7/26: Dexter 218 @AMPS, need dosing guidance

Hi Katie,

Welcome to the Lantus forum! :-)
Just to confirm what I've understood from your previous post:
  • Dexter has been on Lantus since May 2021
  • His dose was upped to 1.5U twice a day from Jun 20, 2021
  • You started home testing from July 23, 2021
From your previous post, I see that @Sienne and Gabby (GA) suggested taking his dose down to 0.5U.

Will you be able to monitor him today if you shoot?
 
Bandit's Mom said:
Hi Katie,

Welcome to the Lantus forum! :)
Just to confirm what I've understood from your previous post:
  • Dexter has been on Lantus since May 2021
  • His dose was upped to 1.5U twice a day from Jun 20, 2021
  • You started home testing from July 23, 2021
From your previous post, I see that @Sienne and Gabby (GA) suggested taking his dose down to 0.5U.

Will you be able to monitor him today if you shoot?
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Hi!

Yes, you are correct on the information from the previous post. I do have to go into work this morning, so I won't be home to monitor until this afternoon. I have to go in to work in 1.5 hours and won't be able to get back until my lunch (which would be 6 hours from now).

Thank you!
 
From the sticky on Insulin Care & Syringe Info: Proper Handling, Drawing, Fine Dosing

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Leave food out. When you can you might want to get an auto feeder. They are good for while away or asleep. Let’s see the tests you get before you leave and until pmps to see about dosing. I agree with the ,25 since you won’t be home until lunch.
 
Hi Katie, I see you haven't been giving Dexter shots when he's below 100 and then he goes high. 83 is a safe number to shoot. Does Dexter cooperate well with testing? Could you get a +1 and +2 test? Do you have a hypo kit of extra test strips and medium and high carb food on hand? If yes, I would give him the shot and monitor him closely.
 
This all depends on your comfort level, too. We generally tell people new to testing not to shoot a number so low, but I worry that if you skip again it will keep you in the same loop of having higher numbers in the morning.
 
PerfumedCatMom said:
Hi Katie, I see you haven't been giving Dexter shots when he's below 100 and then he goes high. 83 is a safe number to shoot. Does Dexter cooperate well with testing? Could you get a +1 and +2 test? Do you have a hypo kit of extra test strips and medium and high carb food on hand? If yes, I would give him the shot and monitor him closely.
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I do have a hypo kit with extra test strips, but I haven't had a chance to grab some high carb food yet. (Are there recommendations for what to use for the high carb food?) He's starting to get used to the testing and I'm getting better at being able to get it done more quickly without having to poke him multiple times, but after too many he does start trying to hide and avoid me.
 
If you have room in your schedule to stall a bit more then you can do so, but keep in mind that if you shoot 40 mins later tonight you will have to shoot 40 mins later tomorrow morning.

Do you have honey or Karo syrup? We usually recommend Fancy Feast beef in gravy as a high carb option because it keeps the cat up longer than honey/Karo.
 
PerfumedCatMom said:
If you have room in your schedule to stall a bit more then you can do so, but keep in mind that if you shoot 40 mins later tonight you will have to shoot 40 mins later tomorrow morning.

Do you have honey or Karo syrup? We usually recommend Fancy Feast beef in gravy as a high carb option because it keeps the cat up longer than honey/Karo.
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I do have karo syrup. Because of work, I don't have as much flexibility in the morning, especially if I end up needing to stall at that point too.
 
Looks like he's doing a slide downward. Lots of kitties do this--my Ruby went from 321 this morning to 114 at PMPS, but I've got more experience than you to know I can still shoot a dropping number. Lantus is very good at keeping lower numbers flat and steady, so if you shot it might still be ok, but you'd have to watch him vigilantly. Since you're still so new to this, I'd skip so you can resume your normal schedule in the morning.
 
PerfumedCatMom said:
Looks like he's doing a slide downward. Lots of kitties do this--my Ruby went from 321 this morning to 114 at PMPS, but I've got more experience than you to know I can still shoot a dropping number. Lantus is very good at keeping lower numbers flat and steady, so if you shot it might still be ok, but you'd have to watch him vigilantly. Since you're still so new to this, I'd skip so you can resume your normal schedule in the morning.
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Ok, thank you for your help!
 
