!!!!Went OTJ by doing all the wrong things!!!! NOW..

I have an 8 year old 18lb cat namend Buggy. He was diagnosed w/ having asthma ( Which turned out to be a MISDIAGNOSIS!!!!) so the internal specialist put him on course of steriods in OCT. By DEC 4th I knew something was wrong- he had weak legs, rough coat, NO APPETITE & NO EXCESSIVE WATER INTAKE. Weird I know. Diagnosed w/ diabetes BG in 300's. Put on 1 unit 2x a day on Lantus Dec 4th. By Dec 15 he was upped to 3 units twice a day- (my vet didn't do the 1 week 1/2 increment dosing protocol).. By DEC 27 BG was 94 so he went OTJ.. A week later it was in the 60's!! I also had free fed him the crappy Hill's dry c/d food ( b/c he went on a hunger strike & that's all he would eat) & a tiny bit of canned wellness AM & PM during since diagnosis. I checked BG Jan 18- it was 127. By Feb 5, he was drinking excessively & BGit was in the 500's & soback on the Lantus!!!! So I educated myself & found this FABULOUS board & have been doing all the recommendations here- read evry article. . Switched him to pretty much all wet Weruva & Merrick- he does snack a bit on Orijen dry. I home test up to 4x a day. I switched vets because many strongly disagree how he upped insulin so fast & for other reasons. So since Feb 5, until now, he has been upped 1/2 unit at a time. He is now at 3.5 units twice a day because his BG remains in the high 400's to low 500's. At the 2.5 dosage I actually got a reading as low as 274 but the next day it went to 583!!! At the 3.0 dosage it got to 375 during nadir at times but pre shot was always in the 400's. This week he went to 3.5 & his pre shot BG's are in the 500's!! AND HE's ONLY EATING HIS WET FOOD this week- he seems to have less of an appetite. I have tried to find a coorelation towards food, feeding times, free feeding, only wet food, new lantus vials, etc but I CANNOT FIND ANY RYHME OR REASON why his numbers are all over the place!! Some days he's happy, some days he's miserable. Sometimes it seems the less he eats, the higher his numbers go up. I'm wondering if I should just go back to how he first went into remission by feeding him junky food whenever he wanted & upping the dosage every few days as needed... He DOES NOT DRINK EXCESSIVELY & he has stayed steady at 18 lbs for over a month. I also give him 1/2 Pepcid 2x a day for heartburn. I'm so at the point of tears.


Here's his timeline:

DIABETES HISTORY:

OCT 10 prescribed prednisolone & Flovent inhaler for "asthma"

DEC 4- Limping in rear leg, poor hair coat, grumpy, NOT eating or drinking, tests showed BG in high 300's, Fructosamine performed
started LANTUS INSULIN @ 1 unit 2x daily

DEC 11- 2 units 2x daily

DEC 15- 3 units 2x daily

DEC 29- STOPPED INSULIN= BG was 94, few days later BG 60's

JAN 18- BG =127

JAN 24- (approx) he started drinking /peeing a lot but happy & social

FEB 5- BG= 520
1 unit insulin 2x daily
Discontinued Flovent inhaler entirely- been sorta weaning off since Dec anyways
Vet would check his lungs during BG curves & said his lungs were OK for him

FEB 9- BG curve around 320 (or high 400's I forget)
2 units 2x daily

FEB 11- Bloodwork & Urine.. 17 lbs

FEB 21- BG high 400's

FEB 23- back to 1 unit 2 x daily

March 8- New Lantus vial

March 17- Up to 1.5 units 2x daily- blood test shows liver enzymes slightly elevated..

March 25-2.0 units 2 x daily... BG 400's
Apr
Apr 52.5 units 2.5x daily.... BG 400's

Apr 10 - got an evening Pre shot reading of 267!! :razz: Apr 11- AM BG 583

Apr 12- 3 units 2x NEW LANTUS VIAL.... Was happy all week... BG 400's

Apr 19 Upped to 3.5 units 2 x daily -- BG in 500's now- not eating as much, maintained 18lb weight, poor hair coat, has not drank excessively in over a month, sad looking

 

Hmmm - you may want to change your post title to get more people to read. I thought your kitty was still OTJ until I came in and read what is going on.

Have you kept a record of his blood sugar test results over the last few months?

If you post your results in a spreadsheet it will really help us to help you --

Have you read all the sticky posts in Lantus ISG? and some of the weekly posts -- like "NEW DOSE WONKINESS" and similar?

 

could he have a *fake* Cushing Syndrome?

 

Excellent that you are home testing. I'd encourage you to set up a spreadsheet and enter all of your data. It really helps to see the patterns. For example, you might see after he has been lower for a reading or two that he shoots high again. This would mean something specific to the experts who use your type of insulin. If you use the shared template (look in the Tech section), others can see your data and help you interpret.

You also mentioned that he seemed lame in the back legs - high blood sugar lead to weakness in the back legs - its called diabetic neuropathy. Keeping the blood sugar down is important to reverse this, but some people have found that methyl B12 hels. It is available from many health food stores and some pharmacies.

If you start a new post with a heading asking for help with high numbers, others will be more inclined to stop in and help.

 

It can be a confusing journey to get them regulated, it's not at all unusual for the numbers to be all over the place, or high for some time until you get things sorted out. So don't despair! Also if he is on the Prednisolone, that can raise their BGs and complicate the picture. I don't know enough about Lantus to help with any specifics, but if you keep posting with your questions and with the data you have, I'm sure you will be able to get ongoing help to get things under control. Hope he is feeling better soon. :YMHUG:

 

Trying to bump you to the top of the board again.

I would take it back down to a small amount of insulin if you are using insulin again because at first by giving such a high dose, you can fill the body's shed so quickly that you will cause a hypo event. I think that is what happened with my cat. Once we changed his diet and his body's shed got filled, he did not need that high dose of insulin. Start with a small dose and increase/decrease in small increments is the recommendation of this board. I was going by the vet's recommendation and we got into trouble when he had the seizure.

Others with more experience will post soon.