could this be diabetes

[cluelessfool]

Hello everyone i was wondering if anyone has experience with a diabetes in cats? I think my cat may be pre or borderline diabetic. She has skin twitching and minor muscle spasms occasionally which i read online someone said their cat had when they were prediabetic. She also seems to be not favoring her back legs but not quite muscle wasting. I already tried switching cat food from a new one i introduced a month and getting unscened laundry detergent and dryer sheets. I bought a feline programmed glucose monitor and ran some tests. She seems to be borderline diabetic on this but i read non-diabetic cats can also go to 350 after a meal. But she is still over 180 without food.

Here was the testing day
previous day she ate last at 11:30pm
7:30am next morning
221 mmol

10:00am after being fed at 9am. I gave 1 hour to see a glucose spike from food processing
329 mmol

4:00pm she ate at 1pm and 3pm
183

10pm she ate at 6:30pm
236

with a 10% margin of error she is still slightly above what is acceptable for being normal range 90-180 which makes me think she is pre or borderline diabetic. I do not understand why after her first meal she was at 329 but subsequent meals only 183.

I was thinking of starting with 1 unit of lantus glargine twice a day and see how her body reacts.

thank you for your help

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. She needs to see a veterinarian. There is a test they can do called a frutosamine that will give an average blood glucose over the previous 2 to 3 weeks.


You need veterinary guidance on this, as mistakes can cause your cat to die.

The twitching skin isn’t from hyperglycemia. Fragrance free laundry detergent shouldn’t be a factor in diabetes.

What I think you are referring to with hind legs and diabetes is diabetic neuropathy. It is where cats that have had uncontrolled diabetes for some time, will develop a plantigrade stance. They basically have their hocks on the ground.

Symptoms of diabetes in cats would be PU/P/D. ( excessive urination and thirst) lethargy and sometimes a poor hair coat.

One of the most important things with a diabetic cat is to feed a low carbohydrate diet of canned food. Even the fancy feast pate formulas can work well. You also have to feed your cat on a set schedule of usually twice a day.

For the testing, you are probably trying to do a glucose curve. Test before first meal and then every two hours until after their second meal, 12 hours later. This is after the cat has been on a carbohydrate restricted diet and been on that diet long enough for the body to have adapted.

You can purchase urine glucose strips to see if the cat is spilling glucose into her urine. If she is, chances are she is most likely diabetic and then you see a vet.

The blood glucose can rise fairly high in cats from stress alone. So that has to be considered in your readings.

Where are you getting your blood sample from? How do you have the insulin? What size syringes do you have? There are different types. One unit in a U-100 syringe is very different than one unit in a U-40 syringe.

Starting insulin is very serious and cats are notoriously difficult to regulate, but if done right, can go into complete diabetic remission.

You need a vet for all of this. You can show them the readings you have. Most will work with you testing at home.