High BGs for weeks - no clinical symptoms

Napoleon's BG has been high for weeks, going down to 200s at the lowest. His AMPS was 590! Just started with Lantus. My question is how can he have no clinical signs - PU,PD, etc. - with these high numbers? I am definitely checking for ketones. Yesterday was his first day on Lantus and he was bursting with energy. Over the past 24 hours he has been alert, playing, grooming, running- he looks good! Knock wood. This is just confusing to me with such high numbers. Any ideas? Thoughts?

 

hi Nicole

- is there dry food available?
Or strictly on wet food now?
- what meter are u currently using? expiry date on ur strips ok?
- how are his teeth?
- hows the litterbox action?

just ruling some things out, since u just began with Lantus, it's going to take a bit of patience.
as well as finding the right dose.

you know you can always cross post in that forum and here to get extra eyes on you should you need it!

 

Hi Ronnie,

No dry food since January 2010 - strictly wet food.
We use the One Touch Ultra Mini - strips are good.
His teeth have a little tartar - had him checked by 2 vets and they think it is a little bit of gum disease but nothing bad. They want to get him regulated before a cleaning. I have wondered too if that could be contributing to the high BG numbers.
He is using the litterbox maybe 3 times a day. Not drinking a lot.

Lantus takes about a week to settle in, am I correct? Is it sometimes longer?

Thanks so much :smile:

 

The teeth could very well be part of the problem.
I took Shadoe for her very first dental, and she was not regulated.
The vet said overall, at a quick glance, they did not look bad but on closer exam and cleaning, 4 looked iffy, and after Xray of the 4, one very bad molar had to be extracted.

Shadoe's BG numbers and dose took a nose dive right after. I attribute part of the drop to the removal of one bad tooth.

If you can, you should look into getting the cleaning done and see if there are any teeth that could be a problem.

 

Thanks Gayle, I agree. I am going to push the issue at his next appointment.

 

If you take a look at Shadoe's ss, you will see that the tooth extraction made a big difference. I can't say the whole decrease in dose was due to the tooth but I bet it was a good part. She was up to 14u and got down to 2.75u.

We know what it's like to have a toothache, so why wait if there is something that needs fixing? A cleaning and then Xray any iffy looking teeth to see if there is something under the gum line that is very bad. Not everything will be visible to the naked eye.

Good luck getting the pearly whites shined up

 

I have never understood why vets say this. Chicken before the egg, or egg before the chicken. The truth of the matter is that tartar and gingivitis are infection. You can't regulate a diabetic kitty with an infection. It's actually quite dangerous to the kitty to not get it taken care of, because if it goes into decay, the infection could enter the bloodstream. As well, infection and unregulated diabetes can bring on ketones and DKA. The high bg's are basically sugar, which means the diabetes is making it worse. I'd recommend you get the dental done and visit our lantus forum for specialized dosing help. Remember, you're the boss, mama bean. ;-)

 

Thanks Carolyn. I am actually in the process of changing vets, back to our original that cared for our pets when we were kids. He is the one who suggested and got me the Lantus out of the kindness of his heart over the phone, answering my questions and charging me nothing. I think he will be on board, hopefully. I am going to take him over in the next couple of weeks.