Bob - new to Lantus

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Tilou

Tilou

Member Since 2018
Hi folks

Just introducing myself and Bob, who was diagnosed with FD in January. He was on Caninsulin initially but its effects weren't lasting more than 6-8 hours. Even tried TID system but was no better than BID.

Bob was switched to Lantus yesterday and so far so good with his BG now down from high 30s to 20 mmol/L.

Fortunately I have some knowledge of Lantus as DH (diabetic for 35 years) uses it (alongside a faster acting insulin) but will be following discussions here for hints and tips regarding its use for cats.

We are a Scottish family living in France, where our French vet, although a very nice man, is a very traditional farming vet and cats are not the priority on his list. Lantus has only just started to be used here, so he has not provided any information on it.

Thanks for all the info posts - I shall be taking careful note of what is written in them.

Tilou
 
Welcome! I just wanted to wish you and Bob all the best as you start your Lantus journey. You're so lucky to discover this forum so early in your diagnosis because there are tons of really great and knowledgeable people here to help you out along the way. I hope that Lantus is exactly what Bob needs to get him into remission!
 
Hi there and welcome to the best place you never wanted to be! There is a lot of good information here so I hope when you have a chance you will read all the Lantus stickies. Good job getting the SS set up; it is invaluable to see trends and patterns. When you get a chance can you set up a signature to show at the bottom of every post in grey? Put you cats name ,age, date of DX, any medical issues, meter using, where you are located ( time zone) and any thing else you feel pertinent to Bob .

I am tagging @Stephanie & Quintus as I think she might be able to provide you with a European food chart. We recommend a low carb wet diet.

It looks like you are able to test enough in the AM cycle when using Caninsulin but it is important to always test before you shoot. I see you have done that since you switched to Lantus. Since the Lantus dose is based on how low the dose takes him ( the nadir) with some consideration to the Pre shot number, getting some mid cycle test is necessary. Most cats will nadir around +4 -+7. Also, could you get more test in through the PM cycle since kitties tend to run lower at night? At least get one in before you go to bed and depending on how low that number is you might need to test some more.

Since you are using a meter for felines, your take action number would be 68. That would be when Bob would be getting too low and intervention with some higher carb food would be necessary.

We have two dosing methods. One is the Tight Regulation Protocol ( TR) and the other is the Start Low Go Slow Method. (SLGS). Depending on how often you can test would determine which of those you choose. The main difference is that TR you can increase the dose faster. When you get a chance read over those stickies also. But for now, gather all the data on his BG's that you can .

Keep asking questions as that is how we all learned. And again Welcome! :)
 
AZJenks said:
Welcome! I just wanted to wish you and Bob all the best as you start your Lantus journey. You're so lucky to discover this forum so early in your diagnosis because there are tons of really great and knowledgeable people here to help you out along the way. I hope that Lantus is exactly what Bob needs to get him into remission!
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Thank you! I'd love to get Bob into remission but I think we might have a way to go. He was misdiagnosed back in November last year with an infection, so that delayed getting the correct FD diagnosis until a few weeks ago.
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
Hi there and welcome to the best place you never wanted to be! There is a lot of good information here so I hope when you have a chance you will read all the Lantus stickies. Good job getting the SS set up; it is invaluable to see trends and patterns. When you get a chance can you set up a signature to show at the bottom of every post in grey? Put you cats name ,age, date of DX, any medical issues, meter using, where you are located ( time zone) and any thing else you feel pertinent to Bob .

I am tagging @Stephanie & Quintus as I think she might be able to provide you with a European food chart. We recommend a low carb wet diet.

It looks like you are able to test enough in the AM cycle when using Caninsulin but it is important to always test before you shoot. I see you have done that since you switched to Lantus. Since the Lantus dose is based on how low the dose takes him ( the nadir) with some consideration to the Pre shot number, getting some mid cycle test is necessary. Most cats will nadir around +4 -+7. Also, could you get more test in through the PM cycle since kitties tend to run lower at night? At least get one in before you go to bed and depending on how low that number is you might need to test some more.

Since you are using a meter for felines, your take action number would be 68. That would be when Bob would be getting too low and intervention with some higher carb food would be necessary.

We have two dosing methods. One is the Tight Regulation Protocol ( TR) and the other is the Start Low Go Slow Method. (SLGS). Depending on how often you can test would determine which of those you choose. The main difference is that TR you can increase the dose faster. When you get a chance read over those stickies also. But for now, gather all the data on his BG's that you can .

Keep asking questions as that is how we all learned. And again Welcome! :)
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Thank you for the welcome and all the info. I've been in contact on here with Stephanie, who has also been very supportive.

