Cats sugar

I recently switched my cat to Tiki Brand food. I read that this brand is very good for a diabetic cat. Since my cat has been eating it his sugar has been worse. It's been in the 400's in the morning and at night. He was eating Merrick Purrfect Bistro and his numbers would be in the low 300's in the morning and at night. All his food is wet. Anyone have any suggestions as to why this may be? Thanks in advance.

 

You might want to read this: Feeding Lowest/Zero Carb vs Lower Carb Foods

and this discussion. Low Carb vs Lower Carb

 

What are his mid-cycle readings? Are they any lower than normal? A change to lower carb food can cause bounce, but it's hard for me to tell without more information. For the life of me, I can't find the link that describes what bounce is.

Basically, when a cat's body is used to having high levels of sugar, the liver can interpret falling to a normal BGL as a crash. "Help! We're crashing!" the liver shouts. "Release all the sugar!" Bam, really hign BGL.

A rule of thumb is, if your mid-cycle readings are less than half of the pre-test readings, bounce may be the issue. Keep the dose and diet steady, and it should resolve itself. If it's not bounce, folks on the board would need more information to advise.

I'll add that Deb and Wink is much more experienced than I am. The links she posted are very helpful.

 

Thank you for the information.

 

With his Tiki food his sugar last night was 411mg I gave him his usual 1½ ccs of insulin and this morning his sugar was 144mg so he did not get any insulin. His mid day number however rose to 311mg. So I am just confused on what is going on. I guess I shouldn't have changed his food. The vet was just concerned with his morning and night readings which were in the lower 300's. His mid day numbers were anywhere from 79-119mg when he was eating the Merrick Purrfect Bistro.

 

And I have to say ,without a spreadsheet linked into your signature, there really isn't much more we can look at to try and figure out what else might be going on.

I urge you to get that SS setup. and information in your profile signature. We don't even know what insulin you are giving.

Info on how to do that can be found in this post.
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!

 

@Calimarie ….if you need help setting up our spreadsheet, please feel free to send me a private message. Just click on my name and choose "start a conversation" so I can get some information.

We're very data-driven here so we really depend on seeing what's been going on for the last week or two so we can give you the best advice possible!

 

@Juls and Billy

It's in the Lantus forum, under the Sticky post for The Basics: New to the Group? Start here!

I just cut and paste from there, because I help so many people, it's a shortcut when I'm helping folks. What can I say? Should have been a reference librarian.

"Bouncing - Bouncing is simply a natural reaction to what the cat's system perceives as a BG value that is "too low". "Too low" is relative. If a cat is used to BGs in the 200's, 300's, or higher for a long time, then even a BG that drops to 150 can trigger a "bounce". Bouncing can also be triggered if the blood glucose drops too low and/or too fast.The pancreas, then the liver, release glucagon, glycogen and counter-regulatory hormones. The end result is a dumping of "sugar" into the bloodstream to save the cat from going hypoglycemic from a perceived low. The action is often referred to as "liver panic" or "panicky liver". *Usually*, a bounce will clear kitty's system within 3 days (6 cycles)."

Bouncing is not restricted to Lantus or Levimir insulins. I like Juls BAM .... POW explanation too. Like the comics for the old superheroes.

p.s. Wish someone would correct the spelling. It's glucagon not glucogon.

 

When blood glucose goes LOW, (such as between meals, and during exercise) more and more glucagon is secreted from the pancreas. Like insulin, glucagon has an effect on many cells the body, but most notably the liver

In animals and humans, glycogen is found mainly in muscle and liver cells. Glycogen is synthesized from glucose when blood glucose levels are high, and serves as a ready source of glucose for tissues throughout the body when blood glucose levels drop too low.

So the pancreas releases glucagon to stimulate the liver to release it's stored glycogen.