12/29 Leo - glucose crashing (from 400 to 50-60) with 1/4U

Hi all,

Sorry, this is my first post in the community and I'm sure I am missing some of the etiquette for posting in this Lantus subforum.

My name is Javier, and I'm an owner of a beautiful cat called Leo who has been recently diagnosed with diabetes. We got Leo back from the pet hospital after a week of intense treatment for DKA. Happily, he pulled through (he's a strong kitty!), and we are now taking care of him not only for diabetes but also for fatty liver.

Leo is doing well generally, but his glucose is crashing too often with the insulin injections (glargine). When his blood glucose crashes, Leo looks tired and doesn't move much.

His glucose without the insulin is around 400. 0.5U makes his sugar drop all the way to 60 in just 3 hours. Sometimes his glucose is dropping as much with just 1/4U.

He's being fed a special diet through an e-tube, 55ml twice a day to support his fatty liver.

The vet is recommending 1/4Y when his blood sugar drops too much, but we find it hard to administer that low a dose because of how the syringe works.

Does anyone have this type of experience with a newly diagnosed cat?


Thank you!

 

@Wendy&Neko @carfurby

 

Hello and welcome. You've been through a lot, but you are not alone. I hope we can help you help Leo. Are you home testing his blood sugars? There is a post that describes information we need to help you. New? How You Can Help Us Help You! Specifically information in the signature and the spreadsheet so we can visually see those blood sugar numbers you are talking about.

What type of syringes are you using? We do have people using itty bitty doses for their cat. Also, what time are you feeding him in relation to shot time?

 

Testing blood sugar at home with the Freestyle Libre sensor.

Leo is being fed right before the insulin shot.

Leo's glucose is dropping to 60 4 hours after the shot.

I'll try to get the spreadsheet going, but wanted to answer the questions for now.

 

Welcome. It sounds like you are just feeding twice a day when you give insulin. Manu cats do best spreading out the food into at least three mini meals each cycle or one meal and two snacks. That helps prevent the big drops sometimes .

 

If you are feeding just two meals a day, it does help to slow the fast drops if you give those smaller meals. Maybe another meal around +2 or +3 so he has fresh carbs on board to slow him down. When I fostered a hepatic lipisodis kitty (not diabetic), it really helped him to have multiple meals a day instead of two large ones. I gave him about six meals per day.

What food is Leo getting?

If you look at the Sticky Notes at the top of this forum, especially the ones on Syringe Info, you can see pictures of how people draw 0.25 unit doses.

 

Hi! I agree that it is superhard to meassure tiny doses. I just invested on digital calipers to try and help being consistent. Here are some info: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dosing-with-calipers-updated-w-videos.79851/#post-862835

But using my phone camera zoomed at maximum magnification to look at the syringe and adjust the dose was the game changer for me. See if that helps you.