Bob has always been on a mainly wet food regime, with occasional nibbles at biscuits. When he was diagnosed the vet sent us away with a bag of RC diabetic biscuits, which Bob wouldn't eat. So I initially bought some Almo Nature tins from the local garden centre and ordered some RC wet food sachets. He loved the AN tins, but wasn't keen on the RC sachets. After finding this forum, I ordered a selection of the low carb wet food varieties recommended by others and that are available here in France. He has taken to the Animonda diabetic meat varieties but doesn't like the Fine Food or Granata. Prior to his diagnosis he ate the same supermarket sachet wet food day in day out - he's never been very experimental with his food!

BG testing can be very testing (excuse the pun). Bob was feral when he arrived here and that's never left him. I get to test when he's asleep (using paw pads - he doesn't like his ears touched), which is generally in the day. He's an outdoor cat and spends must of the night outside (although confined to our garden). I have managed to test twice for Ketones, using urine strips and all is well on that front.

I'm happy to take this slowly and use the SLGS method, knowing how easy it can be to give too much insulin and induce a hypo. DH has great difficulty controlling his diabetes due to additional medication requirements and I'm primed to see the signs in humans and take quick action, so hopefully will be able to spot any problem with Bob. There's always a pot of honey on the kitchen side (although DH also has a glucose pen too!).

Something to note, Bob's initial signs of FD (back in November) were misdiagnosed as an infection by our vet. Bob had incontinence (peeing) and his increase in water consumption was aligned to the infection. Even after being on Caninsulin for a month Bob was still having "accidents" when his BG was in the high 30s. Since yesterday I've noticed a decrease in drinking and so hopefully no more peeing in his bed!

Look forward to engaging with the group :)

Tilou
 
Ella & Rusty & Stu(GA) said:
Hi and welcome!

You are already getting well organized. Great job on Bob’s spreadsheet. I’m tagging @Gill & George , who also live in France and may be of help.
Keep reading the “Stickies”—lots of info there—and ask all the questions you need.

Feline Diabetes is an adventure. Welcome aboard!
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Gill lives in Spain but perhaps will still be another European supply source.

@Tilou , the inappropriate peeing and excessive drinking will stop after Bob gets better regulated.

Bless you for taking on a feral cat. :cat: I hope in time he knows how lucky he is to have found you and all the love you are giving him.
 
Tilou said:
Yes, glad to be on Lantus at last.
I'm working on the ears but he thinks there's a fight to be had when I start touching them!
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If ears directly is too much, back out. Head ok? Ear base? Work from where he is comfortable and inch your way forward over many little sessions spread out over the days.
 
Tilou said:
We are a Scottish family living in France, where our French vet, although a very nice man, is a very traditional farming vet and cats are not the priority on his list. Lantus has only just started to be used here, so he has not provided any information on it.
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome.
I was orginally intending to live in France but we somehow took a wrong turning and ended up in New Zealand. Originally from Bournemouth.

Totally hear you on the multi practice vet thing. Here, the vets needs to be farming, wildlife/conservation as well as domestic pet vets. Some inside themselves don't really see cats as pets & some think dogs should really be working dogs. We still get a good service , just not maybe the in-depth stuff that I read on here & not the variety of medicines available.

Anyway. Hi.
 
krazy4kritters said:
I'm a newbie at this too. I feel blessed to have found FDMB at Diamond's Dx and before I started insulin. Good luck and I LOVE the name Bob for a cat!
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The forum is brilliant. I found it a couple of days after DX when we were feeling really down and the positivity lifted our spirits.

Ah yes, Bob's name... when he first arrived he jumped out of the bushes to attack one of our other cats and his tail was at full "bushiness", so DH referred to him as Bobby Bushtail and the name stuck :)
 
PussCatPrince said:
Hi and welcome.
I was orginally intending to live in France but we somehow took a wrong turning and ended up in New Zealand. Originally from Bournemouth.

Totally hear you on the multi practice vet thing. Here, the vets needs to be farming, wildlife/conservation as well as domestic pet vets. Some inside themselves don't really see cats as pets & some think dogs should really be working dogs. We still get a good service , just not maybe the in-depth stuff that I read on here & not the variety of medicines available.

Anyway. Hi.
Click to expand...


Wow, that's some wrong turning ;) still at least you don't have to worry about the lingo differences (which is always great fun in France as we live in a tiny village where the locals speak their own patois).

I'm really grateful for all the info I've read on here as I'd never had extracted any of it from our vet.

Cats are only just becoming more favoured as a pet here - dogs definitely still at the top of the list. We get a lot of abandoned kittens as the locals won't pay to get their cats neutered. Our neighbour had his three toms done by the local farmer (ouch!) and uses a contraceptive additive in his one female cat's food (which I'm sure over a lifetime will be more costly than the operation). But as they say, there's nought queer as folk.
 
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