G'morning darlin'. Just move the 0.75 U up one cell for today's date. Hope your day goes well. Good grief you start early!
@Idjit's mom @MrWorfMen's Mom @JanetNJ @Nan & Amber Good afternoon! Just got home on my lunch and noticed I put the units on the SS in the wrong box today, just fixed it! Thank you! Yes, I get up between 5:00-5:30 am for work, I didn't have a 7:00 am patient this morning so got to sleep in a bit! Just got a +5.5 test in and Blaze is at 159. Something went wrong with the dang timed feeder so only one snack was available today, not sure if that affected his drop or not.
Also, the Lantus was delivered today. Maybe instead of increasing Blaze's dose to 1U on Novolin this Saturday, I should start him on Lantus? I will be home Saturday, Sunday and Monday so I can monitor him.
Woo hoo, Lantus is in the building. I will defer to others for input on starting, but yay from Idjit and me.
I second Lou's reaction and also your suggestion of starting this weekend. Perfect timing. The lower reading may very well be from the feeder not opening but it might also be that Blaze is just working the juice better today or maybe a combination. In any event, it's great he's hit blue again. YEAH!
@MrWorfMen's Mom Either way, glad Blaze got another blue number! We'll see where he's at tonight at PMPS. Okay, Blaze will be starting Lantus on Saturday! WOO HOO! Since we are at 0.75U right now, should I start Blaze at 0.75U of Lantus too? I'm going to read through all the Lantus stickies again now that we are going to get on it! Back to work, I will check back in after PMPS! Have a good day my friends!
That seems reasonable to me. You also have the option of starting him a little lower at 0.5U if you want to be more conservative, but I think 0.75U is a good starting dose for him. It's a great plan to start him on the weekend because while odds are he'll be pretty quiet in the beginning (as Linda mentioned, in general Lantus is better at keeping numbers down than yanking them down fast like Novalin, plus we have to wait a few cycles for the depot to fill), these kitties do like to surprise us, and sometimes they do just that on the changeover to a new insulin . Go Blaze!
@Nan & Amber The only thing I'm worried about is next Wednesday and most of Thursday, I won't be home. I will be able to test/feed/shoot Wednesday morning but then my fiance will be in charge of Blaze for Wednesday PM and Thursday AM. I am trying to get him comfortable with testing BG before I leave but he will only be able to do AMPS and PMPS (if I get him comfortable with testing BG) and maybe a before bed test on Wednesday night. So that's the only thing that worries me about starting a new insulin this weekend, when I will be gone for a day and half later next week. I don't know if it's better to keep him on Novolin for another week and start him on Lantus next weekend or start him this Saturday and have three days to really monitor him.
If it were me, I'd go ahead and start the Lantus this weekend and see how he does. If your fiance can only do the pre-shots at most, I don't see an advantage to having Blaze on Novolin vs. Lantus. The only thing would be, if he has to skip the shots it'll take time to get the depot back on Lantus, but on this relatively small dose, it won't take all that much time, just a few cycles.
Okay sounds good. I will get him started on Lantus this Saturday then! Does 0.75U still sound good to start with? At least this weekend to see how he responds to it? And at what number is the "no shoot" number for newbies on Lantus? I want to make sure my fiance knows when to NOT SHOOT. Also, Blazes PMPS was 303 tonight.
Usually, we say 200 is the newbie no-shoot number, and that's probably a good number for your fiance to use, too. If you get a number lower than your no-shoot for your pre-shots this weekend, you can stall: don't feed, re-test in 20-30mins to see if he's moving up or down. On a day where you can't stall (like when you have to leave for work), we'll decide on a case-by-case basis depending on how close to the line he is and his recent history. Once you and Blaze get used to Lantus, you'll be able to move that no-shoot number down quite a bit (you don't always have to be keeping that big safety margin as with Novolin), just have to gather some data first!
Gotta echo everything Nan said. Lantus is so much more forgiving than Novolin. It will take you a week to just get the depot filled so chances of any issues while BF is looking after Blaze are slim enough to be almost non-existent in comparison to Novolin. I'd be far more concerned with the Novolin if BG testing is possibly going to be hit or miss.
Okay 200 is the no-shoot number, sounds good! I will write all this info out for my fiance for when I'm gone next week, but I told him to call me if he has ANY questions. And sounds good about the lower pre-shot numbers and stalling food. It sounds like Lantus is going to be so much better for Blaze and hopefully less stressful for me. Can't wait to get him started on it and get some data like you said, to see how he's responding. Thank you Nan!
