Cats glucose levels

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Catdaddy13
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Cats glucose levels

Post by Catdaddy13 »

My 11 year old cat was diagnosed with diabetes . My wife and I took him to the vet yesterday and the vet attached a freestyle Libre glucose monitor to his back and we brought him home . Mr kitty does not like to ride at all , nor is he too fond of vet trips . Highly stressful for him . When we got him home we downloaded the app and started scanning . 1st reading was 122 then it preceeded to go down . We have been monitoring him a lot and most of his scores are in the 40 to 47 range despite him eating 5 times since noon yesterday . He is playing , eating engaged and acting normal . Should I be worried about his scores ?
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Mollycat
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Re: Cats glucose levels

Post by Mollycat »

Hi, you might find this article interesting https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1537917 ... erglycemia.
Perhaps not so much as any kind of answer to your question, but more as an illustration of how complex a definitive diagnosis can be. My gues is that's why you have been sent home with a monitor, to help the vet figure out if this really is diabetes (before starting any treatment I presume) or stress, or an indicator of something else.
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Ruth B
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Re: Cats glucose levels

Post by Ruth B »

Did your vet give you any idea of what the normal range was, there are multiple ways of measuring glucose and each uses a different scale, so not knowing what scale is being used makes it impossible to say whether the readings are good or not. When using the app do you have to put in when you feed him and periods of activity, both of which can send glucose levels high (activity is an odd one, it will start to reduce your glucose level as the muscles start to use it, but then the automated system that should bring it back to normal levels almost overdoses you and sends your levels higher than they should be and being diabetic the body can't bring them back down easily). If his levels are staying in a fairly narrow band all the time then I don't think there is anything to worry about yet. My parents had a diabetic cat but no type of constant monitoring, so every so often they had to do a series of tests the old fashioned way with a drop of blood on a test strip, they were done every hour and there was a noticeable difference when she was fed and when she had her insulin injection, I have a feeling the constant monitoring is to give this type of glucose curve as well.

I would also ask why your cat was checked for diabetes, was there any indication he might be, excessive drinking, unexplained weight loss, or was it just part of a general blood test. Stress will put glucose levels up, as will an infection, just incase that was why he was at the vets, and the difference between the reading when he had just got home, and the ones you were getting later, seems to indicate that stress was an important factor in that first reading, but then is the question of how quickly his body removed the excess glucose which no doubt is something the vet will want to see from the app.

I will say i'm not professional in the matter, but i am diabetic myself, i've had a cat with diabetes that we decided not to treat, and my parents had an insulin dependent cat for many years.

