Sugar levels still high

[mjo]

Ashley was diagnosed with diabetes back in July.
Despite giving him more and more insulin, his numbers aren't dropping at all.

At diagnosis in July, his BG was 303.
After a week on 1 unit BID Prozinc, his numbers were higher than they were at diagnosis. Right before insulin, it was 480. It was 390 4hrs later, 298 six hours later, 291 8 hours later.
Upped dose to 2 units BID.
After 5 weeks, BG- 419, and fructosamine- 466.
Upped to 3 units BID.
A week later, BG-454.

Any thoughts?
He was initially on DM, but now on FF thanks to the excellent advice you all gave me on this forum.

Thanks for your help!!

 

[Rachel]

Hi MJO! Welcome to the PZI forum to you and Ashley! By the way, what's your name?

I'm assuming those numbers you got were taken at the vet's office? Unfortunately, numbers at the vet are usually elevated due to stress. The same way your blood pressure might go up at the doctor's office, our kitties BG goes up when they are stressed out at the vet's. A fructosamine isn't a good indicator either...it's basically just an average from several weeks. Most of us NEVER get a fructosamine since it doesn't give any useable data.

Have you considered testing at home? We've taught a lot of people to test over the internet (they taught me!) and we'd be happy to help you. We suggest a human glucometer. Pet versions are too expensive for strips, and human versions work perfectly fine. I used the Relion confirm from Walmart. A lot of people use Relion since they have cheaper strips. If you test at home, you can save a ton of money, get true BG numbers for Ashley, and we can give much better advice here. You'd need the meter, strips, and lancets. We suggest the 26 or 28 gauge to start since they are bigger and it takes a few weeks for the kitty's ears to "learn to bleed". We also suggest some neosporin with pain relief (the gel NOT the cream) as it helps the blood to "bead up" and not get soaked into fur. Some cotton balls are also good to give you something to push against.

As for the numbers, they aren't great, but REMEMBER they are elevated from vet stress. They could be over 100 points lower at home. If you start home testing, we can help figure out what they REALLY are and how to bring them down. You've already done the right thing by changing to a lower carb food. You may have also skipped a good dose...we never go up by full units for kitties. We try .25 or .5 changes...again, home testing can help you figure out what a good dose is.

I know it's stressful, but you're in the right place!

 

[Luann and Nicky]

Hi MJO,

The same thing to happened to my cat Nicky. He was diagnosed July 1st. he started with 1U, went up to 2U and in 3 weeks was at 3U. Then I started reading this forum. It turns out his dose was to high. I increased to fast. I slowly lowered his dose and he is now much lower. Take a look at his SS. The advice to self test is invaluable. It really helped me to fine tune Nicky's dose. Keeping a SS of the glucose values also really helps the people on this forum to give you advice. Nicky is still not regulated, but at least his glucose values are lower. Good Luck!!!!!

-Luann

 

[mjo]

Thanks Rachel and Luann!
I actually have a Relion Micro (for my own use), so it sounds like I can just use that for him?

-Megan

 

[Sue and Oliver (GA)]

Yes. We like the ReliOn because the meter and strips are the least expensive. Here are some tips on hometesting:

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/

The most important things for me were a big enough lancet (25-27 gauge instead of the 31 gauge humans use) and warming the ear. Lots of people use a rice sack. Fill a thinnish sock with raw rice and tie. Heat in microwave until very warm. Put next to the ear until the it is nice and warm. You are pumping up the capillaries until they have enough blood in them.