My cat’s blood sugar is 455. My vet doesn’t believe in Home Testing, & won’t take my call. What do I do?
Mkay for those of you who know nothing about feline diabetes. For many cats you HAVE to monitor it. The vets seem to think just because they can go in and prick them (just like i have been doing at home) that magically it will be so much more accurate (when it’s proven it’s not because it increases stress levels for your pet to go to the vet, and the test machines are very much the same). They just want to get paid everytime she’s sick…and I’m not going to pay $25 for every prick, when I can do it at home for less than $1. My vet doesn’t believe in it, but many of the top vetrinarians in the world recommend it. Monitoring blood sugar levels can mean the difference of life or death.
My cat’s somewhat a newly diagnosed diabetic. We’ve been playing with her dose for awhile. She gets 3 units 2x’s a day…but both yesterday and today when i’d get home from school she looked sick, tested her…yesterday she was at 387 (mom told me not to give her insulin tho until her normal time…i think that’s a bad thing to do if its that high but i really don’t know) i tested one more time before i have her her shot 4 hours later and she was at 412….well I just tested and she’s 455 right now. She isn’t supposed to have a dose until about 8 tonight. I feel like it’s almost too long to wait. I haven’t told mom yet cause she’s not home, yesterday she told me to call and ask the vet what to do, but the vet told me when I first found out that they will not take your call if you call saying my cat’s number is — what do i do?? because they find it irrellivant. i know they’re wrong, but they won’t listen. they’re too stubborn. Is there anything I can do or should do? I told mom last night I should probably give her a unit of insulin or something, but she didn’t like the idea of it. I really don’t know what the right thing to do is…it’s all new to me. Anyone know anything of what I should do??
She’s still trying to eat even though! I took her food from her, she’s on a good diet and I monitor her eating. She has’nt even ate much today…
I only took her food away from her, because after I tested her and she was at 455, she went over and wanted to eat more. With her levels that high, she shouldn’t eat, especially sense I have no way to drop her levels, because everyone keeps saying NOT to give her insulin between her normal shots. I really don’t know how high it has to be before something bad would happen, but I’m not going to chance it by letting her eat right now…she always has her food available, but nows not the time to let her eat in my opinion
Tagged with: 455. • believe • blood • call. • cat's • doesn't • home • sugar • take • Testing • won't
Filed under: Diabetes Testing Machine
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Sorry I don’t know much about feline diabetes but I suggest you get another vet.
If you don’t like your vet, find a new one. However, I doubt you are a trained and licensed vet so I would stick with listening to them.
You should switch to a different vet. That is not cool that the vet will not take your call. Whether the vet knows what they’re talking about or not, it is not right that they are not giving you more advice or peace of mind. You should find a vet that DESERVES the money that they are paid for consultations and is patient and caring enough to give you more reassuring and helpful answers. Diabetes is a big deal in kitties if not properly monitored and taken care of. Especially since cats are so terrible at communicating that something is wrong until it is too late
FIND A NEW VET and get her seen ASAP. You are right that you don’t want to give her insulin whenever she is high, you want to keep things very regular with a diabetic animal, but since she was just recently diagnosed her insulin levels and dose may not be correct. The vet usually will keep a real close eye on them until the right dose is figured out. This is a high glucose and should NOT be ignored. If the vet isn’t helping, it’s time to find someone who will. Being too high in glucose can kill an animal just as fast as one that is too low.
You said that she is on a really good diet–what is she on? They make a RX diet called “DM” ( diabetic management) that is really good for diabetic cats–it is expensive because it is a RX diet but helps a lot.
Eating less or more can effect the blood glucose, so feeding the exact same amount at the same time each day will help. Also exercise will effect blood glucose ( it’s harder to regulate this in a cat than it is in a dog because cats usually don’t go on walks, run and play etc…) but try to keep things the same each and every day.
Do not self regulate the insulin either once the vet has figured out the correct dose as this can send them into a diabetic coma or insulin shock etc….
Again, this is not something to be joke around with and if your vet is not taking you serious, then find one that will.
I would set up an appt. ASAP with a new vet and go from there.
Hope this helps and good luck.
SWITCH vets to a different one.
There are two very good feline diabetes boards on YahooGroups please come over and post there, ALL the owners are well versed in insulin and sugar numbers.
Are you using Lantus or humulin? If Lantus, it’s a 13 hr insulin and doing it too quick is really bad, it’s supposed to be given 12 horus apart. If humulin, you need to talk to someone with experience using that one.
Keep to the schedule, a cat needs 2 weeks to get used to the insulin sometimes, but sky high numbers are not good. Cats do have a high and a low, so doing a curve on your cat every 2 hours can let you know where the cat is falling (it’s what they charge $300 to do at the vets).
IF the cat has eaten within the last 1/2 hour before the shot and IF it’s time for the insulin, then give the shot at the right time.
And contact a different vet. It may be time to switch if your vet isn’t going to work with you. We take our meters in to ‘check’ it against the vet’s meter, using blood drawn at the same time–if both sync up, you can do home testing.
Your vet sounds like a real piece of work.
Have you contacted Ken S ? He has a lot of experience with feline diabetes.
I have starred your question so any of my contacts who are contacts of his….
I am so sorry you are having all these troubles.
Update: For the future, please read this link VERY carefully. Bear in mind that I am NOT advocating that you do this on your own. You need a good vet who would be willing to work with you:
http://www.catinfo.org/felinediabetes.htm
WHY did you take her food away from her? Eating off and on during the day ( and night ) is very important, to keep the blood sugar on an “even keel”…….
