My cat recently started on lantus - please read.

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Here is how the tests panned out this weekend:
1 shot at 6AM each day of Lantus (3 units)

4/22 6PM: 353
4/23 6PM: 364
4/24 6AM: 209
4/24 NOON: 428
4/24 6PM: 376

I will speak with my vet to ask him what's next. How do these numbers look to you guys? It is weird to me that before his shot at 6AM he was 209 then after his shot 6 hours later he was 219 points higher!
 
RobC said:
Yes, I was told to give one shot a day.
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Rob, Lantus is best every 12 hrs. Something to discuss with your vet. If you think about it, you give a shot then not again for 24 hrs.

Vets are not well versed in Lantus or FD. If I remember the product inserts states humans get it once a day. Your vet might be going by that. That also explains why the dose you are giving is getting raised, yet numbers are remaining high.

Discuss splitting the dose into 2 shots 12 hrs apart. You might see better results. If the vet doesn't agree I would consider splitting it anyway.

There is more data and people here with experience.
 
Larry and Kitties said:
I have no problem at all with periodic BG between shots but testing three times a day every day is overkill.
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I don't believe so if the owner is willing to do it, and usually it's not that hard to get that one extra test. In my experience, it's very hard to reach remission without it. But again, it depends on what the goal is.


And I agree, you do need to do shots twice a day, cats have metabolisms that are twice as fast as people or dogs so the 24 hr insulins only last 12 hours. Please consider 2x dosing.
 
I know that I'm late to this party but I wanted to reaffirm what others have said about the dosing of Lantus twice a day.

It's important to get as close to 12 hours apart as possible. If work or something doesn't permit it then you can push one of the shots an hour late or shoot an hour early. I must also say firmly that it is very important to keep testing your cat before each injection, so that's a minimum of twice a day and in the beginning it is best to test somewhere in between the injections too. It can be easily 3 or 4 times a day and it's not overkill in the beginning (2 or 3 weeks usually). As you get your cat stabilized then you can move to testing only twice a day and hopefully you can get your kitty into remission. Too many vets tell people not to do it, my vet told me that I was torturing my cat by testing every 12 hours. You have to think about this though, sometimes humans inject several times a day and they test every single time, they get used to it and so will your cat. I know others have confessed this but I want to add that I too understand the utter frustration of all of this and it can really get to you at times. I have been balled up on the floor in tears ready to call all of it quits but I stuck it out. Once upon a time I was so scared of testing and injecting but now it's no big deal at all, I don't need to hold my cat down, he doesn't argue about the situation and sometimes he even jumps up on his spot because he knows that it's time (for a treat lol). And your cat doesn't hate you for this even though it can feel like it.

My biggest problem with testing was getting the blood sample and then I started using the sock and rice technique. I just microwave the sock with dry rice in it for about 10 seconds, then I hold his ear in one hand and just pet his ear with the warm sock. When I feel the ear get warm and see it start to turn pink from the blood flow then I know it's ready. I put the test strip in the machine, set it down and grab the sock again, I place the sock under his ear like you would with a cotton ball. The rice in the sock is firm so it makes a great brace against the ear so that it doesn't move while I use the lancet. Then it's quick, I get the drop and put it on the strip and I'm done. The longest part of it is warming up his ear, everything else takes 5 seconds at most. Once you get the hang of it, it will be like that for you too.
 
RobC said:
Hi. I am so happy that a forum like this exists. My cat was recently diagnosed with diabetes and I have so many questions about what is happening to him and hope that people may have answers.

My cat is 14 years old (going to be 15 in August) and recently we noticed that he has been missing jumps up to the sink, etc. He took him to the vet and said it could be diabetes. They took a test and confirmed that he does indeed have it. They took his level and it was 550.

This is where the craziness starts...

My cat gets very stressed out going to the vet and he is 45 minutes away by car. During the vet visit they were not draw blood from his legs because it was too difficult to find the veins. So they took him from the office where we were into the back (where there was better lighting) to get blood. They came back about 10-15 minutes later and told me that they had to get blood from his jugular. This was the first time he ever had to get blood taken from there. I believe they got two vials.

I got my cat home after the visit and about an hour later he had a seizure. This is the first time he has ever had one. He looked confused, stumbled made a weird meow and urinated on the floor. He then went downstairs and ate a ton of food and drank a ton of water. It was really scary to see.

After his first seizure for the next day his head was twitching and it went away the next day. Things seemed to get back to normal then we started the lantus. We noticed that our cat starting having spasms in his legs and his head twitching, etc. We started to give him honey to raise his sugar per the vets instructions. It seems like it eventually stops the trembling he is having but we can't be sure as we can't watch him 100% of the time. After a week on the lantus, the cat was taking one unit, we took him to the vet and his level was at 350. The cat also lost one full pound in a week which is really scary for us. The doctor has since then suggested that we give him two units, which we are doing now, and we got him the food for diabetes that you need a perscription for. (2 weeks in)

We just got our home test kit in and last night we tried to get blood from his ear and try to test his levels ourself. It was a comedy of errors as we would get blood but the machine turned off them we had it or we would get an error message of not getting enough blood. Hopefully we can get that right soon.

My wife and I just feel like we are putting our cat through all this bad stuff, constant poking, his levels up and down, etc. We want him to have a happy life and we just feel that he hates us now for all the poking, vet trips, etc. Has anyone had this experience? Just looking for help and guidance from the community.

Thank you for reading (sorry for the long post).
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I too can relate to your dilemma and comedy of errors, my 16year old cat :cat: has just been diagnosed with diabetes again after a break of 18months. I used to feel like you the first time around that Puss would hate me and that I was hurting her. Its only been a couple of weeks again and I am sure she know what the routine again. I just warm Pusses ear with a warm cloth and then just prick the very edge of her ear with the pricker manually as I found this much easier than trying to use the lancet. We give her minced fresh fish ( low in carbs) she also has wheat free dry food as it is also low in carbs. Your cat will appreciate the effort you put in and know that you love him especially when he feels better. Puss is tested twice a day at the moment until she is stabilized.
 
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