Newbie on Health advised to shoot 2U Lantus

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=55290#p598221

Please chime in if you can. Today she got hometesting supplies on the advice of FDMB members, but the vet advised to shoot 2U Lantus BID and "bring the cat back in a week for a blood test" :shock: :evil: :roll:
I'm gonna recommend that she start posting here.

MJ&Donovan

 

happily, she is one smart woman and she's holding off on shooting. she's gotten test supplies and is started testing at home. her cat was only up around 200.

 

Nice looking out, MJ!!

 

Yes, thanks for posting there. She's eager to learn and help her kitty, but the vet's advice makes me :twisted: Shoot a cat with BG in the 200s with 2U BID and come back in a week?!? Holy carp.

 

if only we could get all the feline-diabetes-inexperienced vets to come to us! :lol:

i'm just uber glad she's a smart person and looked into it for herself.

 

Hello All!!!

I am the newbie - Tonya - and my little furball is Tiki (9yr domestic short hair, 16lbs and some change).

I just spent the night getting, reading and PRICKING MYSELF with all the BG reading paraphenalia. After a few test runs on my fingers I tried it on Tiki and after a few duds, I got blood.

His first reading is 323. He was fed at 9p and has been grazing off and on all night so this will include some food in his system.

If I test him for a bit before injecting him with insulin, how often should I do so?

 

easy on the vet, folks. the kitty's starting dose (using the protocol we follow) would be 1.825 units and we hold the dose for 5 - 7 days. the vet isn't too far off... closer than most. too bad most vets don't teach hometesting though!

 

hello and welcome! if you're switching tiki over to a low carb wet diet and eliminating dry food from his diet i'd hold off shooting any insulin for the next couple of days. continue testing and posting. we'll be here to help...

 

Well done! That first reading is a tough one. Welcome to Lantun Land! This is a great place to get your questions answered by experts (not me ).
Liz

 

It was the "come back in a week for testing" that frosted my cornflakes. Initially it sounded like Tiki was only in the 200s, but after switching to wet food and now being in the 300s, it definitely calls for insulin. The 2U dose may well be a good one, but to shoot it blindly without being told to test

Thanks all for welcoming Tonya and Tiki.

MJ&Donovan

 

Ok good! Glad to know we aren't too far off base. So should I move ahead as instructed? The 95% wet food, low carb diet has been going on for a month and his numbers are worse. If I hold off with the injections what schedule of testing should I continue with? In the last week and a half I had increased from 2 cans of food a day to three - would I just test him before I feed him each time? Still confused with that part....

 

i think it is the standard thing you would hear - it's what i heard from my vet as well. my concern was that tonya said that tiki's blood was tested a month ago and during that time she had switched to low carb canned food. i'm glad she's going slow on it and starting with the hometesting first.

i shouldn't have said that about vets, because there are vets out there that are great, and the advice wasn't terrible. i was more concerned about tiki only being at 200ish when checked a month ago and then starting now with insulin.

glad to have you here tonya!

 

when you say 95% wet food... do you mean the tiki is being fed 95% wet food + 5% dry or does the 95% refer to the wet food itself?

 

hey tonya - there are a few links that will really help you get started before you start shooting.

New to Lantus/Levemir, start here

Lantus/Levemir - how to handle your insulin

probably start with those 2 links - they are located at the top of the Lantus Support Forum (this one you are on now) along with other important links. All of those yellow starred posts have great basic information. it can be overwhelming until you've learned a little more, so feel free to ask a zillion questions.

if you could get a spreadsheet set up - we base all our decisions on data and the spreadsheet is essential for being able to see the patterns that emerge as Tiki's body responds to the insulin. the first link above has info on how to set one up.

 

BEFORE starting insulin, you'll want to review these notes:

WHEN FOLLOWING A TIGHT REGULATION PROTOCOL WITH LANTUS OR LEVEMIR:

• Kitty should be monitored closely the first three days when starting Lantus or Levemir.
  Blood glucose levels should at least be checked at pre-shot, +3, +6, and +9.
  More monitoring may be needed.

• It will be necessary to test kitty's blood glucose levels multiple times per day.

• Learn the signs of and how to treat HYPOGLYCEMIA and prepare a HYPO TOOLBOX.

• Test regularly for ketones and know about DIABETIC KETOACIDOSIS (DKA).

• Use U-100 3/10cc syringes with half units marked on the barrel for fine dosing.

• Feed a high quality low carb canned or raw food diet.

• Feed small meals throughout the day. Some kitties adapt well to free feeding.

because lantus/levemir is shot every 12 hours, you'll want to think about starting at a time that will be convenient for you to maintain.


edited to add links.

