10/25 Seta AMPS 293

Ilaria_88

Ilaria_88

Member Since 2023
Hello everyone!

I’m Ilaria and my 11-year-old cat Seta was diagnosed as diabetic in July and since then I’ve been doing everything I can to get her blood sugar down.

Fortunately, even though she constantly has high blood sugar, she has no other health problems. After the diagnosis I immediately changed her diet and so far she only eats wet food with a low % of carbohydrates and eats boiled chicken, turkey and cod as snacks. The only problem is that her blood sugar is struggling to come down.

I think I went too fast with the dosages because she was always bouncing and as soon as I got to 2 units of Lantus I started to decrease the dose and started to see improvements.

I would like to know from the more expert people on the forum if I should decrease to 1.25u and keep this dose for a while.(I tried on 10/11 but seeing the numbers come back up I went back to 1.5u).
Seta spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V2uklJMk8XcpOH5DtW9cmcViFBsWaHseTob_kP8-cOQ/edit#gid=0
Thanks in advance!
 
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Hi Ilaria and Seta, welcome to FDMB! :-)

Very impressed that you've set-up your signature and spreadsheet before your very first post here! I can't see the SS - it says "Access Denied". You need to go to the Share option and choose "Anyone with link can view".
 
Thank you! I read a lot here on the forum before posting but there is always something that does't work :)
I have put the right link back in both the post and the signature, can you tell me if it works now?
 
I can see the SS now. Thanks :-)

If you are following SLGS, you hold doses for a week and then do a curve to see whether the cat needs more insulin (or less). However, that having been said, we tell members following SLGS to get as many spot checks as they can because just preshots and a weekly curve do not give you enough data on how low a dose is taking the cat. If the cat is bouncing on the day you do a curve, numbers will be high and flat - which does not mean that the cat needs more insulin. It could be that the cat dropped low the previous day and is bouncing from there.

You are testing quite a bit in the day but without enough tests at night you are getting only half the picture. She could be going lower at night and bouncing in the day.

Btw, why are you following SLGS and not TR? TR requires a minimum of 4 tests per day - 2 preshots and 2 mid-cycle. D you think you can manage that? If you can get a test before bed wvery night, you can switch to TR. That will help you get Seta to a good dose faster - and make dose changes faster than with SLGS.

What low carb food is she eating? Are you in the UK or Europe? I don't know if you've seen this list of low carb foods:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1J5JpMe6TDXrHq_aTl9hUtHy6Gs9oRBqlz4nPGKxtySA/pubhtml
 
Thanks for the explanation! I also think she has a lot of bounce so I wanted to try to go down to 1.25 units for at least a week and see what happens.:(

I didn't switch to TR precisely because I can't do the measurements at night. If I wake up then I can't go back to sleep and I can't work well during the day.
And I've read that you have to take a lot of measurements at night to avoid hypo with this protocol.

These days I'll see if I can take more measurements at night for more complete data.

I'm from Italy and I use wet food like Feringa, Thrive and Lily's kitchen.I always use the carb calculator so I don't make mistakes.
 
@Ilaria_88 welcome :bighug::bighug::bighug:.

When did you switch from Caninsulin to Lantus?
There are quite a few members here that have made the switch, it takes time but the bouncing gets less and less.
Keep asking questions and posting :bighug:
 
Thank you @Angela & Cleo ! We switched to Lantus on 19 August. But I went too fast with the dose increase. I think my cat needs 7-10 days to get used to a new dose



@Bandit's Mom I had already switched to the 1.75 unit dose last month and was rebounding practically every day.I kept the dose for 10 days. Then I switched to 2 units and it was the same situation that's why I'm decreasing.

When I started I didn't know about the existence of “new dose wonkiness” and when I saw high numbers I increased the dose instead of waiting.

I don't want to go back to black and red numbers....:arghh:

Yes, I can do that. From now on I’ll take +2 night measurements.
 
