1/11 Buster Dosing Advice

Kim & Buster

Kim & Buster

Member Since 2022
Apologies for any errors in formatting - I’m a regular in the FB group but this is my first post on the message board!

Today I made the decision to increase my cat Busters dose from 1.25 to 1.5 units of Lantus. Does this seem like the right move? Just want to be sure - his spreadsheet should be in my signature. He was diagnosed at the end of November.
 
Good job on the signature. :) What do you mean by "combo food"? Is he being treated for hyperthyroidism? Hyperthyroidism can impact blood sugar numbers.

A note on the spreadsheet, you have a comment on the top that below 60 is hypo. That is not true. A cat not on insulin can test even in the 40's, we just don't want cats getting insulin to go that low.

When following SLGS, people will hold the dose for a week, do a curve, then decide if the dose needs to be increased. In that week, people need to get preshot tests to make sure it's safe to give insulin, and where they can, spot check tests, including at night time. The goal is to try to find out how low the dose is taking the cat. Lantus curves typically are higher numbers at preshot, then the numbers curve down somewhere in the middle of the cycle (time between shots), then back up to the next preshot time. Many cats go lower at night, so we suggest getting a test just before you go to bed at night, to see if he's going lower at night.

I don't see a curve on the 1.25 unit dose, though there was one on the 1.5 unit dose before you reduced to 1.25 units. The goal of SLGS is get nadirs or low points of the dose in the 90-149 range. With the data I see, the increase was OK. But there are still a few what we call "white spaces" on the spreadsheet, where there is no data. If you can get a bit more tests than you have done, with some more night data, we can make sure the 1.5 units is not taking him too low.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Good job on the signature. :) What do you mean by "combo food"? Is he being treated for hyperthyroidism? Hyperthyroidism can impact blood sugar numbers.

A note on the spreadsheet, you have a comment on the top that below 60 is hypo. That is not true. A cat not on insulin can test even in the 40's, we just don't want cats getting insulin to go that low.

When following SLGS, people will hold the dose for a week, do a curve, then decide if the dose needs to be increased. In that week, people need to get preshot tests to make sure it's safe to give insulin, and where they can, spot check tests, including at night time. The goal is to try to find out how low the dose is taking the cat. Lantus curves typically are higher numbers at preshot, then the numbers curve down somewhere in the middle of the cycle (time between shots), then back up to the next preshot time. Many cats go lower at night, so we suggest getting a test just before you go to bed at night, to see if he's going lower at night.

I don't see a curve on the 1.25 unit dose, though there was one on the 1.5 unit dose before you reduced to 1.25 units. The goal of SLGS is get nadirs or low points of the dose in the 90-149 range. With the data I see, the increase was OK. But there are still a few what we call "white spaces" on the spreadsheet, where there is no data. If you can get a bit more tests than you have done, with some more night data, we can make sure the 1.5 units is not taking him too low.
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thanks so much for this! He gets 2 cans of Friskies pate a day + Dr Elseys dry food, and sometimes some chicken baby food to supplement. He’s currently on 1.25mg of methimazole 2X a day for the hyperthyroidism, he was diagnosed at the same time as diabetes. He has a checkup later this month to see where his t4 is at, but last we checked it was 3.1.

That’s good to know about the hypo numbers, I appreciate that and will keep it in mind!!

It’s been hard to get good mid-cycle numbers since I work away from home and he gets his insulin at 7am/7pm. I might start setting some midnight or 1am alarms to wake up and try to get a better nadir reading.
 
Do you work away from home 7 days a week? If not, those days off are the chance to get mid cycle data. For the PM, even a +2 or +3 can be helpful telling us if he's going lower at night. Basically, if you see a big drop from the PMPS to the +2, it can signal a cycle where the numbers will be going lower.

Thanks for the updates to the signature. Maybe say Dr Elseys instead of just dry food, so we know it's one of the lower carb ones.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Do you work away from home 7 days a week? If not, those days off are the chance to get mid cycle data. For the PM, even a +2 or +3 can be helpful telling us if he's going lower at night. Basically, if you see a big drop from the PMPS to the +2, it can signal a cycle where the numbers will be going lower.

Thanks for the updates to the signature. Maybe say Dr Elseys instead of just dry food, so we know it's one of the lower carb ones.
Click to expand...

I'm home during the weekends, but this weekend I'll be going out of town and my dad will be taking care of Buster. I know asking him to test will be a little too much for him. I'd probably feel better getting some mid-cycle numbers before then to make sure he's not dropping too low. I definitely want to do a full curve the next day I can.
 
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