? Theodore - Frustrated 11/16 +3 526 + 1 544

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NadineTheodore

NadineTheodore

Member Since 2023
Hello,

I am really struggling with Theodore. I am just looking for some support perhaps.

His numbers have gotten horrible. I increased him to 6 units. I did a quick temporary switch back to Lantus as I am struggling that I saw better lows with Lantus VS Levemir. He is back on Levemir in any case. I don't know what to do anymore. Theodore is FIV, Diabetic, has barely any teeth left (almost full dental extraction), megacolon (requires dry food as part of his diet otherwise gets backed up).

Dr. Esleys was recently backordered and I have NO option of getting it here in Ontario. I was forced to buy Purina DM as vet suggested it's for diabetics. Numbers perhaps increased due to this food but still seems awfully high given we are on 6 units of insulin.

What am I doing wrong? What can I do? He's been diabetic officially since April 29, 2023 but likely since March. I am really struggling as I feel nothing I am doing is working. I am trying my best and his numbers constantly seem unchanged when earlier on we saw some movement in the numbers with the Lantus. We even saw some blue numbers. :(

I will attach his blood work here as well. I noticed his T4 went up, Hematocrit down, ALP up, UREA (Bun) also up....He has no ketones.

We have an appointment with an internal medicine specialist next week. Things crossing my mind, hypothyroidism, acro, insulin resistance, tumour/cancer. Is there anything I should specifically ask for?



Previous post: https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/theodore-11-10-2023-amps-513-5-445.283441/
 
NadineTheodore said:
Hello,

I am really struggling with Theodore. I am just looking for some support perhaps.

His numbers have gotten horrible. I increased him to 6 units. I did a quick temporary switch back to Lantus as I am struggling that I saw better lows with Lantus VS Levemir. He is back on Levemir in any case. I don't know what to do anymore. Theodore is FIV, Diabetic, has barely any teeth left (almost full dental extraction), megacolon (requires dry food as part of his diet otherwise gets backed up).

Dr. Esleys was recently backordered and I have NO option of getting it here in Ontario. I was forced to buy Purina DM as vet suggested it's for diabetics. Numbers perhaps increased due to this food but still seems awfully high given we are on 6 units of insulin.

What am I doing wrong? What can I do? He's been diabetic officially since April 29, 2023 but likely since March. I am really struggling as I feel nothing I am doing is working. I am trying my best and his numbers constantly seem unchanged when earlier on we saw some movement in the numbers with the Lantus. We even saw some blue numbers. :(

I will attach his blood work here as well. I noticed his T4 went up, Hematocrit down, ALP up, UREA (Bun) also up....He has no ketones.

We have an appointment with an internal medicine specialist next week. Things crossing my mind, hypothyroidism, acro, insulin resistance, tumour/cancer. Is there anything I should specifically ask for?



Previous post: https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/theodore-11-10-2023-amps-513-5-445.283441/
Click to expand...
@Bron and Sheba (GA)
@Suzanne & Darcy
@Wendy&Neko
@tiffmaxee
 
You need to reduce to 5.5u tonight, 65 on AT2 would earn a reduction, even if you were following TR, with SLGS you need to reduce if you see a number under 90. The further 43 at +11 may have been a wonky strip, it seems out of place. Did you feed anything after the BG test at +8? I’m not clear on why you went down to 4U on pm cycle 11Nov then jumped back to 4.5u after 2 cycles, then one cycle at 5.5u then up to 6u. While sometimes the higher numbers are frustrating, and with a higher carb dry food in the mix, jumping the doses around too quickly makes it more difficult for the depot to build.
 
@Wendy&Neko Just curious, my alphatrak seems to glitch sometimes because today it makes no sense he had a result of 223 at +4 when his +6 was all above 500s. I've checked to make sure it's correctly calibrated and it shows it is...do these typically get errors? Makes me wonder sometimes.
 
If you are still using FSL test strips in your AT2 meter it could be the reason for suspect readings. It is recommended that people use the test strips that are made for the meter. Why not just pick up a FSL meter, then you don’t have to worry about possible incorrect BG readings as a result of using strips not meant for the meter ;).
 
Christie & Maverick said:
If you are still using FSL test strips in your AT2 meter it could be the reason for suspect readings. It is recommended that people use the test strips that are made for the meter. Why not just pick up a FSL meter, then you don’t have to worry about possible incorrect BG readings as a result of using strips not meant for the meter ;).
Click to expand...
I have one I was just worried that readings are lower vs a pet meter
 
I used to use the AT2 in the beginning, but found the test strips so very expensive and finally switched over to the FSL meter, since the dosing methods here that we use were developed based on human meter BG levels. It is a slight mental adjustment, you may find you won’t see so many blacks, since the pet meter and human meter typically can vary more greatly at higher numbers, and typically will get closer at lower ranges. That said, there is no direct and definitive correlation between the two.

I just wanted to highlight that using the FSL strips in the AT2 is not recommended albeit heavily debated over the years. Here are a couple of the many posts, https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/question-about-meters.242435/#post-2732039
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/using-fs-strips-in-at-meter.221465/

You may also want to try to switch out the battery, if you haven’t in a while, that could cause some odd BG readings, particularly if they are going on frequently. Hope that helps in whatever you decide to do :)
 
The AT2 is no longer being sold, and neither are the test strips for it. You might want to use a meter and strips that are currently sold and supported.
 
@Wendy&Neko Theodore was 198 at +amps then went to 391 at +2, I am confused, is this bouncing? should I be lowering it below 2? I took his glucose twice both times as a precaution, once with freestyle lite and another with alpha track. Both similar results.
 
This could be a few things happening. First, with Levemir, it's not uncommon for nadirs to be closer to preshot. After nadir, numbers go up as the insulin wears off. Combined with that, he could be bouncing, and there is his breakfast also pushing the numbers up. The main reason for higher numbers at +2 is that the typical Levemir onset is +4, though Neko's was +5 and I've seen some at +3. The onset is when the insulin starts to lower the numbers for the new cycle. For some cats, the +2 test isn't a great test with Levemir, it'll mostly tell you the numbers are going up. I did find it a good test if Neko's PS was quite a bit lower, but mostly I didn't test again until onset.

Could you start a new thread for today? We do ask that each day you post with new questions, that you start a new thread with a link to the previous thread.
 
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