? 9/23 Indie PMPS 114...+2 143, +3 86... another dose reduction??

I can't decide if I should do 1.5 units still. I know she didn't earn a reduction but she was eating carbs all day I have a hunch she would have earned a reduction had she not ate the carbs.

Ugh I so want to continue on this trend downward with the amount of insulin given. I so bad want her to go into remission. But I hate the thought of another sleepless night.

And tomorrow I am gone from +3.5 - +10! So there won't be any BG tests during the day to catch when she potentially goes low and earns another reduction

So tomorrow will be another HC food day. Ugh.

 

Looks like you shot the 1.5....that's good

You'll want to get a +1 and +2 since that's a lower PS than you're used to....it's easier to intervene early if you have to!

As long as you have supplies and can test, it's almost always going to be best to shoot the scheduled dose....but she may start to run higher soon because you've reduced so quickly

 

+2 143 (she was eating her sister's HC food and had some dry DM food, about 4 pieces)

+3 86

So does this earn her another dose reduction?

Do I let her continue to drop and just test again in an hour? Or do I start feeding HC food?

 

Bumping up for someone experienced to give dose advice!

 

I'd just give her a little low carb food and test again in 30...see if you can get her to surf

 

Ok, doing that now. Thanks!

 

I wouldn't reduce the dose again just yet, Jessica. Here is a post I wrote for someone a while back about the depot. If your goal is remission, then you want to try to keep him in normal numbers for as long as possible. When a cat's blood sugar is in normal range, the pancreas can heal and hopefully begin putting out insulin again.

The path to remission, if that is possible, is to have all #s in normal range. It's not to decrease the dose. Once a cat's pancreas starts to heal they can come very quickly down the dosing scale, but until that happens, it's actually better to give as much insulin as is safely possible and let her blood sugar guide your dose changes. You want a strong remission, which is what comes from allowing the pancreas time to heal - not just a quick remission that doesn't stick.

Because of the way the depot works right now, she is still having some blood sugar control from the 2.25u dose 5 cycles ago. Once that depot changes to catch up to this decrease, her blood sugar may go back up. Just be aware of that and keep an eye on things so that if her blood sugar starts to trend up, you can call it a "failed reduction" and go right back up in dose.

If she will accept canned food it's better for her to ditch the dry food entirely. Diabetic cats are dehydrated and dry food is just so dry . . . it's hard on their body. www.catinfo.org has good information on cat health and appropriate diets.

 

Hi Jessica
I see you are seeing good numbers - I am posting on yesterday's condo - would advise to start a new condo today (9.24)
When I used Prozinc, I could do a sliding scale, but with the depot insulins, it's best to be consistent with the dose (give same dose every day, unless you need to reduce or increase) By posting every day, you'll be able to get a good handle on the right dose. It definitely takes a while to get used to. You are doing great.

 

I am so confused because the SLGS method states if they fall below 90 to reduce by. 25 immediately. So is that no longer the case for some reason (because its happening too often)?

 

I feed her only canned food (am 100% against dry food now) but somehow need to reward her and give her a treat. She doesn't like any treats. And is becoming more and more resistant to being pricked. Any suggestions?

I bought 4 different freeze dried treats off the list and had to donate them all as she and my other cat would not go near (same thing kept happening with food as well). Unfortunately, I am not made of money and with the insulin ($275 - switching from vial to pens soon to save some here but still about $75/month), supplies ($100), supplements and food ($200) am spending over $570/ month on two cats! I have gone through all my savings. Spent over $2k in two months on the two babies and an additional $5k in last year! It's getting to be a bit much. I digress.

My point and question is I bought the dry food per the vet when she was first diagnosed (but now that I think about it he was pretty adamant about the canned, so did both for fear of her not eating) so it is here at my home (I probably could return) but since is here and she LOVES it why can't I give her 2 or 3 piece only at test time simply in place of a treat? The other alternative would be some junky treats I am guessing I could get her to eat... but thought this would be better than the alternative. But perhaps I am wrong??

