AZ Weegies

Hello and Happy Christmas to all. I'm the mom of two Norwegian Forest Cats (Siri and Ronja)...sisters from the same litter. Ronja is totally fine. Siri had a high blood glucose reading (363) at the vet in Dec17 ago but resolved to 116 with no fructosamine issues. We put them both on 2 cans Fancy Feast wet shared followed by 1/4c. IAMS am/pm thinking that that would help. In beginning of Dec Siri started drinking/urinating a lot. I started testing her with readings mostly in the 250s and an occasional 360s. We switched them to wet twice a day 7am/7pm with about 1/4c shared of ProPlan DM. Her full blood panel showed BGL of 226 and fructosamine just above the normal range. We're checking for a UTI. Siri is not on insulin at this point and we're trying to avoid that if at all possible. Siri loves her dry and likes to crunch things. The vet recommends free dry feeding of the ProPlan DM to prevent metabolic spikes/troughs and really wants us to switch to a pet specific glucometer or at least AccuCheck. Siri is not on insulin at this point and we're trying to avoid that if at all possible. So to the questions...I have a OneTouch glucometer I'm using for testing. I know the readings are 'off' because it's a human meter...how do I find out if it's reading low/high or off by how much?? I've read the posts that say human meters are ok and the 'normal' bgl for cats is 50-175. What readings should I be looking for? Any general advice?

I appreciate any advice or thoughts.

 

Normal blood glucose for cats (on a human meter) is 50-120

Get rid of the dry DM….it's higher in carbs than we recommend for sugarcats. It's better for ALL cats if they eat canned or raw, but if you must use a dry food, there are only 2 that are low enough. Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein (available at Chewy.com) and Young Again Zero (only available on their website). A lot of people have complained that YA caused horrible gas and diarrhea though. Both companies will send samples if you contact them.

Don't put off insulin for too long though....if she needs it, it's important to start early because the sooner you get her blood glucose under control, the better her chances of going into remission are. If she does have a UTI, that could cause the numbers to be higher though so getting her checked out is a good idea

 

Thanks bunches for the response and info re: dry! Urinalysis came back negative for UTI but Siri does have sugar in her urine (report says 2+...have no idea how bad that is or if other tests were done to exclude renal issues/failure). Vet wants to continue what we're doing and monitor bgl with a retest in early Jan. No insulin at this point in hopes we can regulate via diet. Fingers crossed!

 

Another question...I'm using a human One Touch Ultra monitor to test bgl. Should I switch to Accu Check? Vet seems to think that is more accurate for cats. If not necessary to switch, then what kind of readings am I looking for...below 250?

 

I'd stick with the one you have. There's a wide variety of human meters in use among the members here and they all read a bit differently and lower than a pet meter. For now the key numbers are those that tell you the BG is getting too low (but not a hypo) - a 50 on a human meter or a 68 on a pet meter. That's when you'd want to intervene with higher carb food to prevent a further drop. Barring this circumstance you want to see nadir BG levels in the high double digits to low 100s. Pre shot BG levels in the low 200s are good. It can take a long time to get anywhere near these ideals. NOTE: This is for a kitty getting insulin.

 

Kris & Teasel,
Thanks for a quick response. Siri isn't on insulin yet. She's drinking/urinating a lot, but no noticeable drop in weight. I've not done a BG curve yet...just random testing across several days at different times of the day, typically with BG levels 250-350? Would nadir typically be in a fasting state several hours after a meal?

 

Sugar in the urine is a pretty definite sign of uncontrolled diabetes. It means the kidneys can't process the amount of glucose in the bloodstream so it "passes through" into the urine.

I'd seriously consider starting insulin as soon as possible....the sooner you catch it and start to treat, the more likely she is to go into remission. She may only need it a short time if it's early enough.

If you test before feeding and then test again about 3 hours later, IF her pancreas is working, the number should go down......now whether it goes down enough is the big question. If she's running in the 250-350 range, it probably won't without help.

 

I used to use that meter until the cost of the strips went up too much. Also, that meter requires 1 uL of blood.
One now can get less expensive generic strips for the One Touch meter

 

Hi and almost Happy New Year Stormy and kitties! It would be helpful if you would set up your signature and then the spreadsheet to record the BG test numbers you are getting. Seeing the data in the spreadsheet grid is very helpful to see trends and patterns, even if you aren't currently using insulin. The signature is simply Siri's pertinent info so far, and saves having to search through different posts or ask repetitively for the same info. You can edit the signature at any time.
Here are the links:
SIGNATURE

SPREADSHEET INSTRUCTIONS

UNDERSTANDING THE SPREADSHEET GRID

Best wishes to you and Siri going forward with her treatment.