Hi Tammy! Welcome to the best place you never wanted to be! You're on the right track - you've found a great website that has the most current information on feline diabetes, you've got a very good insulin - so your vet is helping you with that, you've got a spreadsheet and you've learned to hometest. Those are all the hardest things - so now you're just going to learn the fine points.
People here are very knowledgeable and generous with their time - we have many dedicated people who check in throughout their day to answer new member's questions and teach them how to help their cat.
I'd suggest a couple of modifications to your testing schedule - first one is can you get a test right before you go to bed? Cats often have their lowest numbers in the pm cycle, and Lantus dosing is based upon how low a dose can cause the blood sugar to go. So a test before you go to bed can be really, really helpful.
Also, I'd suggest switching your +1 test in the morning to grabbing a test before you give the shot. With 2 little kids and a job, I'm sure the testing is a challenge, but if you can do that, it will help you know that his blood sugar is high enough to give his shot.
I'm going to agree with your vet and disagree with my friends here . . . I think at the stage you are in, when we don't really know if the dose is ok yet or not, it was ok for you to reduce his dose when he wasn't eating. Lantus is a little different than the older insulins used with cats. Traditional insulins used with cats begin their action very quickly after eating, the cat's blood sugar drops fairly quickly over the next few hours and then the insulin wears off. You basically start from scratch with each shot.
Lantus is a depot insulin meaning that it builds up in the body and then sort of slow releases. There is a great link that explains the process
here. Because it is a gentler insulin, meaning that it starts its action a little more slowly and the cat's blood sugar will decrease a little more slowly, it is less critical that the cat eat a good meal before the shot is given. As long as Glen doesn't seem ill and you can expect that he will eat over the next couple of hours, then it's probably ok to give his regular shot. But if he does seem sick, definitely post here and ask for help on how to proceed. You don't want a cat that is ill and not eating to get into low numbers - at the same time, a diabetic cat needs their insulin, so it's a balancing act. Because you are still figuring out the dose I think it's ok if you are flexible - but if he's sick, definitely get help here.
Regarding the dose and the suggested dosing guides people have linked - the Start Low Go Slow and Tight Regulation guides - I looked back through your earlier post and don't see what Glen is eating. Is he eating any dry food at all? If so, that means you would use the SLGS guidelines and would start at 1u. With the Tight Reg protocol (no dry food on a regular basis) it is weight-based. 2u is a little higher than we would normally start at, but it looks like it was getting him into the 50's, which is a good goal. Some things for you to think about on how you want to proceed.
You'll be able to do this with kids and a job - it might be a bit crazy at moments, but all of us here have lives. You'll get the hang of things - the first couple of weeks are definitely the hardest. It becomes as routine as brushing your teeth before long. The single best thing I would suggest is a timed feeder. There is a discussion on those in the link Elise (tiffmaxee) gave you above on how to work full time while following Tight Reg guidelines that talks about the feeders. We loved ours.
All cats have patterns that emerge when they are on insulin. As you get tests recorded in your spreadsheet, the patterns will emerge. As that happens, you'll become able to predict what he'll do and once that happens, everything is much easier.
That's probably enough for now - i tend to go on, lol, because I always wanted to know the "why" of everything people suggested. Ask questions and we'll do our best to help you learn how to get Glen regulated.
julie
