Newly Dx/Lantus

[Hobbes Mom]

Hi! I have a 12 year old diabetic kitty, his name is Hobbes. We are on day 14 using the Lantus Solosstar Pen. We started at 1 unit 2x a day for a week and our pre-shot numbers ranged between 188-484 We were very consistent with the 12 hour schedule. Our vet increased our dose after 7 days to, 2 units, 2x a day. Our pre-shot numbers have been 204-465 until this evening, our pre-shot reading was 106? This is where I think we went wrong, we should have delayed feeding him and tested again. Instead we fed him, checked him at +1 post meal and he was 485. We decided to give him his 2 units and slowly work our schedule back to our normal 12 hour dosing. Now I’m nervous? I Just read that anything under 150 we should skip the dose??? We’re watching him closely, his +2 hour reading is 377 and he seems fine. Was it a mistake for us to shoot? Tonnie

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Welcome to the group!

There is a huge amount of information in the sticky notes at the top of the Board to digest so please ask questions.

When you note that you're using the Lantus pen, are you using the pen with needle tips or a syringe? We strongly recommend using U100 syringes. The pens can only dispense in 1.0 unit increments and you may have been reading that we change doses in 0.25u amounts. (Many vets think this is impossible but it's not!) Increasing in too large of an amount can cause you to increase past what might be a good dose for your cat or. worse, overdose your cat.

If the 102 test seemed out of sync with Hobbes usual numbers, it's often a good idea to re-test. Sometimes you get a bad strip or a bad test. You didn't make a mistake! Many of us will shoot numbers much lower than that. We try to insure that if you're new to managing your cat's diabetes, you give yourself a greater margin for safety and work your way down to shooting low numbers. (Many of us would shoot anything above 50.) As long as you're monitoring, you're insuring that Hobbes is safe.

What are you feeding Hobbes? We encourage sticking to a low carbohydrate, canned food diet. Many of the "diabetic" diets that are sold by vets are actually quite high in carbs. If you've not found Dr. Lisa's site on feline nutrition, it's a wealth of information.

I'd also encourage you to set up a spreadsheet for Hobbes. This is the link to the instructions. We are very numbers driven. The best way we can help you is to see Hobbes test data and his progress.

 

[Hobbes Mom]

Thank you for the quick response! We are using the Lantus pen, however I did buy the U 100 syringes just in case we needed to increase, or decrease with a 0.25 dose. We feed him a high protein, low carb (8 or below) canned food that we found on Dr. Lisa’s list. Thank you for the information. I will continue to monitor his numbers tonight and setup thst spreadsheet ASAP. THX AGAIN! Tonnie

 

[Ella & Rusty & Stu(GA)]

Welcome Tonnie and Hobbes!
In the beginning Lantus takes at least a week to "establish" itself because it is a "depot" insulin that builds on the previous dose. Once the depot is established, it will take about 6 cycles for it (the depot) to get accustomed to any change in dose. Generally we make dose changes in quarter units--not whole units. Perhaps go down from the 2 units to 1.25 units and hold that dose for at least 3 or 4 days. Then evaluate the blood glucose numbers and ask for help. If you use your U-100 syringes (get the ones with 1/2 unit markings) it will be possible to eyeball a dose that is close to 1.25 units. Patience is the name of the game when beginning Lantus.

You are doing well with the food. And getting your spreadsheet up and running will help the people here to see how Hobbes is doing and make recommendations.

Feline Diabetes is an adventure. Welcome aboard!

 

[Hobbes Mom]

Here we go again. Pre-dinner reading of 139. I have checked his BS every three hours since his pre-breakfast reading 423, +3 372, +6 202, +9 170, +12 139. Is this too low to shoot? Last night we were 106, we fed, waited an hour, tested, he was 452, gave him 2u, +2 377. I didn’t check again until his pre-breakfast this am of 423. I have started the spreadsheet but have not figured out how to publish it yet. I included a screen shot of it for now. I will get it published ASAP.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

Have you fed yet? If not, test again in 20-30 minutes

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

have not figured out how to publish it yet.

The link to your spreadsheet should go in your "Signature"...if you look below our comments, you'll see we all have some basic information showing about ourselves/our cats like:

Our name/cats name, age, sex, date of diagnosis, type of insulin, type of meter, type of food, any other health issues or meds? and general location.

Then you copy the address you see at the top of your spreadsheet and "paste" it into your signature. It doesn't have to be "fancy".

To do your signature, go to your sign on name (top right) and click on "Signature".....a new box will pop up for you to put the information into and then you "save" it.

With your spreadsheet open, go to the top right and click on "Share"... click on "copy link".....and then go back to your signature box and "paste" it

Click on "advanced" and make sure you have "anyone with the link can view" checked