New to FDMB, ...my Foster Kitty on Lantus

albertresidence

albertresidence

Member Since 2019
I've been doing Feline Rescue Work since 2007. Our Rescue pulls "Time Stamped" kitties of the Euthanasia List at a local, high kill shelter to give them a second chance in life. I take in the medical urgent cases and provide Senior and Hospice care for kitties in their golden years. Interestingly, I never had a diabetic foster kitty and then comes beautiful little Edith. She was on the list to be euthanized and we took her under our wing. She was transported to a Vet that our Rescue works with. That's where she was diagnosed with diabetes.

The Vet office fell in love with her and welcomed her to stay as their office kitty. Things changed,... so little Miss Edith is now with me. Per Vet she is on 2U of Lantus SID (in the morning, after breakfast) and the diet, per Vet, Fancy Feast - classic - pate but all fish flavors. No other instructions were giving to me, just to keep her on the insulin and feeding her FF. Basically telling me that I have to blind dose her. Since I never had a diabetic foster, I started to research Feline Diabetes to educate myself. I learned that you have to test their BG at home. I bought the glucose meter ReliOn Premier Classic, test strips and lancets a couple of days ago at Walmart and started checking her BG levels. I purchased different flavors of classic FF other then fish but also started looking into other wet foods with better ingredients for a diabetic cat with the focus on low carb - high protein.

Poor Edith's BG level is all over the place, from 380 - 441 mg/dl in the AM before her breakfast and insulin injection. The lowest it has ever dropped was 227 (6 hrs. after insulin). Even though I'm new to FD, it is very clear to me, that the dose and frequency prescribed by the Vet is not appropriate to control her BG. I have read that Lantus should be given BID since it "weans off" after 12 hrs. So, what do I do? How can I find the proper dose of insulin for Edith? I'm not home all day so it is almost not feasible for me to test Edith multiple times during the day. I apologize for the long intro. Edith and I appreciated any advice you can give us,... Thank you! Isabell, Edith's Foster Mom
 

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Welcome to the FDMB!!! You're in the right place. I'm not one of the experienced peeps that offer dosing advice but, I'm sure someone will be along shortly to help you get started. The yellow stickies at the top of the Lantus and Levemir forum are very helpful in giving you an idea of what dosing guideline you would like to follow. There's a plethora of info on the forum so, don't get overwhelmed. Slow and steady wins the race!! Again WELCOME and I look forward to seeing Edith's progress. Your rescue group is outstanding for giving the unwanted ones a second chance at life!!! I commend you!!!:bighug:
 
Welcome and Bless You Isabel for taking on Edith's care! You're a wonderful person to help her.

If you haven't already - check out the yellow stick tabs on the top of this forum for dosing instructions - getting started. It's most important to dose twice a day as Lantus only lasts for 12 hours in kitties. As far as the 2 U; that seems to be what all vets want to start at ...

Before anyone here will offer dosing advice you will want to set up a Spreadsheet so you can post her current dose and the resulting BG values.

IF you need help with that you can ask @Marje and Gracie - she's very good at helping with those.

Also, please set up your signature so we can see some basic info on you and Edith.

She's beautiful! We're so happy you're here...let's get started helping you help Edith :)
 
Welcome to FDMB and to the Lantus (etc.) forum.

There are a couple of options with respect to starting dose. The typical way that the initia Lantus dose is arrived at is using a weight based formula: initial dose = 0.25 x ideal weight in kilograms. (There is a kilogram calculator in the sticky on dosing methods in the Tight Regulation section of the note.) If your cat is roughly average weight, this usually calculates out to around 1.0u.

When a cat is on a once a day dose, we have sometimes suggested that you split the dose and shoot twice a day so that the total amount of insulin per day is the same. This would also put Edith at 1.0u BID.

Frankly, I suspect 1.0u won't be enough insulin but it is much easier on the caregiver's nerves to start out with less insulin than needed versus too much and have to fight to keep blood glucose (BG) numbers in a safe range. This is especially important if you are out of the house most of the day. You may want to consider getting a timed feeder so Edith has food available if her numbers are dropping. Also, please remember to get tests during the PM cycle, especially if you are gone during the day. Lantus dosing is based on the lowest number in the cycle (the nadir) and not on the pre-shot number.

You are also correct in that insulin needs to be administered twice a day. With Lantus, there's not a great deal of flexibility and Lantus dose best if you are close to dosing every 12-hours.

