Has she been getting Lantus since diagnosis? The ss just starts a few days ago, but it looks like she was diagnosed 2 weeks ago. It might help if you insert a row(s) above the 1st row in the spreadsheet and add any data you have from August 20th til September 5th.
I would hold the 1.5u for now. She's looking really good on it. Let's assume you're starting with the
Start Low Go Slow dosing method - although you are testing more than enough to follow the
Tight Regulation Protocol developed by Dr. Rand at the Univ of Queensland.
The main differences between the 2:
- If a cat is eating any dry food, SLGS is the only dosing method available. Canned low carb or raw food is a requisite for following Tight Reg.
- How often you test matters - with Tight Reg you need to test at least 3 times each day (both preshots and at least one mid-cycle). With SLGS you adjust dosing by doing a curve once a week. SLGS is best for people who can't test at least 3 times per day.
- There's a difference in how often you adjust the dose. SLGS evalutates and possibly increases the dose once a week. Tight Reg allows for evaluating and increasing the dose as often as every 3 days, depending on the tests.
If a person can test enough and if the cat is eating low carb, then the Tight Reg Protocol offers the huge advantage of being able to adjust the dose frequently. Holding a dose for a week can seem like an eternity if you can see the dose isn't getting the cat into normal numbers. Watching your cat sit in high numbers isn't fun. The Tight Reg protocol is also the only dosing protocol for treating a cat with Lantus/Levemir that has been published in a professional veterinary journal. The study determined that getting a newly diagnosed cat's blood sugar into normal range as quickly as possible after diagnosis increases that cat's chances of having their pancreas heal and become diet-controlled. So . . . it's completely up to you, but if you can manage the testing, then it can be a plus to follow Tight Reg.
Assuming you're going with SLGS, stick with this dose for one week, then do a curve per the directions below. Then compare the tests you get on the curve with the info below and decide if you should hold or increase the dose.
Hold the dose for at least a week
- Unless your cat won’t eat or you suspect hypoglycemia
- Unless your kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L) if kitty falls below 90 mg/dL (5 mmol/L) decrease the dose by 0.25 unit immediately.
After 1 week at a given dose perform a 12 hour curve, testing every 2 hours OR perform an 18 hour curve, testing every 3 hours
Note: Random spot checks are often helpful to "fill in the blanks" on kitty's spreadsheet.
- If nadirs are more than 150 mg/dl (8.3 mmol/L), increase the dose by 0.25 unit
- If nadirs are between 90 (5 mmol/L) and 149 mg/dl (8.2 mmol/L), maintain the same dose
- If nadirs are below 90 mg/dl (5mmol/L), decrease the dose by 0.25 unit
- As your cat's blood glucose begins to fall mostly in the desired range [lowest point of the curve approaching 100 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/L) and pre-shot value around or below 300 mg/dl (16.6 mmol/L)], do lengthen the waiting time between dose increases. If you decide to change another factor (e.g., diet or other medications), don't increase the insulin dose until the other change is complete (but do decrease the dose if your cat's glucose numbers consistently fall below 90 mg/dl (5.0 mmol/L) as a result of the change). Don't be tempted to rush the process along by increasing the dose more quickly or in larger increments-- no matter how high your cat's blood glucose is! Rushing towards regulation will cost you time in the long run, because you may shoot past the right dose.
Lather, Rinse, and Repeat!