High blood sugar reading

Hi all. I need advice please. My 8 year old cat for the last week has drank more and of course urinated more. Today he goes to the litter box 5 times in a row. I take him to the vet and ran tests. His blood sugar tested 357 and says my cat is diebetic and suggest I leave him for 3 days to regulate insulin for him. Then tells me he is leaving out of town so I should bring my cat back next week to regulate insulin for him.

I'm in shock....What the heck?? Do I get a second opinion? Can I test him at home with my husbands insuline checker?? Should I change his food now to diebetic cat food. Please give me some suggestions.

Did the vet do a fructosamine test or a simple quick blood glucose test like how a Human diabetic would test using a finger? The fructosamine test is kind of like the AC1 in Humans, it gives the average blood glucose level over the past few weeks. This test confirms diabetes, along with the typical clinical signs. If the vet just did the quick test, 357 isn't too bad consdering that many cats are sooo stressed out from being at the vet's office that their blood glucose level just skyrockets really high. So ask your vet which test was done.

If it was the fructosamine, then 357 is defintely a diabetic number and your cat will need both insulin and diet. You do not need to leave your cat at the vet's office for any amount of time to be regualted. Regulation cannot happen in just a few days and definitely not in a high stress environment like the vet's office. You can slowly regualte your cat at home, calling or emailing the vet for advice as needed.

You can check your cat's blood gluocse levels at home with any Human diabetes blood glucose meter. Your husbands's meter will work but it's probably better to get the cat his own meter and related supplies. I knwo some meters track blood glucose levels so you don't want your husband to confus his own numbers with the cat's.

The only "diabetic cat food" you need is low carb canned food. Not prescription food no matter what the vet says. There are many suitable brands of commerical canned food brands you can feed: Fancy Feast Classic / Gourmet, Nature's Variety Instinct, Wellness, etc. The key is low carb, under 10%. Pet food labels don't have this information so use this chart: http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

Keep treats to low carb, too. Freeze dried 100% meat or fish treats like PureBites are best.

Please check out FelineDiabetes.com  There is a weatlh of information there and a great message board where you will be able to get more detailed advice and help from experienced members  

Thank you so much for the information LTS3. He ran a full blood workup
The GLU was actually 380. This isn't an AC!, is it? Of course we are scheduled to go back in a week for more tests.

I am already on the search for another vet in my area. This vet was adamant that we do not check my CATs glucoae at home because it will traumatize him.

StormySkiez said:

I am already on the search for another vet in my area. This vet was adamant that we do not check my CATs glucoae at home because it will traumatize him.

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Completely untrue. Home blood glucose testing does not traumatize a cat in any way. When I had a diabetic cat, I tested him multiple time daily and he was perfectly fine. His behavior did not change at all. If anything, he looked forward to blood glucose testing because it meant that he got a treat afterwards There are many published studies on home blood glucose testing in pets and how it helps with the management of diabetes. There was a recent one in the JAVMA comparing home testing to in office testing: http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.246.12.1327

If you join the FelineDiabetes.com message board you'll see that many members test their cat's blood glucose levels at home. A few can only do urine testing because the cat was previously feral or otherwise will not tolerate being touched in any way. Blindly giving insulin without knowing what the cat's blood glucose level is has been compared to driving a car with a paper bag over your head - simply dangerous. A diabetic cat may be at a normal healthy level at insulin time for some reason (it does happen) but if you just give the normal amount of insulin without testing first, you risk sending blood glucose levels so low that hypoglycemia will occur. Sometimes a a hypo happens even if you do test before giving insulin. My previous cat tested in the 300 plus range once so he got his usual amount of insulin. 3 hours later he had dropped to 38 He had no symptom of hypo but I knew something was off so I tested him. Once I got a number, I was able to treat him appropriately to get his blood glucose level back up to a safer level.

I'm sure there are FDMB members in your area who can recommend a good vet. There are members from all over the world with plenty across the US and Canada. Just post over there and ask

Will do!

LTS3 I do not see a message board on the FelineDiabetes.com site. I do see a lot of information diabetes information there. Thank you! In your experience is there a moist food that could be fed in addition to canned food that can be left out to free feed? I travel often and am not home for dinner occasionally. 

@StormySkiez The link is at the top right corner of the main FelineDiabetes.com site, under the Google search toolbar. Or http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/

Additonal published articles (well, I can only find abstracts) on home testing if you want to show your vet. Your vet likely has access to these veterinary journals to read the full article.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1098612X09001247

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1748-5827.2000.tb03164.x/abstract

http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.230.7.1011

jfm.sagepub.com/content/14/8/566.short

http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.2004.225.261

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1098612X04001391

jfm.sagepub.com/content/8/2/119.short

StormySkiez said:

LTS3 I do not see a message board on the FelineDiabetes.com site. I do see a lot of information diabetes information there. Thank you! In your experience is there a moist food that could be fed in addition to canned food that can be left out to free feed? I travel often and am not home for dinner occasionally. 

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You could try looking into an automatic wet food feeder. You can freeze some of the wet food so it's thawed by the time it opens up. This would only work for times you have to work late though, it wouldn't work if you're traveling or out of town.

Use a programmable timed feeder for canned food   I like this one. Canned food won't spoil if left out all day. It might get dry but most cats are ok with it. You can freeze canned food into serving size chunks and then put the chunks into the feeder to slowly defrost. A silicone ice cube tray works best. Or just add extra water to the canned food to keep it moist longer. A few small meals daily works best for most diabetic cats.

If you travel, have a pet sitter come by to fill the feeder daily, clean the litter box, etc. Not all pet sitters will give insulin shots or home test. The FDMB board can suggest ways on how your diabetic cat will get the care he needs while you travel.

Wow, thank you LTS3 for your wealth of information and helping me get though this Very Stressful time. You rock! I will provide an update by Saturday [emoji]129299[/emoji] .

Hope you were able to post about your cat on the FDMB board It's a great board with lots of helpful people. I was active on the board for 4 years or so until my cat passed away (illness not related to the diabetes) and then lurked for awhile before I just stopped.

I haven't yet. I will tonight!. I'm sorry for your loss [emoji]128554[/emoji].