Intro— Wade and oregano (booboo). Diagnosed with diabetes four months ago, at age 16.

[wade]

Hello, I’m grateful to have found this site. My kitty, booboo, was diagnosed with feline diabetes in Sept. currently she is on 3 units of Lantus each am and 4 units of Lantus each pm. She has a monitor implant (changed every two weeks) and I scan her every 30-45 minutes during the day, closer to once every 60-90 minutes each night. I am terrified she’s going to have a low glucose event and I miss it so I’ve become somewhat obsessive about scanning her monitor to check her numbers. I sleep in the living room with her on my lap so as to be near her in case this happens.

but the problem is the opposite actually; despite the four units at night she rarely drops below 350 and frequently reads “hi” all night, which is greater than 400. I upload her data to the portal for the vet each night at midnight and she is averaging over the past 90 days 332. The vet has slowly moved us from 1 unit morning and night to the current 3 and 4 we are at now, but it doesn’t seem to be working that well at night. They do not seem overly concerned and tell me anything under 300 is the goal.

The situation is complicated additionally because booboo is paralyzed in her hindquarters (the result of trauma she sustained in an air conditioning unit in November ‘21) and consequently gets chronic uti’s. She can’t posture to poop so I do that for her manually each night. She is always either on my lap (in a kitty bed with pee pads as she is incontinent) or in whatever room I’m in with me. I rarely leave the house as I’m concerned about her glucose dropping. I don’t mind staying home with her; I work from home and she’s a sweet kitty who deserves the love. She’s old and I know I do not have forever with her.

my question is: is this sort of stubbornly high (350-400) glucose numbers (especially at night in our case) normal even after four units of Lantus each night? Am I just being impatient or is there a greater issue here do you think?

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Hello and welcome. You and Booboo have been through a lot.

Can you tell me what type of food Booboo eats? Food makes a big difference in how much insulin a cat needs. There are also medical conditions and medications that can make a difference. Infections, like her common UTI can make a difference too.

The choice of Lantus insulin is a good one. But we find with out dosing methods it works best if you give the same dose in the AM and PM. If you could share some of her numbers with us, we might be able to give some suggestions. Most of us have our cat's numbers in a spreadsheet. Details on that and other common information we like to see are in this post:
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!

 

[wade]

Hello and welcome. You and Booboo have been through a lot.

Can you tell me what type of food Booboo eats? Food makes a big difference in how much insulin a cat needs. There are also medical conditions and medications that can make a difference. Infections, like her common UTI can make a difference too.

The choice of Lantus insulin is a good one. But we find with out dosing methods it works best if you give the same dose in the AM and PM. If you could share some of her numbers with us, we might be able to give some suggestions. Most of us have our cat's numbers in a spreadsheet. Details on that and other common information we like to see are in this post:
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!

Hello and welcome. You and Booboo have been through a lot.

Can you tell me what type of food Booboo eats? Food makes a big difference in how much insulin a cat needs. There are also medical conditions and medications that can make a difference. Infections, like her common UTI can make a difference too.

The choice of Lantus insulin is a good one. But we find with out dosing methods it works best if you give the same dose in the AM and PM. If you could share some of her numbers with us, we might be able to give some suggestions. Most of us have our cat's numbers in a spreadsheet. Details on that and other common information we like to see are in this post:
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!

Hello and thank you so much for your reply. I’m still getting used to the fact that there is an entire community of people out there who have been through/are going through something similar. It’s a comforting thought in all honesty.

booboo eats either dr. Elsey’s clean protein crunchies or tikicat born carnivore crunchies for about 80% of her intake. (Both grain free). The other 20% is purina low carb grain free pate. She does not like soft food near as much as the crunchies and if she won’t eat I can’t give her her insulin. I’d prefer she ate only soft/wet food but she’s finicky.

I have an appt tomorrow with the vet to have her sensor swapped out for a new one and can inquire about having the am and pm insulin doses be the same.
Also great tip re the spreadsheet. I will get that put together tomorrow.

thank you very much for the assistance and recommendations. I watched your tribute video for neko just now. Very sweet and such a pretty girl she was.


Thank you again. Wade and booboo.

