New member here! Looking for support on Gary's diabetes journey.

I just wanted to introduce myself and also wanted to test out whether the spreadsheet I put in my signature is working. Gary is 11 years old and started insulin on October 4, 2019. Lately his home glucose monitoring numbers have been going lower, so I am looking for support and advice. He is supposed to get 3u of Vetsulin every 12 hours, but I have skipped several doses in the past 5 days due to BG readings below 200. I was using an AlphaTrak but switched to a ReliOn Prime a few days ago. He is tested at least twice a day.

 

Hello to you and Gary and welcome to FDMB. Glad you found us but sorry you needed to.

While I can open your spreadsheet, it doesn't have any of the colour coding that is automated in our spreadsheet and I wonder if you got the spreadsheet from the forum here or somewhere else. We are very data oriented here and the colour coding on our spreadsheet makes it very easy to see how kitty is doing and identify patterns that help determine dosing. If you need help setting up one of our spreadsheets, just holler. The instructions for setting it up are HERE. THIS DOC explains how to use the spreadsheet.

It's great that you are testing before shots but it's really important to be testing during the cycles too to see how low BG is dropping on the dose. With those low pre-shots you are now getting, I have to think that 3u might be far too much insulin. I notice you got a reading of 44 in the middle of the night last night and that BG is far too low. With Vetsulin, you really don't want Gary dropping much below 90 as drops with Vetsulin can be fast and steep.

Vetsulin onsets quickly and the lowest point in the cycle is usually between +3 and +6 post shot so if you can get some tests in that time frame post shots it will give you an indication of when Gary is reaching nadir (lowest point in cycle). I'd also make it a habit to always get a minimum of a test before bed every night as many if not most cats go lower at night than they do during the day.

As long as Gary has no history of ketones or DKA, I'd suggest you reduce the dose to 1u if BG is high enough to shoot (over 200) and get some mid cycle tests to see if/how the dose needs to be adjusted.

This is Welcome Forum and we don't usually provide any advice here but I have concerns about the dose of insulin you are giving Gary. Please
post over in the Health forum so we can help you get Gary on a more appropriate dose of insulin and keep him safe.

 

I have sent the CG a PM regarding the SS format and how it’s problematic. Thanks, Linda.

 

I added you as an editor. Please if someone can let me know how much of a dose he should get... he was 251 before eating dinner tonight, and he just ate perhaps slightly less than his usual amount. I haven't given any dose yet.

 

That's a tough question given his BG is lower now than this AM and it appears he didn't get insulin this AM.
Does Gary have any history of ketones or DKA?

 

He does not have a history of that, the vet did not say anything about that when he was diagnosed. I made a post on the health forum and was told 1u.

 

I have given him 1u as instructed on the health forum, and will check his BG in 1 hour and then at 2 hours.

 

I agree and I would make sure to test Gary again as suggested to see what he's doing.

 

Please follow Gary’s Health post now. I’m going to lock this thread so we make sure we post on the Health thread.

Thanks, everyone!