we're back

Maddie has come out of remission. was dx'd june 08 in dka. vetsulin for about 3-4 months and otj since then. started not eating well last couple weeks, coat dull. weight loss approx 2+ lbs - not sure of the timespan. no excessive peeing. obvously something not right. checked 1/24 evening 188. 1/25 am 235. to the vet that afternoon and 412 there - obviously stress affected but clearly out of remission. no ketones except yesterday morning 1/27 and she was trace. negative again last night and this morning. all other labs good - alt slightly elevated but otherwise nothing except sugar. so we're going with lantus this time. wasn't going to start til today because of work and not being able to be here but able to be home by noon yesterday so started then. vet just wanted 0.5u sid - which didn't seem right to me - i mean the sid part. shot 0.5u at noon and ps was 277.
+3 270
+6 201
+9 218
shot 0.5u this am - amps 291
+4 282
+7 308
+9 306
7p will be time for pmps and will shoot another 0.5u?
and run a curve through the night.
have read about the storage shed and don't wanna overdo of course. feel good about the 0.5u to start but think bid makes more sense?
hypo kit is stocked and on the counter. when i called relion to ask how to reset meter to date and time found out the new strips i just got a couple months ago have been recalled so they're sending me new ones but as long as the uptake is within 5 seconds they said the ones i have are ok and they've all been good but one. blech.
she has been and continues on FF lowcarb/highprotein from Janet and Binky's list. 2 cans a day although she has been lucky to down 1/2 can. have been supplementing with plain ground beef, tuna with water juice, and baby food (meat and broth only) trying to entice her to eat.
help!
JoJo - are you still around?
the new board is a mystery to me but trying to navigate my way around in it.
thanks.

Julie and Maddie Cattie (and Millstermeister, too)
(amazing how much i've forgotten but it's all coming back to me slowly...)

 

well, i guess welcome back is kind of a lame greeting, but Hello!

celi & binks

 

Hi Julie and welcome to Lantus Land. Sorry you're here visiting though. Hopefully, it's a short stay. Did the vet rule out any teeth issues? The need for a dental can throw a cat out of remission.

Jojo is barely around. She's had some significant health issues and doesn't get on the Board much. She's sometimes in Health or Think Tank but it's rare and even rarer for her to be here.

Please read the Tight Regulation Protocol sticky. Using Lantus requires a very different approach to dosing than PZI or Vetsulin. Dosing is based on the nadir, not on the pre-shot value so you will need to work spot checks into your schedule as well as AMPS and PMPS checks. Frankly, if you've forgotten a lot, that may be a good thing! It will take a bit of a mental adjustment.

Your instincts were very good -- Lantus is a BID insulin. It also requires consistency both in dose and in timing. It will be important to shoot as close to a 12/12 schedule as possible. It will take roughly 5 - 7 days for a shed to form so please be patient if numbers aren't where you'd like them to be.

When you have a chance, putting together a spreadsheet will help us provide feedback/input regarding dose.

Please let us know how we can help and if you have questions.

Re. the baby food: When I've had to use it with Gabby, I found that it bumped up her numbers. It's around 7% carb, mostly from the cornstarch that's in it. I think most of the FF that's LC is under 5%. If Maddie is not wanting to eat, in addition to what you're already doing, you might want to try sprinkling FortiFlora or parmesean cheese on her food.

 

Welcome back - sorry to hear you are returning. I hope Maddie's stay is a short one. Welcome aboard!

 

thanks Sienne and all. forgot to mention that we did check teeth and they are not an issue. tried parm and that seems to help now and then but not consistently. will look into the fortiflora? every once in a while she snarfs like nothin's wrong at all - but more rarely. thanks for the info on Jojo. i'm so sorry to hear of her health issues - she walked with me one long night through my dog, Max's rapid decline and death shortly after Maddie came off the juice. am trying to sit on my hands a bit and not panic. read the shed info earlier - new and good to know. i'm single and it's just me and my 2 kitty girls here. work 4 days a week as an RN, swing days and afternoons, so of course i want to just fix this and know that isn't how it works. am luckily off through monday so am hoping to at least get a bit settled in this although looks like a week or more might be more realistic. and with cats and fd who knows. we went through 2 hypos during our previous round with fd and i don't want her - or me - to go through that again. no one does, i know. will try to work on the spreadsheet and we'll go from there. thanks for the welcomes. so good to know this place and you all are here. am praying we can get her back into remission or at least regulated so she feels better. i'm told lantus is more gentle than vetsulin. hoping it does its job for my girl - and that i can do mine.
J.

 

I'm a newbie (6 weeks since Dx), but wanted to stop in and say hello... though sorry to be doing so under the circumstances!

Good instincts on the BID!!

I look forward to learning more about Maddie and Millstermeister (love the name!!) over the coming weeks!

 

Hi Julie & Maddie and welcome to LL! Lantus is a really good insulin and will, I hope, help you to get Maddie into remission again. The most important things to know are: dosing is BID, dosing is every 12 hours, and don't shake or roll the Lantus (store it in the 'fridge and handle it gently; it doesn't like to be "shook up").

Ella & Rusty

 

pmps was 265. she ate almost a whole can of ff, 1/2 with some freezedried shrimp "dust" and the other 1/2 with a little plain ground beef. shot 0.5u. she's up and has been doing a little playing. will try to catch another pee to check for ketones again, too. and will be checking her bs a couple times through the night.