 

[Rosie Lass]

Hello and thank you so much for your reply. I’m still getting used to the fact that there is an entire community of people out there who have been through/are going through something similar. It’s a comforting thought in all honesty.

booboo eats either dr. Elsey’s clean protein crunchies or tikicat born carnivore crunchies for about 80% of her intake. (Both grain free). The other 20% is purina low carb grain free pate. She does not like soft food near as much as the crunchies and if she won’t eat I can’t give her her insulin. I’d prefer she ate only soft/wet food but she’s finicky.

I have an appt tomorrow with the vet to have her sensor swapped out for a new one and can inquire about having the am and pm insulin doses be the same.
Also great tip re the spreadsheet. I will get that put together tomorrow.

thank you very much for the assistance and recommendations. I watched your tribute video for neko just now. Very sweet and such a pretty girl she was.


Thank you again. Wade and booboo.

Just so you know, you can apply the sensor yourself and save some money and a vet trip. There are instructions on this site or you can have your vet show you.

 

[CORKY]

Just so you know, you can apply the sensor yourself and save some money and a vet trip. There are instructions on this site or you can have your vet show you.

Welcome to FDF, YES! all over the world in this forum at one time or another our precious furr babies become diabetic and it is overwhelming, but this Forum is a game changer, the support and knowledge of the long time members dealing on a daily basis with diabetic cats can and it is trusted; so you are in the right place, no concern is a small concern, post post and post there will always be someone here to answer you, the faster you create your signature and spreadsheet , we can guide you on dosing and concerns. As you mentioned your cat likes crunchy food, all cats do, but unfortunately most if not all, even if your Vet was to "prescribe" these foods have an immense amount of carbs from 14-20%, Below you will have a carb calculator that you can use to calculate the foods you are feeding( which as you say are feeding low carb % foods) link to Drs Food list below, third column contains the % of carbs, many brands to choose from; do not worry about being obsessed with testing, it is a good thing, I do, if you see Corky's Spreadsheet I test every 2 hours. for what I can gather you are using the Libre, it is an easy way to see the BG without bothering to prick your cat, but it has its downfall. The sensors are expensive, they tend to fall off or stop working before the 14 days, when the BG is above 365 if luck it will read HI, and if the BG is 100 or less it will read about 20+ less, home testing is more accurate, most of us use the ReliOn Premier human monitor and strips, very inexpensive and you can purchase it at Walmart, if you are in the US, the monitor is $19.99(n0 batteries needed) and the strips are $9.0 for 50,and 17.88 for 100.
and yes, if you decide to keep the Libre, you do not need to pay a Vet bill to replace the sensor, you can do it's like taking a wrapper off a lollipop.
FOOD CHART CHECK CARBS/ FF
Cat Food Nutrition Calculator | Elizabeth C Scheyder

 

[Wendy&Neko]

booboo eats either dr. Elsey’s clean protein crunchies or tikicat born carnivore crunchies for about 80% of her intake. (Both grain free). The other 20% is purina low carb grain free pate.

Can you tell me the exact name of the purina? Grain free doesn't mean low carb. The Titicat is not what we'd consider low carb food, but rather medium carb.

There is a FB group for pet parents of diabetics using the Freestyle Libre.

 

[wade]

Welcome to FDF, YES! all over the world in this forum at one time or another our precious furr babies become diabetic and it is overwhelming, but this Forum is a game changer, the support and knowledge of the long time members dealing on a daily basis with diabetic cats can and it is trusted; so you are in the right place, no concern is a small concern, post post and post there will always be someone here to answer you, the faster you create your signature and spreadsheet , we can guide you on dosing and concerns. As you mentioned your cat likes crunchy food, all cats do, but unfortunately most if not all, even if your Vet was to "prescribe" these foods have an immense amount of carbs from 14-20%, Below you will have a carb calculator that you can use to calculate the foods you are feeding( which as you say are feeding low carb % foods) link to Drs Food list below, third column contains the % of carbs, many brands to choose from; do not worry about being obsessed with testing, it is a good thing, I do, if you see Corky's Spreadsheet I test every 2 hours. for what I can gather you are using the Libre, it is an easy way to see the BG without bothering to prick your cat, but it has its downfall. The sensors are expensive, they tend to fall off or stop working before the 14 days, when the BG is above 365 if luck it will read HI, and if the BG is 100 or less it will read about 20+ less, home testing is more accurate, most of us use the ReliOn Premier human monitor and strips, very inexpensive and you can purchase it at Walmart, if you are in the US, the monitor is $19.99(n0 batteries needed) and the strips are $9.0 for 50,and 17.88 for 100.
and yes, if you decide to keep the Libre, you do not need to pay a Vet bill to replace the sensor, you can do it's like taking a wrapper off a lollipop.
FOOD CHART CHECK CARBS/ FF
Cat Food Nutrition Calculator | Elizabeth C Scheyder

