? 8/16 Abby Dose Advice? Day 2 on Lantus

[megmonger]

Recently switched from Vetsulin to Lantus after 7 months of failure. Lantus is already giving us a much smoother curve and better AMPS and PMPS than Vetsulin did so I am encouraged. This is just the starting dose of 1 unit. (Nadir is higher than Vetsulin and I know that's what I should be focusing on for Lantus. But I'm still just happy to see hope).

I am a bit worried about how to go about getting Abby regulated. My vet wants me to call with "a morning and maybe mid-day reading" from today (Day 2) to decide what she wants to do with the dose. Maybe I shouldn't be questioning, but given that Abby's readings have not been low I would assume a few more days to build up depot and see what this insulin is going to do would be prudent before deciding on a dose increase?? When I can get a day off of work I'm going to try a new vet that was recommended on the boards here, I just haven't been able to make it happen yet and was afraid to continue delaying getting Abby regulated by waiting to start the Lantus so I'm trying to make it work with the current vet.

I'm also currently running a calibration curve between my ReliOn meter and the AlphaTrak that my vet made me buy. All I can say is... what a waste of money the AlphaTrak was. I need some more readings in the lower ranges to complete the curve but it's already apparent that I can calculate one from the other with a pretty simple regression analysis (R squared >0.97). My vet had called my ReliOn data "totally useless." Argh!!!

 

[rhiannon and shadow (GA)]

you just started.... don't increase yet.... need to let the depot fill to see what the current dose is doing...

here's some reading for what is the depot


the other thing is instead of having 2 meters, 2 charts....

next vet visit, take your meter with you ( the relion) and you take a reading with yours, the vet takes a reading with his,
and usually they see that there is a difference approximately of 30 ... in lower numbers...
the gap can be wider with higher numbers...
once the vet sees this , they usually quit trying to micro manage you.....

just remember , the vet is your employee.... you want advice but you aren't required to do anything their way....
most of us need the vet for the prescription and then we wander off and do it ourselves....


if your vet already wants to increase off the first 2 days, then that is evidence that this vet doesn't know lantus very well,
because that depot has to form first. It's too early...

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Abby's numbers are improving cycle by cycle as the cycle builds. Don't make any decisions until you've been on the dose 5-7 days.

I too had a vet who started us on Caninsulin/Vetsulin. Then I realized she didn't have much experience with Lantus and it's dosing. I printed off a copy of the dosing method I was using and gave it to her, along with weekly copies of the spreadsheet, and she was OK with that. After a while I stopped giving copies of the spreadsheet. Fortunately my vet was already using a human meter in the clinic, so I didn't have to deal with that issue.

One other thing you can change with Lantus, you don't need to feed one large meal per AM and PM. It's OK to spread the meals out a bit, and actually easier on the healing pancreas not to have to deal with all that food at once.

 

[Sandy and Black Kitty]

Hi there and welcome I see you are a fellow Marylander

You have come to the best possible place there is for learning how to take care of your diabetic kitty. We live and breath FD here, 24/7.

My vet wants me to call with "a morning and maybe mid-day reading" from today (Day 2) to decide what she wants to do with the dose.

She works for you . You hold the syringe - the decision is yours.
You have your prescription, which is the most important thing.
Glad you are interviewing for a new vet.

I am a bit worried about how to go about getting Abby regulated.

There are 2 methods for you to choose from Start Low Go Slow and the Tight Regulation Protocol. Read about each and consider which one you would like to try.

My $0.02 - Being newly diagnosed (<1yr) is an advantage. If you think you can swing Tight Regulation, go for it. It has a good track record.

My vet had called my ReliOn data "totally useless."

Useless to her - very valuable to you and your kitty.


How did you discover your kitty is diabetic? Any other health issues?

 

[megmonger]

How did you discover your kitty is diabetic? Any other health issues?

Back in January we took Abby to the vet because she was flooding her litterbox. She was checked for any UTI and then diagnosed diabetic based off a blood test. She does have other health issues, 100% of which developed after her diagnosis and starting her on vetsulin. She has developed neuropathy in her hind legs (I treat with B12), is losing weight (down to 8 lbs from 10), has cloudy eyes, and has moderate to severe behavior issues including food aggression and my fur baby of 11 years has basically stopped using her litter box at all and is now in diapers.

And this really is the best place for learning how to take care of Abby. I just found the board in June, I wish I had sooner. <3