AMPS REALLY high. Do I feed?

Frito's AMPS was 445. I gave him his injection but should I feed now or wait? We had a couple of errors before we finally got his number.

Thanks

 

Well, I went ahead and fed. He wasn't interested, which tells me that he might have eaten the other cats' food downstairs when he was out of my room for a couple hours early this morning. Hopefully.

 

which could be why his number was so high..

 

Yes, I came to that conclusion. Tested at +2, and it's significantly lower.

 

Keeping your cat on a strict regiment is very important. Test the same time, feed the same time (using the same size portion), give insulin the same time...which is always after they feed. The blood sugar will rise with the digestive process and help to lower the sugar. Reimentation is the key to a stable sugar. If consistently high...your cat made have another health care issue in play. Or, you may have to increase the dosage of insulin. Make sure to give 7-10 days for any change to become stablized. It takes time and patience. You can do it! Good luck from jane and stewey

 

Sneaky boy! Hope he's doing better.

 

:/ He's not! I've been doing a curve all day, and his numbers just keep going up! We just did his 6 pm one, and it was so high, I panicked and retested, and got a slightly lower high number. I was really hoping he was going to produce numbers a bit better than this. I'm positive the vet will want to increase his dosage. I'll have to give them a call in the morning. Boo.

 

No need to panic with high numbers, just test for ketones. Ketones form as a by-product of fat breakdown. Too many ketones may indicate diabetic ketoacidosis, an expensive to treat, potentially fatal, complication of diabetes. If you get more than a trace of ketones with either blood (special meter) or urine testing (KetoDiaStix or KetoStix or generic - ask the pharmacist for them), you need to go to the vet.

 

I'll have to go pick up something. I haven't gotten anything for that yet.

 

Blood ketone meters are Precision Xtra and Nova Max Plus. The test strips are pricey.

 

Darn. I rarely catch him using the box, so I might have to go with the blood testing. This is so frustrating. Poor Bub.

 

Cats often eliminate within 20 minutes or so after eating.
You might try taking some plastic wrap and putting it around the perimeter of the litter box. It can catch a few drops. Note that the urine does need to be fresh to test properly.
Second, check my signature link Secondary Monitoring Tools for some additional tips.

 

Thanks for the heads up. With 4 cats in the house, and all determined to use the same box, regardless of having multiple, a general time frame is helpful. I'll keep an eye out.

 

Update: Only trace ketones! Whew! Waiting to hear back from veterinarian about curve.

 

Glad that ketones aren't showing problematic yet!

Just looking at your siggy line, and if all of that is current the kind of action you are seeing seems to be in line with what you are feeding and the insulin you are using. Vetsulin is a shorter acting insulin that usually peeks early so you see a fairly quick drop like you did, but then it wears out faster so for most cats, around 7-9hrs it has worn off and you will see your cat back in high numbers. If he is still getting dry weight control food, that will be extremely high in carbs and only a few pieces could increase his numbers. Removing that dry food would probably help a lot, even it were to a more diabetic friendly dry food. But you'd want to be testing when you do that because his numbers could drop significantly.

 

I've already switched his PM wet food to the FF Classic (just updated signature), which won't be a huge change for him, because the FF I'd been feeding the last week or so was a random mix of low carb and not. I just have to hover, and make sure he doesn't eat the other cat's Pro Plan. I want to transition him to the wet in the AM, too. I've already noticed he's eating less dry in the morning. I REALLY just want him off that weight control, now that you've reminded me that that's what it is. He's already lost so much weight, and still is. Maybe I'll start that in the morning, depending on if the vet raises his insulin. Should I just mix a tiny bit of wet in his dry? With my cats, transitioning foods have never been an issue. We'd always switch it up with no problems.

 

Most cat's tummies do better by transitioning food instead of cold turkey. Mixing wet with his dry to transition would be fine. It will also bring down the overall carb% of calories of the meal while you are still feeding dry. I've switched cold turkey without problems and I've had a cat have tummy issues. You never know until the diarrhea hits

 

Yeah, Frito's never had issues cold turkey, but with everything going on now, that's not the way I want to go. I'll start transitioning them (because, no way will sister let him have wet, and not her) in the morning.
Thank you for your help!