Side note, can you tell I am on night two of virtually no sleep. Probably more than that but can't think right now. Am sweaty, clammy, disoriented and crabby! Hahaha And have another full agenda today. But such is life. I have to remember she is all worth it!

 

That's right Jessica.
Lantus is a depot insulin, which means that when you shoot some of the insulin goes to work staight away and some is slowly released into the blood stream (this is the depot)
The size of the depot is directly dependent on the size of the dose. when you adjust the dose up or down it can take upto 6 cycles for the depot to readjust.
As you were shot 2 units just 2 cycles ago, it's quite possible that the drop below 90 (ie 89) you saw last night was influenced by the depot of the 2u and maybe even the 2.25u (5 cycles ago). If we go down in dose too quickly it can result in rising BG and ultimatel a set back for kitty.

So bearing that in mind perhaps keeping her at the 1.75u might be sensible instead of taking another reduction.

Have you tried the orijen freeze dried treats, I understand even fussy kitties like those.

Another alternative might be small pieces of boiled chicken breast, folk here batch cook them freeze them and defrost them as needed.

Sorry you are feeling crabby. We all get that way with the worry and lack of sleep. Hopefully she'll settle down with her cycles. You are doing a great job.

 

Doodles doesn't like any of the freeze dried treats either and in fact the few times he actually ate them it made him vomit. Dry food is the devil however personally if you're using a few pieces only as a test treat I don't see a big problem with it especially since you are following SLGS. This FD is hard enough but do watch and see if it spikes Indies bg's and try to limit it as much as possible.

 

I'm so sorry Jessica - I know having a cat with diabetes is overwhelming in the first few months, but we all promise that it does get better - as you figure out the food situation and the insulin, it will get easier and probably cheaper as you won't have to discard so much. And the lack of sleep is beyond terrible But you are lucky - Indie is responding to the insulin VERY well in such a short time - Murphy has been diabetic for 14 months and is still unregulated. Hang in there - I promise you there is light at the end of the tunnel
By posting every day, you will get help with the dose and it will become less confusing

 

I have tried the Orijen treats and realized I had it listed on my spreadsheet still as something she was getting but she is not. I bought them but she wouldn't eat them so instead of throwing them out I started putting them in her food so they wouldn't go to waste, haha. But once she started getting diarrhea I stopped as I wanted to keep her diet simple.

I guess I could try the boiled chicken. I don't touch meat but will if my kitty likes it! I'll do anything for her. I'll look more into that as I wouldn't even know where to start! Ha.

Thank you for the encouragement! Means the world. I feel like I'm trying so very hard and no one even knows what is going on as I can't really tell the world I'm dealing with my cat having diabetes. Only real animal lovers would understand, so it's hard dealing with this with what seems like all alone. (I'm not as I do have my family and close friends who know but still is hard!)

 

Thank you so very much for you kind and encouraging words!!! It's means so much! I'll never stop trying but may need to start making modifications.

 

You were spot on as her numbers jumped this evening to 245! So now I'm clueless as to what dose to give. 1.75?

Thank you so much for explaining this to me. This is very very helpful!! A little discouraging but informative

 

You are doing great, Jessica. I have had many, some quite public meltdowns over Murphy's diabetes. I remember one Sunday morning I posted a thread called - "Help I'm having a meltdown" - it still happens but not so frequently

 

Okay good, am happy to know I'm in good company then! Haha. Today was a rough one. I don't do well on consecutive nights without sleep knowing there are no naps, no down time, no nothing.

This is hard. I had NO idea! When she was first diagnosed, all I was scared about was using a needle. Man, was I clueless. As that was the absolute easiest thing about all of this....go figure!

Sorry to hear you've been going through this now for 14 months! That's tough. Everyone on here deserves a tax break, haha. I feel like this is the same as giving to a charity