Newly Diagnosed - Blood Glucose Levels, do these seem okay?

Preface: Yes, I will be contacting my vet regarding these levels. I'm due to report them on Friday, but I may report them earlier if these are too "off".

My cat was newly diagnosed recently. Her first reading at the vets on the 2nd was around 320 (if I remember correctly). It is hard for me to get to this vets, they are about an hour and a half away. But they are the only ones that I can trust with helping her with her condition. Switching her to Purina Pro Plan DM food appears to be controlling her diabetes for now. She isn't used to having her ears pricked just yet, so keep in mind that my final two numbers may be a bit high.

She is currently on a 6:00 am/pm schedule for food, she takes her regular medication at 6:30am/pm. She is 10lbs, and is almost 8 years old. She is taking Prednisolone for a different condition, which is what caused her diabetes diagnosis. I am using the Alphatrak monitor.

Timeline:
6/2 - 320? High sugar in urine, diagnosis.
Night 6/6 - I officially switch her to Purina Pro Plan DM.
6/8 - Her blood glucose is 130, sugar in urine is very low. We are hopeful that the food alone is controlling her condition for now.
6/9 - 132 reading @ 1:25pm. 3 stick attempts needed. (medium stress)
6/11 - 321 reading @6:41 pm, just after she finishes her food. 2 stick attempts needed (some stress)
6/16 - 220 reading @ 8am, 2 hours after meal and a 40 minuet car ride. High stress.
6/17 - 161 reading @ 10am, 3 hours after meal (meal 1 hour late).

I was told not to stick her every day, so I'm planning to get a late-night reading on Wednesday (around 10pm?), and then a third pre-meal reading around 4pm on Friday when I call them back.

I wanted to call them about the 321 reading tonight, but unfortunately they are closed. Is this a normal reading right after a meal? Should I be concerned and call the vet first thing in the morning? (I feel so bad for constantly bothering them, I feel like a needy patient.) I'm not sure what is considered "normal" for animals and I'm honestly finding some contradictory information online, so any information you guys can lend me would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

Am I correct in thinking you are not giving any insulin but only low carb food?
Is the food dry food or canned? Dry food is much higher in carbs than canned food. We recommend only giving canned low carb food to diabetic cats. Here is a link to suitable food
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/links-to-various-food-charts.169055/

Take a BSL before food then try taking the BSL ( blood sugar level) 2 to 3 hours after giving food. If the pancreas is working it should bring down the BSL.
The BSL does go up a bit after food but if the pancreas is working it will bring the BSL back down to normal.
If kitty's BSL is continually over the normal limit then insulin will probably be needed.

 

Yes, they believe that she is being controlled by low card high protein food alone for now. She's on canned Purina Pro Plan DM food. I believe that she will need insulin over time, as I'm sure her diabetic issues will increase alongside when she needs an increased dose of Prednisolone. The 321 rating freaked me out a bit but she DID just eat and she was stressed. I just don't know what the regular glucose levels are for cats. I see different metrics everywhere. Her 130ish ranges were about four and a half hours before her meal. (Seven and a half hours after her previous meal.)

Yea, I will take a level a few hours after her food. They want me to take a reading on Friday as well around noon-time, but since I'm unable to do that we'll have to settle for 4pm when I get home.

Thank you for the food chart! The vet is a little concerned because she isn't eating a whole "6 ounces" of food. It's hard to make her eat three ounces in one sitting, especially when we have two other non-diabetic cats who desperately want canned food over their normal food. She's used to eating some now and a little later, so they want me to find a food brand that she loves enough to eat the whole thing so that she gets 6 ounces of food. I hope I can find something, but I am skeptical just because she's always been a grazing type. That chart will definitely help!

 

There’s nothing wrong with free feeding. I fed Max several small meals.

 

I wish I could, when I move in with my fiance then I will be able to free feed her. For now, it's just not possible to keep her separate from the other two non-diabetic cats who are on their own prescription diet which is no good for her. For now I've been trying to "make up" the missing food with Stella & Chewy's freeze dried meal mixers. I'm going to have to try keeping them separated for a longer period of time to give her more time to finish her meal.

I might try Evo, Fancy Feast, or putting her on Friskies Pate to see if she'll love it enough to stop her grazing habit. She used to be on Friskies Pate with the other cats, before one of them was diagnosed and needed to go on Royal Canin Gastrointestinal low fat.

 

Having special diets makes it hard. My two had to be fed in separate rooms when one was diagnosed with CKD and the other blocked. I literally had to sit with one and then the other. Now one of my two young ones has a skin issue and I had to switch her protein after I bought 20 pounds of raw so the two are on different food. Fortunately they both love to eat and finish in two minutes. I feed them side by side because when I tried to change that one wouldn’t eat so I sit and supervise. She snuck a bite from her sister’s food last week when I was reading my iPad. I’m hoping it won’t mess up the food trial.

Can you divide her meals into three maybe and feed part later at night ?

 

I can try. I try to do 6 am/pm meal time and then 6:30 am/pm medication afterwards. I could maybe do a 3rd meal around 11pm for her.

 

It might be easier than trying to get him to eat all his food in two meals if he’s used to free feeding.

 

She is eating the whole can now, which is great. I may have to take her to the vet tomorrow for a different condition, so hopefully her levels are fine then. Her 300ish reading still worries me, but I don't want to poke her every day.

 

How did you get on at the vet. How were the blood sugar levels?

 

She was at 220, just after her meal and a 40-minute car ride. Overall the vet is very happy with the downward trend of her levels. We're still very hopeful that it can be controlled with just food. Thanks for asking! I'm still not sure what levels are considered "normal" or "good" but.. if the vet's happy then I guess I am too!

 

If you are using a human meter the normal numbers for a cat are 50 to 120
If you are using the Alphatrak the normal numbers for a cat are approx 70 to, I think, about 140.
I don't use the Alphatrak meters so I could be a bit out in those numbers, but not by much. Someone may come along and correct me if I'm wrong
However 220 is too high and you should be aiming for under about 140 on the Alphatrak meter. Let's hope she was just stressed at the vets.
Keep testing at home and recording the numbers. Test a couple of hours (2 or 3) after food, before food and at other random times. Try and do about three a day til we see what she is going to do. If she doesn't keep under 140 approx, you really need to be considering insulin. The higher than normal Numbers means that her pancreas is under stress and if the change of food doesn't bring the numbers back down to within normal limits, the pancreas is not going to be able to manage without some insulin. You may be lucky and she may only need it for a short time, but the longer you leave her in higher than normal numbers the more damage there will be to the pancreas.

Have you set up a spreadsheet? I think it would be a very good idea to start one and put in all your numbers up to date and into the future. That way if you need to start insulin we will have all that info to work with.
Hereis the link. If you have trouble setting it up call out and someone will help you with it. I needed help.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/

Are you giving several smaller meals a day instead of only two big one?
Smaller meals spread over the day is better for the pancreas.

 

I am using AlphaTrak set to Cat. The car ride does make her very stressed. She switched to the food about a week ago and ever since her glucose levels have been going downward over time. I don't know if the vets expect her levels to be in a different place because of her Prednisolone or what. I'll try testing again right now since she just had her food exactly 3 hours ago.

Edit: Her glucose level is 161. Mild stress of course because she really doesn't like it when I wrap her up in a towel to do it. But hey, she has to get used to it to the point where she doesn't jump before I can stop.

The vets tell me to test every other day at most, not several times a day. I don't know what to do anymore.

 

One way to tell how she is doing is to test about three hours after she eats. If her pancreas is working it will be lower and even in the normal range if diet controlled.