Just curious--is this normal (fairly quick "regulation")

Hi, all!
Quick question--is Gypsy reacting somewhat normally? She was just diagnosed a couple of weeks ago, and while I've been (I think) pretty on top of things--switched from dry food to low-carb wet immediately, started at-home testing immediately, etc., there's a small part of me wondering if her results thus far are "too good to be true." She'll be going in this week for a follow-up vet visit, and I'm going to do a curve on her tomorrow, after which I'm thinking I should probably drop her down to .5 u BID. But I honestly expected it to take longer for her to get down to low numbers and part of me is waiting for the ax to fall, so to speak. Should I just be grateful that she seems to be reacting well, or is there a good possibility that this won't last?

Thanks so much! I'd have probably gone nuts without all your input

 

We've seen lots of miracles when the kibble was out of the picture

Long ago, there was someone here that was 100% sure her cat couldn't get into the kibble she left out for the other cats.

One day, she decided to get all the dry food completely out of the house.....over the next 36 hours, her cat went from like 5U to OTJ (so her cat was getting into it somehow!)

Be grateful!!…..but always remember, even if she goes into remission, she'll always be a diabetic, so she'll need to stay on a low carb diet the rest of her life and will need to be tested occasionally to stay on top of things

 

1. I would not have shot this morning with her only at 53.....that's too low to shoot until you have a lot more data

2. Also, you would have held the .75 dose, not gone back to the 1U dose

3. That being said, I'd strongly urge you to go ahead and drop back to .5 tomorrow IF she's over 150 at AMPS. If she's below 150, I'd stall, DON'T FEED and post for help. Make sure your subject line says something like "STALLING, NEED HELP!" so you get some help ASAP.

Dropping into the 30's is serious....it means she's getting too much insulin

You may want to start posting over in the Lantus Forum too....You'll get the most experienced eyes watching out for you there

We post a little differently there. Here's some information on "Making the most of your Lantus ISG experience"

Of course you are free to continue posting here in Health if you prefer, but over in the Lantus forum, you'll get the benefit of years of experience in using Lantus

 

Thanks, @Chris & China . Couple of things:
2) I'm a doofus. She stayed at .75, I just wasn't paying attention when I put in her numbers yesterday. Fixed that.
3) I'm not following. Do you mean stall if she's *under* fifty (not 150)?


Per my other posts--she's showing absolutely zero signs of hypo. I don't think she's anywhere near the 30s.

Thanks again--I'll take a look at the link you posted about the Lantus ISG. Sorry if I sound rushed--it's 6 a.m. which means getting everyone set for the day (coffee, eggs, feeding the kittehs, etc.)

 

No, I meant 150!!!

None of us would give insulin to a cat in the 50's until we had a LOT of data and totally knew how our cats reacted to insulin and food.....I think it was sometime the 2nd year of China's treatment before we shot our first 50'something

China never showed any signs of being hypo either other than maybe wanting some extra food....she never stumbled or acted drunk or any of that stuff.....and she tested "LO" a couple of times (that's below 20)

Just because they don't show any symptoms, doesn't mean they are safe. It's not necessarily a "hypo", but it IS a number that's telling you something and you need to listen.

 

Hey there. I agree with Chris about not shooting a number in the 50's without some more data to how she would respond to shooting a green number. And it is true that some cats do not have any outward signs to being in a hypo number, but that does not mean they are not heading for trouble.

Looking at your SS , she went down to 36 @ +2 and there were no more test after that! And the night before a 38 @+3 and no more test. Please, please always follow up after a test that low and make sure she is heading upwards before going to bed. I shudder to think what could have happened.

And take her dose to .50 as she earned it with going below 50 yesterday's AM cycle( 44) and PM cycle (36) .

Safety first.

 

Oh! Thanks for clarifying. I'm going to run a curve today. Her AM shot isn't for a couple of hours yet. I'm also going to drop her down to .5u.

 

Did you shoot a 66?

I really can't stress this any more.....you're playing a very risky game by shooting insulin at those low numbers with limited experience and data.

I'm glad you're home today and able to test! She may be totally fine, but I'm worried for Gypsy

 

There is a chance she could react that quickly to the change in food and a couple weeks of insulin. I don't know how many actually do but I know my cat did. He was on insulin a few weeks and with the change in food he went into remission. I did not expect it to happen that fast and didn't even have time to hardly start home testing yet when he had a minor hypo. His glucose will shoot up under stress but comes back down on its own quickly. He's not fat anymore either, which is a good thing!

 

My cat went OTJ very quickly... changed from kibble to prescription wet to 9 Lives pates. There's still syringes left from his first box, and we never finished the first vial of insulin

 

Anne, Idjit went into the OTJ trial (2 weeks) right away also, just like Lillie said. After a change of diet and insulin support for 11 days! We really were just figuring out what we were doing, with testing and giving the insulin like we should. I was trying to decide between following the vet instructions or the advice from members here...the members here were correct!
Please listen to Chris about shooting those low numbers and more testing when you get those low numbers. I know you think that the meter is not giving you accurate numbers, and are making judgments based on that, but what if you are wrong? I have read some pretty awful stories about hypo incidents, true stories, that didn't end well. I have been on the board late at night, with very few members online, when a person logs on with an urgent hypo situation going on. I tried to help even though I didn't know much and I was so scared. Chris is usually watching at night, she started advising: calm, sure, knowledgeable and comforting, I have watched her walk a member and cat back from the brink. I would trust her implicitly with Idjit's life. Please trust her, and the other members offering advice from experience and keep Gypsy safe.

 

Thanks, everyone! Gypsy came back from the vet. She is off the juice for the next week unless her numbers start doing something crazy. For those curious about the meter situation, here's where it was at the vets, using the same blood sample from a syringe:

My One Touch: 132
Vet's One Touch: 113
Relion: 83

I'm going to finish her curve today so still testing every two hours. She's not real thrilled with me after a visit to the vet, which is what I'm attributing her minor spike to this afternoon. Here's a link to the full update if you're interested. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/gypsy-8-13-18-amps-66-2-69-4-66-6-83.201081/#post-2236114

 

Thanks, Becky. She never actually went hypo. Anyway, I'm trying to get her sorted out over in the Lantus forum. Hopefully we'll get there

 

Thank you! I hope your girl gets back to remission and stays there. It's a lot to wrap your head around for sure. Baby Girl is beautiful

 

I think that “hypo” is typically shorthand for having BG numbers in the hypo *range*; i.e., lime green; i.e., dangerously low *if* the cat has insulin on board. (From what I read, 50s and 60s are perfectly normal if the cat is not on insulin ... may we all get there one day!). So I think it’s important not to conflate the idea of “hypo numbers” with a symptomatic “hypo episode.”

FWIW, when Josie dropped to 51 before nadir and with insulin on board, we purposefully steered her numbers up a bit with a LC snack. I don’t want her getting in that hypo range, with insulin on board, and therefore at risk of a hypo episode.

 

Below 40 is considered a hypoglycemic event.

 

I agree.
Even 40s can be "normal" for cats not on insulin.

Below 40 is also a reduction earning point for long term diabetics following a tight regulation protocol with Lantus, Basaglar, or Levemir... a point we're looking for. That's just one of the reasons we don't want to combine the terms "hypo numbers" and a "symptomatic hypo episode" as meaning one and the same.