Weird glucose readings on Sadie after moving - advice appreciated :)

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TimberLily

TimberLily

Member Since 2021
I’ve had a weird week with my diabetic cat Sadie and I’m looking for some insight. It’s a long story so thanks in advance for putting up with my rambling! She was diagnosed in Jan 2021 and given Vetsulin. Her most current dose is 2.5 units of vetsulin twice a day. We also did dietary changes and I’ve done a couple at home glucose curves but the last one I did was back in April. (I only ever tested glucose levels when the vet asked me too! I didn’t realize until recently how important having a baseline was!)

In Feb 2021 Sadie and I and my two other cats moved for school and left my husband and our dog behind. She handled this absolutely fine. My school schedule has gotten insane this term so I moved sadie in with my husband so he can make sure she gets the right care. She’s always handled change well and she was moving back into a house she knew so I figured she’d do well…

I moved her on 12/24 and have been saying with her and my husband ever since. By 12/25 I noticed she wasn’t eating anywhere near as much as she usually did. I figured she was just stressed from the move and didn’t think much of it. I tried to give her treats and canned chicken to entice her to eat which helped a little but not much. On 12/26 she was hardly eating at all so I decided to check her blood glucose and she was low. I didn’t think to do this until after her regular 2.5 units of insulin and she ended up getting quite low. Our vet had instructed us that if she went below 60 to give honey, she got to 58 so we gave honey and food and treats and she did go back up. I’ve been keeping an eye on her all week and testing her blood and she’s eating a bit better now but her blood glucose levels are too normal for a cat that had very recently needed 5 units of insulin a day! For a couple days we have lower doses but her glucose was getting so low! We skipped her insulin this morning because she was low and she’s still low tonight even after eating a normal amount.

Our vet is small and both of the doctors there are out of the office all week so the techs there can’t help me. I’ve called other local vets and they can’t give me advice without seeing her which I understand but they don’t have appointments for a couple weeks. The emergency vet won’t take her because she’s not technically in an emergency situation. I’m hoping someone here has some ideas of why her blood glucose is all of a sudden in the “normal” range without insulin or what we can be doing different to keep her safe until our vets get back in town? I’ll post her BG readings below, sorry it’s not in a fancy PowerPoint, all I have at my husbands house is my phone!

tl;dr = diabetic cat moved houses and is all of a sudden in “normal” BG ranges without insulin but also slightly decreased appetite.

12/26

7:45pm insulin

9:11 88

10:25 58

10:30 honey

10:50 couple treats and little soft food

11:00 75

12/27

12:00am 100 (needle stick)

1:00 151

1:10 ate a little more food

5:00 115

6:00 101

7:30 130 (food time)

8:45 153

9:15 gave 1.5 units

12:15pm 121

7:00 gave food, didn’t eat much

8:10 143 gave 1.5 units

9-9:15 gave scrambled eggs and some canned chicken and she ate a little more

9:30 100

10:50ish 72


12/28

7:30am 115 (skipped insulin this AM)

11:30 124

1:30pm 120

7:10 206

7:50 ate 1/3 can food, gave 1.5 units

10:00 72 - ate 5.5 treats

12:00 115 (ate a little bit more since 10)


12/29

7:30am 105 (skipped insulin)

1:40pm 144 (had eaten most of 1 can of food)

7:15 106 (skipping insulin again)
 
I don't think I have enough experience to help, but I am sure someonemore knowledgeable will be by soon:). But perhaps some questions might shed some light on the situation.

Have you changed her diet since she moved? Is she eating a low carb diet, wet or dry? Which blood glucose meter are you using is it a pet meter or human meter? Do you always test before you give insulin? If so do you have that data available. We have spreadsheets where we keep track of our kitties' blood glucose readings so we can see patterns and trends and know when to increase or decrease the dose and other members can see and give advice.

Is she on medication or does she have any other health issues?

Sorry, lots of questions:p.
 
Thank you for all the questions! I know there are plenty of important things I missed in my ramble :)

No diet change since moving. She’s on low carb wet food diet and has been for about a year now.

I use the AlphaTrak2 for testing. I don’t have any other data. I only ever tested when the vet asked me to or if Sadie was acting funny.

No other medications, just the Vetsulin. She does have some mild arthritis but the vet said it’s not severe enough to treat at this time.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.
Just need to ask a couple of questions to get some information.
Thanks for the extra information in the second post.
Do you feed her 30 minutes before giving the insulin every time?
Are you giving her snacks during the cycles?
Do you have a hypo kit set up?
Would you be willing to set up a spreadsheet, enter the data you have, and continue to test her daily moving forward.? It is much easier to read BG data that is in a spreadsheet, not just in a line down the paper.
Sadie could well be close to remission but until we see enough data for this, we don’t know. And if she is close, you need to ensure that she has a strong remission, otherwise she will end up back on insulin.
As you are using an alphatrak mete, the take action BG number is 68. So any time she drops under that, and she has been giving insulin, you need to feed some high carb food or honey.
 
I try my best to feed her 30 minutes before insulin but sometimes she is SUCH a slow eater I need to dose her before the 30 minutes is up so I can head to school.