Ilaria_88 said:
I think my cat needs 7-10 days to get used to a new dose
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You don't hold a dose more than 7 days - even with SLGS - if the numbers aren't where you want them to be. By doing so, you risk glucose toxicity - a temporary form of insulin resistance where the cat's body gets used to higher numbers and it takes more effort (insulin) to break through to better numbers.

Ilaria_88 said:
@Bandit's Mom I had already switched to the 1.75 unit dose last month and was rebounding practically every day.I kept the dose for 10 days. Then I switched to 2 units and it was the same situation that's why I'm decreasing.
Click to expand...
A cat's insulin needs can and do change. 1.75U might have been too much one week but could be not enough the next week. Our job is to follow the numbers and take doses up and down accordingly. More than 2 weeks is ancient history in feline diabetes terms! :-) You do not want to decrease unless she earns a reduction by dropping below 90.

Ilaria_88 said:
I don't want to go back to black and red numbers....:arghh:
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Black and reds could just be her bouncing from lower numbers (below 200) that her body is not used to. It doesn't necessarily mean that the dose is too high. The only way to stop/reduce bouncing is to get her body used to lower numbers and that happens when she spends enough time in them - which will happen when she gets to a good dose. Being in yellows and pinks is not better than being in reds and blacks. That must be the zone her body is used to so it doesn't bounce, but that range is still too high.
 
@Ilaria_88
Welcome ,you couldn't have found a better group to join. If it wasn't for the experts giving me their advice Tyler wouldn't be in remission since 1-24-21
If you can add to your signature the food you are feeding and Italy that would be great, so members don't have to keep asking you.
Tap on your name above then tap on signature and add it then tap Save. :cat:
Seta is adorable, I'm jealous that your from Italy :p I'm all Italian and my dream would be to visit Italy. Where in Italy are you from. My mom was Sicilian and my dad was from Venice.
I think Italian is the most beautiful language :cat:
 
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Thank you all for the advice!

I have a question:

how come by lowering the dose her blood sugar also went down a bit? Shouldn't it go up instead due to the fact that I'm giving too little insulin?

I really don't understand this illness... If every week is really different from the previous one, it'll be hard to find the right dose for her.

It's so frustrating...:(
 
Ilaria_88 said:
really don't understand this illness... If every week is really different from the previous one, it'll be hard to find the right dose for her.

It's so frustrating...:(
Click to expand...

Bhooma is much more eloquent than I with explaining. It helps to remember that insulin is not 'medicine' it's a hormone and hormone needs change. It's one of the reasons we emphasize home testing and spot checks so we can see how the body is responding to the insulin and if kitty needs a little more or a little less.

Yes it's VERY frustrating :bighug:.
 
Ilaria_88 said:
Thank you all for the advice!

I have a question:

how come by lowering the dose her blood sugar also went down a bit? Shouldn't it go up instead due to the fact that I'm giving too little insulin?

I really don't understand this illness... If every week is really different from the previous one, it'll be hard to find the right dose for her.

It's so frustrating...:(
Click to expand...
It seems like Seta isnt truly going down with your lower doses. When you did 1.25, she had no blues, but on 1.5, she does. There really isn't enough low numbers to make a correlation to blues and dosages vs her body having a random low cycle. Still, she is not seeing green and as the experts here suggested (I'm not one of them), she needs an increase to 1.75 to see how she does.

As others suggested, I would consider TR for Seta, to get her regulated more quickly. If you can do a +2 or +3, she can use the TR method just fine and you will only have to stay up with her on the off chance she dips very low, very fast at that test point.

It seems you are hesitant to increase, but also as other said, it is a hormone and NEEDS change. Going up is okay and will be good for her. She may need higher doses until she "gets used to" feeling good in blues and greens. Once her body is used to that, you will see the decreases start. It's a frustrating and slow process, but the sooner you do that, the better for her.

Welcome to the forum!! :bighug::bighug:
 
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