Any owners of diabetic cats?

[Uncle Yuan]

I'm very frustrated with the internet right now - I have a such a simple question.  What is the normal fasting glucose for a cat?  If we were talking about a people I would of course know the answer.  But a cat?  And all my internet searches have yielded plenty of info on the pathophysiology of diabetes, which I also know well, but no numbers.

Does anyone here have a diabetic cat and tests their sugars at home?  What's a normal range?  Thanks for the help!

[captainspud]

http://www.sugarcats.net/sites/harry/bgguide.html#anchor462834

[ow_tiobe_sb]

I'll spell it out: Oh my god!  Spud cares!   :o






:P You old softy...

Good luck with your feline, UY.  If not for my geeky allergies (amongst my geeky interests), I would have several kitties myself. :(

ow_tiobe_sb
Phantom Bunburyist and Fop o' th' Morning

[Uncle Yuan]

Interesting.  The cut off for normal in cats is a little higher than humans.  I didn't assume that it would be the same, but I would have guessed lower.  And the treatment goals for target blood glucose in diabetic cats is MUCH higher than in humans.  I wonder if that's a practical issue, i.e. it's harder to monitor and treat hyperglycemia in cats so there is a higher threshold, or if that is actually a pathophysiologically determined issue.  (In humans there is good data for the negative health consequences of a given blood glucose level.)

At this stage I don't know that I'm dealing with a diabetic cat.  Just one that is loosing weight.  I have three cats, so I can't even really tell if she is peeing a lot more.  I'm thinking about "borrowing" a glucometer from work and taking a random blood glucose on her, but I needed an idea of where normal is.

[captainspud]

I'll spell it out: Oh my god!  Spud cares!   :o
:P You old softy...

Nah, Spud just doesn't believe there's anything that can't be found with the correct application of search-fu.

[stumpy]

Ditto. Googling "blood glucose" curve "feline diabetes" "mg/dL" turned up some pretty good links, like this one.

[BWPS]

Sadly one of the leading causes of feline death, right after pun-induced Spud shootings.

[Glitch Girl]

When I was much younger, our family cat became diabetic.  She adapted, as did we, but it was tricky at first, and she was not amused that her favorite foods were no longer a part of her diet.  (once while we were out, she managed to get into the cabinet that held her old dry cat food.  We came home later to find her gorged and curled up in the shredded bag)

It's been so long I don't remember the numbers sadly, so I'm glad you found them.  Good luck with your kitty.

[yell0w_lantern]

Gee, why don't you just get a HgbA1C?   ;)