? Not sure how to proceed with numbers

Pax's Mom

Pax's Mom

Member Since 2019
Pax was in remission between 6/12 and 10/1. His numbers are now in the 300s and I cant seem to get them to come down. He is on wet food only. I started giving him pumpkin on monday with his food once a day (morning) because he has runny poop.

I am using the same bottle of lantus that I got in June. Could it be old? Should I get a new bottle? It has stayed refrigerated. I am completely at a loss right now.

He is being an extra love bug, but still has a lot of energy and nothing is out of the ordinary except that his poop is runny. Eating fine, not drinking an extensive amount of water any more.

Extra details are in the spreadsheet.

Any advice would be wonderful. I cant really afford to take him to the vet at this time. He has already hit about $3000 this year with his sugar diagnosis and dental cleaning/tooth extraction.
 
I was on vacation for a week and did not have anyone to give shots. When I got home his numbers were 304 (without lantus for over a week and eating some dry food). Now, with lantus and wet only food he is at 385, what am I doing wrong this time?
 
Pax's Mom said:
I was on vacation for a week and did not have anyone to give shots. When I got home his numbers were 304 (without lantus for over a week and eating some dry food). Now, with lantus and wet only food he is at 385, what am I doing wrong this time?
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I think people will ask you if you’re doing Start low go slow protocol, or tight regulation protocol. And to also stick with one dose, instead of going up and down. With start low go slow, you hold the dose for 7 days before increase and with with TR, you hold the dose for 3-5 days. I think it also takes a few days for the depot to fill up, so that’s a possibility too. I’m not experienced enough to give advice, these are just things that I’ve encountered and have been told. Hopefully someone with more experience jumps in soon! It just takes time for the insulin to get into his system!
 
A likely culprit is the dry food.d. In all likelihood the dry food may have knocked Pax into high numbers. Even if it was a lower carb dry food, sometimes abrupt changes in diet can be a factor. Cats like consistency! Even with a cat that's in remission, it doesn't mean that the diabetes is "cured." A cat in remission is diet controlled. Dry food will put you back to square one.

It is very possible your insulin is kaput. While it's possible for insulin to last over 4 mos., it's also possible that it's gone bad. I'd get new insulin and see if you find there's an improvement.

Given the lack of insulin for almost 10 days, it's also highly likely that Pax has developed glucose toxicity. His body is treating the high numbers as though they were his new normal. It will take a bit of work to get him back to treating lower numbers like truly normal range.

If I may offer a suggestion... Please go back to how you were testing back in June. There's a lot of white space on your spreadsheet right now and it's hard to give good feedback with so much that's unknown. Like Sarah suggested, you may want to review the two dosing methods and decide which works best for your lifestyle.


 
Thanks for the feedback. I will monitor a bit more and keep the dose steady for a bit. If numbers do not improve I will try to pull together the money for another bottle of lantus
 
Many people are ordering through Canada these days. Mark's Marine Pharmacy has been very reliable. @Chris & China (GA) can provide you with details. Their prices are a fraction of what it will cost you locally.

I'd also think about buying a single pen. You may have to call around to see where you can buy one pen vs a box of 5. Sams Club and Costco are options that people have used. Hospital outpatient pharmacies may also sell single pens. Either way, you will need a new prescription (unless you are in Canada in which case, you're not paying the outrageous US prices).
 
Ok, it has now been a couple of days. I have added more testing times, I did get a new bottle of lantus. There still seems to be an increase in numbers. Should I increase the dose? He is on wet food only. I stopped giving him pumpkin because he no longer has diarrhea. No treats, nothing other than FF Roasted Turkey Feast Canned Cat food. He also has hiccups this morning.
 
I think it would be OK to go up to 1.25

Could you do your signature when you get a chance? It's just general information that shows up under our comments (along with the link to the spreadsheet)

Usual things we include are Your name/Cat's name, age, date of diagnosis, type of insulin, type of meter, type of food, any other health issues or meds? and a general location. Also, when you decide, the dosing method you want to use. Tight Regulation (TR) or Start Low, Go Slow (SLGS)...it makes a difference in the advice we give.
 
Thank you Chris, I have updated my signature. Most of the info was at the top of my spreadsheet, but I see that it would be more beneficial (easier to see) here.
 
I have used several of my pens for 6 months when Bubba was on a low dose. If it’s been stored correctly and are no floaters I think it would be fine.

The numbers you are getting now are more like to be from no insulin for a week. You were getting him into some blue numbers and a green prior to vacation with that same bottle .

You have jumped around with your dosing some. It looks like you are going to take him to 1.25 u. Hold that dose for 3 days unless of course if he goes below 50. And try to test to catch the nadir to see how low this dose is taking him.
 
Update: Numbers dropped a lot on Saturday, but are staying between the upper 200s and lower 300s now.
 
I would go back to 1.25 units. He did not earn a reduction in dose. The reduced dose plus bounce is why the numbers are higher.

Next time you post, could you start a new thread with a link to this one. This thread is getting quite old.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
I would go back to 1.25 units. He did not earn a reduction in dose. The reduced dose plus bounce is why the numbers are higher.

Next time you post, could you start a new thread with a link to this one. This thread is getting quite old.
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Will do, thank you
 
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