Lilly Mae's first spreadsheet

Ok, I have a spreadsheet up.. I have some frustration going with the way her morning blood sugars are lower or higher for no reason I can see So I went ahead and created a spreadsheet - (I have to say it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought) ;-) and added a picture - because she is a cute princess...

I've removed all dry food the last couple days - and the numbers seem more erratic for it... I will run another curve this weekend (can't due to work during the week)... It will be interesting to see...

Anyway - it's better to have the spreadsheet - my vet is not happy with the idea of me adjusting her insulin... Evidently I'm the first person willing to test their cat that she's had... scary - would you give your child insulin without checking their blood sugar first? In her defense - she said to call her at 7pm if I though the dose needed lowered and we would discuss it... Of course, she was back at 240

I'll work on the profile and adding to the signature as I have time.

Thanks to All - Michele & Lilly Mae

We link our last thread (we call them condos) to our most current condo. Here's your condo from May 8th.

Congrats on getting your SS set up and linked.

I really, really, really want to encourage you to get some tests in the evening. There are a couple of reasons:

• If you're not home to test during the day, you need some data to base your decision making on. Right now, you have no data to base your dose on. Lantus dosing is NOT based on the pre-shot test numbers. Dosing is based on the nadir -- the lowest point of the cycle. This is usually somewhere near the middle.
• Even with information on the weekends, without tests from the PM cycle, you are missing half of your data.
• Many cats experience lower BG levels at night. You could very easily miss a dose reduction by not testing.
• We can't help you with dosing if you only have pre-shot test data. This is a post on the subject.

Right now, the numbers won't make much sense because you only have 2 data points. You need to fill in the gaps in order to be able to interpret what's going on. Also, skipping shots and shooting a reduced dose will cause the numbers to fluctuate. Most cats are started on a dose lower than 2.0u. It may be that you will need to lower the dose in order to be able to shoot consistently at the AM and PM.

congratulations on your spreadsheet!

Lantus is very data driven, but don't feel intimidated. The data will help put you in control of your cat's diabetes.

I'm glad your vet is keeping lines of communication open with you. Just like every cat is different, every vet is different too, some better, some worse. It sounds like you have a vet who is invested in caring for your cat. Since you are the first person who she has had that is home testing, you are also the first person she has had who is truly hands on and actively working to regulate feline diabetes. It will be an adjustment for both of you, you will be the main keeper of your cat's daily data and results, and you'll be the first one to see important trends, drops, and rises. Read through everything you've gotten, keep asking questions, you'll do great.

yay on the spreadsheet! good for you - as you start filling it in you'll be amazed at what you learn about how Lilly Mae is responding to the insulin. good job on getting rid of the dry food, too. that will also help her BG.

a lot of people can get a +3 after their evening shot fairly easily, and as grim as it might sound, sometimes it works to set an alarm and get up to get a +6 at night. I've had to do testing at night for low numbers sometimes and it's not too bad when you don't have to do it every night. I just go back to bed - it's kinda like having a baby! :lol:

about your vet - have you given him/her a printout of protocol we use yet? maybe that would help them understand why you need to adjust the dose a little every few days.

she's a beautiful cat - glad you put up a picture! Welcome to the fun! woo-hoo!

Great start with your spreadsheet and yes, Lilly Mae is as sweet as can be! Removing the dry food is one of the best moves you could make for Lilly Mae's health.

Having more data will definitely give you the answers your looking for. Remember, we've all been in your shoes...it seems intimidating at first, but you'll all get into the swing of things in no time. Take a look at Trixie's spreadsheet...especially at the beginning. It's a fine example of the evolution we went through after diagnosis. When Trixie was first diagnosed, we only tested her once a week for the first couple weeks - yikes!!! All it took was one low number to kick us into higher gear, but even then we still weren't testing as much as we should. Once we started getting more and more numbers in between shots, the picture became more clear, and we're able to make dose adjustments accordingly. Hopefully, once your vet sees how closely you're monitoring Lilly Mae's BGs, she'll see that you have tremendous control over Lilly Mae's diabetes, and you'll keep her safe.

Like Sienne said, Lantus likes consistency...shooting the same dose, 12 hours apart. It may take some tweaking/reducing for you to find the right dose that allows you to be consistent like that.