Now I come on to the hard part of my post, but it is something I put in when people may have a diabetic cat so they have a chance to think about things before they have to make any decision.
Katie was my own cat, and we thought something might be wrong when we realised she was drinking my blackcurrent squash out of the pint glass I had it in, not a normal choice for a cat to drink. She was tested and was confirmed diabetic. We were given the option of insulin for her, however at that time treatment was a bit more strict than it is now, she would have to have her injections at certain times and then be fed at certain times, she could not have food at other times and she could not have treats. My husband and I both worked full time, he was on an odd shift, and i was a straight 9 to 5. We worked it out that if he gave her the injection just before he left for work, I would just be back in time to feed her, as long as my buses were on time, if one was late, there was the chance I would come home to a kitty in a coma. After some serious thought and with the blessing of the vet, we decided not to treat Katie, but just to look after her as best we could for her remaining time, the vet estimated it would be about 6 months, and she made 9 so we were happy with that. She also failed very quickly at the end. I have two photos of her, one was taken sometime between the 11th and the 24th December, there is an advent calander in the background and there are 11 doors open, sometimes I did forget and would end up opening several at once to catch up, so I can't for certain say it was the 11th or 12th. Katie is sat up besides the Christmas tree, bright eyed and alert, with the exception of being a bit thin you wouldn't know there was anything wrong with her. The second photo was taken the day she was pts, she looks tired and dejected, the light had gone from her eyes and she was obviously ready to go. I know that was taken on the 4th Jan, my birthday was the 2nd and on the 3rd she started to show signs of deterioration with no interest in eating or even drinking, so the morning of the 4th I know was when she went to the vets. The difference in her in those two photos is both heartbareaking and heartwarming, they show just how good she was right until the end even with no medication to help.
Tufty was my parents cat, who one evening collapsed and was rushed to the vets, the vet wasn't sure she would make it through the night she was so far gone. However a quick test showed the problem and by the morning my parents went to see her and she was perfectly fine again, an insulin shot had worked it magic. However this meant that Tufty was now on insulin for the rest of her life. Two injections a day, about 12 hours apart, it could go 30 minutes or so in either direction but not much more without endangering her. Two injections, 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year, not respite, my parent organised their lives around that cat. If they went out, they had to make sure they left in time to be home for her injection, evening out became a thing of the past, holidays meant finding a cattery that was happy to take on a diabetic cat and be responsible for giving the injections. Then there was the cost, not only the insulin itself, but syringes and needles, a sharps container, a glucose testing meter, test strips and lancets, it all adds up, fortunately my parents could afford it as Tufty wasn't insured, but if she had been and it had been a policy that only paid for a years treatment that would have lead to a horrid decision at the end of the year, particulalry if money was a bit tighter. Two occasions really hit home to me the responsibility, my Father was very ill, it was actually just a week before he died, and we had been visiting (we lived 80 miles from them), the district nurse detected a problem and rang for an ambulance to take him to hospital. My Mother couldn't drive, in about 90 minutes the cat needed her injection. My Mother told him she couldn't go with him because she had to stay and to give Tufty her insulin and she would be over in the morning. We hadn't left and so could tell them not to be daft we would go with them and then my husband would run my Mother home to give the cat the injection before bringing her back to the hospital and once my Father was settled and we knew what was happening we could take her home again. The next time was after my Father had died and my Mother was living alone with her two cats. He doctor diagnosed her with DVT when she was in his surgery and call an ambulance, she was admitted and the diagnosis confirmed, and the needed treatment sorted out. The specialist wanted to keep her in over night, but it was a Friday, and then there was a bank holiday on the Monday, and no one to take care of Tufty, while she had a neighbour that would go in and feed her cats they didn't know how to do the injection, as far as my Mother was concerned if she stayed in hospital it was a death sentence for Tufty. So she discharged herself and went home, she put her cats life before her own well being.

In hindsight things could have been done and plans put in place for such eventualities, which is why I say this, it gives people time to plan and to work out what to do in the worst case scenarios. If the neighbour had been taught to give the injections it would have saved a lot of worry. There are pet sitters who would probably be willing to do it as well for times when you knew in advance it would be needed. Worst case, if she had stayed in hospital, the neighbour could have taken Tufty to the vets and explained the situation and they could have kept her in over night and made sure she had her injections, and we could have gone down on the Saturday to sort things out. In the heat of the moment you don't always think straight, and until it happens it can be hard to plan for all eventualities.

I really hope you own cat is at worst just prediabetic and it can be sorted with diet and some of the newer medications rather than just going on to insulin. However, while I don't really like being over dramatic, if insulin is needed then hopefully i've given you some advance warning and you can get plans in place to make sure you never have to decide between your life and your cats. As for my Mother, the medication she was given cured the DVT and she lasted another year or so before she joined my Father, by which time Tufty had already left as well. When my Mother was back in the hospital just before she was admitted to a nursing home for her final weeks, the DVT specialist came to see her, and remembered her, as the person who had put her cat health before her own.

Sorry that turned into such an essay.
mustafa811
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Re: Cats glucose levels

Post by mustafa811 »

Catdaddy13 wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 7:12 pm My 11 year old cat was diagnosed with diabetes . My wife and I took him to the vet yesterday and the vet attached a freestyle Libre glucose monitor to his back and we brought him home . Mr kitty does not like to ride at all , nor is he too fond of vet trips . Highly stressful for him . When we got him home we downloaded the app and started scanning . 1st reading was 122 then it preceeded to go down . We have been monitoring him a lot and most of his scores are in the 40 to 47 range despite him eating 5 times since noon yesterday . He is playing , eating engaged and acting normal . Should I be worried about his scores ?
something not quite right , i guess you need to inform the vet with the readings , how come is he diagnosed as diabetic and his blood sugar is 122mg/dl ?! also blood sugar dropping to 40 ?! that's hypoglycemic and life threating for cats , is he on antiglycemic meds or insulin ?! if the cat is hypoglycemic he will be drowsy and definitely not playing
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