 

Probably for about two weeks prior to taking him to the vets and getting a definitive diagnosis of diabetes, I suspected diabetes was the culprit so I began feeding him wet food. As soon as I switched him over he stopped eating his dry food. Since that time he has been eating Fancy Feast but I have kept a small dish (approx half cup total) of dry Iams out for him to have if he wants it. It took him a month and a half to eat it all. So in the last month and a half - it's been PRIMARILY wet food that he has eaten.

 

thanks for clarifying. i wasn't sure what you meant.
we were cross-posting. not sure if you saw the post above.

 

it's after 1am here and i have to get up in a few hours. you're not planning on shooting yet tonight are you?
we'll be able to offer more help on dosing once we see more numbers. i don't like to suggest a dose based on a 300

 

I am in no hurry to start with the insulin - I'd rather hang back and be confident before I send his levels plumetting and have an emergency on my hands.

I am happy to test for a few days if necessary. Just help me to understand how to move ahead in "testing" mode - how often should I do this?

 

you mentioned tiki is free fed. if it's possible, you'll want to grab a test before main meals like breakfast and dinner.
ideally, you want don't want him eating 2 hours before the test, but i realize that's pretty hard to do with a a kitty that's free fed. just do what you can. i think we'll all get a better idea of what's going on after seeing some random spot checks over the next day... maybe two.
sound good?

 

Yes, I can probably swing that over tomorrow - Monday, MAYBE!!! lol

 

Is there any need to test AFTER he eats?

 

just do the best you can.
any spot checks you get tomorrow may give us all the info we need...

see you tomorrow...
ni-ni!

 

it's not a bad idea to get another test or two during the day. they can be random.

 

Many thanks!!! Sweet Dreams!

 

Welcome to Lantus Land. You are in great hands. What fancy feast varieties are you feeding?

 

Tonya:

It will probably make sense for you to start a new thread for each day. We all keep one condo (aka our thread) per cat per day. Since you will not be giving a shot, your test that would be at your "regular" shot time is your AMBG (i.e., AM Blood Glucose). Once you start shooting, your tests at shot time are your AMPS (AM Pre-Shot) test. Ditto for the PM. Because this group is international, we don't use the actual hour of the day. We count hours from the time of the shot. So, if you test 2 hours after you gave Tiki an injection, it would be your +2.

For now, if you can get a couple of tests in every 12-hour period that would be ideal. If Tiki ate 2 hours prior to your testing, I'd suggest putting a note on your spreadsheet. The spreadsheet (SS) will allow you to keep all of your information in one place. Linking it to your signature will also allow us to follow what's going on and offer help based on your data.

If Tiki isn't eating the dry, I'd suggest getting rid of it. Even a few pieces of kibble can have an effect on BG levels. It's fine to put out canned food for Tiki to munch throughout the day. Most of us add water to canned food to prevent it from drying out. Also, since you mentioned a busy work schedule, you may want to consider a timed feeder.

 

Good Morning!

First test today after 2 hrs without food was 260.

 

If you can grab another test or two over the next 12 hours, that would be ideal. It would be especially helpful if you could get a test in about 3 hours. If Tiki's pancreas is producing any insulin on its own, a test a few hours after eating will show a lower number than a test before she's eaten.

 

Ok will do. I just gave him his food back and he is chowing down (thankfully he always has a good appetite).

To answer what type of Fancy Feast - primarily the Classics (based on the info on Blinky's list) but before I learned those were the best I had bought a box of Roasted Chicken so he has had a few of those interspersed with the classics.

 

Hi Tonya and welcome to Lantus Land to you and Tiki,

You are getting excellent advice from some of our most knowledgeable people. It's great that you are learning to home test. Ask any questions you have (everyone has their own "technique" for doing the ear testing and if you are having a problem getting blood, you will get lots of responses with techniques to try).

Sienne and Jill suggested you start a new "condo" (daily thread) today so that it is easier to see what's happening with Tiki. Follow the standard subject-line rubric: date, cat's name, AMBG number. You can add numbers to the subject line over the course of the day by going back to your first post of the day and editing the subject line there.
We link our daily condos to the preceding day's by going up to the title line of the preceding day (above the gray box), right-clicking (PC) or control-clicking (Mac) and selecting "copy link". Then, in the body of today's condo, hit the URL button, go up to "Edit" in your browser, and click "paste".
It would be great if you could get your Google spreadsheet up and running (see instructions in the Tech forum).

Welcome again. We are very glad you have found this forum.

Ella & Rusty

 

Welcome, Tonya & Tiki!!

celi & binks

 

OK - here goes....(new condo)???

Working on the spreadsheet (and trying to do a thousand other things around the house...)

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