This makes me feel better Linda, I was stressing over Blaze being on a new insulin and my fiance in charge for two pre-shots and doses I'm going to work on him getting a before bed test in on Wednesday night too. But thankfully, I'll be home in time Thursday evening to be able to do his PMPS and get some evening tests in that night too. Excited to see how my Blazey boy does on Lantus! Thank you both for helping me through this! @MrWorfMen's Mom @Nan & Amber
Actually the no shoot number with Lantus is 150 with little data but you can tell BF 200 to be on the safe side.
Blaze's +2 BG is 268. He's eating his +1.5 snack right now (a little late) and will have another at +3.5.
Oh gosh, you're right! I was actually thinking about inflating the no-shoot number for him for that reason, and then my subconscious just went ahead and did it anyway by subbing in the ProZinc number. At least that's where I'm assuming that number came from since I'd just read those instructions... Eeep!
Blaze is at 215 at +3, he's eating his second snack of the night. Is this BG too low for me to go to bed and not test him again tonight?
No I think you are fine to call it a night. He's slowed down some and with another snack that should hold him through nadir even if that occurs around +5. Leave him another little bit of LC food to munch on should he feel the need overnight. Sweet dreams.
@MrWorfMen's Mom Alright, sounds good. He just finished up his second snack and I left some LC food out for him to munch on. I will check on him if/when I get up to use the bathroom. Thanks Linda, sweet dreams!
8/30/2019 Blaze's AMPS is 437, I'm assuming it's a bounce from last night? Giving him 0.75U in a bit. Hope everyone has a happy Friday!
@Idjit's mom Glad you could help Lou! The labels (and sometimes the names) on the same foods are often different here in the Great White North for some unknown reason and I am left scratching my head about questions like this. I think it's probably our bilingual labelling requirements to some degree but that doesn't explain the different names. Your FF Classics are FF Pates here.
Okay thanks Lou. I have been giving FF classic paté and Friskies paté but I go through them quick with three kitties. I like the larger size of these Friskies paté, thought I would stock up on these bigger cans but will still get fancy feast as well. Also, what is a good medium carb food that I should have? I have some FF gravy lovers for the high carb stuff.
Not a problem, "Great White North" LOL Idjit gets a bedtime snack of Friskies pates, and these are on the list of allowable flavors.
Thanks Lou! I think I will do FF classics for breakfast and dinner and then use the Friskies for snacks.
There are some FF sliced and grilled varieties that fall in the 11 to 15% carbs. You can check here for flavours Blaze might like https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...m6PPfEUz9YmzMGMxkmcBk6uRR0/edit#gid=113878384
Absolutely! Keep a small supply in your "Holy Crap" container along with extra strips for your glucometer and lancets. That way you are always ahead of the game should Blaze decide to get frisky! It also helps to write the % of carbs on the bottom of the cans with a marker so you're not trying to look them up when deciding which one you need.
I’m babysitting my niece today so I’m not home to test Blaze mid-cycle. Should be home by 3:30, can grab a test then. And then wait till PMPS.
I’ve been reading up on SLGS and TR with Lantus and I’m sort of confused on what the differences are in these methods? Is there an easier way to explain the differences? It’s probably smart to start with start low, go slow when starting Lantus tomorrow, especially since I will be gone Wednesday and most of Thursday. But from what I’m reading, there is a higher chance of remission with TR. Just wondering if that’s the better route eventually.
They differ in: 1) frequency of testing required. With TR, the minimum testing needed is at least one mid-cycle test in addition to preshots, and you are right on the edge of that on work days. Many people do a lot more than that and (as you'll see if you start looking through the posts in the Lantus forum), that level of testing is often necessary to keep the cat safe. Can TR be done with a bare-bones testing frequency? Yes, and you may get suggestions that you "test enough" for TR but, my opinion, better to wait until you have a pretty good handle on how the Lantus is working for Blaze before moving to that. The other two big operational differences between the methods are related to the testing intensity required for TR: 2) speed of dose increases (TR: potentially every 3 days vs weekly with SLGS), and 3) threshhold for dose decreases (TR: below 50 vs SLGS's below 90) It will likely be a little frustrating to stick with SLGS's weekly rate of dose increases, but I don't see a special need for speed in ramping up in Blaze's case. He's been spending more time than you'd like in high numbers, but he's responding well to the Novolin, so I don't see a lot of evidence for glucose toxicity. Famous last words , but I don't believe he's going to end up at a high dose, so I don't think going more slowly is going to cause him to develop glucose toxicity in the future. As for dose decreases, waiting until he goes below 50 before decreasing the dose can be done safely, but it is harder to play in that zone when (for example) you have to go to work, no matter what the cat is doing (been there, done that...). It may be a while before he's even down in those kinds of numbers at all anyway, but I just wouldn't recommend starting with a protocol that assumes you will (essentially) catch every below-50 number and thus know when to decrease the dose. Once you've been at this for a while and really get to know Blaze's patterns, that may not seem like such a hurdle and TR may seem like a better option. Cats go into remission on both methods, the thing about TR is that you can keep them in normal numbers for quite a while without being required to decrease, so they have a longer period of time with good insulin support to help heal their pancreas. But my advice is to not look too far ahead on that kind of thing-- wait and see how Blaze does, and what he does, and then decide on your personal level of comfort.
