looking for comments on initial dosing

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babyBoo

babyBoo

Member Since 2016
I gave a brief intro here http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/baby-boo.157886/
Basically I shift work and have only a terminally ill wife in household who can't help with cats. Two cats and the non-diabetic cat is having her world turned upside down. Less kibble to eat, her sleep spots are either moved or completely off limits. and its almost impossible to have a spot her food can be available to her and not Boo, the diabetic cat. So Boo gets a bit of her kibble too once in awhile. Mostly she's left with eating his healthier food too.

Anyway after I did the first BG curve vet had me do on the 14th of May, she wanted me to hold at 1.25 dose and do another curve two weeks later as the food change may not have kicked in fully and she'd think a dose increase to 1.5 would be too risky for hypoglycemia to occur.

He's a big kitty, long and tall.Was a scrawny 13 lbs at diagnosis after being near a high of 29 lbs and I've been reading 1.5 may be an OK starting dose for a larger cat so me bumping him up to 1.5 seemed like he should be OK given his test numbers. I'm OK with him not going below yellow numbers for now. But those pink and red numbers have me concerned about those urine problems I've read about, ketosis I guess its called. He is looking better already and already flying around the house at lightning speed every once in awhile just for the heck of it I guess. Just like he did many years ago.

Here's his spreadsheet I think, if I did this correctly.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FK2369jCCpaWeGotbr_PCwH476QKRvwM4BNS_Fy847U/edit#gid=5

Does 1.5 seem OK for now or should I drop back to 1.25. The testing I'm doing now is a bit of a handful given my wifes situation. For instance it was 4 1/4 then 5 1/2 hours just getting her to bed last two nights and not having unstoppable coughing and choking phlegm buildup occurring in throat and mouth. So I'm not sure when I can do another twelve hour curve.
 
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From your previous thread:

Boo was diagnosed May 2 and put on Lantus (glargine) 1 unit.

You are feeding Purina easily digestible...is this a wet food or a dry food?

On your spreadsheet can you click on the upper right corner where it says SHARE and change it to "Anyone with a link can view" Right now it is showing up as "You need permission"

Also what type of meter are you using for your tests...is it a pet meter (such as A;phaTrak2) or a human meter.

Thanks once you can give this information someone will be able to offer an opinion on how things are going. :)
 
Boo was switched to canned food May 2. He was already eating one of four meals as canned for 7 years. Fancy Feasts usually. He is now on either Fancy Feast Classic pate's or President's Choice extra meaty canned food now. I feed him 1/2 hour before shot(preshot tests are usually after food) and I put the dish in front of him again an hour after shot or just before leaving for work which is about the same. Usually any left out kibble is less than 1/4 cup of President's Choice first nutrition grain-free salmon and potato as his sister will eat it and he usually won't.

I'm using a Freestyle Lite meter. and I think I have the spreadsheet as shared now.

Well I guess I didn't. Now I think I got it.
 
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babyBoo said:
Boo was switched to canned food May 2. He was already eating one of four meals as canned for 7 years. Fancy Feasts usually. He is now on either Fancy Feast Classic pate's or President's Choice extra meaty canned food now. I feed him 1/2 hour before shot(preshot tests are usually after food) and I put the dish in front of him again an hour after shot or just before leaving for work which is about the same. Usually any left out kibble is less than 1/4 cup of President's Choice first nutrition grain-free salmon and potato as his sister will eat it and he usually won't.

I'm using a Freestyle Lite meter. and I think I have the spreadsheet as shared now.
Click to expand...


Thank you.

The spreadsheet is still saying Need Permission. I will tag @Marje and Gracie to see if she can figure out why it is not showing up..I am spreadsheet illiterate :)

You should always do the preshot with no food having been given for at least 2 hours before testing. Otherwise the food can raise glucose levels and it is difficult to say what the "true" (non food influenced) number is.

The President's Choice kibble is too high in carbs for any kitty especially a diabetic kitty. Some kitties are VERY carb sensitive and this can send the glucose numbers up quite a bit. It is hard to say whether Boo is getting into the kibble while you are away.

I can't offer much more right now without seeing the spreadsheet, Hopefully Marje will be around soon and can help sort that out.

Sending ((HUGS)) to you. You are dealing with so many issues right now and I am sure this is taking a toll on you as well.
 
I'd hold the dose at 1.5 for now and remember that it's very important to always get a test in before shooting.....Without the Pre-shot test, there's no way to know if he's high enough for insulin at all

At first, we suggest if he gets a PS reading under 150 that you stall, don't feed and post for help. We like to have someone who's able to watch over you to help you keep Boo safe.

I know you've got a lot on your plate, but if you can get the 2 Pre-shots (AM and PM) and at least 1 mid-cycle test on the AM cycle and a +2 or +3 on the PM cycle, that will help us know what's going on with him.

Keep working on getting the dry completely out of the picture. It's SO much easier to feed the same thing when you have more than one cat in the house! We have lots of tips to help make that "healthy" food more tempting too!

There's a product called FortiFlora that works wonders with a lot of cats...it's the same thing they spray on dry food to make it so irresistible to cats! Each box contains 30 packets and 1 packet will last me several days...it only takes a little sprinkle of the powder to get my picky cats to eat whatever they're given!

Other things to try are parmesan cheese, oregano, tuna water and catnip
 
Welcome to the group!!

Would it be easier if you fed both cats the same food? Getting all of the dry food out of the house will be beneficial for both of your cats and make the food issues much easier for you to manage.

One observation on your spreadsheet (SS). It looks like you are not always shooting every 12 hours. Lantus likes consistency. If you shoot early, because of the insulin depot, it's like giving a dose increase. If you shoot late, it's like a dose reduction. This makes it important to do your best to shoot every 12 hours. If you need to make a change in shot time, please let us know and we can help you with doing this in a safe manner.

 
yes I'm shooting every 12 hours sort of. I work rotating shifts so its necessary to advance to a different time each week. I do this by going 12.5 to 13 hours for a few days until I get to the next time target. target is 6am-pm for 8am-4pm shift. 10am-pm for midnight-8am, 2am-pm for 4pm-midnight shift, then do it all again each cycle.
 
We just need to get you to post the link in your signature block so every time you start a new thread, you don't have to relink the spreadsheet. Please send me a private message if you can't figure out how to do it but the instructions are with the spreadsheet instructions.
 
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