Wow this is great information. The libre is terribly pricey. Fifty bucks per device and the vet hits me for 340 bucks to put it on her. After the advice I got on this forum yesterday I watched YouTube videos on how to put it on myself moving forward and it seems surprisingly simple. So that’s my move moving forward if we stick with the libre.

I am interested in the other method you mention—the ReliOn Premier. Does that require sticking her? I would like to avoid that if possible.

Re the food: this is an area the vet has not really mentioned but I’m learning that it’s a significant one. I’m going to strive to find a crunchy low carb food because she really likes the crunch and is such a finicky eater. And if she won’t eat her meal I can’t give her the insulin she needs per the vet.

if a low carb crunchy option isn’t a thing I will just have to trial and error it with the low carb soft food until I find one she will eat. Therein is the issue though; she stays in the mid to high 300s even with her insulin so I need to make sure she doesn’t miss her insulin. So she’s got to eat. Lately she has begun to seem a bit symptomatic too; listless, squinty eyes, head drooping some, purring much less than usual. This just started in the past four days so the vet today told me to increase her morning dose to 4 units and her evening dose to 5.

Thank you for the food recommendations— I’m diving into that now.
Wade and booboo

 

[CORKY]

Wow this is great information. The libre is terribly pricey. Fifty bucks per device and the vet hits me for 340 bucks to put it on her. After the advice I got on this forum yesterday I watched YouTube videos on how to put it on myself moving forward and it seems surprisingly simple. So that’s my move moving forward if we stick with the libre.

I am interested in the other method you mention—the ReliOn Premier. Does that require sticking her? I would like to avoid that if possible.

Re the food: this is an area the vet has not really mentioned but I’m learning that it’s a significant one. I’m going to strive to find a crunchy low carb food because she really likes the crunch and is such a finicky eater. And if she won’t eat her meal I can’t give her the insulin she needs per the vet.

if a low carb crunchy option isn’t a thing I will just have to trial and error it with the low carb soft food until I find one she will eat. Therein is the issue though; she stays in the mid to high 300s even with her insulin so I need to make sure she doesn’t miss her insulin. So she’s got to eat. Lately she has begun to seem a bit symptomatic too; listless, squinty eyes, head drooping some, purring much less than usual. This just started in the past four days so the vet today told me to increase her morning dose to 4 units and her evening dose to 5.

Thank you for the food recommendations— I’m diving into that now.
Wade and booboo

Wade, there are many sticky notes in the Main Forum, on the upper left side of the page you will see FORUM click there, you will find different titles click on the post forum and check them out, lots of information there for you, and yes you need to poke the ear, but cats get used to it quite easy, once the capillaries swell it’s a game changer I have a couple of videos showing how to, but our download from here is not working, I can send them to you via email, but do not put your email address here you can pm me is private, if you like, just click on Corky’s picture and a window will pop up, click on star a conversation, and title it how to test and insert your email is up to you, Corky sees me with the he monitor and he positions himself for me to test him, lots of cuddles before and a treat after did the trick

 

[squeem3]

Look into air dried raw food. It's hard and crunchy like kibble but healthier and lower in carbs. The main downside is a bag is really really expensive, $30 or so for a 14 ounce bag. Ziwi Peak is one brand. Freeze dried raw is another option. It's softer in texture, kind of like astronaut ice cream. You can feed it dry but it really should be rehydrated in water before serving.

