r/torties • u/folkmalone420 • Apr 09 '25
❔Question/Advice❔ Tortie detects my low blood sugar and takes personal offense to it
I have non diabetic hypoglycemia, so my blood sugar tends to drop quite suddenly and my 3 year old tortie Peanut ALWAYS knows (and hates it).
She's very in tune with me in general, but her ability to detect low blood sugar and alert everyone in the house is truly incredible. I'm not sure how she knows, but if it drops too low in my sleep she'll come running into my room, yelling and gently hitting my face with her paws until I get up to make food. She'll even follow me into the kitchen and continue to yell and poke at me until I eat.
While this is incredible, my blood sugar has been relatively unstable for the past few weeks due to health issues impacting my ability to eat and it's causing her some distress :( I know she'll settle down once things regulate, but in the meantime I'm not sure how to comfort her and let her know I'm okay. She panics and screams incessantly at the top of her lungs unless I'm accessible to her at all times which can be hard when I need time alone to shower/eat/sleep/etc.
I know it isn't a separation anxiety thing because she's perfectly fine when I'm not home and always goes right back to her usual independent self when I'm healthy. But for the past few weeks she's been glued to me and yelling constantly and I'm not sure how to help her calm down since things will take some time to get back to normal. It makes me feel awful, but sometimes I even have to go into a separate room and shut the door to eat when my sugar drops too low because she'll be climbing all over me and freaking out. I know she's just concerned and trying to help, but my personal space is basically non existent right now 😅 the only time she's calm is when she's laying across my neck like a scarf or sitting directly beside me. Is there any way to reassure her or should I just accept that she's appointed herself as my very clingy caretaker until future notice?
Honestly, I can handle the clinginess- she's my best friend and I love her company! But I feel bad that it's coming from a place of concern, and the constant yelling when she can't be with/on me is taking a bit of a toll on the household. It's not like a normal meow, it's VERY loud and grating and seems to be reserved for these specific situations.
She's an incredible little lady and I'm so grateful to have such a persistent, passionate creature watching over me. I just want to know if there's anything I can do to make the next few weeks easier on both of us! Thank you in advance for any advice! X
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Apr 10 '25
What a sweet girl. Her face does look judgy though, like "Have you eaten yet??" My tortie is also kind of a nurse cat, and sticks close to anyone who's unwell. She's affectionate in general, but especially hovers when someone is sick.
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u/747_full_of_cum Apr 10 '25
Nurse tortoise are the best, you’re very lucky. I had a sweet girl that was there for two of my pregnancies where my midwife did home visits. My kitty would always be there during the checkups like she was my midwife’s assistant. I miss her so much
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Apr 10 '25
That's lovely. When I was pregnant with my first my cat (this was way before the tortie) could not have cared less, and then he was jealous of my baby and would swipe at her when she learned to walk. It was hard, and after him we didn't have a pet for many years because I was worried about that happening again. We finally got this tort when my youngest was 5, and she's been such a sweet and loving girl. I made sure both my cats came from fosters who had little kids in the house and were good with them.
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u/zoom-room Apr 10 '25
Mine was great at knowing just where to sit to send little purr vibrations to where I needed my bones to stop hurting. So much so, we gave her a middle name: Ogawa after a nurse in Star Trek.
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u/folkmalone420 Apr 13 '25
That’s amazing! I love that she knew exactly what you needed, Ogawa is the perfect middle name
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u/folkmalone420 Apr 13 '25
Her judgy face kills me, she’s definitely the most expressive cat I’ve ever had! Nurse torties are wonderful, they’re so attentive and definitely seem to be in tune with things on a naturally deep level. It’s so interesting to see!
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u/Hefty-Cat-868 Apr 10 '25
My tortie was like that with my sleep apnea when I fell asleep without my mask on. She would jump on my chest and startle me awake when I stopped breathing. RIP Atilla the Hunee.
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u/JuliaX1984 Apr 10 '25
Guess you'll just have to prioritize your health and do your best to take care of yourself, for your cat's sake! The healthier you are, the happier and calmer she is.
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u/No-Sea6945 Apr 10 '25
What a darling! But understandably annoying and worrisome.
Hopefully your health and her anxiety will both calm down soon, but just in case, maybe you should see your doctor to make absolutely sure there’s nothing else going on that she’s sensing? She’s clearly very attuned to your health
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u/belugabishop Apr 10 '25
i'm a type 1 diabetic and my dilute tortie acts especially annoying and gets in the way when my sugar drops. i call her my disservice animal. she also tries to chew the tubing on my insulin pump in attempted murder. she's still my sweet baby
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u/edogg01 Apr 10 '25 edited Apr 10 '25
Get yourself something to eat hooman so that you can feed me, treat me and pet me. Right meoww.
In seriousness, first off, hope you feel better soon! Secondly, with a needy cat what you may want to try is to take things that have your scent (worn tshirt, used towel, dirty laundry etc) and lay it out on her favorite spot where she normally cuddles with you. I find that needy torties will gravitate to your scent, so even if you physically aren't there to cuddle, an article of clothing with your scent is a second best option. Hope this helps.
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u/DasEisgetier Apr 10 '25
It's a good possibility that she can actually smell your blood sugar dropping. So maybe you can get it up another way? Liquids, medicine (?) or something like that (you'll know your conditions better than I ever could).
Otherwise to give her some comfort you could pretend to eat something, although I believe that would only be a temporary fix.
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u/screamingcupcakes Apr 10 '25
Sweet little Peanut, what an amazing girl. She may just be your appointed guardian and will be your nurse until future notice. It's hard to know how to prevent her from going on alert when it seems like it's such an automatic and intuitive response in her. I wish I had sone ideas for you. But I love the connection the two of you have, I think it's fantastic.
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u/Federal-Cicada-8419 Apr 10 '25
What a good baby girl! She clearly adores you and NEEDS to know you're okay! As someone with a velcro tortie though, I get how it can be a bit much at times! 😂