Starving In Better Numbers?

PirateLuke

PirateLuke

Member Since 2026
Hi all,

Pirate Luke is acting starving despite numbers improving.

His AMPS was 7.6 (137) and now at +3, he's ranged between 6.4 (115) to 9.1 (163) during this time.

For a cat his size and weight, he should be eating about 3-4 sachets of 2% carb Harringtons. But he has been constantly screaming at me for food. So he's had 3 sachets in the last 2 hours alone. :arghh:

He has done this before. It's like if his glucose is about 7 (125) or lower, he's not a happy boy. Sometimes he has been "right" and I've had to give him slightly higher carb food to stop his numbers dropping too fast. But he is FINALLY lower and much flatter! On paper, he's doing good. But he was much happier yesterday with higher numbers. 🙃

Can anyone explain this? Is he just not used to the feeling of lower blood sugar? What can I do? I have tried the tricks of giving small snacks and adding water, but he has been insatiable. I've had to lock the bin away as he was trying to go through it.

Thanks!
Beth and Pirate Luke
 
OK, I gave him an 8% carb snack and he has immediately calmed down and it has not bumped his BG at all. Ten minutes ago he was continually wailing at me no matter how much 2% food I gave him.

I guess he is smarter than me!

He must have needed a few extra carbs to keep him steady. But now I'm not sure whether to reduce the insulin a bit or just give him a mini carb boost after breakfast.
 
I see that today you listed his weight as 6.4 kg. How does that compare with his weight when he was first diagnosed with diabetes? Or even a couple months ago. The first few times my cat hit the below 100's, she went crazy asking for food. Or hid under the bed. She did eventually get used to it.

If you are following SLGS for dosing, as per your signature, you reduce the dose when they go below 90, which he did today. So that was the right call to reduce.

Can you tell me how you were measuring 1.1 units? Are you using U-100 syringes with half unit markings?
 
Wendy&Neko said:
I see that today you listed his weight as 6.4 kg. How does that compare with his weight when he was first diagnosed with diabetes? Or even a couple months ago. The first few times my cat hit the below 100's, she went crazy asking for food. Or hid under the bed. She did eventually get used to it.

If you are following SLGS for dosing, as per your signature, you reduce the dose when they go below 90, which he did today. So that was the right call to reduce.

Can you tell me how you were measuring 1.1 units? Are you using U-100 syringes with half unit markings?
Click to expand...

Thanks Wendy. Good to know I'm not alone in a cat potentially just not feeling comfy/normal in lower numbers.

When he was diagnosed, he was under 4kg and extremely skinny-looking. He also had an infection near the brain that needed a VBO. That's when I got him (he's an emergency foster from another owner who couldn't deal with his health issues). I don't have good records of what his normal weight should be as I've been dealing with his health challenges since I got him, and he has transitioned from kittenhood. So a big concern was feeding him up! He's never been overweight or fat. He didn't get diabetes that way.

He's a big long boy with huge paws, so at 6.4kg, I can feel his ribs well. But I'm guessing his ideal weight in the longer-term is a little under that.

I have U-100s with half-units. 1.1 as I'm measuring it is with the needle stopper just touching the upper side of the 1.1 line. Tonight I've given him 1 unit, which is stopper lined up exactly on the line. I will see what happens in the night to make any further calls. He seems very sensitive to insulin chnages, so I might need to get calipers involved at some point so I can be more accurate.

How did you transition your kitty to getting used to lower numbers? The meowing today was non-stop and heartbreaking even though he wasn't in dangerous numbers and had no symptoms other than desperately and constantly meowing at me.
 
PirateLuke said:
How did you transition your kitty to getting used to lower numbers?
Click to expand...
I didn't transition her. I just followed Tight Regulation for dosing. She bounced a lot, plus had a couple of other endocrine conditions, acromegaly and insulin auto antibodies (IAA), that we had to go higher in dose for her to get long streaks of normal numbers which gradually got her used to normal blood sugar numbers. I also got the "starving!!" sounds all the time due to the acromegaly. One thing that helped was getting her an autofeeder. She'd sit and stare at it instead of bugging me for food.
 
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