? Low, Low sugars

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LOL like right now... oh my he is doing the love me... feed me cry and ive given snacks today I know it is because his sugars are up and he thinks he is starving but he has some time before dinner. It is 8:30 ish pm now ans his dinner time is 10 pm
 
Oops...meant to put this above....would you please go ahead and edit your subject line and remove the 911? Just choose "No prefix" instead...that way if you DO need immediate help again, people won't think it's still the same 911 from last night
 
How much does he weigh? And is that a good weight for him or is he underweight/overweight?

Lantus dosing is started by weight (as well as taking into consideration the dose he's been on with the N, but he's on such a low dose and it's been so soon, I think just going by weight is the best bet)
 
Magellan weighs 15 lbs and he is not a small boned cat he is a very large cat, where do I find info on dosages for lbs of cat?
 
We use the regular insulin syringes to remove the insulin from the pen, just like a vial

If you take the cap off, there's a rubber stopper just like there is for a vial
syringe in pen pic.jpg
 
The formula for starting dose is Weight (in kilograms) x .25u.....but that comes to 1.7 starting dose for a 15lb cat, but with as sensitive as he seems to be to insulin, I think I wouldn't start him any higher than 1U but let me get some other opinions first.

How long until next shot time?

There's some great Stickies at the top of the Lantus/Levemir Forum for you to get lots of great information from
 
I think after that 30 yesterday, I wouldn't go any higher than 1U Lantus either for now - you can always increase gradually from there if it doesn't seem like it's enough for him after a few days.
 
OK good...I've got some feelers out for some others that are Lantus users to pop in and see what they think about a starting dose for him, but go ahead and read some of the information in the Lantus/Levemir forum so you'll be one step ahead

Do you have U100 syringes or are they U40? U100 have orange caps, U40 are red caps

You're going to need U100 syringes if you're using Lantus. Best place I've found to get them is WalMart since all their 30 or 31 gauge, 3/10ml, 8mm insulin syringes have half unit markings....they're $12.88 for a box of 100
 
Woo Hoo!

We're discussing what dose we think would be a good one to start with, so you'll hear from us soon (hopefully before shot time)

Are you able to stay up and test tonight if you need to? Got your hypo kit ready and refilled? Lots of strips?

Chocolate and coffee for the beans?

Hoping to also hear from @Marje and Gracie and @Wendy&Neko and @manxcat419
 
Chris PMd me for input on his dose. I've never used Novolin but since he's gotten low on 1u of Novolin, I wouldn't start him at the usual starting dose of Lantus.

I actually think the best thing is for you to discuss it with your vet. Your vet should be on board with you changing insulins and should discuss the starting dose based on the numbers he's seen on Novolin.

If you feel you absolutely must start Lantus tonight, I wouldn't exceed 1u and I'd watch him closely because, even though Lantus usually takes time for the depot to fill, we've occasionally seen drops on the first dose. Which is another reason why I think it would be just fine to wait until you can talk to your vet tomorrow.
 
Yes I am more than able to stay up as long as needed for this to work and my bf will be in tomorrow am to spot me if needed.
 
I read his weight and also calculated the normal starting dose at 1.75u. But I am not comfortable with us recommending a dose with a cat that has been in the 30s on another insulin.

I also know Novolin is a harsher insulin but her vet told her what dose to shoot. She should do that tonight, call the vet early, and get his input about a starting dose for Lantus during the day instead of starting it late tonight and taking a chance he could drop like a rock. IMHO.
 
Ok I will follow your advise and start this tomorrow, I value all of your opinions greatly face it you guys are the ones in the "trenches" so to speak and I am also thinking it would be best if I start this as bright eyed and bushy tailed as possible.
 
Tomorrow will be fine to switch. :) Though if you're going to give him 0.5u Novolin tonight per your vet's dosing advice, I think you should still be ready to monitor him for a few hours after his shot...as he didn't get a dose this morning, it's difficult to tell what he might do even with the smaller dose at this point.
 
Sounds like we have a plan!! Contact vet tomorrow about starting Lantus and if you shoot the Novolin tonight, just the .5 and hope that you have a quiet night.
 
Julia Rae said:
Ok I will follow your advise and start this tomorrow, I value all of your opinions greatly face it you guys are the ones in the "trenches" so to speak and I am also thinking it would be best if I start this as bright eyed and bushy tailed as possible.
Click to expand...

