Hello, I'm on the fb page, but have never posted on the message board. I read the instructions for posting, but if I need to add info I'm happy to figure out how to do that. My cat Aiden was diagnosed at the beginning of June. We tried Vetsulin (while I was getting educated) and switched to Lantus 4 days ago. I'd love some advice on what to do... I'm worried that I'm not shooting correctly? Are these normal numbers? Just worried in general I guess. I'd appreciate any help or advice on my next steps. I can tell he's still not feeling well and I'm worried about his numbers being so high. Thank you for any help! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15le4Qzyqj0NITRz4MxfNjRjxM42Ox7OI9tXIZ0Q8lO4/edit?usp=sharing
Welcome. We do need more info. First we need you to use our spreadsheet. The info is here: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/fdmb-spreadsheet-instructions.130337/ What are you feeding your cat? How often? Please reading the dosing methods yellow sticky to see which one you want to follow. If feeding any dry food that would be SLGS. Lantus is dosed based upon how low it takes your cat. That usually happens 5-7 hours after injecting. You need to get at least two tests each cycle. Cats often go lower at night so a +3 will often give a clue as to whether that will happen so more tests at night really help. Does your cat have any other medical issues that might impact the blood glucose such as medication or other illnesses? You can add all that to your signature so we won’t keep asking the same questions. You are in the best place you never wanted to be and we will help you learn and manage diabetes.
Hello and welcome. It's a little early to comment too much on Aiden's progress on Lantus. First of all, it's a depot insulin and it takes 5-7 days for the depot to build the first time, and for you to see what a dose is doing. Second, we determine how a dose is doing by looking at the nadirs, or low points of the cycle. That is typically somewhere between +4 and +7, though a lot of cats don't like to be typical! You are only getting preshot numbers. That tells you if it's safe to give insulin, but not much else. Any chance of getting tests somewhere in the middle of the cycle, like a test just before going to bed? The night time tests are just as important, and sometimes more so as many cats go lower at night. Can you tell me why you started on 0.5 units of Lantus? You are also using a spreadsheet created from a template pirated from us, changed, and unfortunately those changes cause the spreadsheet to blow up on many platforms. Luckily I'm on my computer instead of iPad, so I could see it. Here are the directions for our spreadsheet. Any chance you could copy your data over? Take a look at this post How You Can Help Us Help You.
:O Oh my gosh, the spreadsheet I'm using is from the feline diabetes fb group. It's actually the first spreadsheet I've ever used, but I will look at the directions and try to figure out how to make one for this group. I'm using 0.5 units of Lantus because that's what pretty much everyone on the fb group recommended. My vet told me to do 2 units, but I was told that was too high of a starting dose?? I will also work on getting more numbers throughout the cycle. Deep breath... this is all very overwhelming and upsetting. Thank you for responding, I've read the link you posted and I will start working on getting things together
I'm feeding him low carb wet food (fancy feast pate, blue mountain wilderness, I and Love and You - I've also been feeding blue mountain and fancy feast kitten food because he's lost about 6 lbs in the last 6 weeks. He was diagnosed after a Depo Medrol shot. I'm thinking SLGS might be a good option for me since I'm a nervous wreck? Aiden has an autoimmune skin condition (hence the steroid shot), but no other medical conditions or medications. I'm worried about his kidneys with his blood sugar being so high. I will work on the signature and spread sheet - thank you so much for your response .
There is more than one feline diabetes fb group, and there are differences between them. If you are feeding all wet low carb food, then 0.5 units is the starting dose if you want to follow SLGS. When you get to modifying the signature, add "SLGS", so we can better help you. We were all "nervous wrecks" in the beginning. We can help you gain your confidence as you get experience. You are home testing, feeding low carb and have switched to a better insulin, so you are going great so far.
Thank you!! I'll start working on getting things together. I really appreciate the help, it's wonderful to not feel alone in all of this <3
What skin conditions? Is it EGC or military dermatitis? I shave a 3 year old with both. I’m trying to figure out what caused it. I told my vet no way would I go the steroid route after dealing with Max and diabetes. Have you tried switching to a protein never fed before? Switching to duck worked for me until it didn’t and now she’s getting venison. I feed raw so it’s easy to find single protein unless I run out of ones to try. I’ll tag someone to help you with your spreadsheet. @Marje and Gracie @Chris & China (GA)
I'm not sure which skin condition it is - his paw pads are puffy and look really dry and he licks the hair off his belly The vet said she suspects an autoimmune issue, but we would need to do a biopsy to figure it out. We never got that far because of the steroid shot damage. I will never do that again, I had no idea. I try to work in duck and rabbit (Merrick)... that works sometimes. It's either his favorite or he wants nothing to do with it. I'll look into venison for sure. Thank you so much, I'd love some help with the spreadsheet!
Feel free to send me a private message so I can get some details. Just click on my name and choose "start a conversation"
If you try a novel protein you can only feed that one protein for 4-6 weeks. So read the label carefully to make sure it doesn’t contain any protein he’s eaten in the past. I was juggling four and made the mistake of going back to the others too soon so now my girl can’t eat any of those I had tried. I see Chris responded to my tag. Hi Chris.
@jkzane I see Chris responded on the SS issue; her mom is not doing well so if you will send the PM to me instead, following the directions of clicking on my User ID to the left and then “start a conversation”, I can get it sorted out for you pretty quickly.
Hi, I'm sorry, I didn't get this in time. Chris was kind enough to get it set up for me Thank you so much, I'm very grateful to be here!
I talked to Chris and she did give you the correct link (I was assuming the one you were going to use was in your post #1) so, if you could, please put the one gave you in your signature block, that would be really great! Let one of us know if you need help with that