Fancy Feast Classics are a fine low carb option. There are more food options that. you can find on this food chart that was developed by a vet, Lisa Pierson, DVM. You are looking for foods that are less than 10% carb -- although most of the people here feed their cat in the 5% carb range.

I'd also encourage you to read the sticky notes at the top of the board. There is a huge volume of information in the notes and the links. So if you feel overwhelmed, we understand. It does get easier. Please let. us know if you have questions. The people here are very generous with their time and their knowledge. We're here to help.
 
Thank you all so much for your support. I just started reading the yellow stickies. Wow, what a wealth of information. I have to let it sink in and digest. Ever since I took Edith under my wing on 12/08/19 and started my FD research my head started spinning and hasn't stopped yet. I love Dr. Pierson's website, catinfo.org and all the information she provides. She is my "go-to person" for everything feline.

So Edith weighs 7.5 lbs (3.4 kg). I have the Salter Baby/Toddler scale to monitor the weight of all of my kitties especially when it comes to my seniors. Starting tomorrow, I will be giving Edith 1.0u BID instead 2.0u SID. I also have to purchase different U100 syringes since mine don't have half unit markings. I don't understand why the Vet, who had her as an office kitty for for several month only gave Lantus SID and sometimes doses were skipped, I'm assuming, when the office was closed on Sundays? I was told that Edith was always asymptomatic even when her BG fluctuated all over the place. I'm just a little frustrated but appreciate all of your advice.
 
Hi all, ...following your advice, as of December 18th, 2019, I've been splitting up Edith's Lantus dosage from 2U-SID to 1U-BID. I still don't understand whey the Vet only gave her Lantus SID for all this time she was living with them as an office kitty. I did read all the yellow sticky's which have an abundance of valuable information. I also started her spreadsheet, trying to get as many readings in as possible. As you can see, she is all over the place. I also ordered new syringes with half-unit-markings from ADW online. ETA is Monday, December 30th, 2019. The Lantus Solostar Pen that the Vet handed me over along with Edith was first opened August 22nd, 2019. Right now, I don't even know if the storage of the insulin was always handled properly since was going back and forth with one of the younger Vets there at one point. I'm wondering if the potency of the insulin might be compromised by now? I called the Vet today and requested a new prescription. I will hopefully get it soon. The prices at Marks Marine Pharmacy are unbeatable and the person I spoke with today was so very kind.

Despite Edith's higher number she has been asymptomatic and her crazy little self. Yesterday, though, she must have felt a little bit under the weather because her tummy was gurgling and she was gagging. She is eating every meal but not devouring it like she normally does? Peeing and pooping is normal. She is just quieter than normal. This is where we are at. I'm really trying to do my best and pick up the pieces where the ball was dropped on Edith. Any advice, dosing etc. is so appreciated. There is no support from the Vet. You should have seen one of the Vet's face when I mentioned that I home test her BG so I can finally get her regulated! I guess they prefer blind dosing over home testing. I'm really disappointed.:(
 
Welcome back. Typically we start a new post per day, so next time, just start a new one and link to this one.

Good for you on getting the spreadsheet started and getting some data. It can be extremely helpful to get tests in the night cycle too, even one just before you go to bed. Many cats go lower at night. We decide how to change the Lantus dose based on how low the dose takes the cat. Hence the need for some night time data.

Any chance you could get a curve soon? That would be tests every two hours for twelve hours, or tests every three hours for 18. You have been at this dose long enough that I am pretty sure you will need to increase to 1.25 units, but the curve will confirm that.

Sorry about the vet. Many are sadly lacking information on diabetics cats. Humans take Lantus once a day. Cats have faster metabolisms. Not surprised the vet is all for shooting blind. Many caregivers can’t be bothered sonit’s what those vets are used to,
 
It is so wonderful of you to take in Edith as a foster, she is sooo adorable looking. I am sure that you will get answers to all of your questions here. Seems vets are lacking when it comes to feline diabetes, to me the most important thing is to test and then test again. I would never give Buddy a shot without testing.
 
albertresidence said:
I was wondering if I should start a new post but didn't know how to link it to my original post.
Click to expand...
Hi Isabell and welcome to you and Edith. Here's how to start a new post and link your old post to it:
1. In your current post, highlight it's URL as it appears in your browser's URL box (top of the page). Go up to "Edit" and select "copy".
2. Open a new post. On the first text line in the body of the new post, write something like "previous post", or "yesterday", etc. Position the cursor after whatever you wrote. Go up to "Edit" again and select "paste". The URL of your previous post will appear.

I hope that all will go well with Edith. Welcome again!
 
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