? DOSING ADVICE NEEDED PMPS213

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Gill & George said:
I think that is a good idea, now that you are home testing you will be better able to keep her safe and that new vet visit can't come too soon.

How much testing will your Schedule allow?
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I work from 8:30- 6:30. But I feed her in the morning before I go. I just started testing today and honestly I feel like my head is gonna explode! I am gonna test her again at 9:00 as suggested by people here. I guess again in the morning?
 
Rebecca88 said:
I usually give her a little dry low carb food after the wet food. And 7 and 7. She didn't eat much wet food. She never does
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Most diabetic kitties do better on frequent smaller meals than twice a day. As long as it's not dry food you could leave some out. You can even freeze small foodsicles, so when she is ready it will be ready for her.
 
Rebecca88 said:
I work from 8:30- 6:30. But I feed her in the morning before I go. I just started testing today and honestly I feel like my head is gonna explode! I am gonna test her again at 9:00 as suggested by people here. I guess again in the morning?
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Try to get one right before you go to bed. It will be a good indicator from the 9pm test.
 
Chris & China said:
I would NOT drop her down to 1 unit and start over, but if you're going to reduce the carbs by getting rid of the dry and start testing, I'd suggest dropping down to maybe 5U and see how she does while you gather data

While it's totally possible she's getting way too much insulin, by dropping back that quickly without proof that she doesn't need that much will probably just lead to glucose toxicity setting in and her ending up needing an even higher dose than she might otherwise.

What's important right now is getting her onto a low carb canned diet, and getting some testing in so we can see how she's really doing. If she needs less, she'll tell us!

It's very important that you start keeping your test results on our spreadsheet too. It's a very valuable tool and will help us to help you going forward. Here are Instructions on setting up the FDMB spreadsheet...if you have any trouble, let us know...we can help!
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Just to back track, she was using U 40 syringes, so it is possible that she wasn't actually getting 8 units in a U100 syringe. Just want to make sure we are all on the same page.
 
You want to ALWAYS test before shooting to make sure they're high enough to give insulin at all

Then if at all possible, test somewhere mid-cycle on the AM dose (5 to 7 hours after the shot...what we call +5 to +7) and then at least a "before bed" test on the PM cycle to make sure she'll be safe overnight

Most cats go lower at night, so it's important to always get that "before bed" test in.

If you absolutely can't get mid-cycles on the AM cycle due to work/school, you'll want to try to get a +2....that can give you an "early warning" if she's going to drop too low.....that may mean getting up earlier in the morning to shoot (depends on your schedule of course)

If you can't do that either, it's even more important to get tests on the PM cycle and then do more testing on days off
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
Just to back track, she was using U 40 syringes, so it is possible that she wasn't actually getting 8 units in a U100 syringe. Just want to make sure we are all on the same page.
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I don't even know. I threw the bag away. The syringes are very small tho. I'm not using them anymore.
 
Totally understandable!! The sugardance is hard enough when you start out here....you've got a lot of different opinions as well as LOTS of facts being thrown at you really quickly!!

When is your next shot time? (amount of time until next shot, not the actual time since we're from all over the world here)...2 hours? 10 minutes? How long?
 
Chris & China said:
Totally understandable!! The sugardance is hard enough when you start out here....you've got a lot of different opinions as well as LOTS of facts being thrown at you really quickly!!

When is your next shot time? (amount of time until next shot, not the actual time since we're from all over the world here)...2 hours? 10 minutes? How long?
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Just gave her one an hour ago. Gave her 2 units. Next shot is 11 hours from now
 
OK.....she may surprise us and do well...until we get some tests in, it's all a big unknown!!

At least you can relax a little tonight...if she's been tolerating 8+ units this long and you only shot 2, you should be able to spend some time reading the stickies at the top of the forum and seeing how much you can absorb from the mountain of information there!

And it's a good time to get your spreadsheet set up, as well as putting some information into your signature. If you look below most of our comments, you'll see we have info like

our name/cats name, age, date of diagnosis, type of insulin, type of meter, type of food, any other health issues?, and maybe a general area where you live, and then when you have the link to your spreadsheet, it goes there too

That way we don't have to keep asking the same questions over and over again.

To do your signature, go to the top right of the page and click on your sign on name...you'll see "signature"...click there and a new little box will come up for you to put the information into....then click "save" and you're done!
 
You can buy syringes at Wal-Mart without prescription. They also have the 1/2u mark syringes. Just make sure you check the box before you pay. The pharmacist sometimes doesn't know what they have.
 
Here's the link for setting up a spreadsheet. This will allow you to keep track of Mercedes numbers and once you attach it to your signature, we will be able to view it, as well.

Every state has different laws with regard to whether you need a prescription to buy syringes. I'm not sure what the regulations are in Florida.

For the moment, take a deep breath. Here are some basic to keep in mind:
  • Stick with the 2.0u dose for now. The dry food you were given Mercedes is probably what was preventing her BG from crashing on the dose you were told to give her. Since you are working at eliminating the dry food, it is high likely her insulin needs will be less. They may, in fact, decrease dramatically.
  • If you are shooting at 7:00, then it sounds like you have time to get a test or two before you leave in the morning. That's helpful.
  • You will want to buy some high carb, gravy based food. For example, Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers is around 15% carb. We use a higher carb food to help steer numbers, should they drop. You can also use Karo or other corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, etc.
  • In addition to having a supply of high carb food, you want to make sure you have a supply of strips. You can order on line from American Diabetes Warehouse. Others can direct you to the steps that work with your meter since I used a different meter I'm no help with this.
  • You want to ALWAYS test before you give a shot. Most of us test, feed, and shoot all within a few minutes. (I used to give Gabby her shot when her head was in her bowl.)
  • You want to work toward getting data that lets you know when Lantus onset and nadir fall and how much duration you're getting. See the information in the New to the Group sticky about this.
  • The other important thing to keep in mind is that dose increases and reductions are based on the lowest number in the cycle, not on the pre-shot values.
I know this is overwhelming. The front end of this learning curve is huge. However, it really does get easier and it will soon become second nature.

Please let us know how we can help. Ask questions! There's usually someone on this Board pretty close to 24/7.

 
You've really had a hard time! When you arrive on here and everyone is giving you advice, sometimes the best thing to do is to just hold on while you gather information.

Yes, too much insulin can look like too little insulin - it can cause high numbers.

Not all high numbers mean that a cat needs more insulin. Low numbers can also cause high numbers.

Dry food can cause a need for more insulin as well.

The spreadsheet will help us help you immensely! Start there with making a spreadsheet, and if you can, gather any old data you have from your vet's office. I called and asked for blood sugar tests, and dose changes. I could look at the calendar for when those appointments were, ie, how many hours after I'd giving punkin his shot the test was. Then I recreated things as well as I could.

As Sienne said, take a deep breath. Let's gather some information and we can help you untangle your puzzle and figure out what needs to be done with his dose. I also arrived here using u-40 syringes and Lanuts, not knowing better because the vet didn't tell me to change. Oops. The u-40 syringes mean that the dose is about 2.5 times as high as you think it is if you are using Lantus.

It would help me if you gave a quick summary in the top of the spreadsheet or in your signature line. Diagnosis date, any other medical issues, what kind of glucometer you are using (if it's a human meter or a pet meter.) Don't put dose in there because that's going to change. Just the permanent info.

And hang in there - you've hit the jackpot in terms of help for how to use Lantus with a diabetic cat. Just keep posting and we'll give you a hand.
 
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