Cat not responding to Glargine Insulin

I guess if you can only get one insulin, Lantus is a better choice than some countries! Are you able to get anything to monitor ketones? That is the concern I'd have when numbers are holding higher. Getting a dental check and even some bloodwork are a good idea if you are concerned about him failing. Diabetes isn't a disease that just up and causes a cat to suddenly shut down unless there is a ketone problem that leads to DKA, long term high numbers that could cause organ failure, or a hypoglycemic incident. Infections and bad teeth are notorious for throwing a regulated cat out of regulation.
I find this article good on how to measure a cat's quality of life, and therefore when they may be reaching the end. I thought this scale was around the board somewhere, but couldn't find it. http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pe...-of-life-at-the-end-of-life-for-your-cat/6752


This thread has been quite helpful to me, also. Miles is having many of these same issues. We know how Lantus works but it just isn't cooperating. Good luck with your sweet Blackie, who looks like he enjoys the grass as much as Miles does!
Looking at Mile's spreadsheet, it looks to me like he has made progress, just needs maybe needs a bit more insulin. Some very nice curves, but not to steep, and the evening preshots have started to come down. But whenever he starts coming down under 200, it looks like it makes you nervous and you drop the dose. I haven't read all your posts, but it seems like you are experienced enough to be able to shoot blues.

 

Diabetic cats are known for having dental problems. When their blood sugar is high that means that glucose is floating about in their body fluids instead of getting into the cells to nourish the body. Bladder infections and dental infections are two common consequences of that. If his breath smells rotten, he probably has some dental issue going on. Punkin had really terrible breath and we had 2 dentals done for him - he had to have teeth removed in both dentals one year apart.

Cats with any kind of infection can be extra difficult to get regulated and we've seen multiple times that a cat's blood sugar might settle down after they have a dental. It doesn't happen with every cat, but it happens often enough that we encourage people to monitor their cat's teeth.

Good luck, Heidi.

 

Miles looks exactly like Black Bear! What breed is Miles? We rescued Black Bear in 2007 who showed up half dead from somewhere in my parents yard in the country. Are they American Shorthairs?

I gave Blacks a round of broad spectrum antibiotics around Christmas... didn't seem to help. So yes, I will take him in to get his teeth checked next week. A few years back in the US he had to have his front left fang extracted due to abscess.

I will read your links and helps later today... yard work calls.

I wish I had been smart enough to think about splitting the morning dose when the evening dose started to routinely be too low to dose. Dah. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Down here in Ecuador when I asked for Ketone test strips they looked at me like I had 3 heads. I will try to get some sent down from the US.

 

Just got back from the Vet with Blackie. He has not problem in his mouth and his blood panel shows that he is fine except for the Diabetes. The vet said that he is just showing signs of the last stages of the disease / life and to just keep him happy and keep treating him with the insulin. So it is a huge relief to know that it is the natural progression anyway. So that is that. We'll enjoy him as long as his quality of life is OK.

 

The vet said that he is just showing signs of the last stages of the disease / life - really - how does he know this?

Are you able to get Levimer insulin in Ecuador? If you can get it, I think you may find better success in lowering his numbers than you are getting with Lantus. While it works in a similar fashion, the ingredients of Levimer seem to work better for many cats than Lantus.

It's something to consider, if you are able to get it.

 

No Levimer here. He knows this because he examined Blackie and took a blood panel and everything looks in normal range except for the Diabetes present.

 

Levemir is a human insulin; check human pharmacies, not vets.

 

Where do you get the lantus from? Ask them if they also sell or can get you levimer?