ALERT need advice - recent increased dose

K

Khnguy3n

Member Since 2023
Hi everybody, fairly new to the forum so have not figured out ins/outs yet.

My cat Kai has been on Lantus two times per day (usually given at 10:00 am/pm).

Recently we increased the dose of her insulin from 1.5 units to 2 units. This was started yesterday. Her pre-shot sugar levels are lower than we're used to and we don't have any data points about how far 2 units will drop her. I've attached a photo of her spreadsheet. We use AT3 pet meter and from Canada.

Last night we checked her sugar at 9:30 (usually we check it half hour before insulin given as advised by our vet). It was 9.0. We waited an hour then checked and it was 10.6, so we administered 2 units at 10:30.

This morning her sugar was 8.9 at 9:30. We fed her, then waited half an hour and somehow the number dropped further to 7.3 at 10:00.

Please advise what we should do! Tentatively we were going to check again at 10:30 and go from there... No insulin given yet. Please help!

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We just rechecked her sugar at 10:30 and it is 7.7

I've updated my signature to include the Spreadsheet link too.

Based on the SLGS post it says not to shoot anything under 8.3, so we are holding off on insulin today.

If anybody thinks otherwise please let us know.
 
Khnguy3n said:
We just rechecked her sugar at 10:30 and it is 7.7

I've updated my signature to include the Spreadsheet link too.

Based on the SLGS post it says not to shoot anything under 8.3, so we are holding off on insulin today.

If anybody thinks otherwise please let us know.
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Folks here will help you out with posting formats etc. -- I'm new to this but I think they'll say you're OK to skip and will help you out with dosing.
 
I'm considering rechecking and giving her a token 0.5 unit dose if her numbers are still starting to rise. Just worried her sugars are going to jump super high if we skip this dose. She's acting pretty normal and eating treats but not really eating her main meal (which is relatively typical for her... She grazes and eats a majority of her food later in the afternoon)
 
Khnguy3n said:
I'm considering rechecking and giving her a token 0.5 unit dose if her numbers are still starting to rise. Just worried her sugars are going to jump super high if we skip this dose. She's acting pretty normal and eating treats but not really eating her main meal (which is relatively typical for her... She grazes and eats a majority of her food later in the afternoon)
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How long has it been since her normal shot time?
 
Hi @Khnguy3n welcome to LLB. Your Spreadsheet states that you're following SLGS method. Is that still correct or are you following dosing advise from your Vet? No judgment, I ask because that helps us to help you. With the dosing methods at FDMB, we usually increase and decrease in 0.25units with only certain situations allowing for larger/smaller dose changes. Since your kitty is newly diagnosed, its good that you skipped the dose. Please keep in mind that a BG of 139 (7.7) is in the "normal range" and not a cause for hypo concern :cat:. If it were me, I would skip this cycles dose unless you can afford to be off your schedule for tonight's dose. Shots should be given as close to 12 hours apart from one another.
 
Thank you, we are following dosing advice from the vet which loosely follows SLGS (at least more than TR) so I thought those were the only two options we could list! I can change the spreadsheet to indicate otherwise!

Our vet had told us not to routinely check her sugars and continue giving her the usual doses unless she is acting strange. I'm very glad this group urged us to be more regular with the checks, otherwise I know Kai would have hit a hypo today.

I appreciate everybody's engagement in the post. For future reference if a shot is given an hour later and we continue at 12 hour increments... do we have to keep pushing forward with the new time moving forward? Is there a way to get back on schedule?
 
Khnguy3n said:
Thank you, we are following dosing advice from the vet which loosely follows SLGS (at least more than TR) so I thought those were the only two options we could list! I can change the spreadsheet to indicate otherwise!
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Sounds good. Can you put that on your SS, "Dosing Advice from Vet"? It will also be helpful if you can set up your signature so at a quick glance we an see some important information about you and your kitty. Here is the link to new-how-you-can-help-us-help-you

Here is the Link to our dosing methods . We generally increase and decrease in 0.25 units and not half units like your Vet advised. Also, with SLGS, you would hold the dose for 7 days (14 cycles) then evaluate unless the BG drops under 90 (5mmol) which is an immediate 0.25 unit decrease.


Khnguy3n said:
Our vet had told us not to routinely check her sugars and continue giving her the usual doses unless she is acting strange.
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We hear this a LOT LOL. However, checking the sugars is the ONLY way to know if your cat is safe! I followed my vets advice for WAY TOO LONG :rolleyes: and was thrilled when I started exclusively following the dosing methods here

Khnguy3n said:
I appreciate everybody's engagement in the post. For future reference if a shot is given an hour later and we continue at 12 hour increments... do we have to keep pushing forward with the new time moving forward? Is there a way to get back on schedule?
Click to expand...
Yes and here is the link to getting back on track. Basically, you can shoot 15 minutes early every cycle or 30 minutes early ONCE a day until you get back on your desired schedule.

Khnguy3n said:
We're just going to skip the dose after all.
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I would have done the same.

Next time you get a lower than normal preshot, we stall without feeding for 15-30minutes and test the BG again to see if the numbers are rising. We do not feed because we don't want to base a shooting decision on a "food influenced number". Keep in mind that sometimes stalling without food may cause the numbers to go down a bit. Its best to post for advice :cat:

I would also encourage you to look through The Basics: New to the Group? Start here! and keep asking questions! :cat:
 
Angela gave you good advice. I realize you are following your vet’s advice but a .50 increase was too much especially if you completely followed that and were not testing. I’d give 1.75 tonight. If your vet doesn’t like it I’d say I don’t want to have to skip. What do you think?
 
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