Adding: 4) threshholds for dose increases. TR has an option for increasing by 0.5U if nadirs are very high, and generally has a more complicated calculation for deciding about increases. Again, I don't think, based on Blaze's numbers on Novolin, that he's likely to be a cat that would require the faster increases (don't make a liar out of me, Blaze!).
That explains things so much better for me! Thank you Nan! I agree that starting Lantus on SLGS is the best option right now and once we have been on Lantus for a while and see how he’s responding and have more data, I can discuss trying TR with you guys, if that seems like a good idea. I want the best for Blaze and want him to heal. Thank you for taking the time to explain it all
DH (he'll be my husband in three weeks) got his first BG test in today! On his first try! I never thought I would be able to get him comfortable with testing. Anywho, Blaze is at 377 at +8.5. Pretty high but not sure how he droppped today since I wasn't home to test.
One more question about food. I’ve read that it’s not good to give diabetic cats the seafood/fish varieties of canned food. Is that true? I just bought a 60 pack of Friskies at Costco but it has two kinds of seafood/fish varieties: mariners catch and ocean whitefish & tuna. Just curious if those are okay to give to Blaze? Or should I let me other two civvies eat those?
Both of the fishy varieties are under the 10% carbs. I have read just to limit the fishy varieties, not to have an "all fish" diet. It's ok to switch out if Blaze likes them. Idjit gets and eats the Mariner's Catch, but won't eat the Whitefish and Tuna...he doesn't like tuna food. He's a very odd cat.
@Idjit's mom Thank you Lou! We’ll see if he likes it, might add some variety to all the poultry and beef.
First of all congrats on getting that future DH of yours testing and congrats to him for getting it done 1st time. I knew you could persuade him. Gotta start the marriage off on the right foot you know.....HAHAHAHAHAHA! Secondly, I think because you were going to increase Blaze's dose of Novolin to 1u this weekend, you could start the Lantus at 1u. That would be a normal starting dose anyway and you'll be monitoring. We've been very conservative with the Novolin given how fast and early Blaze's BG dropped but Lantus is much gentler and that sharp sudden drop isn't expected with Lantus. Might as well take two steps at the same time tomorrow AM. I'm so excited for you and Blaze.
@MrWorfMen's Mom Blaze's +2 BG is at 284, should I test again at +3 or is he safe for me to go to bed? He ate his +1.5 snack about 15 minutes ago, he didn't hear the pet feeder I guess so I showed him and he ate. He gets another snack at +3.5 too.
@MrWorfMen's Mom I know! I think he finally understands how important it is to test before giving insulin. Or he just got tired of hearing me complain about him not testing. Either way, we are on the right track now! I can definitely marry him in three weeks now It makes me feel better knowing he will test before shots while I'm not home Wednesday and Thursday, even though it will only be pre-shot tests that he's doing, it's better than no tests! And I agree about the 1U of Lantus tomnorrow, he doesn't seem to be doing great with his BG numbers on the Novolin at 0.75U right now anyways, and since I will be home to monitor him this weekend AND Lantus is a gentler insulin, I feel good at starting with 1U of Lantus tomorrow. I'm so excited to hopefully see some better numbers and not such sharp, fast drops. Hopefully Lantus helps ease my mind a little more. Thanks Linda!
I'd test again in 30 minutes just to be sure he's come up a bit from that drop. Then if he's up a bit, he should be fine and you can call it a night.
Come to think of it I should have said test him now because it's been a half hour since you posted. Silly me! Time for bed me thinks!
@MrWorfMen's Mom Okie dokie, gonna grab another test right now! He will get another snack in 45 minutes too.
Sorry just seeing this and see he dropped to 185 at +3.5. He would decide to work the juice tonight. Give him a little medium carb food to boost him up a tad. He's likely at or very near nadir now so he'll be fine with another little bit of food.
Right? He knows he getting switched to Lantus tomorrow and wanted to keep it interesting tonight! Dang Blaze He ate a second round of snack sized MC food about 20 minutes ago so I will test again now.
Ok likely he's hit his nadir and possibly starting a little bounce from that beautiful blue. Off to bed with you and that's where I am heading too! Leave him a tsp or so of LC just for munchies. Sweet dreams!