar cat that I tested 2 times a day for 3 years.) Jester’s Temp is 100.5 F. He is on 1.5 oz. Friskies Pate' canned cat food 2 times a day with a rounded Tablespoon dry kitten food on the side(it is higher protein than other dry food.)
The bottom line is that I am sure he is not feeling well.

I will get a different tester tomorrow and see if I can cut his carbs a bit. I agree it is not emergency time but am glad that as a teacher I am home to keep an eye on him for now.

Thank you again... this forum is always so helpful.
 
You might want to read up on Binky's Page to see if you can find the nutritional breakdown for the dry kitten chow you are feeding. It is possible the carb content in that is not helpful.

In addition, because that part of the diet is a dry food, the cat may not be getting enough water in its diet; see Cat Info
 
2 times a day with a rounded Tablespoon dry kitten food
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People REALLY underestimate the carb and calorie load in this amount of food. This amount of food may well be making up 40-50% of his daily caloric intake. Without running the numbers, i can't be sure.....but i repeat tne first sentence above.

Please ditch the dry food!
 
This is one of the times that a fructosamine is called for. Your vet can run this, and you will know if that number is a one-time quirk or if his average BG for the past 3 weeks has been too high.

He does sound symptomatic, however, so while waiting for the results of that test (and a full blood panel, of course, including kidneys), please treat him as diabetic and make sure he is eating low carb canned or raw food only. Watch the BGs carefully and be prepared.

And if he is diabetic, good catch!
 
People REALLY underestimate the carb and calorie load in this amount of food.
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Hear, hear. Leo's been on insulin for a week and a half now, and after responding nicely at first, two days ago his BG numbers shot back up to where they were before he started on meds. I was getting frustrated and ready to phone my vet about a dosage increase, and then I realized his last five meals had been all Friskies canned instead of a 50/50 blend of Friskies and Innova EVO. It was a doh! moment; I hadn't even thought the change in diet was significant because it's such a small amount of food--by people standards.

The Friskies pates are considered low carb (7%), but the EVO I'm feeding him is 0%, and that's all he's going to get from now on except for a tiny bit of Friskies as an appetite enhancer. (I think some of the cheaper cat foods have an artificial flavoring that makes cats want to eat them).

Apparently Leo can't deal with carbs--even 7%. It was an eye opener.
 
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