There are tips on how to transition diets here: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/transitioning-your-cat-from-dry-to-wet-food.956/

 

[CORKY]

Look into air dried raw food. It's hard and crunchy like kibble but healthier and lower in carbs. The main downside is a bag is really really expensive, $30 or so for a 14 ounce bag. Ziwi Peak is one brand. Freeze dried raw is another option. It's softer in texture, kind of like astronaut ice cream. You can feed it dry but it really should be rehydrated in water before serving.

There are tips on how to transition diets here: https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/transitioning-your-cat-from-dry-to-wet-food.956/

Try CHEWY.COM, I buy everything there and a first Customer You get 25% off on your firs order they have EVERYTHING. 20% cheaper then anyone. I use pretty Litter at Walmart it’s $32.00 pretty litter web site $25.00 Chewy $23.00 and no shipping charge I buy by the month and if you buy auto ship you get 5% off for every item in the main forum you also have a page on how to transition from dry to wet food, please keep in mind that when you begin the transition you go slow and test often sometimes a change in food can lower the BG unexpectedly

 

[squeem3]

OnlyNaturaPet.com has a larger selection, I think. https://www.onlynaturalpet.com/collections/freeze-dried-cat-food There's a few dry foods mixed in for some reason. Definitely compare prices and also see what your local independent pet stores sell or can order.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

The Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein is low carb so that is one option. What protein is booboo getting now? Carb % varies.

Please don't increase your cats dose. 5 units is a lot of insulin, especially if you aren't home testing her blood sugars. We increase by smaller amounts than 1 unit at a time, and find Lantus works better if you give the same dose AM and PM.

I recommend you go to a human pharmacy and get some ketone urine testing strips - Ketostix is one such brand. Tips to catch and test a urine sample Ketones are a danger when a cat is in high numbers. Listless/lethargy is concerning.

And if she won’t eat her meal I can’t give her the insulin she needs per the vet.

Not true. Even cats under going anaethesia who cannot eat, can still get a half dose. If she's in high numbers and lethargic, you do not want to miss giving insulin.

 

[wade]

OnlyNaturaPet.com has a larger selection, I think. https://www.onlynaturalpet.com/collections/freeze-dried-cat-food There's a few dry foods mixed in for some reason. Definitely compare prices and also see what your local independent pet stores sell or can order.

Thank you for the information. This is very useful. Booboo gets dr elsey’s clean protein as her crunchies (about 80% other calories) and purina grain free pate for her wet food. I am slowly slowly migrating her more fully to the wet food.

I bought the urine ketostix and am going to read that article about how to test her urine tonight.

Also I am keeping her insulin at 4 and not raising it to 5. Tonight she was at 196 when I gave her her 4 units. I will be staying up with her all night to make sure she does not have a low glucose event. Is there a number beneath which I should skip the insulin?

 

[wade]

Also I can’t tell you how relieving it is to k ow y’all are out there. This is super stressful. The vet is good but not overly accessible and not particularly concerned. But I know my kitty and she just doesn’t feel good during the day when she has been “hi”/400+ all night. She stated around 250-350 last night which I know is still too high but she felt so much better today.

hard to overstate how much I appreciate all y’all’s time and experience and willingness to share. —Wade and booboo

 

[wade]

Hello and welcome. You and Booboo have been through a lot.

Can you tell me what type of food Booboo eats? Food makes a big difference in how much insulin a cat needs. There are also medical conditions and medications that can make a difference. Infections, like her common UTI can make a difference too.

The choice of Lantus insulin is a good one. But we find with out dosing methods it works best if you give the same dose in the AM and PM. If you could share some of her numbers with us, we might be able to give some suggestions. Most of us have our cat's numbers in a spreadsheet. Details on that and other common information we like to see are in this post:
New? How You Can Help Us Help You!

I am going to learn how to do the spreadsheet and post it. That is my Saturday project.

