Hello, Norbert and I are pretty new to the forums and brand new to the LBL board. He is a newly diagnosed diabetic (7/31) and I have been battling his BG levels since we brought him home Friday. The vet had started him on Vetsulin, but based on his numbers and the curve we were seeing, we’ve switched him to Lantus. His first dose was 3 units at 7:00pm Eastern. I did a lot of testing on the Vetsulin, so I will do a new series tonight and tomorrow to see how he responds. Hopefully this will work better for him. I understand it can take some time to get this sorted out. Thank you!
Hello and welcome. I think you (and Norbert) will like Lantus better than Vetsulin. I know we preferred it. Can you tell me why 3 units was chosen as the starting dose? That's quite a high starting dose. Normally on SLGS people start with 0.5 units if new to insulin and feeding an all low carb wet food or raw diet. If you shot 3 units tonight, you really need to get a +2 to start, and possibly more tonight. Any other medical issues we should know about? Your post on Feline Health here said he was at the vet for several days, and that's not something that's normally needed unless there are other issues, or the vet is really old school. Some issues, like ketones or DKA, can influence starting dose.
Thank you for welcoming us! The 3 units was what we were told to give from the vet. He has been running so high, and the Vetsulin just wasn’t getting it down. I’m going to be running his numbers tonight every few hours to see how he responds to the Lantus. He’s been on a wet/dry diet for years before all of this started. Tonight is the first time I really restricted his dry food intake. We have him on Fancy Feast, but have fed him RC Multi Urinary/Hydrolyzed Protein as he has suffered with idiopathic cystitis for most of his life. The vet also diagnosed him with a grade 5 heart murmur than he did not have earlier this year.
I just tested and his BG has come down to 406 at +3 hours. He seems to be responding much better to the Lantus. Does that drop seem good, or is it a little too much, too fast? He seems relaxed... like REALLY relaxed. I had to kind of poke him to wake him up. Is that normal? My hubby, who is a T1 diabetic, told me that if a person is running high for a while then comes down somewhat fast, it can affect their alertness and how they feel. I’m wondering of it’s the same with cats. I will continue to check him overnight every few hours. I do have a hypo kit with honey, FF Gravy Lovers, and FF sliced. I got some keto sticks to check his urine, but I feel like I’d have more luck catching a unicorn!
He's high enough you can probably wait another 3 hours for a test. We suggest every three hours the first couple cycles, unless he's dropping low in which case it would be sooner. Out of curiosity, what does Norbert weigh?
Norbert weighs 8.5lbs He seems to be doing well. He’s relaxed and has had a couple snacks of Fancy Feast. I’m letting him have as much low carb food as he wants.
Glad you can keep an eye on him. If you were following Tight Reglation for dosing, he would start at 1 unit. Since you are also cutting the number of carbs he is eating, you will have to monitor closely.
@Wendy&Neko Do you think it would be a good idea to back him off when his numbers get down to a more normal range? He still eats some dry food as it’s a bit of a process weaning him off. I really want to get him completely off dry.
Let's see what the next cycle brings. The good thing and bad thing about the depot is that it has a lot of influence on cycles. It's early days yet and takes 5-7 days to build the depot, so you don't have to worry about that yet. But if it turns out 3 units is too high a dose, and you have an almost full 3 unit depot, it could mean some time battling lower numbers. The good thing about the depot is the longer duration and eventually flatter numbers.
@Wendy&Neko That sounds good to me. I’m always a little nervous of him going low, but I know y’all will be here to help us through it AMPS: 403! Best yet!
PMPS was 367! I can tell he’s feeling a lot better, too! He’s gotten his feisty self back and has groomed. He looks so much better. He is now on an automatic feeder that allows him to have low carb snacks during the day between his big meals at shot time. I’ve backed off the testing a little bit, mainly because we were both getting worn out, but will continue to test at least once between meals, or if he seems to be acting strange.
