911 Not knowing what to do!

Hello all!

I just got home from being away for a week and I checked my Vinnie's BG and he was at 58! I am going on what my vet had me do last time he had a low BG. I am checking his numbers every hour and feeding him sugary food every hour as well. I'm looking for advice on if this is what sound best for Vinnie??

 

When was his last shot?

 

This morning, 2 units. I'm not sure of the exact time, my flight just landed and I just got home

 

I was also thinking no shot, and I will be calling my vet in the morning.

 

So are you thinking 6 hours ago or longer or less? Just a ball park will help.

Definitely no shot, but I think we want to get that number up. Have you had a rising number since then?

 

6 am I was going to check again at the top of the hour. Should I check more?

 

When did you get the 58? How many minutes ago? You want three rising tests before you relax. 58 is low for an AlphaTrak.

 

I test him at 6 pm. So I should have taken three pricks and tests?

 

I am not in your time zone so 6 pm doesn't help. How long in minutes or hours since you tested and got 58. Have you taken any tests since then? If so, how long after the 58 and what was the number?

 

Sorry, I tested him 51 mins ago and I am going to test him again right now.

 

Sounds good. We want a number higher than 58.

 

just got a 91

 

Definitely a better number! Like Sue said, you want 3 rising numbers.

 

Much better. So is it the normal shot time? I would definitely skip tonight. In the morning he may be high - not only will he be bouncing from the low today but he also will have been 24 hours since the previous shot. Regardless, I would shoot less. I think I'd consider one unit if he is sure over 200.

The new diet, maybe eating and moving around less while you were gone all could have contributed to a low level. Or maybe his body and the food is starting to work together and he is gradually dropping. Good news.

 

SO as long as his numbers are rising I shouldn't take him to emergency care? Is feeding him every hour still sound like a good plan?

 

As long as he continues up, I would give just normal food and get another test every 30 minutes until you have 3 rising numbers. No emergency vet as he is in decent numbers now. No more sugary stuff unless he drops. If it has been twelve hours since the shot, the insulin should be wearing off.

 

OK thank you so much! Should I continue feeding him until bed time, around every hour? Also, once I get 3 rising numbers do I stop checkin his BG?

 

Yes, then you can stop. No, I wouldn't feed more than usual.

 

Woke up and checked BG 8 mins ago, only got a 141, I am skipping insulin until I can call my vet this morning.

 

Good call! I wouldn't shoot that low either.

 

OK so I'm back with another situation. SO this morning as I posted Vinnie's BG was 141 so I said I was going to skip insulin, I waited an hour checked again it spiked to 305, so I think I messed up and gave him 1 U of insulin. I had to go to work, but came home as soon as I could 3 1/2 hrs after insulin and checked and got 64. So I gave sugary food and checked back up to 104, I will check again so I can hopefully get the 3 raising numbers before I have to go back to work. I am still waiting for my vet to call me back about what we should try next. Any suggestions here? If he spikes later today should I just hold off on insulin altogether today?

 

Well if he dropped that far on one unit with a 300, I think I'd try a drop if he's in the 300s. Pull up .5 and count the drops. For the shot, pull up .5 and let out all but one drop

 

I spoke with my vet and she is putting us back on 1 U in the am & pm starting tomorrow. BG tonight was 278, I will continue to monitor closely, of course, and keep everyone posted. Thank you all so much for all of the input and help. I just wish I knew exactly what to do for him all the time to make him feel better. Hopefully we find the magic formula for my lil guy soon!

 

My needles don't have half make, should I just eyeball this measurement??

 

I don' think I would give one unit. That does took him from the 300s to 64 in 3.5 hours, it's too much. I'd drop down to 0.5 units or less, and work my way back up if needed. It's easy to raise the dose if needed but a hypo is dangerous.

 

My needles don't have half make, should I just eyeball this measurement??

 

Yes, eyeball away. Or find a stiff ruler with millimeter marks and use it to line up on the syringe, so you can be consistent in measuring.

 

SO I only had to eye ball one day, today his numbers have been so low we haven't given insulin 96 this morning and 105 tonight, is this normal? I'm scared his number tomorrow is gonna shoot up to 400!!!

 

I would definitely skip. It may be that his pancreas has started working again. That can happen for a while and then it can rest. It's a tricky balance - you just have to go with the numbers you get. He has had great numbers!

 

His BG this morning was 138, I still decided against insulin. Last time his number was low and we did give insulin his BG got dangerously low. We do have a vet appointment tomorrow to discuss his numbers and see where we want to go. I'm still very nervous about this because like you all have said the vets don't really have a vast knowledge of feline diabetes, does any have any suggests that I should mention to the vet? If she suggests coming off insulin do I ask her to keep my prescription for ProZinc and we will use it when we need it? Second test this morning 178, still under 200. Oh by the way, this that the range I am looking for? My vet never said a number that we are looking to stay under after switching me to ProZinc.

 

You could see what his no shot number is - we hope it is similar to ours (200). We generally consider a cat regulated if the are in the mid 200s at preshot and double digits at nadir (but not below 50). A cat is considered in remission if they range from 40-120 for 2 weeks off insulin. Are you using an AlphaTrak? If so, add 30 points to these numbers. That's not exact by any means but gives you an idea. If you click on Robin&BB's spreadsheet, she has one set for AlphaTrak ranges. It might help to see her colored ranges across the top. BTW, she is dosing at very low numbers. She has lots of data and Bat Bat is close to going off insulin, so she wouldn't want you to copy her dosing patterns.

Please read Djamila's thread this am. She is facing similar issues.

 

Sorry I'm still new to all the terminology what does nadir mean? I am using the Alph Trak, so that means the range should be 70-150? And thank you for the reference I've emailed Robin&BB to ask about her chart

 

Yes, that would be the approximate range. The nadir is the lowest point of the cycle. It varies for each cat, and it can vary in each cycle. Generally, with ProZinc, it comes 5-7 hours after the shot. But again, ECID: every cat is different.

 

And the nadir can be influenced by food. For Djamila today, he was dropping early, around +3. She tried splitting his meal into two parts, feeding 1/2 with the shot and 1/2 in that period where he has tended to drop 2-3 hours later. He is dropping slower and later today. Food tends to raise levels so sometimes that works.

 

Hey Becca and Vinny I just started reading your post and I went to the same exact thing with my cat Riley that you're going through with yours and Sue help me through most of it.
She really knows what she's talking about. My cat's numbers kept going down lower and lower and there were several times where I just didn't give him any insulin and I was scared because I didn't but at the same time it could have killed him.
His pancreas maybe working better I know my cat's pancreas started working right after he would eat an hour later his numbers would be really low.
I made sure that he got four small meals a day can food only. That can food is what changed Riley 100%. He no longer has symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease and he's in remission from diabetes which was short lived probably about 4 weeks.
I'm not very good at giving dosing advice because his diabetes was so short lived but if I can help in any other way I will.

 

WOW, thank you so much @dana moore it's nice to know here on the forum there are people going through the same thing me and Vinnie are so far he is on day two without insulin and his numbers are pretty good not too low anymore. Fingers crossed I also have short lived diabetes!