Should I be worried? PMPS 307 +2 238

Status
Not open for further replies.

Minnie's Mom

Member Since 2015
I wasn't too concerned until I read more posts about folks reducing dosage for lower PS values. I gave her 2 units of Lantus.

Should I stay up tonight?
 
You're concerned about her numbers.
The key number to know is 50 mg/dL on a human glucometer or 65 mg/dL on an AlphaTrak meter. So long as she is above that at her lowest between shots, she is doing fine.
Which meter are you using?
 
That's a pretty good drop at +2, so I'd plan on getting a +4 and see where she's at

Did your vet say to start at 2 units? That's a pretty high starting dose unless your cat is really huge
 
That's what the vet said to start on. She was 575 at vet's office and over 500 for a few days while I was changing her diet.
 
Hi Patti, and welcome to the Lantus/Levemir forum. For people who are interested, here is the introductory post on Minnie. BTW, I love that name. Minnie was a very common name for tortie's in my mother's family. According to your first post, Minnie is just over 10 lbs. If that was her ideal weight, we'd start her at 1.0U or 1.25U if she was on a low carb wet food. What are you feeding her now?

I agree with Chris, a +4 test is a good idea. Whenever the +2 test is lower than the preshot, it means an active cycle where you'll have to test more.
 
The food change to low carb canned may drop the glucose 100-200 mg/dL on its own.
Vet stress can elevate the glucose from 100-180 mg/dL.
So you may already have taken the glucose down substantially from the diet change and testing at home.
Some vets forget how much the stress factor inflates the level.

Have you got any high carb gravy food or Karo syrup, if it turns out you might need to steer her numbers?
 
Which insulin did you end up with? Lantus?

There's a formula for the starting dose that's based on weight. It doesn't matter how high the blood glucose is when first diagnosed

The formula is [weight in kgs x .25] = starting dose....so for a 10lb cat, that's 4.5kg x .25 = 1.125 U so we'd suggest starting at no more than 1 unit. It's always better to work your way up slowly than to risk having them go too low
 

When you have a minute, adding a few tidbits to your signature will help us give you feedback.

Editing your Signature

In the upper right corner of the screen, within the dark blue bar, you will see ID, Inbox, and Alerts

Click on your ID.

On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature.
This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as
your name,
cat's name,
date of Dx (diagnosis)
insulin
meter
any other pertinent issues like if there are any food issues, history of DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.
Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.

Always click the Save Changes button at the bottom when you have changed anything.
 
I think I've put in the link for my spreadsheet. I can see it but I'm not sure if anyone else can. Can someone please let me know?
 
The food change to low carb canned may drop the glucose 100-200 mg/dL on its own.
Vet stress can elevate the glucose from 100-180 mg/dL.
So you may already have taken the glucose down substantially from the diet change and testing at home.
Some vets forget how much the stress factor inflates the level.

Have you got any high carb gravy food or Karo syrup, if it turns out you might need to steer her numbers?
I actually tested her before we went to the vet. I previously had a diabetic cat who I treated for over 11 years so I knew the symptoms and borrowed a meter. She was 575 at vet and 535 at home. I changed food for a week before starting the insulin. She's eating Hill's WD dry. She's very stubborn about wet food and so far I haven't had success on that.
 
Hmn. The W/D dry is actually pretty high carb.
There are a very few low carb dry foods you might consider phasing in gradually to shift the carb content lower:
Evo Cat and Kitten
Epigen 90
Young Again 0 Carb (5% calories from carbohydrates, internet only)
 
Last edited:
Hi. Welcome to LL. If you email young again they will send you a sample to try and I think you can get a sample of epigen 90 as well. My Max was a dry food junkie before he got pancreatitis 5 years ago. I switched him to fancy feast and hills ideal balance and those he would eat. He was on the higher carb canned though and a year ago became diabetic. So you might be able to switch to a canned food, just not a high quality one. Many go OTJ on ff classics though.
 
Hi. Welcome to LL. If you email young again they will send you a sample to try and I think you can get a sample of epigen 90 as well. My Max was a dry food junkie before he got pancreatitis 5 years ago. I switched him to fancy feast and hills ideal balance and those he would eat. He was on the higher carb canned though and a year ago became diabetic. So you might be able to switch to a canned food, just not a high quality one. Many go OTJ on ff classics though.
I actually went to the store and bought 7 different Fancy Feast foods. My other cats LOVED it but Minnie just turned up her nose and walked away. I fed my last diabetic kitty EVO so I think I'll run to the store tomorrow and get some.
 
Two of our civilian (non-diabetic) kitties initially decided that they'd rather starve than eat the slop (high-quality low carb expensive wet food) that we switched everyone to after Eddie's diagnosis. One thing that ultimately helped transition those two was to sprinkle a few crunchies on small amounts of wet food. They'd go for the crunchies and decide to eat the wet food while they were at it. Eventually, they stopped worrying about whether there were crunchies on top of their wet food meals. :cat:
 
+4 reading is 139. I just fed her some junk food (whiskas Temptations). She's sleeping comfortably but I'll be up every hour to test her.
 
We do have a routine established for steering low numbers.
Feed 1-2 teaspoons of gravy or give a few drops of Karo on 1-2 teaspoons of low carb food.
Wait 20-30 minutes.
Re-test.
If still low, repeat.
You want to get past the nadir and have 3 rising numbers in safe levels.

Here's the link to Shooting and Handling Low Numbers.
 
I see you tested again and it has come back up some. Keep in mind that high carb syrup/gravy can wear off fast/
You might give another teaspoon or two of low carb to help keep the glucose stable and safe.
 
I wouldn't give HC at that number. I'd give her some of her dry and retest in an hour.

If you are interested in following the Tight Regulation protocol, one of the requisites is feeding a low carb, canned or raw food diet. It might be slow transitioning her, but that's ok.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top