I am fostering a cat from the Sanctuary where I work. He is on 3.5 units Lantus. He was diagnosed in the winter of 2019 and he is young. If someone could look at his spread sheet I think its in my signature. I did a curve and at the end his bg was under 200 so I didn't feel comfortable giving a shot. He went for a fructosamine today and I didn't get the numbers yet but they said the number were high and to put him on MD which I am not going to do. He's on canned friskies, ff, tiki cat and meow mix and I am transitioning to raw. Please can someone tell me how low he can go for us to safely shoot? Is his insulin good?
How nice of you to foster the cat. Your goal is to get him between 70 and 130. Skipping when he’s over 150 is keeping him too high. Lantus is dosed based upon his low it takes the cat. With tests under 100 I am sure your insulin is good. As long as you can monitor it’s best to shoot 150 and higher. Is the Meow mix canned or dry?
Hi Valerie and welcome to you and Buzz.the forum. That is lovely you are fostering him. He look a real cutie! Just want to ask a few questions..... Did you give him insulin on 2/16 in the am cycle when he was 94 at PMPS? Are you feeding him during the cycles as well as the preshot meals? We recommend giving a couple of snacks during the first half of all the cycles as well as the preshot meal. Are you able to get any tests in during the cycles? If you could get some tests in during the cycles we will be able to see if the 3.5 is a good dose. At the moment he is bouncing a bit from the blue numbers which he is not used to any more. Cats can bounce because they drop too fast, too low or lower than they are used to. Lantus is dosed on the nadir, not the preshot. The take action BG if you are using the alphatrak meter is 68. If he drops below that you need to give high carb food or honey to bring the BG up higher. Do you have a hypo kit set up in case of low numbers? https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/how-to-treat-hypos-they-can-kill-print-this-out.15887/
I am going to ask @Wendy&Neko to move this thread over to the main health page as this is your first post and we like to get you started over there.
I didn't test him but yes he had insulin on the morning of the 16th. I have just started testing regularly. I do have a hypo kit of corn syrup and med-high carb food. I feed him after his shot. Then he eats a snack an hour later then he has to wait for dinner. I have four other cats and can't free feed. During the week I can't feed him during the day but when I did the curve I gave him a snack every time I tested.
That’s interesting because the dose took him down to 94. he could be dropping lower during the cycles and we don’t know, so if you can get some mid cycle tests in that would be great. Well done setting up the SS and testing the BG. Buzz is a lucky boy. Great you have a hypo kit set up! With Lantus you test, feed then shoot, all within around 15 mins or less. A lot of us do it in 5 /10 minutes, but that comes with practise. Don’t give food for the 2 hours preshot as we need the BG not to be food influenced. When you do a curve it is better to feed when you normally feed as that will give you an more accurate picture of how things are. You can still give him a small treat after the test. Are you able to get a before bed test in every night? That can tell you if Buzz is likely to drop low. If the before bed test is the same or lower than the preshot number it is likely to be an active cycle and Buzz could drop lower so you may need to set the alarm and get up and test later.
The ss says +11. Please get a PMPS. He could go up more. I doubt it will be high enough to shoot. I would not shoot under 150 and I think the dose is too big. If following SLGS a reduction would be earned. As a cat new to insulin a reduction should be taken. I’m trying to decide how big.
I can see 70@+12 I agree with @tiffmaxee i would skip the pm dose and test again in 1 hour to see the BG is rising. You need to reduce the dose as 3.5 is too much. I will speak with Elise about the dose moving forward and someone will get back to you
Bron and I talked. Since he was so low and you are switching his food we think you should try 2.75 as his dose as long as he’s over 150 at amps.
He is not new to insulin, he has been on it for a year now with constant increases but he was also free fed kibble. He was 417 AMPS so I gave him 3 units. I am at work (35 minute drive) but my boyfriend will try to get a +6 or +7 today. He failed yesterday.
Thanks for clarifying. With dry in the picture he earned a reduction by dropping under 90 following our SLGS method or have you removed all dry? With the AT a reduction is earned by falling under 68 no matter which method you follow.
