Wild glucose swings on the same dose. Normal? Partial or fur shots? Something else? I'm at a loss

Hey all.

I'm pretty new to the feline diabetes world. My cat was diagnosed with diabetes about two months ago and we've been struggling to find the right dose for her. We started her on 1 unit of Lantus for the first week, and that held her pretty consistently in the low 300s. Since it was steady, we increased to 1.5 units per the orders of our vet. This dropped her glucose crazy rapidly. Her nadir was in the 90s and her preshot was 120. Fearing that was too big a jump, we dropped down to 1.25 units to ease her into it. 1.25 units made us feel like we were right back where we started though. For the next week, her glucose was consistently in the 300s again. Feeling she was stabilized at 1.25, we jumped back up to 1.5. For about a week, this was the perfect dose. She was consistently under 250 glucose with nadirs in the 100s. We were really happy, until it started to spike again out of nowhere.

We continued the 1.5 units for about two weeks. For the second week though, her preshot insulin began to climb every time we tested. It went from 200s, then 300s, then 400s. Now, tonight her preshot glucose was 550. I don't want to panic and increase the dose, but I'm just so confused the dose was working so well, why is her glucose so high now? It's 200 points higher than it ever got on 1 unit. Is this normal? Does it sound like I'm screwing up the shots? I inject her in shaved spots, so I can visually see the needle go in the skin, so I'm almost certain they're not fur shots. Could my technique still be wrong? Are big fluctuations like this normal? Just feeling really frustrated and dejected right now.

If you guys need any sort of info I've left out, let me know, I'll add it ASAP. Thanks!

Hello and welcome. Big fluctuations are common in the beginning.

As far as info we need to help more, see the details in this post: New? How You Can Help Us Help You! Other things we like to know about are the type of food being fed, type of blood glucose meter, any other medical conditions. All of which can impact what numbers you see.

Sounds like you are home testing blood sugars? That is great. If you could set up a spreadsheet as indicated in the post linked, that would be very helpful.

A bit more about the fluctuations, one of the most common questions when people start out. You are likely seeing what we call bouncing:

• Bouncing is simply a natural reaction to what the cat's system perceives as a BG value that is "too low". "Too low" is relative. If a cat is used to BGs in the 200's, 300's, or higher for a long time, then even a BG that drops to 150 can trigger a "bounce". Bouncing can also be triggered if the blood glucose drops too low and/or too fast.The pancreas, then the liver, release glucogon, glycogen and counter-regulatory hormones. The end result is a dumping of "sugar" into the bloodstream to save the cat from going hypoglycemic from a perceived low. The action is often referred to as "liver panic" or "panicky liver". *Usually*, a bounce will clear kitty's system within 3 days (6 cycles).

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