hello again

I just posted on the intro section and now I'm here in the health forum. Sammie is on 5.5 units of Lantus twice a day. A year ago, he started on Prozinc and got up to 8 units (increasing a unit at a time over 5 months) before we switched him to Basaglar (generic for Lantus) in August. Started him at 2 units and again increased a unit at a time until he got to 4 units in October when he had one "low "day and got down to 82. Kept him at 4 units, but he kept going back into 300-400s. Switched him to Lantus end of November at 2.5 units. Has been 300-500 as I kept increasing his dosage up to 5.5, except had one good curve in Jan where he went down to 215 and one in Feb where he went down to 100. He's been so sporadic I don't know what to do and the vet has given up, too. He eats mostly Friskies or Fancy Feast canned, but he does occasionally sneak some of my other cat's dry food. I have 7 cats, most of which will not eat canned, but I try to pick up the dry or have it where he can't get to it as much as I can. Sammie has no other health issues and has had all sorts of tests run that say he is not insulin resistant. I'm going to try to figure out your spreadsheet soon and get some of his numbers in there. I'm not terribly good with computers, so we'll see how it goes.

 

If you need help with the spreadsheet, let us know and someone will set it up for you. You say you’ve had tests run to check for insulin resistance. What tests were they?
I have a few kibble addicts too. I feed them a relatively low carb kibble and lock them in a room while they eat. When I open the door to let them out I pick up the bowls and hunt for any spilled kibble, you’d be surprised how far it can roll...

 

Going through the same with Olive. Dose keeps going up. It's only been 6-7 weeks with us but up to 8 units on Lantus. We are see more 200's though and a peek of 100's here and there. It's too early for us to test for resistance as she hasn't been on insulin long enough. They did find an abdominal tumor probably involving the adrenal gland. We can't do anything about it. Cushings disease has been ruled out though. Tomorrow we are switching to levemir insulin hoping it will help. Just have to keep at it and eventually you will break through. Make sure the food is definitely low carb. There is a list of foods here you can check. Keeping it under 5% carbs. The dry food no matter how little they get into makes a big difference and takes a couple of days to get out of the system.

http://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

 

Still haven't figured out the spreadsheet yet. I created a mostly blank one and now can't figure out how to put numbers in it. In July, we ran tests for insulin resistance including an abdominal ultrasound, chest xray, complete urinalysis, and the test for acromegaly-all came out negative for any problems. In October, ran fructosamine test to see if it agreed with my curves, which it did-running >450 at that time. I do my best with keeping him away from dry food, and did manage to keep him completely away from it for a month, but he was still running high. From what I understand, canned Friskies and Fancy Feast are ok foods as long as I stick with the pate types. And he will eat some of those.

 

Spreadsheet looks correct. Yes, stick to the Pate Friskies and Fancy Feast. Did you test for IAA?(Insulin Auto Antibodies) it is another high dose condition which usually corrects itself after about a year. As of now you are only up to 3 units, not too high. You may want to post in the Lantus forum where there is more experience with tough to regulate kitties.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-glargine-levemir-detemir.9/

 

I only put on the spreadsheet one day from a year ago when he first started on insulin (Prozinc at that time). I can't figure out how to put more numbers in.
I've never heard of IAA test, I'll have to ask my vet-it could be buried in with the other tests somewhere or I've just forgotten that one. I also have a cat with hyperthyroidism and another with irritable bowel disease-it's hard to keep track of who has gotten which tests and who eats which food and gets which meds sometimes.

 

You should just click on the appropriate box and type the number in, if that’s not working I don’t know (I’m no good with computers!) Be sure to note on the spreadsheet when you changed to Basaglar. If you can’t figure it out, I’ll tag someone to help.

 

I'm no good with computers either and I still can't type any numbers in my spreadsheet. Maybe someone can help me get started and I can finish later today. Thanks.

 

You will not be able to edit from the link in your signature, as that is the view-only one for all of us to see. You'll have to log in to the account you used to create your spreadsheet. Feel free to message me if you need help.

 

Ok. I'll try to work on it later. Thanks.

 

If you are doing it from a smartphone download the app Google Sheets

 

I finally figured out the spreadsheet and have started putting numbers in. Will have to work on it more tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

 

The obvious thing that jumps out is the constant dose changes. Lantus is supposed to be dosed consistently. Please read the protocols at the top of the lantus (TR, AND SLGS) and see which is the best fit for you.
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-glargine-levemir-detemir.9/
Good job getting the spreadsheet going.

 

Mark on the spreadsheet when you switched from prozinc to lantus

 

Could you please repost this as your own thread? It's buried in someone else's thread right now.

 

Just did. Sorry for my mistake.

 

No problem! It takes a while to get used to the forum.

 

Finally finished spreadsheet and will try to post in lantus section for more help since that's the insulin he's on now. Thanks.

 

Is your kitty using Basaglar or Lantus. If you are using Basaglar, what do you think of it compared to Prozinc. When I have read post from different sites of people who had been taking Lantus, but switched to Basaglar because of their insurance, did not speak well of Basaglar. what do you think of Basaglar

 

He's using Lantus now, but went from Prozinc to Basaglar first. Basaglar didn't seem to work well, but neither did the Prozinc which is why I switched to the Lantus. Unfortunately, the Lantus doesn't seem to be any better either, but I'm still working on it. This is all very frustrating, but at least he seems to feel ok and has gained back the weight he originally lost so I know the insulin is doing something for him.

 

What do you mean when you say the different types of insulin did not work well, I used Prozinc and I thought it worked fine except for the high numbers and then the big dips. I am using Lantus, but it is so expensive, even when ordering from Canada, that is why I was wondering about the Basaglar.

 

If he’s gained weight and feeling good, that’s a good sign. You maybe just haven’t reached the right dose yet. There are conditions that can cause a cat to need a higher dose than normal. I saw that you are posting on the Lantus forum. The people there will help you get to the right dose.

Teresa, I think @Chris & China used Basaglar. Maybe she can tell you about it.

 

Chris said that she had used Basaglar and I believe she did not think that there was a great difference between the two insulins, but China is well regulated and Buddy is not.