 

[wade]

Try CHEWY.COM, I buy everything there and a first Customer You get 25% off on your firs order they have EVERYTHING. 20% cheaper then anyone. I use pretty Litter at Walmart it’s $32.00 pretty litter web site $25.00 Chewy $23.00 and no shipping charge I buy by the month and if you buy auto ship you get 5% off for every item in the main forum you also have a page on how to transition from dry to wet food, please keep in mind that when you begin the transition you go slow and test often sometimes a change in food can lower the BG unexpectedly

So I was reviewing corky’s spreadsheet to get a sense of how to structure booboo’s and notice how great his numbers are. Gives me hope that I can get booboo there if I do this right.

 

[CORKY]

So I was reviewing corky’s spreadsheet to get a sense of how to structure booboo’s and notice how great his numbers are. Gives me hope that I can get booboo there if I do this right.

It’s possible, Boboo will also get there, my advise is to trust this forum as blindly as I have, it would have been possible without the guidance of these amazing members. take a step back breath in and breath out, post and trust, he will get there too

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Tonight she was at 196 when I gave her her 4 units. I will be staying up with her all night to make sure she does not have a low glucose event. Is there a number beneath which I should skip the insulin?

We tell new people not to shoot under 200. One thing you can do if you see a number under 200 again, is to wait 15-20 minutes without feeding, and see if she goes up over 200 before shooting.

Can you check the blood sugar two hours after you shot and update us? That'll give you a heads up if she's going to dive low tonight. Do you have some higher carb food around, just in case you need to raise her numbers? Honey or karo will work too.

I liked my vet, but she only worked 4 days a week, and actually had the afternoon shift. She usually didn't call me until after 8PM which was too late to change a dose as I'd already shot. I learned to depend on the people here to help me. As it's turns out, it was a locum vet for her who got us switched to Lantus and told me to go to FDMB (I was already lurking) and listen to them about dosing.

 

[CORKY]

We tell new people not to shoot under 200. One thing you can do if you see a number under 200 again, is to wait 15-20 minutes without feeding, and see if she goes up over 200 before shooting.

Can you check the blood sugar two hours after you shot and update us? That'll give you a heads up if she's going to dive low tonight. Do you have some higher carb food around, just in case you need to raise her numbers? Honey or karo will work too.

I liked my vet, but she only worked 4 days a week, and actually had the afternoon shift. She usually didn't call me until after 8PM which was too late to change a dose as I'd already shot. I learned to depend on the people here to help me. As it's turns out, it was a locum vet for her who got us switched to Lantus and told me to go to FDMB (I was already lurking) and listen to them about dosing.

Love this

 

[wade]

We tell new people not to shoot under 200. One thing you can do if you see a number under 200 again, is to wait 15-20 minutes without feeding, and see if she goes up over 200 before shooting.

Can you check the blood sugar two hours after you shot and update us? That'll give you a heads up if she's going to dive low tonight. Do you have some higher carb food around, just in case you need to raise her numbers? Honey or karo will work too.

I liked my vet, but she only worked 4 days a week, and actually had the afternoon shift. She usually didn't call me until after 8PM which was too late to change a dose as I'd already shot. I learned to depend on the people here to help me. As it's turns out, it was a locum vet for her who got us switched to Lantus and told me to go to FDMB (I was already lurking) and listen to them about dosing.

So she bounced around from 196 when I gave her the 4 units to 259 1.5 hours later (at 11:00 pm). At midnight she was at 198 and at 12:26 ( seven minutes ago) she’s at 113. So I am checking again in three more minutes.

I have caro syrup, high carb crunchies, an high carb gravy treat she loves, and syringes in case I have to administer the syrup rectally. My toolkit on that front is good.

what is the number at which I should intervene and begin working to get her BG up?

 

[wade]

Love this

exactly what I needed to hear.

 

[wade]

Love this

I just scanned her sensor again (12:38) and its decided to give me an error message saying it can’t get the reading and to try again in ten minutes. This happens from time to time but it is difficulties. I’m worried about a crash. Very frustrating and probably a good reason to have the blood test option. I’ll be getting that asap starting tomorrow.
In the meantime I’ll be scanning sgain in ten minutes in hopes the scanner will work. If not, and given that she was at 113 and dropping fifteen minutes ago, and got 4 units of Lantus at 930 this evening, would it be prudent to just give her some crunchies to get the numbers up a bit?

