? Sugar in the middle 300's! Help?

[EllieRuthanne]

Hi, everyone. While I enjoy the community here, I'm sad to say that I'm in need of some advice.

Bear had been doing well and was officially OTJ on 06/15/2017. We had a small set back where his sugar spiked and a new vet, which I love, put him on the Basaglar KwikPen (1 ml) on 07/26/2018. That only lasted a few short weeks before his numbers leveled out again and he was getting down to dangerously low numbers while on the shot. So he was officially OTJ (again) on 08/13/2018.

Well, he's been extremely lethargic lately. I took him to the vet last week because he wouldn't eat one morning and I found he had thrown up white mucusy-like fluid and had small spots of runny stool everywhere in the room. As far as the vet could tell, he was dehydrated and may have had a virus. So they gave him fluids and some antibiotics, which he is still on, but they're almost finished. He perked up the day after he got home and seemed more alert and drank more on his own. Today, though, he was having a hard time having a bowel movement and was extremely lethargic again. On a whim, I checked his sugar at midnight, which is +2 after his PM meal of Fancy Feast pate. It was 325! I gave him some water via syringe because his nose was dry and, while I know all cats aren't the same, I know that when his nose is dry he is sick and dehydrated. I checked again at 12:30 AM and it was 333! So it's steadily rising.

I'm planning to stay up until 2:00 AM and do one more check, which is another 45 minutes from now. But I'm looking for any adivce you would care to share. I still have his Basaglar KwikPen and have debated on giving him a shot of 1 ml like he was on before. Any thoughts or advice in regards to that? My vet isn't open until 8:30 AM tomorrow and the ER won't give advice over the phone. Not like I can afford to take him to the ER or vet again, anyways. His virus visit last week racked my credit card back up to it's max limit with a $350 bill.

Thoughts, please?

PS: Sorry if I was everywhere. I'm sick, myself, and am exhausted and foggy-brained.

 

[EllieRuthanne]

Update for those who may swing by:

Checked at 2:00 AM EST (+4 from PM feeding). Levels at 291.
It seems to be steadily decreasing.
I'm going to call it a night and get some sleep (and let him sleep without being disturbed).
I'll check his levels before his AM feeding and then call his vet to see what she thinks the next steps should be.

I'm still interested in any thoughts and suggestions as to why his sugar could be going up after he was doing so well.

Good night.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Looking at the SS I see that you only dropped the dose to 0.5 units earlier on and 1 unit later on before you went OTJ each time.
We recommend, to get a strong remission, keeping kitty on insulin and dropping the dose down to 0.5 units, 0.25 units and down to a drop......before stopping insulin........people can help you with this. If you do this you are supporting the pancreas while it heals. If you stop the insulin too soon, remission may not last long at all.
If I were you I would restart insulin and gradually reduce the dose as mentioned above. Do you use a pen or a syringe to give the insulin? If you only have a pen, you will need to get some syringes. You will need the U100 0.3 ml 30 or 31 gauge and 6 or 8 mm insulin syringes with 1/2 unit markings to give the smaller doses.

Are you testing for ketones? The lethargy and higher numbers with no insulin concerns me. You can buy the Ketostix to test the urine for ketones at a pharmacy. I would test regularly for ketones while your kitty is not on insulin but is in above normal numbers. With an infection in the background, it is all the more important you establish that there are no ketones in the picture.

 

[EllieRuthanne]

Yes. I went by 0.5 units per my old vet's instructions. And the 1 unit to nothing is because I was using the KwikPen, it only has the 1 unit option, and I couldn't afford separate syringes since buying the vet visit, insulin, and pen needles seriously broke me. I'm on a very limited budget and, that alone, was taken from my own grocery budget. But he's more important.

I tested him this morning before his AM feeding and he was 349. I fed him his normal Fancy Feast Classic, slightly warmed because he's gotten fussy with the temperature. I also called his vet this morning, the new one here in town, to see what his bloodwork said when he was there earlier in the week. I'm also of the mindset to start insulin again keep an eye on his numbers, slowly reducing it as needed. Thank you for informing me of the importance of the extreme decrease that his safer and healthier for him. I had no idea.

I don't have any Ketostix, but I know they're available at Walmart and I think ours carries them in stock, most of the time. I just checked their website and the ReliOn brand is only just over $6. I wish I could say I have that in my account, but I don't. I'll look through and see if I can scrape up some change, though, and try testing him. I'm hoping it won't be too hard since he pees on a piddle pad (he's not big on the litter box ever since his initial diagnosis back in 2016.

He doesn't seem to be taking in enough water. Do you know a way to get him to drink more? A syringe stresses him out and if I add a little bit of extra water to his wet food, he refuses to eat it. The water gets changed two to three times daily and he also has a running fountain. He used to love playing with the spray bottle and catching the stream with his mouth in midair, but lately he's been too lethargic to play with it and gives me the evil eye if I pull it out.

Thank you!