High Glucose, otherwise healthy 7 year old male

Hi all,
My 7 year old male tabby is otherwise healthy. His drinking and urination is normal. At the vet, he stresses out immensely and they told me he had 350 bg and that I immediately needed to change his diet and begin insulin shots. I began to read up on spikes in bg and decided I wanted a second opinion since he was otherwise healthy. I did change his diet from dry food and fancy feast cans to only Purina DM cans immediately which he was completely fine with. I think his rise in blood glucose was also hyperglycemia induced by stress at the vet so I had a vet do an at home visit which he freaked out for even more because the woman who was holding him down was extremely aggressive with him and the second time his bg read 358. I bought the home test kit, but have yet been unable to draw blood from his ear. I have accidentally pricked myself about seven times, but can't seem to get blood from him. Any tips or suggestions? I do not want to make him endure insulin shots if his insulin was either induced by stress or can be regulated by his diet.

Of course, if he needs the insulin I will definitely put him on it, but he is otherwise extremely healthy, active, etc.
I want to try to get a few days worth of his bg at home when he is calm. Again, does anyone have any suggestions??

Has anyones kitty BG dropped from diet and exercise alone?

 

Hi and welcome Ivana. It is very possible that your cat's BG was higher because of stress and I think you are very wise to learn to test and see what the BG levels are in his own environment. I know that testing isn't always easy at first, but it's the best way to see what's going on. The ears need to "learn to bleed", the more you test, the more capillaries form and they bleed better. You can warm the ear(s) with a rice sock (just a small cotton sock with about 1/4 cup raw rice, knotted) warmed in the microwave for 15-20 seconds or an old pill bottle with warm water in it. Back the ear with a cotton ball or folded bit of paper towel or tissue, to protect yourself and to use to press gently on the "poke" site after the test to prevent bruising. Also, the lancets that may have come with your kit may be too thin, a 26 or 28 gauge lancet is best to use at the beginning.
We have many videos and testing tips here: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/hometesting-links-and-tips.287/
It's mostly a process of patience and practice.
I would like you to post in the Main Health forum so that more members can read about your concerns and questions, it's much more heavily monitored than this forum, which is more of a welcome mat. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/
If you like, you can just copy your message here, start a new thread there and paste the message.
Best wishes.

 

Thank you! I will definitely try the rice sock method tonight. I will also retype this in the other forum!
Best!