 

[Wendy&Neko]

You don't want her under 50. You have a bit of time. But it's only 3 hours after the shot and the blood glucose can still go down for a few hours. Let's see if you can get the sensor back first. One of the reasons we suggest people learn to test with a blood glucose meter, as a backup.

I think you need to consider shooting 3 units in the PM as well as the AM. Many cats go lower at night and 4 units looks like too much. We find Lantus works best with the same dose AM and PM.

 

[wade]

I just scanned her sensor again (12:38) and its decided to give me an error message saying it can’t get the reading and to try again in ten minutes. This happens from time to time but it is difficulties. I’m worried about a crash. Very frustrating and probably a good reason to have the blood test option. I’ll be getting that asap starting tomorrow.
In the meantime I’ll be scanning sgain in ten minutes in hopes the scanner will work. If not, and given that she was at 113 and dropping fifteen minutes ago, and got 4 units of Lantus at 930 this evening, would it be prudent to just give her some crunchies to get the numbers up a bit?

update: scanned at 1:07 am est and it’s 273, a full 160 higher than where her BG was 40 min earlier (113). Don’t know why—I didn’t give her any food yet since her 3 pm snack.

 

[wade]

You don't want her under 50. You have a bit of time. But it's only 3 hours after the shot and the blood glucose can still go down for a few hours. Let's see if you can get the sensor back first. One of the reasons we suggest people learn to test with a blood glucose meter, as a backup.

I think you need to consider shooting 3 units in the PM as well as the AM. Many cats go lower at night and 4 units looks like too much. We find Lantus works best with the same dose AM and PM.

Ok. This is good advice. Thank you. 3 morning and night may be the way then.

I’m checking every 20 min through the night to make sure she doesn’t crash.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

OK, she is safe now. Good thing you didn't feed the higher carb snacks. If you can go two hours with numbers flat or rising from here, and she hasn't had any high carb food in that time, she'll be safe for the night. You've already done 40 minutes, so just another hour and 20.

 

[wade]

OK, she is safe now. Good thing you didn't feed the higher carb snacks. If you can go two hours with numbers flat or rising from here, and she hasn't had any high carb food in that time, she'll be safe for the night. You've already done 40 minutes, so just another hour and 20.

ok thank you so much. Will check for another hour and 20 and go from there. Thank you again for taking the time to help booboo and me.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

No worries. Someone helped me when I started out, just paying it back.

 

[CORKY]

No worries. Someone helped me when I started out, just paying it back.

The syrup is not necessary rectally you can just place the syringe by the side back of the mouth and don’t give all at once the syrup is a quick fix, test every 15-20 minutes feed 1- tsp of medium carbs wait 20 minute are test and repeat until BG has normalized, the high carb is to when HI BG is very very low after the syrup, and a tap at a time test and repeat

 

[CORKY]

I just scanned her sensor again (12:38) and its decided to give me an error message saying it can’t get the reading and to try again in ten minutes. This happens from time to time but it is difficulties. I’m worried about a crash. Very frustrating and probably a good reason to have the blood test option. I’ll be getting that asap starting tomorrow.
In the meantime I’ll be scanning sgain in ten minutes in hopes the scanner will work. If not, and given that she was at 113 and dropping fifteen minutes ago, and got 4 units of Lantus at 930 this evening, would it be prudent to just give her some crunchies to get the numbers up a bit?

Once the scanner gives error hat means it stoped working this is why is so important to have a human monitor and strips handy. You do not want Boo-boo to go under 50 and not know it

 

[wade]

Where do you recommend getting the human monitor and strips? Just any pharmacy or is there a type that’s better than others?

 

[CORKY]

Where do you recommend getting the human monitor and strips? Just any pharmacy or is there a type that’s better than others?

If you are in US most of the members use the ReliOn Premier human monitor and strips, at Walmart.com the monitor is $19.99 no batteries needed, and the strips are $9.00 for 50 and $17.99 for 100 very inexpensive and reliable, I use it for Corky as well, you do not need a pet monitor in case the vet recommends it,

 

[wade]

If you are in US most of the members use the ReliOn Premier human monitor and strips, at Walmart.com the monitor is $19.99 no batteries needed, and the strips are $9.00 for 50 and $17.99 for 100 very inexpensive and reliable, I use it for Corky as well, you do not need a pet monitor in case the vet recommends it,

Perfect. Thank you very much. On my list for Saturday.

