Newbie, Lantus dose advice needed

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Aimz123

Aimz123

Member Since 2023
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
Hi everyone

Just after some dosage advice. Currently my cat Ernie is on 2 units (am) and 1 unit (pm) while we wait for our new syringes and JuniorStar pen to be able to deliver 0.5 increment doses. We are currently using a SoloStar pen.

Tonight he’s PMPS reading on the AlohaTrak 3 is 9.9. Should I give him the full 1 unit shot still or skip?

It’s 9.38pm here in Australia now and he’s due for his shot at 10pm. Currently he’s eating some dinner.
 
Sorry Aimee! I’m just seeing this. I see you have skipped.
When do you think the juniotStar pen will arrive?
If at any time you can get in a test during the cycles that would be helpful. Even a before bed test in each night would be great.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Sorry Aimee! I’m just seeing this. I see you have skipped.
When do you think the juniotStar pen will arrive?
If at any time you can get in a test during the cycles that would be helpful. Even a before bed test in each night would be great.
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Hi Bron

All good I’ve played it safe tonight because I can’t shoot lower than 1 unit and I’m scared because he’s dropping, its best not to give him any tonight.

I have a DHL email saying something is coming from Sydney tomorrow and I’m hoping that is the JuniorStar pen as Sanofi head quarters is based in Sydney.

Saw the vet today and we have the prescription for the Optisulin cartridges ready to go when the pen arrives.

I’ve also found a way to order from the UK the half increment needles so hopefully I’m not going to get scammed but it looks legit! If that doesn’t work my cousin will help me out.

I’ll try to do a bit more testing throughout I'm just conscious he’s got this stress induced cystitis issue still and I’m trying to keep it low key to make that go away. Hopefully they resolved soon and then I can get into more testing without worrying it’s causing him to be in pain while he pees!
 
Aimz123 said:
have a DHL email saying something is coming from Sydney tomorrow and I’m hoping that is the JuniorStar pen as Sanofi head quarters is based in Sydney.
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Excellent
Aimz123 said:
I’ve also found a way to order from the UK the half increment needles so hopefully I’m not going to get scammed but it looks legit! If that doesn’t work my cousin will help me out.
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That is really good. If it works out, can you tell me the address, as I always have someone wanting to get 1/2 unit syringes here.
Aimz123 said:
I’ll try to do a bit more testing throughout I'm just conscious he’s got this stress induced cystitis issue still and I’m trying to keep it low key to make that go away. Hopefully they resolved soon and then I can get into more testing without worrying it’s causing him to be in pain while he pees!
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Are you giving him a nice treat every time you test?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Excellent

That is really good. If it works out, can you tell me the address, as I always have someone wanting to get 1/2 unit syringes here.

Are you giving him a nice treat every time you test?
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Definitely already on it! Thought you would want to know for future. I’ll wait for them to arrive then I know I haven’t been scammed then will send you the details if that all goes smoothly! It wasn’t cheap for postage as I chose express international but if people weren’t in a rush it would be actually more affordable.

I have been giving him a small bit of Prime 100 kangaroo cat treats after each test. Tonight I have him a bit more as I was concerned he was low for a PMPS shot. Hopefully the half unit syringes arrive soonish as I’m guessing an idea would have been to give him 0.5 or even 0.25?
 
Let’s see where he is up to when the syringes arrive before deciding on a dose.
Is Ernie coping OK with the transition to the new diet OK…IBD wise?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Let’s see where he is up to when the syringes arrive before deciding on a dose.
Is Ernie coping OK with the transition to the new diet OK…IBD wise?
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Praying the delivery this morning will be the JuniorStar. Never been so excited to receive something

He’s going ok with food transition I’m doing it very very slowly because with everything happening I don’t want him to suddenly not eat again and he’s managed to pack on the kg’s according to the scales at the vet yesterday so he’s back into the 6kg category. He use to be 6.4kg then fell to 5.6kg.

He likes the Hills ID and I’ve got so many bags still argh I might use it like a topper that way it’s familiar and he’ll enjoy his food still.

He had a low reading surprisingly this morning without insulin on board yesterday surprisingly. It was 15.3 which I know isn’t ‘low’ but it is in his case for not getting a shot yesterday. He’ll get the full 2 units this morning.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
You can return any Hills food and get a refund from the vet if you like. They accept returns.
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The Hills food I can’t even remember the various places I bought it from I keep a good stock pile incase of shortages. I buy online when there’s a sale.
It’s ok once he’s solidly on the Ziwi Peak Beef I’ll likely donate to a shelter most likely the one I got him from all those years ago!
 
@Bron and Sheba (GA) looks like we’re in business! Received the JuniorStar pen today and went to purchase the cartridges. All looks good.

Should I start the 1.5 dosing tonight? Also I drew my mum up a chart last time to help her know when to give insulin and how much. Does this look about right if we’re going to do the 1.5 (am/pm)?

