Is 51 too low for newly diagnosed cat?

This morning @ 8:45 am CST we took Rocky's BG at 461. I fed him half a can of 5.5 oz Friskies Prime Filets (not exactly low carb, maybe mid-carb?), which he ate all of and then ate one of the other cat's Friskies left overs. So he had quite a bit to eat. Half hour later I gave him the vet prescribed 3 units of Novolin

Fast forward to 20 minutes ago, 1:22 pm (about 4 hours after his shoot) and I catch him eating some food from the dog bowl. He shouldn't be doing that. So we check him and his BG is 51. I don't notice any symptoms other than hunger. So I give him another half of 5.5 oz Friskies, which he annihilates. So I gave him some high-carb treats and some licks of cherry jam. He's sleeping contently in his favorite sun-spot in the kitchen right now

I believe I've read 30 and below is hypo for a cat. Is 50 too low, too? The thing is I haven't figured out when his nadir is. From the data I have so far I thought it was 6 hours but 51 at +4 is the lowest he's ever gotten so far on a full stomach

When should I test him again, and is the food stuff I just gave him sufficient to keep his BG from dropping further?

 

Yes, 51 is too low. If you’re using a human meter that’s the number where you need to actively prop up the BG with food/carbs - heck, why not cherry jam!

Test him again in maybe half an hour to see if his BG is up or holding above 50. If not, give another small carb laced snack. You don’t want to fill him up in case more snacks are needed.

The dose is too high if he’s dropped this low. Was he started on this dose? If so that’s awfully high for a newly diagnosed kitty. Generally 1 u twice a day is a good starting point with increases of only 0.25 u at a time being made as needed. You can’t assume the nadir is at +6. It varies cat to cat and within one cat.

I suggest you drop the dose to no more than 2 u starting next dose.

 

Hi Butterball,
I can't stick around but I can offer some very general guidance.

Nadir is the lowest point in a blood glucose curve. Once you hit that point the blood glucose levels will start to go up again.

I'm looking at your spreadsheet and unfortunately, there isn't enough information to know whether you've hit that point or not. Every cat is different it may not happen at +6. The biggest danger is if the BG keeps dropping.

I'm not familiar with the characteristics of Novolin. I used Lantus with Clyde.

I would feed him a bit of higher carb food...maybe a teaspoon or so and then recheck in about a half hour and see where he's at and if he is holding or is dropping. If dropping, a bit more food and repeat the process.

I'm a little surprised they started him at 3U most vets will start a cat at 1U.

 

I didn't know anything about cat diabetes when we took him to the vet a week and a half ago. So when I found out 3 units was quite high I assumed it was because of his high numbers (400-500) and his size (18 lbs, he's a big one)

You can see on my chart that I gave him 1.5 units last night because I felt he didn't eat much at his pre-shot meal. And it didn't really do anything, his BG even rose a little a couple hours after. So 2 is what I'll try for tonight's shoot. Thanks for help. I'll update with his new numbers in a little bit, he doesn't appear to have any symptoms

How do I remove the 911 tag from my post? I don't see the option in Edit

 

Go up to the top of your page where the thread title is and look under its lower right area. You'll see "edit thread title" there. Click on "no icon" in the same menu where you found the red 911.

 

Just tested, spiked to 324, so I guess I may have overdone his carb load. I'll try 2 units for the next few days, this seems like a lot of ping-ponging and I don't like him having reduced insulin coverage because of it

Is this normal for a cat starting on Novolin?

 

Novolin insulin is a fairly quick acting insulin and can drop BG readily. If your kitty is one with volatile responses to insulin naturally then, yes, this ping ponging as you call it can happen.