 

[wade]

If you are in US most of the members use the ReliOn Premier human monitor and strips, at Walmart.com the monitor is $19.99 no batteries needed, and the strips are $9.00 for 50 and $17.99 for 100 very inexpensive and reliable, I use it for Corky as well, you do not need a pet monitor in case the vet recommends it,

I’m wondering if you might have some guidance for me. Booboo is at 121 right now after eating. I have NOT given her her evening Lantus dose of 4 units because I read here two nights ago that under 200 I should not give it to her. Do I skip tonight’s dose? Normally she gets it at nine pm sharp so we are over two hours late now. She’s reading 125 BG as of now. What do I do regarding tonight’s dose? Give half (2 units)? None at all tonight and resume normal dosing in the morning? I’d be grateful for any input you might have.

 

[CORKY]

I’m wondering if you might have some guidance for me. Booboo is at 121 right now after eating. I have NOT given her her evening Lantus dose of 4 units because I read here two nights ago that under 200 I should not give it to her. Do I skip tonight’s dose? Normally she gets it at nine pm sharp so we are over two hours late now. She’s reading 125 BG as of now. What do I do regarding tonight’s dose? Give half (2 units)? None at all tonight and resume normal dosing in the morning? I’d be grateful for any input you might have.

I cannot advise you on dosing especially on Lantus Corky uses ProZinc, but I will tag several members that can I’m glad I could help
@Wendy&Neko GA
@Sienne and Gabby (GA)

 

[CORKY]

I’m wondering if you might have some guidance for me. Booboo is at 121 right now after eating. I have NOT given her her evening Lantus dose of 4 units because I read here two nights ago that under 200 I should not give it to her. Do I skip tonight’s dose? Normally she gets it at nine pm sharp so we are over two hours late now. She’s reading 125 BG as of now. What do I do regarding tonight’s dose? Give half (2 units)? None at all tonight and resume normal dosing in the morning? I’d be grateful for any input you might have.

I do know that reduction and increases are done by .25 u when needed, there was one other new member with your similar Im concern, but I am not familiar how low should Lantus takes for reduction or if you should hold the dose I’ve do not have data to see, but I am sure one of these members or another will step in

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I never received Maria/Corky's tag.

As a general consideration, if you're stalling giving insulin because the pre-shot number is lower than you're comfortable with, you need to give some thought to your schedule. Whatever time you give a shot, the next shot is due 12-hours later. Even though you work from home, being off schedule by several hours can make life complicated! You have a couple of options:

• you can give a reduced dose
• you can stall -- test every 20 - 30 min -- and see if numbers are rising
• or you can skip the shot

If you are off schedule, you would need to walk the time back if you want to return to your original shot time. With Lantus, you can shoot earlier by 30 min once a day or by 15 min at each shot time. Because Lantus is a depot type of insulin, you don't want to give the shot 2+ hours early. Early shots act like dose increases whereas late shots act like dose reductions.

You might want to take a few minutes to read the yellow sticky notes at the top of the Lantus board. The notes discuss how Lantus works, the depot, dosing methods and lost of other information.

 

[squeem3]

Where do you recommend getting the human monitor and strips? Just any pharmacy or is there a type that’s better than others?

Any pharmacy sells various brands of (Human) blood glucose meters: AccuChek, FreeStyle, store generic brand, Contour, etc. Most people seem to have a few criteria when choosing a meter: one that has inexpensive test strips because that is what you need to buy often, the test strips are easily available to buy in the store if you forget to place an online order, test strips that use a small drop of blood (0.3ul or less). WalMar'ts ReliOn brand is popular and it looks like you can buy everything online if you don't have a store nearby. I wouldn't buy a random unheard of brand off Amazon because most likely the test trips are only sold on Amazon so if you forget to order more or a shipment is delayed, you can't run to a pharmacy to buy more when you're down to your last test strip and your cat is having a hypo.