Katsallday said:
I'm just curious I'm not an advisor in anyway, but how often does he eat?
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I put food out for him 2x/day. He usually eats about 1/2 right away, but I'm not home throughout the day to monitor how frequently he's going back to snack/finish. With his more recent lower numbers, I've been leaving some out for him overnight, as well. For all of the feedings, I've been leaving the food out until 2 hours prior to pre-shot. I've gotten a lot of differing information from different vets and resources about the best options for feeding, so any additional information anyone has regarding this is helpful!
 
Katie & Dexter said:
I put food out for him 2x/day. He usually eats about 1/2 right away, but I'm not home throughout the day to monitor how frequently he's going back to snack/finish. With his more recent lower numbers, I've been leaving some out for him overnight, as well. For all of the feedings, I've been leaving the food out until 2 hours prior to pre-shot. I've gotten a lot of differing information from different vets and resources about the best options for feeding, so any additional information anyone has regarding this is helpful!
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So this is what happened with my cat and of course every cat is different and I am not an advisor at all here. However my vet told me to strictly feed only two times a day and push his insulin no matter what and and to never home test. Thankfully I found this site quickly and was able to start testing within 2 days. My cat is in remission now thanks to the FDMB but I have noticed that his blood glucose gets higher when he doesn't eat. I switched to feeding him every 6 hours and now I can maintain his blood glucose around 80 without insulin. At first I really wanted to stick to the vets recommendation of only feeding him twice a day because he is quite large however it just didn't work for his diabetes. Now instead I exercise him more and feed him more often :)

Please remember I'm not an advisor and I only dealt with diabetes for a month. My situation could be different and I could just be lucky?
 
Katsallday said:
So this is what happened with my cat and of course every cat is different and I am not an advisor at all here. However my vet told me to strictly feed only two times a day and push his insulin no matter what and and to never home test. Thankfully I found this site quickly and was able to start testing within 2 days. My cat is in remission now thanks to the FDMB but I have noticed that his blood glucose gets higher when he doesn't eat. I switched to feeding him every 6 hours and now I can maintain his blood glucose around 80 without insulin. At first I really wanted to stick to the vets recommendation of only feeding him twice a day because he is quite large however it just didn't work for his diabetes. Now instead I exercise him more and feed him more often :)

Please remember I'm not an advisor and I only dealt with diabetes for a month. My situation could be different and I could just be lucky?
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Does your cat eat all their food right away or do you leave it out for them to eat on their own time? And do you use an auto-feeder?
 
Katie & Dexter said:
Does your cat eat all their food right away or do you leave it out for them to eat on their own time? And do you use an auto-feeder?
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He eats it slowly, when he stops eating I usually stir the food up a bit and he grazes more. I'm looking into getting an auto feeder but for now I'm the food robot lol. My boy has never been big on eating even though he's 19 lbs so it's a full time job keeping him eating!
 
@Katie & Dexter When you first use a syringe, push the plunger all the way in to see if it lines up with the printed zero line. A lot of syringes have their markings way off and that affects the accuracy of the dose. And with smaller doses like Dexter is on, every little bit makes a big difference.
 
tiffmaxee said:
Yes. Let’s try 0.1.
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Are there syringes that would make this easier to do? That's going to be challenging to eyeball with the ones I have. Also, will this depend on his numbers and will you likely need more than just the AMPS? I don't have a lot of extra flexibility to stall before shooting because of a meeting I have to be at tomorrow morning.
 
Which syringes do you use? Are they 30 unit syringes with half unit markings?

If he is below 200 at AMPS, it's better to skip. What time is your AMPS? I will try and be around then.
It's hard to tell at this point, but it looks like Dexter might need some insulin. And not for long.
 
Bandit's Mom said:
Which syringes do you use? Are they 30 unit syringes with half unit markings?

If he is below 200 at AMPS, it's better to skip. What time is your AMPS? I will try and be around then.
It's hard to tell at this point, but it looks like Dexter might need some insulin. And not for long.
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Yes, the syringes are 30 unit with half unit markings.

I shoot at 6am (I'm in pacific timezone).
 
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