Please don’t “play with” her insulin dosage. If you don’t like the way your vet is treating you and your cat, go to a different one, get a new test, and have that vet adjust the insulin dosage ( if needed ).
My diabetic cat started ( Novolin N..NPH ) at 3 units x2 ( 12 hours apart ) and had to be tested each week for awhile. The more often you test your cat, the more you stress her. Stress will cause the blood sugar to “spike”, too.
My cat’s dosages were increased slowly over a period of months until he was getting 9 units twice a day. Soon after that……..he CRASHED BIG TIME……….and we had to reduce his insulin. Now, he’s back to 3 units twice a day, and doing fine.
George has been on insulin since August of 2006, has gained back his lost weight, and is doing very well……He’s eating Hill’s Science Diet M/D, along with canned meat (just before his shots). This way, I’m always sure that his tummy has food in it……and the insulin won’t “mess him up”……..
Unless your cat has been tested by a VET, over a period of time, testing at home will only confuse things. Please do not ever give your cat insulin BETWEEN times. AND, it’s VERY IMPORTANT that she EAT BEFORE her dose is administered……..each time !!
I think you need to get a different vet……one that will work WITH you, and explain exactly what you need to watch for, and what you should / should NOT do……concerning the testing & insulin dosing.
Hope this helps, and your cat does as well as mine is.
Good luck………..
i would find a new vet that is more helpful. cuz ur obviously not getting ne where.. plz get a seond opnion.. call the local vets in ur area and tell them ur situation.if shes trying to eat dont take her food away. shes needs that food to keep her sugar level up and energy. but all aside that she needs to be seen by another vet asap or she can get very sick!.goodluck
I feed my cat Wellness Core because it’s high protein actually has less carbs than the dry Vets prescription food wet and certain types of Fancy Feast (see my link gluten free only) at the Vets reccomendation. I only fed the wet for as long as the cat would put up with it as much as he wanted. It took two weeks to stablize his blood sugar. He takes no insulin (the condition reversed with diet) I monitor his urine with dip sticks ( I catch him using the litter box and hold it out) to make sure he’s staying healthy. Call around and find a vet that believes in home monitoring and will consider the possibility of dietary changes to help get the blood sugar in line. My cat was very high start off too. You should be able to allow your cat to eat wet gluten free food and you could go to the store tonight and get one of the Fancy Feast wet foods on this list to help stablize him for tonight. You may want to read this site in other sections too.
http://felinediabetes.com/glutenfree.htm
It sounds like another vet is in order – what tye of vet doesn’t take a call when blood sugar is that high? If the number is still rising, get the oor cat to another vet RIGHT away.
Hi
Allow her to eat as much as she wants all the time, As much as she wants. Uncontrolled diabetes means she cannot process the food so she is always hungry, When the diabetes gets better controlled then the eating will calm down
What I would recommend for now is to divide up the dose. Give 1 1/2 units right now and then test again before bed. If the number is above 300 give the other 1 1/2. If the number is between 200 and 300 give 1 unit. If the number is lower wait an hour and test again
The insulin you are using (vetsullin) is a fast acting insulin that usually hits hard and doesn’t have the duration to last 12 hours.
Let me get this out and in a bit I am going to add to this
OK added
Always test before you give insulin Always. Keep records every day Like this
When you take a test the ere is a lot more to be learned if you know when the test was in relation to the last shot
PS means preshot test
+1 means 1 hour after the test
+2 Means 2 hours after the test and on and on till the next PS
PS always assumes it is +12 (12 hours after the shot}
If you shoot at +11 0r +13 1/2 for example you would write
PS+ 13 1/2
So this is what a day may look like w
PS450
+2 310
+6 280
PS 380 (I just made the blood glucose numbers up
Do you understand?
Normal numbers for a nondiabetic cat range from around 40 to around 120. Your first goal is to get then numbers between 100 and 300. This should tell you over time wheth the insulin you are using can work for your cat
edited to add
she went over and wanted to eat more. With her levels that high, she shouldn’t eat,
Where do you get this nonsense?????? Do you know about ketones? do you check for them?
especially sense I have no way to drop her levels,
You shouldn’t do it all the time but I told you what to do so you had a way
because everyone keeps saying NOT to give her insulin
Im not everyone and I AM the one who diagnosed your cat over the internet and the one who works with many diabetoc cat owners
between her normal shots. I really don’t know how high it has to be before something bad would happen
Something bad (ketones) can happen in 1 day or 1 month of high numbers. Food isn’t the only thing to spike her numbers. You also risk your cat dying by not leaving out food all the time from a hypo. I am giving you years of expertise here and will tell you only 1 MORE TIME
LEAVE FOOD OUT ALL THE TIME
she always has her food available, but nows not the time to let her eat in my opinion
Your opinion is WRONG
CAn someone please help me? I finally got a vet to prescribe insulin for my cat. She does not have me testing the cat’s blood sugar at all. She has me give my cat 1 cc (out of 30 ccs) of Lantin (I think it is callled) every 12 hours.
Shouldn’t i be testing my cats blood sugar? I live in NJ in Newark and I wonder if anyone knows of a gd vet? This one was reccommended to me but…I had $180 in tests and stuff and got her RX. Then the vet had me come in later that day for a “briefing” (a bunch of printouts of websites I already knew about.She charged me another $180 for that??
Also, she said I should buy a $250 glucometer (instead of hte $12 one at walmart??). She said someone would have to come in special to show me how to use it (instead of the many free how to videos on youtube and all over the web??)
Please advise me.I love my cat and I do not want to kill her.