lantus users

Hi..I've been following for a few weeks, but first posting.. I'm hoping to get help, suggestions to stabilize my cat Simba. He is 13, currently weighs about 12lbs, mainecoon mix. He was prediabetic, diet controlled for about a year, totally no dry cat food. September he was urinating and eating often and losing weight. He weighed about 9-10lbs. Vet put him on Lantus, injections 12hours apart, no free feeding and I put him on wet cat food, less than 10carbs. Was upset vet offered no guidance as to what wet food to feed...i did lots of research on line. I bought an alpha trek2 and glucose test him at home and also give him his insulin injections. I started giving him one unit, 2/day..his glucose was high, over 400. Very hard to give insulin 12hr interval, usually eve. is 10 hour. His glucose levels were usually over 400..one time he had a 166. On 10/14 the vet increased to 1-1/2units. for about a week. His glucose levels were in 300, a couple of 200 and one 118. On 10/18 he started throwing up. 10/20, ok...increased his insulin to 2 units every 12 hours. Glucose usually high, but on 11/8 dropped to 162, 173. Maintaining that with 2 units in a.m. and 1-1/2 units p.m.
He throws up a few times every week...maintaining 100-300 glucose levels On 11/29 vet. increased to 3 units. on 12/5, stopped eating..glucose levels over 300. vet had me increase units to 4 and since then his glucose levels have been all over the place. I only gave him 4 units one day and after 10 hours his glucose dropped down to 47. For a week I've tried giving him 3 units in a.m. and 2-1/2 in p.m. The week of 12/8 throwing up, not hungry, tempting with food, .glucose low in evening. I've dropped insulin to 2 and 1-1/2 but his glucose reading were over 300 and 400. On 12/14 in a.m. gave 2-1/2units..glucose high. late evening gave him 3 units and at 9a.m. 12/15 his glucose was 52. He did not get insulin in morning. At 5:30 glucose was 269 so I gave him 3 units. 12/16 a.m. glucose was 140 and I gave him 1-1/2 units..his glucose dropped to 50s and 40s so I didn't give him insulin in evening. Today, 12/17, his glucose at 8:30 was 461. I gave him 2-1/2 units of Lantus. His glucose dropped continuously..at 5p.m. his glucose was 65. Im not giving him insulin in eve. He seems hungry..eating but not a lot..tired and restless. Ive never tested his ketones, read a lot about it have ordered strips, but my veterinarian has never recommended testing him. they are responsive but do not know why he is so erratic. This has been so stressful..I feel so bad for him. Can you offer me any advice., help.

 

Welcome. Treating a diabetic cat is not easy at first especially if your vet does not provide good direction.

I would be very helpful if you record your BGs and times they were taken in a spreadsheet so we can better see what is going on. See the following for how to setup and the spreadsheet so it is visible to caretakers in this forum:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/
We really only need recent data.
Also, is Simba eating now?

Lantus is a depot insulin, that is it builds up in the cat and thus without consistent dosing BGs are likely to be inconsistent.
Some cats go into remission when changing to a low-carb diet and when on insulin for a short time. That is what may be happening with Simba because of the recent low BGs with the lower doses.

It would be better if you provide this spreadsheet and other data in a new post in the health forum:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/feline-health-the-main-forum.28/

 

Welcome to you and Simba.

How long after eating does Simba vomit? Is it foamy liquid? If the latter is the case and it occurs a few hours after he last ate then build-up of excess stomach acid after fasting for several hours could be a potential cause of the vomiting. Feeding him mini meals throughout each cycle could help reduce/eliminate the nausea/vomiting if this is the case. Needless to say, keeping an eye on how this affects his BG would be needed.


Mogs
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Thank you for your responses. I will set up spreadsheet but have not had time yet to figure out the instructions. I do keep a daily journal, though. I have skipped Simbas evening insulin because his BG is too low, yet past two days, at 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. his BG is over 400. I gave him 2-1/2 and then this morning 2 units of insulin. His BG goes down but slowly. For example today at 7:45a.m. his glucose was 423. I gave him 2 units of insulin. Late afternoon at 4:25p.m. his glucose was 46. He was hungry and I fed him 1 small can, low carb dry food. At 5:30p.m. his glucose was 132, too low to give insulin. I might try again at 9:00p.m., glucose and if high enough, give him insulin if he'll eat. Should I give him Lantus if his BG is below 200. This has been going on for many days. Usually when he throws up, its his food, last time was foam..happily, he has not thrown up in couple of days. He is hungry.

 

That 46 indicates a dose reduction has been earned (I'm assuming human meter in use here. Note: if you're using a pet meter that 46 is definitely too low; 68 is the low end of the range on meters such as the Alphatrak 2.)

May I suggest that you start posting today on the Lantus and Levemir group's board? The experienced Lantus users there will be able to give you more detailed daily guidance on how best to work with Lantus and also help you with Simba's dosing adjustments, feeding schedules, etc. They'll be able to offer you help with setting up your spreadsheet if you'd like that.

NOTE: Lantus injections are intended to be given at 12-hour intervals. Be sure to let Simba fast for 2 hours before each preshot test: the PS reading should not be food-influenced so that you can determine whether it's safe to give the next dose.


Mogs
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Welcome to the forum. This is the meet and greet forum. Generally we want to give help in the other subforums.

Kudos to you for taking good diabetic care of your kitteh. And kudos for getting the weight gain back to Simba - that is a great accomplishment.

 

sorry fed him low carb wet food, not dry food. Neither of my cats have been given

 

I'm using an alpha trak2. How do I find the lantus forum

 

Here you go. Click on HERE Lanctus Forum

 

Here are a couple of simple navigation pictures. The lantus forum is in the subforums. Further down, under "more topics" in one of the pictures.

 

Hiya! Welcome to you and Simba. I didn't find you yet in the lantus forum. Please go there - the support and guidance you'll receive will be invaluable. I'm a relative newbie myself but the increases your vet instructed are disconcerting. I think it'd be great for you and Simba to get some senior guidance from the lantus forum. Also if you could make a signature so we know what to call you, what time zone you're in (folks here from all over the world), details of Simba so you don't have to keep repeating. You can do that pretty quick before you transfer your log data to a ss. We're here for you.