REQUEST to review SS-please

Khan's numbers are coming down. He has been on Fancy Feast for 6 weeks (low carb, no grain) and has been BG monitoring for 6 weeks. I shot 0.75 Humulin N this morning since his number was under 300.. I would greatly apprecaite some comments.. currently I'm waiting for Lantus to be delivered. I'm wondering: do you think his pancreas has kicked in and now he maybe on the road to HONEYMOONING??

 

While I'm not familiar with Humulin (Motska's on Vetsulin), I did take a look at your spreadsheet, and it looks like you're heading in the right direction! One of the things we try to accomplish with the insulin is a little bit of "overlap," so that at the 12-hour mark, when (for example) the AM shot has almost been completely used up by the cells (and the glucose level is on the upswing), then it's counteracted by the PM shot. The goal is to decrease the amount that the glucose levels do a "roller-coaster." That roller-coaster really makes the kitties feel crummy!

From what I've seen from people posting here, Humulin N can produce a dramatic drop in blood glucose and wears out somewhat quickly, so that by the time they're due for the next shot, there's no insulin left in the blood and they get that "roller-coaster" effect.... The Lantus may level things out for you a little better.

As far as the Lantus -- a lot of the folks on here really like it -- it produces a more gentle curve. But it's one that you have to be fairly diligent about -- you really have to stick to a 12/12 shot schedule (with only 15-30 min variation allowed -- otherwise you may just have to skip a shot that is too far off schedule) from what I'm told. But a LOT of kitties have been able to go off-the-juice on both Lantus and Levemir by sticking to the protocols! All I can suggest is read, read, read!

I hate to be a downer, but I'd also recommend not getting too anxious about getting Khan to go OTJ -- some cats do and some cats don't. And some cats FINALLY do it after a very long time being on insulin! In my case, Motska has been on Vetsulin for two years. The reason I haven't switched to one of the more "preferred" insulins (Vetsulin has had a FDA-mandated halt in production).... After two years, we've finally gotten her down to 0.1 unit 2x per day and I don't want to start changing things now if I don't have to -- I feel like "we're almost there".

So basically, after this loooooooong post I've written, I can't really give you a straight answer. But you'll know that he's due for a dose decrease by monitoring how low his blood sugar is going at the nadir (lowest BG reading during a curve) -- especially if he starts having hypo episodes at the current dosage. A lot of vets base dosage on pre-shot readings and forget to monitor how low the glucose is going during the day. A piece of advice that was given to me was that once your cat is on the lowest dose you can possibly give (usually a drop or two) -- if, even at that dose, your cat starts going hypo or having BG readings that are low enough to make you worried about a possible hypo, then it may be time to try going OTJ. Just keep testing the BG during that time, like you have been -- you can always start back up again, or give a one-off dose as your cat may intermittently need it.

Sorry for the long post -- I hope Khan's pancreas heals up quickly!!!!

Kris

 

Sorry to leave you hanging, and thanks for the pm....I would like to address is out loud here, so others can review what I am writing as well.

I like that you have dropped the dose, N is working fast and hard as you are seeing by all that green followed later by the pinks ( 100s and 300s)

I think staying with that 0.75 of a unit til you make the switch to Lantus is a very good plan unless you see a preshot of under about 250 and then I would consider a reduced dose once more.

Way to go on getting the SS up and doing all your homework to help your kitty.
Hometesting does save lives and allow a regulated kitty to thrive once more.

Keep doing what you are doing..lantus does allow all this to become much easier.

Kimmee

 

Thank you very much. I was just a bit nervous about dropping the dose so soon but as you can see from the SS his numbers are looking great. I don't want him to hypo on me. Oh his stool is back to normal as is his urine output. yeah!!