I do give her some crunchy cat greenies every day but she eats only about 1/4 the recommended amount before she loses interest (4-5 treats).

We do have a hypo kit but the high carb wet food expired a while ago and totally slipped my mind to restock until now.

Going forward I will absolutely start doing a spreadsheet. Way easier to read than my copy and paste note!

I’ll keep that 68 number in mind. The vet told me 60 but she also told me I didn’t need to test blood glucose unless there was a problem so… ‍♀️

thank you for your questions!! I really do hope she’s going into remission but my heart is telling me it’s just the stress from the move. I very much hope you are right though!
 
I just tested her again. She’s eaten maybe half her can of food. She’s been eating extremely slow lately.
First reading was 71. I didn’t think that was possible. I tested again a minute later and she was at 101. I used the control solution and it came up with a reading in the correct range. Has anyone experienced such a jump in readings like that?
It was cheaper to buy a brand new meter with 50 test strips than it was to buy just the test strips so I do have a new meter coming tomorrow. Battery in current device is new and the code for the strips is the correct code for cat. I’m just at a loss!
 
Most people here actually use a human blood glucose meter because the strips are much more affordable, but vets tend to prefer you use the pet meter.:rolleyes: 71 to 101 is quite a difference in readings perhaps it is is faulty strip.

That would be great news if she is heading to remission:D seems likely considering how low her numbers are.

Oh, and stress generally makes blood glucose numbers go up not down.
 
I am going to ask @Bandit's Mom to help you set up the spreadsheet so you can get the numbers in soon so we can see and we can help you get sorted.

There can be a 20% variance in readings on most meters so many people get different reading just a few minutes apart.

It’s important to make sure she has that food aboard before the dose is given so if she’s a slow eater, feed her a bit earlier so she has time to finish.

60 on the alphatrak meter is too low. Please take action at 68. By testing you can see any potential problems and deal with them before they happen.

Ae you giving any snacks during the first half of all the cycles..eg a couple of teaspoons of low carb food two times during the first 6 hours after the insulin is given?
It’s Important she has access to food during the first half of the cycle as that is when she is most likely to drop low.
 
Here is a link helping us to help you link. If you noticed, our members have some basic information about their cat's in their signature. This helps us to not pester you by asking the same questions (your cat's name, insulin type, date of diagnosis, etc.) repeatedly. We also have a link to our spreadsheet in our signature. We are very numbers driven. The spreadsheet is a record of your cat's progress. By linking it in your signature, we can follow along and provide feedback should you need the help.
 
Hello and welcome to FDMB! :-)
I can set up your spreadsheet and signature. Will send you a PM with the details I need. Look for it in the Inbox at the top right corner of this page.
 
JanetNJ said:
I am guessing the pancreas is waking up. Is it an alpha track or human meter?

@Bandit's Mom maybe you can help set up a spreadsheet?
Click to expand...

I'm using AlphaTrak2. It was cheaper to buy a whole need meter kit with 50 strips than it was to just buy 50 strips. New meter arrived today and I've tested her with it once so far and it matches up with what the old AlphaTrak2 meter was telling me. She's at 91 right now. No insulin since Tuesday night and she's back to eating her entire meal.

I was so convinced this was her being stressed from the move and not eating and letting her sugar levels plummet but now I'm actually starting to think maybe her pancreas IS waking up. We did move her on Christmas Eve, maybe it was a magical car ride? Maybe I'm cured of a chronic disease too! Christmas miracles all around ;)
 
TimberLily said:
I'm using AlphaTrak2. It was cheaper to buy a whole need meter kit with 50 strips than it was to just buy 50 strips. New meter arrived today and I've tested her with it once so far and it matches up with what the old AlphaTrak2 meter was telling me. She's at 91 right now. No insulin since Tuesday night and she's back to eating her entire meal.

I was so convinced this was her being stressed from the move and not eating and letting her sugar levels plummet but now I'm actually starting to think maybe her pancreas IS waking up. We did move her on Christmas Eve, maybe it was a magical car ride? Maybe I'm cured of a chronic disease too! Christmas miracles all around ;)
Click to expand...
I am really happy for you!! Two weeks in normal numbers without insulin is considered remission.
 
Sadie had one dose of insulin on 12/28 and hasn’t had anything since then and her readings are all in the normal range still. Waiting for vet docs to get in the office Monday to get her in for some testing soon. Hoping she keeps up this pattern and we can be done with insulin. She will be SO happy to not be needled twice a day!
 
Some cat's blood glucose numbers do actually drop lower as a result of stress, although this is not the typical response.

The big question is where your cat's numbers were prior to your testing more regularly. Vetsulin has not been recommended for treating feline diabetes since 2018 due to its not having a long enough duration and because it can drop numbers hard and fast. It's one of the reasons we really encourage home testing. Some cats who experience hypoglycemia can have lower numbers for a short while or even go into remission, although this isn't typical either.

I'd encourage you to keep testing. The only other concern that I have is that there are some medical conditions that can lower blood glucose levels. Since it sounds like you were trying to schedule a vet appointment, I'd suggest following up, especially if your cat is due for a check up.
 
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