Julia Rae: good, I'm glad you are taking the cautious approach. And starting a new insulin when you are awake and fresh is smart. I also think it is a good idea to be sure he doesn't drop low tonight on the Novolin.

Have a great night.
 
As I have read more than once better a bit high then low and considering Magellan I will be giving him his norm lo carb dinner and before bed 1/8 cup of evo salmon is is 12% carb . All this with his half unit shot of Novalin n good idea??
 
Going forward, if he's a hard core kibble junkie, you might try putting a few kibbles of his dry into a coffee grinder/food processor or just in a plastic bag and pound it into dust and see if you sprinkle some of his kibble dust on top of his low carb wet food, he'll agree to eat it

The sooner you can get him 100% off the kibble, the better his numbers are going to be
 
He has no problems with an all wet food dinner, I was just thinking that the kibble might help prevent a drop like last night?
 
the reason we don't like using kibble like that is because it takes too long to get into their system and can then hang out there for several cycles later

Using the gravy from a "Gravy Lovers" Fancy Feast is the better choice, especially if you "squeeze" the gravy out of it and just use that to bring their BG up..most of the carbs are in the gravy, and it doesn't "Fill them up" as quick....we want to be able to get them to eat in another 30 minutes or so if their BG still isn't up where we want it
 
Ok that makes sense thanks for the 411 looks like he wont be seeing anymore kibble again. I am glad he is such the chow hound you put it in front of him and he will eat it. He likes cantaloupe and honey dew melons or as of june 10th he no longer gets.
 
OK, that's a big drop in an hour. Can you get another test in about 45 minutes to an hour? If he's going to drop under 50, it'd be good to catch it before he gets as low as 30 this time!
 
You're very welcome - that's what everyone here is here for. :) I'll check in with you at his next test time to make sure you're not running into any problems with him. :)
 
Ouch! He's determined to give you those lower numbers isn't he? OK, a little high carb food (or honey plus a little low carb food) and test again in 30 minutes. Oh, and 0.5U is still too much for him!
 
I'm actually wondering now if even 1U Lantus when you switch might be too much...even with Lantus it might be safer to start him on 0.5U. And I think if you have to stick with Novolin for any shots after tonight, you'll need to try him on 0.25U.
 
That's good news - it looks as though the smaller dose is at least letting the carbs work better tonight. If you can offer him just some low carb food - see if we can get him surfing - and test again in another 30 minutes (sorry Magellan - I'm sure you're not enjoying the frequent testing, but we've got to keep you safe)!!
 
I know that look from a cat only too well! Rosa loved the honey and the high carb food, but was rather less fond of the testing every half hour!! If they only knew we don't enjoy it either - we're only doing it to keep them safe!
 
He is weird will not let me mess with his ears at all, ended up with 2 really good bites from trying. Until I saw that paws where an alternate site at the end of a testing Iput triple antibiotic ointment on his paws. No infections please and when I next need to test I was the paw with sterile saline and do the test figure with him that is the best way to do it..
 
I test Rosa's paw pads some of the time too - she'll let me use her right ear only, or her back left paw. And she chooses which. That's the deal - if I don't go with her choice, she'll fight me all the way! I don't do anything special with her paw though...just a little Neosporin after I test to put an antibiotic layer over the little hole - she's never had an infection. Some cats just do better having their paws touched than their ears. As long as you're getting the tests done, whatever works for you and Magellan is fine. :)
 
You didn't do anything wrong - the insulin is still in his system and brought him back down. Time for a bit more honey or high carb food...and another test in 30 minutes.
 
That's why we don't ever leave a cat alone as soon as it comes up above 50 - they can drop right back down, which is why we like to see 3 consecutive rising tests before we assume they're OK for the night.
 
before all this stated I had plenty to see to tomorrow when I am going cross town to walmart to get more
 
OK, in that case I think the only option you've got is to abort the cycle by feeding him a LOT of carbs. @Vyktors Mum - any recommendations on how much (Magellan is on Novolin and it's been hitting him really hard the last 2 days - tonight he came up above 50 once, but doesn't want to stay there).
 
It's fine - these things happen and we can bring him up high so he's not at any risk for the rest of the night. He'll probably finish up higher than you'd like by morning, but better safe than sorry if you're low on strips. :)
 
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