Urine glucose test...a bit unsure

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monty_dweezil (GA)

monty_dweezil (GA)

Member Since 2014
Ok, so we got the pee sticks and tested Dweezil when he used his box, about two hours after his insulin.

No ketones at all, yay!

But his glucose seems high. But i'm not sure how to read the results. I've heard mention of anything 1 or 2 is great, 3 is not the best and 4 is high.

This one (Dia-Keto-strips) has a colour chart and the highest measurement is dark brown (which matched dweezil's stick exactly) which is 2,000 or 2%. What does this mean? Where is the 1-4 thing?
 
Different manufacturer's have different results for glucose in the urine. Yours has five plus one for negative. The urine stick measure the sort of the average BG glucose level but in different units that for blood BG. Glucose only spills into the urine when BG is higher that the glucose threshold.The threshold can very and is like between a blood BG of 180 to 260 or so. The higher the BG is above the threshold and the higher the BG the more glucose that is in the urine.
 
when you use those make sure you have your stopwatch handy - you want to be right on the dot of time to get the accurate colour as it will keep changing afterwards. A non-diabetic or very well regulated cat will not have any glucose in the urine but if you're not home testing the blood glucose then you don't want your cat that well regulated.

The colour you have is the highest that the strips will show. If you look above the colour patch you will see a number of pluses above each block of colour that would be the 1,2,3,4 that you have heard about. You can see above the dark brown square there are four plus signs.

Yay for no ketones
 
Yes...I see that now. So he is the highest. *sigh* I really, really wish we could get his blood glucose tested. We tried yet again today. No blood.

Oh, and yes, thank GOD there are no ketones at least.
 
You're doing the best you can; persistance is the key.

While you work on blood testing, tracking intake, elimination, and dehydration will provide clues on how he's managing.

See my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for tips on these as well as other assessments you may wish to make.

There is an older protocol using these less specific signs, plus vet tests, for adjusting the insulin.
 
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Thank you for the support.

We are currently tracking his water and food intake, his urine glucose and ketones and general demeanor. He is drinking less than he was last week which is good. Appetite is good but not ravenous anymore which is also good. Preening, popping, playing and purring is all good. Peeing less too. Skin hydration is good.
 
I just realised i typed popping instead of pooping! Lol. I can assure you Dweezil is NOT popping. Thank goodness. It sounds painful.
 
It's hard to measure, as we have two cats and they drink from two bowls. We cannot confine Dweezil to our bedroom all day and night to measure the water consumption for him alone. That would be the only way we could do it though.

Right now especially, it is way too hot to have a cat confined to one room. We have no air conditioning.

We have been measuring the consumption for both cats every 12 hour period, and in 24 hours they seem to go through around 250-300ml or thereabouts, in total, depending on the heat. It is SO hot.
 
monty_dweezil said:
Thank you for the support.

We are currently tracking his water and food intake, his urine glucose and ketones and general demeanor. He is drinking less than he was last week which is good. Appetite is good but not ravenous anymore which is also good. Preening, popping, playing and purring is all good. Peeing less too. Skin hydration is good.
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That's all very good news :)
 
Yes! I am still watching him like a hawk. He has not lost any weight this week. Yay! We would love him to put on about another 0.6 pounds, as he still looks a little slim for us. He weighs 12.5 pounds right now and was 13.4 pounds before.

His water consumption and peeing has DEFINITELY come down. He is no longer heading into the bathroom so much. Right now he and his brother are stretched out under the ceiling fan in front of me.
 
Pic
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it is definitely a process, not an event.
Have you ever heard of a swamp cooler? Its a way to use water evaporation to help cool the air. If the humidity isn't too high, it may be helpful and is something you can improvise at home.
 
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Oooh, if only we could! The humidity is the big issue here. You walk around damp all the time.

We had an evaporative air cooler in Melbourne when we lived there, but up here they barely even sell them. I think it was about 80%+ humidity yesterday but i missed the weather report. Everyone is complaining about it.

In terms of Dweezy, right now we would not know anything wasn't right if it was not for the urine tests. How can it be that he is peeing and drinking a standard-ish amount and seeming ok otherwise but still his pee sugar is so high?
 
The renal threshold is the number at which glucose starts spilling into the urine. Depending on the cat and the research, this is around 240 mg/dL or 13.3 mmol/L.
The blood glucose is measured as either mg/dL or as mmol/L. It does not equal the urine detection strips measurement exactly, in fact, they may not even try to give a blood equivalent with those.
And his kidneys are doing a good job concentrating the urine. If his numbers were super high, the urine would be profuse, dilute, barely scented, and flooding the litter box. So there has been progress.
 
BJM said:
The renal threshold is the number at which glucose starts spilling into the urine. Depending on the cat and the research, this is around 240 mg/dL or 13.3 mmol/L.
The blood glucose is measured as either mg/dL or as mmol/L. It does not equal the urine detection strips measurement exactly, in fact, they may not even try to give a blood equivalent with those.
And his kidneys are doing a good job concentrating the urine.
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Sounds like my first reply to this post

"The urine stick measure the sort of the average BG glucose level but in different units that for blood BG. Glucose only spills into the urine when BG is higher that the glucose threshold.The threshold can very and is like between a blood BG of 180 to 260 or so. The higher the BG is above the threshold and the higher the BG the more glucose that is in the urine."
 
monty_dweezil said:
Ok, so, despite all those good signs, we just got a urine glucose reading and still no ketones, but still the highest result. Sigh.
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Don't get too discouraged with the higher reading on the urine test strips. That just means at some point since the last time he peed the glucose spilled into the urine. That does not mean his numbers are that high constantly. If his sugar spikes just once it will show up.
Katie's was always the highest reading also on those strips, even though I know her BG was not constantly high.
 
monty_dweezil said:
Yes...I see that now. So he is the highest. *sigh* I really, really wish we could get his blood glucose tested. We tried yet again today. No blood.

Oh, and yes, thank GOD there are no ketones at least.
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I'm new to this forum and to diabetes testing. I had a horrible time getting blood samples at first. I switched to a ReliOn Lancing device and it has been so easy since. I see you are in Australia so you may or may not have WalMart? ReliOn is their brand. I am also blessed to have a very accommodating cat but having the right device has saved us a lot of grief.
 
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