5/19 Colonel Mustard AMPS 280, 112 +3

Rhea and Colonel Mustard

Rhea and Colonel Mustard

Member Since 2021
Hello all. This is our first day using Lantus on Colonel Mustard. I mistakenly bought u40 syringes and didn't realize the mistake until after I gave it to him this morning. Our vet has us giving him 1.5 units. So I gave him 1.5 units using a u40 syringe. I've been monitoring and trying not to panic, but from what I've read that means I gave him like 3x the prescribed dose? At +1.25 it was 215, then at +3 it was down to 112. Should I be panicking yet or just watching and waiting for him to drop into hypo range?
 
That’s a big drop. Feed a couple teaspoons of his rabbit and test in 30 minutes. Keep him hungry so feed small amounts. Post results as you test. What food do you have that’s 10-15% and 15%+ in case it’s needed? I see he’s on a limited ingredient diet.
 
OK that is a good plan. Thank you. I have friskies chicken with gravy that's pretty high in carbs (for my other cats). Crap I didn't think about his LID needs. I guess I'll use the chicken gravy stuff if needed and if we have an IBD flare up later, that's ok.
 
Wait, Friskies shreds and Prime Filets are high on carbs right? I’ve always assumed it was because of the gravy, but I added up the guaranteed analysis it is over 94%, so then the carbs aren’t that high. So sorry for this rookie mistake. What do you buy for a high carb food? Like a cheap kibble? Thank you so so much.
 
Ok he’s bounced up after the honey and snacks. (My partner misunderstood me and thought I said his BG was under 50 so she went a little overboard with the honey.)
The insulin will keep dropping his BG until and through nadir though, correct? So I’ll keep checking every 30 minutes.
 
Honey wears off quite quickly. Check every 30 until he can stay up without food for 2 hours. Tge bg might wobble up and down. Those were all safe bg so looking good. Make sure he’s hungry and feed really small amounts until it’s safe to stop feeding. Sorry I was not back sooner but a lot going on here. I have workers here. You are doing great. It’s hard to say when he will nadir.
 
For the future when you have questions please add the question mark prefix. It also would have been best to write gave 3x too much insulin for first dose by mistake. It would have gotten eyes on your condo quickly. It was lucky I saw you are new to LLB and saw. Welcome btw. :bighug:
 
Thank you so much for noticing and replying, I appreciate it so much! Good luck with the workers!

I’ll keep checking every 30 minutes and feeding small bits. And thanks for the tips for how to title/tag posts in the future. I saw not to use the 911 unless active in hypo but forgot to check what the question mark was. want to be overly alarmist/demanding! Probably should have been a little bit more though. Thanks again!
 
You’re welcome. There’s a lot to learn. This has happened many times. Good thing it was the first dose and there wasn’t a depot to worry about. Had I not replied nobody would have faulted you for using 911 in this situation but you are correct that we try to reserve it for an active hypo or emergency like DKA. You are amazingly calm. I probably would have hit 911 if it was my first shot. :bighug:
 
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Colonel Mustard said:
What do you buy for a high carb food? Like a cheap kibble? Thank you so so much.
Click to expand...
Glad to see Colonel Mustard is coming up
For the future you can get


Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Beef Feast in Gravy 20% High Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Chicken Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Turkey Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Beef in Gravy 15% Med Carbs

Good idea to mark the cans with magic marker how many carbs

Or any on the food chart. Doesn't have to be Fancy Feast just an example about the med and high carb foods
And some honey in the house

https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-
11% -15 is medium carbs.

16- 24 is high carb.
 
Thanks all! That list is extremely helpful!! I couldn't find it when I was in panic mode, sorry about that!

Colonel's BG went back down pretty far again at +8 (47), so we gave him some honey and FF Gravy lovers chicken feast. And will keep checking to make sure it gets back up and stays up. We're not doing an evening shot at this rate. I just read in one of the pinned posts that this could last 16 hours. Plus, his poor ears need a rest! He's been a trooper through all of this, thank goodness.

And @tiffmaxee, my ability to hold it together in written form did not bleed into my physical form :facepalm: My partner and I were really panicking. I didn't know how many units we had given him (still not totally sure) and then his numbers were dropping fast, so early in the cycle. Your initial reply helped me take action -- my gut was telling me this was scary, but I didn't know if I should wait until the numbers were scary too. So thank you! We had the tools we needed to get through it. Thank goodness I decided to go buy the human meter before we started this today -- I only had 6 alpha2 strips left! Also really grateful for everything I've learned from this group!

Thank you all again!
 
No reason to use the AT. The strips are so expensive. Our methods were formulated using a human meter and they work just fine. Of course if you prefer the AT that’s fine.
 
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Hi @tiffmaxee yes, we decided to skip Saturday while we waited for the right syringes to arrive, and also to give him a reset after Friday's chaos. We started again yesterday (Sunday) and it was smooth sailing. Thank you so much for all of your help and concern. I really, really appreciate you.
Also, we are following the vet's assignment to only give him insulin once a day. I know that a 12 hour cycle is much more effective for cats... but I promised the vet I'd try it her way for at least a week. So I'm following that plan for now, with the option of finding a specialist. I'm monitoring his BG a few times a day and might do a full curve this coming Friday when I'm working from home again. I really would love to get him off insulin again, but am not sure if that's possible now that we're giving him Budesonide for his IBD.
 
I’d love to know why your vet thinks once a day insulin will work. What we see when tried is lots of bouncing are flat high. I hope it works for you. The sooner you get him regulated the better. For many cats budesonide doesn’t raise the bg but for some it does. We are here to help if you need us.
 
Thank you. I think the vet is trying to make it simpler for us? So we don't have to do it twice a day? She said she's had pets do well on insulin once a day. Luckily she couldn't see me rolling my eyes as she was saying this because we were on the phone. I know this isn't the best plan. But my partner is adamant that we follow the vet's advice, at least at first, or until I can find a specialist.

Also, I did request that the vet prescribe Lantus this time—from what I can tell, you all recommend it over most of the other ones. She had him on Novolin in 2021 before we got him regulated, and based on the advice I got in the FB group last time, I didn't want her to give us that type again.
Thanks again -- I'm going to keep a close eye on his BG this week to see how he's doing, and will come back again for advice if and when I need it!!
 
Insulin glargine is efficacious for the long-term treatment of diabetes in cats and in considered the initial insulin of choice by many veterinarians.11,12 If improved diabetic control and remission is the goal, insulin glargine must be administered twice daily.

This is from an article on insulins. . I’ll come back with the link.
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...es-analogues-for-the-problem-diabetic.193774/
 
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Welcome to Lantus.
Colonel Mustard said:
She said she's had pets do well on insulin once a day.
Click to expand...
Emphasis mine. "pets" might be called dogs. ;) Cats have faster metabolisms and need twice a day shots. I would show your partner the papers too. Note, this would not be the first vet a member has gone to that has said the same thing, for the same reason. Vets treat more diabetic dogs than cats. As evidence by prescribing Novolin that also isn't on the recommended list for cats. I too had a vet prescribe a dog insulin (Caninsulin) first.

Remember, Colonel Mustard is your cat. You have to advocate for him.

Might want to update your signature to remove the Lantus dose, which is now out of date. We look at spreadsheets anyway to see the current info.
 
Looks like lots of bouncing. Without a pmps and one later test you only have half of the picture. Are you going to continue with once a day? Start a new condo when you post next please.
 
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