Keep asking those questions!

Amy

Welcome and congratulations on getting your spreadsheet set up! What a beautiful picture of your cat and I adore the name Lilly Mae.

My vet had general knowledge of Lantus and diabetic cats so I know what you're going through. We had started at 2U and after 4 weeks of treatment, my cat still wasn't getting any better. I decided to start over based on what I learned from this board. Originally I restarted at 2 units but then dropped it to 1.5 units after I read about calculating the starting dosage based on weight. Thought you might want to check it out so here's the link. The calculation is at the bottom.

There's so much support and knowledge here and I hope you find it as valuable as I have!

Re: Lilly Mae's first spreadsheet - amps 140 now..

Ok - 140 this morning - I went ahead and gave 2 units. I am planning on only working this morning and coming home to do blood sugar checks in the afternoon...If she looks ok at 12ish - I'll go back.. nailbite_smile I have to know what is going on...

Thursday is not a good day to take her with me to work.. too much traffic (I work in a church so this is viable some days)

Crazy...
Michele & Lilly Mae

Good Morning: Welcome to LL. Can you get a test before you leave for work? Also, if you would start a new condo each day it is easier to follow your progress. Have a great day.



A4.4. There's no hard and fast rule, but if you don't have data on how your cat responds to insulin, here are some general guidelines. Below 150 mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L), don't give insulin. Between 150 and 200 (8.3-11.1 mmol/L), you have three options: a.) give nothing; b.) give a token dose (10-25% of the usual dose); c.) feed as usual, test in a couple of hours, and make a decision based on that value. Above 200 (11.1 mmol/L) but below the cat's normal pre-shot value, a reduced dose might be wise. In all cases, if you are reducing or eliminating insulin, it's wise to check for ketones in the urine. Above the normal pre-shot value, give the usual dose, but if the pre-shot value is consistently elevated, it's a good idea to schedule a full glucose curve to see whether a change in dose or insulin is appropriate. In most cases, the target "peak" value should not be below 100 mg/dl (5.6 mmol/L), and for some cats it might be higher.

Keep in mind that these are general guidelines, and they should be personalized to your own cat's reactions to insulin. If your experience is that your cat does not became hypoglycemic with a dose which is close to her usual, then your experience should be your guide.

Nice AMPS for Lilly Mae! Yep, welcome to the crazy sugar dance. You've got all of us with you, though...you'll never feel alone with this group!

Like Barbara said, the general format here is to start a new condo each day for your kitty...and just one condo per day. If you'll notice, we all start out with the current date, our kitty's pre-shot number, then any following tests, which are denoted by the +1, +2, etc. With those numbers indicating (in hours) how long it's been since the last shot. We use that format, rather than "real" time", because people here are from all different time zones; it makes it much easier to determine where the cat is in the cycle.

Also, be sure to include a link to the previous day's condo in each new condo. All of this stuff will makeit easier for experienced eyes to track what's going on with Lilly Mae.

Getting a test before you leave for work would be a great idea, too. It's wonderful that you can sometimes take her with you!!

Have a great day!

Amy

good morning michele!

you're kinda in a spot here - i can see you're trying to be consistent on the dose, but without a lot of information on what Lilly Mae does mid-cycle it's a little unnerving to give the regular insulin dose with an amps of 140. a good "trying to do the right thing" is when you have a lower preshot number than usual, you can post here - in the subject line ask for quick advise. Something like

"amps 140, should i shoot full dose?"

would let experts know you need some help asap.

for today, you want to check her as much as you can - you said you're going home mid-day, i'm not sure if you're getting online from work. definitely check her as soon as you can - i think it's about +4.5 for you now, based on the time you posted. if she's under 60 and it's before +6ish, she will likely go lower and you need to treat her to keep her numbers up. in the links on my signature line there's the post for how to handle low numbers. you can look at that, post here, change the subject line of the first post in this condo and ask for help. someone will be around to help you through it.

hope you're having a great day.

Welcome! There's plenty of good advice to go around here so take your time and read (and re-read) it all when you can. We all were where you are right now so feel free to ask any questions you have!

how did everything go today, michele? you've been on my mind all day . . .