? 2/2 Beaux AMPS 162, +5 39, +8 225

finn+beaux

finn+beaux

Member Since 2024
Hi everyone,

New ish here; Beaux (10y.o.) dx in mid-Dec 2023 w/ readings in the 300s; started glargine 1/13/24 with .5iu dosage. Beaux was switched to canned low carb diet exclusively in Dec, and on Bexacat for a while first so numbers were somewhat stabilized (60-220ish) before starting insulin.

We have been on .75u, then .5u, now .25u BID dosages, always "earning" reductions because Beaux regularly has nadirs in the 20s, 30s, 40s after a few days being at a certain dose. I have currently "shaved" the .25u dose down; honestly hard to say exactly how much it is at that point... with Beaux at the <.25 dose, and still today had another 30s drop. The perplexing thing is that after a low like that, their blood sugar will often "bounce" up to 220 or so before evening back out over the next few hours. I wouldn't call the regulation "tight", and it's not what I want or have been aiming for, but even with the very small doses, I can't seem to keep their blood sugar from plummeting into 20s and 30s. Mostly they are in range of 70s-170 or so, but that is a wider range than I'd like, personally. I've also noticed recently that numbers are typically higher before the evening shot than the morning shot. In regards to the bouncing, I have stopped giving them hi carb snacks, just give them regular low carb food to treat hypos and it still happens. From what I understand about remission, and the underlying biological process, I do think the bouncing is counterproductive to reaching solid remission.

Unfortunately our vet is not the best, she is quite old and seems to have ideas about diabetes management that are out of step with these protocols, so I've mostly been managing on my own, but I would love some input from experienced folx about how to handle this situation. As far as I can tell my options are:

1. go down to "just a drop" BID, see what happens if I can hold it there for several days...

2. try an OTJ trial, see what happens

3. start some method of deciding whether to give insulin or not based on pre-shot number

Thank you for any advice!

finn+Beaux
 
Hey, if your question was not answered, try adding the ? to your title. Go to edit title and you will see a blue box that says ?. Click on the ? Mark and hit save. That’s what I usually do if I have a question as it lets the admins know.
 
Yikes, quite the wild ride you've had. Can you tell me what you are feeding Beaux now as his regular food? And how often during the day? Feeding might help even him out. A few more details we like to see in your signature to help us are described in this post:
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!

I think I would try a drop dose. Do you know how to do that? Just push hard on the syringe plunger, insert into the pen/vial, then release the plunger pressure and it should vacuum up a drop.

When you see a low number under 50, you do have to keep testing more frequently to keep him safe. Details on how to proceed in here:
Don't Panic! or How to Handle Low Numbers You should be feeding high carb when he goes low, but it can wear off and his numbers go back down again. We do not want him to be spending any time under 50 while he's on insulin.

We don't have much experience here with Bexacat kitties, even less with ones who have been on it and then switched to insulin. Can I ask why the switch? The fact he was on Bexacat first should also go in the signature.
 
Also, is it possible for you to get an evening test, say before you go to bed? I'm worried he could be going lower at night, like many cats do.
 
Thanks Wendy.

Beaux is a grazer, but eats bigger amounts early in the morning (when I give the first dose of the day) and end of the day (when I give second dose). FF classic pates and some of the <10% carb weruvas. I was thinking, I may try just reducing the various flavor options down to a couple to see if that makes any difference.

I may try the "drop only" dose and see what happens for a few days.

I was so hesitant about the Bexacat because it's so new, but our vet wanted to try it. They can go euglycemic but develop ketones, which is what happened for Beaux. During the week on Bexacat they were in the nondiabetic range, and clearly felt so much better, so too bad it didn't work out.
 
Do you think he'd eat more if you freshen it up a few hours after the shot? Ideally he'd eat a bit more closer to the middle of the cycle when his numbers are dropping. Food is what keeps him safe. Some cats also do better with slightly higher carbs, maybe around 6-8%. There are quite a few Weruva in the 1-2% range and maybe try some in the slightly higher carb range.

Are you still testing for ketones at home? Having a cat go from Bexacat to insulin is fairly new for us, so I'm just curious if being on insulin solved that problem. We have unfortunately seen a cat on Bexacat go into DKA. :(
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Do you think he'd eat more if you freshen it up a few hours after the shot? Ideally he'd eat a bit more closer to the middle of the cycle when his numbers are dropping. Food is what keeps him safe. Some cats also do better with slightly higher carbs, maybe around 6-8%. There are quite a few Weruva in the 1-2% range and maybe try some in the slightly higher carb range.

Are you still testing for ketones at home? Having a cat go from Bexacat to insulin is fairly new for us, so I'm just curious if being on insulin solved that problem. We have unfortunately seen a cat on Bexacat go into DKA. :(
Click to expand...

Oh yes, I work from home and add fresh food every few hours for now. I think you have a good point, maybe I will try for a couple days each way and see what works best.

I actually haven't checked the ketones at home for a little while; I was using the urine test strips to monitor while they were on Bexacat but didn't know until they had blood tested at the vet (I guess those are two different kind of ketones). There were only ever a couple of days where there was a "trace" amount in the urine, that was before the Bexacat. I guess I stopped testing when the blood sugars were staying lower, but I will keep in mind this is another piece of info I have the tools to gather and maybe would give more insight about fluctuations.
 
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