squishy pmps 42 w/no insulin

i just did squishys pmps bg reading, and it freaked me out a little bit. his number was 42 i didn't think this was a good reading so i did it agin and it was 47. the hubby walked in the door like 10 mins. later. i re calibrated his meter and had the hubby test him one more time and it was at 58. i am not sure if this is normal since he has had no insulin for 3 days. does this mean maybe we are not feeding him enough. or is this normal for a cat who has not had insulin for a while?

 

Re: squishy.

hi,

Since you haven't given him any insulin in 3 days I would imagine there is nothing to worry about.

Can you "edit" your title to read

6/30 Squishy PMPS 42!

It might generate more help. Unfortunately I have an acromegaly cat, and rarely see double digits. I think these are considered low/normal blood sugars for a non diabetic cat. Have you tried feeding him?

 

Re: squishy.

Wow! What a great number off insulin! If he has had no insulin for 3 days then there is absolutely nothing to worry about. I assume he hasn't eaten for a few hours before the reading? A fasting # will always be lower.

 

Re: squishy.

Awesome, awesome, awesome!!!!

I have seen a number of posts on Health over time for kitties who have been off insulin for a few days and then throw weird low #s. If they are not getting insulin there's no risk of actual hypo (except if they had the medical condition that's the opposite of diabetes, but that's pretty unlikely), so it may be that this is a normal # for your meter. Have you ever tested another cat in your house with it? I remember someone once got something like a 42 for her civie and wow, guess for some meters a number like that is just fine.

Somehow it seems like when they are newly arrived at the falls their #s can do weirdo things. In this case, it looks like good-weirdo, yippee!!!!

On the feeding question, if he is acting hungry I would let him eat. If he's not acting hungry I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Re: squishy.

I just did a little research and found :
normal non diabetic numbers as 60-120 in one place, and 70-120 in another.

Obviously this fluctuates through the day due to food, stress, illness etc. Had it been awhile since you fed him? And of course we have meter/strip variations. Have you done a test with control solution, or tested yourself?

I dont remember if you are just switching from dry to wet, but remember he is going to need more volume of wet food than dry because it is part water, and therefore less compacted calories, usually.

 

i think it's ok, tom was in remission and would occasionally throw me a # in the 50's. even humans get low blood sugar when hungry, could that be the case. i know it would be impossible to hypo with no insulin on board. let us know how this goes

 

Wow--this kitty is definitely doing well with the food change.

Charlie gave me a 58 about 12 days into his otj period. If it helps, look at my ss. I test 1x per week to keep an eye out for potential probs.

If you are concerned Squishy isn't getting enough food, there are calculations for calories per pound of cat. I will try and go find a link for you.

Great job

 

Ok, the feeding info can be found in the catinfo link:

catinfo

You have to scroll down pretty far but the recommended calculation according to Dr Pierson is 15kcal per pound of cat per day.

So, if your cat weighs 10lbs, you should be feeding 10x15; which is 150 calories per day. If your cat weighs 18lbs but is overweight and should weigh 16; then you should feed 16x15; which equals 240 calories per day.

Hope this info helps, but for now I second Joanna's suggestion that if Squishy is acting hungry feed more for a while.

 

i could not get an ear prick no matter i did this morning!!! he has caught on to my way, guess we will have to figure something else out. i will have the hubby try when he gets home from work. he is way better at it then i am.

 

I wouldn't worry about it! It looks like he is healed, and doing fantastic! Not that you don't need to check his BG, but I wouldn't worry about checking it as often as you have been. Others with experience can advise you better on frequency. I'm so happy for you and Squishy, it is awesome to see!

 

The recommendation I've seen is to continue testing AMPS & PMPS at the normal time for 2 weeks - if #s indicate no insulin is needed for 2 wks, then it's officially OTJ. At that point people generally test less often, whatever they want really, maybe every few days for a while, then once a week, then once a month once it's really established. And a lot of people don't realize that once they are diet controlled they can NEVER have higher carb food again safely. Some people will start feeding some dry food for instance (e.g. for a treat or small snack) and then after a while they tend to end up back here on insulin. Of course if they won't eat one might have to do that, but as long as they are eating fine, they are considered diet-controlled, which means 100% LC diet only.

On the feeding amount calculation I think Dr. Lisa has revised her views - I saw some things she wrote a while back on Health suggesting she no longer uses a formula, but I don't recall exactly what her new advice is...

 

i can attest to what joanna said. tom was otj for 2.5 years and i stupidly started treating him to dry kibble snacks. just a little. every day. taa daa...here we are again!
NEVER repeat NEVER treat kitties to kibble or pay the piper.