Less than 5 - No insulin
5 to 10 - No insulin
10 to 14 - 1 unit
14 and above - 1.5 units

Or should it be if it’s 10-14 to keep it at 1.5? If it is her I’d rather be more cautious as she won’t know what to really do if he hypos. Also we’re still waiting on those half unit syringes too….
 
Aimz123 said:
No not yet that isn’t till 10pm. Will test at 9.30pm for the PMPS
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OK.
I would start giving the 1.5 units each cycle and see how you go with that.
How often does your Mum give the insulin?
Is it always with the am dose?
Does she test before hand and will she test during the cycle at all when she gives the dose?

Also why are you giving the doses at 10:10? Is it becasue it fits in better with your day or just the way it worked out?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
OK.
I would start giving the 1.5 units each cycle and see how you go with that.
How often does your Mum give the insulin?
Is it always with the am dose?
Does she test before hand and will she test during the cycle at all when she gives the dose?

Also why are you giving the doses at 10:10? Is it becasue it fits in better with your day or just the way it worked out?
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Sounds good. Will start the 1.5 dosing tonight then.
Mum will only give the insulin when I’m unable so when I need to head to work in the morning some days and eventually she’ll do some weekends as I’ll head over to my partners house which is just over an hour away as I usually split time between mums and my partners place. I actually haven’t seen him and our puppy for over six weeks so once Ernie is settled without the FIC issue I’ll be able to try heading over on weekends again.

I’ve shown her how to test beforehand so she’s ok with that and she’ll use the pen. She won’t be able to do the under 1 unit doses though so if it comes to that she’ll have to skip.

The 10am/10pm dosing is to fit her more as she wakes up later and on Saturday’s can’t get back from her appointment till 9.30/10am so this works better in the long run using the 10/10 time.

What do you think of the strategy for dosing below:

Less than 5 - No insulin
5 to 10 - No insulin
10 to 14 - 1 unit
14 and above - 1.5 units
 
Just a couple of more questions…does your mum test during the cycles at all when she gives the dose?
Does she feed Ernie during the cycles?
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Just a couple of more questions…does your mum test during the cycles at all when she gives the dose?
Does she feed Ernie during the cycles?
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She doesn’t test in between no. Ernie is a free grazer he naturally eats after his AMPS and also his PMPS. With the PMPS we give him some treats after his shot usually.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Do you give him snacks during the cycles or make sure he gets food during the cycles?
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He has access to his food at all times so he goes back and forth during the day and night and eats every few hours. He doesn’t get any other tests other than after the PM shot. We can give more treats I just didn’t want to upset his stomach as the treats have carbs
 
Aimz123 said:
He has access to his food at all times so he goes back and forth during the day and night and eats every few hours. He doesn’t get any other tests other than after the PM shot. We can give more treats I just didn’t want to upset his stomach as the treats have carbs
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Ok, just wandering what he gets.
I think with your Mum for the time being until we can see how he goes with the 1.5 dose, you could do as you suggest with the dose.
If you can get some tests in during the cycles it will help us all a lot to see his the dose is working for him. It is the nadir, but the preshot that determines the dose. If we can only see the preshots, it is really only a guess what is happening during the cycles, and we don’t like guessing.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Ok, just wandering what he gets.
I think with your Mum for the time being until we can see how he goes with the 1.5 dose, you could do as you suggest with the dose.
If you can get some tests in during the cycles it will help us all a lot to see his the dose is working for him. It is the nadir, but the preshot that determines the dose. If we can only see the preshots, it is really only a guess what is happening during the cycles, and we don’t like guessing.
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No worries I’ll try to get some done on Friday as that’s my day off so I can concentrate more on testing.

Tonight’s PMPS is 8.7 which is quite low. Should I skip again as per the above? I wonder why each night the last two nights he’s been so low?
 
The reason he is lower at night is because the am dose is too high.
Ok if you can’t test tonight, skip and start in the am with the 1.5 dose and hopefully the preshots will be a bit lower in the am and a bit higher in the pm. Make sure he eats a good meal tonight if you are going to skip.
 
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Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
The reason he is lower at night is because the a dose is too high.
Ok if you can’t test tonight, skip and start in the am with the 1.5 dose and hopefully the preshots will be a bit lower in the am and a bit higher in the pm. Make sure he eats a good meal tonight if you are going to skip.
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No worries thank you so much for all the advice! I’d be completely lost without your help.

Will let you know how it goes tomorrow. Have a good night.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
Did you manage to get any tests in during the day Saturday?
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Hi Bron

No sorry I was in an out of the house most of the day so no during the day tests. He’s 11.9 tonight so I was going to give him 1 unit

Oh and the last two days I’ve managed to get him to eat fancy feast pate watered down! So he might be willing to eat that slowly more than dry! I’ll still leave the Ziwi peak dry beef out for him but now I can supplement it a bit with one can of fancy feast.
 
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