10-29 Delilah doing first curve. Do I keep going?

[ShilohVasquez]

I've had my Delilah (older diabetic who was in foster care since June after being dumped at a shelter by previous owner due to her diabetes) for almost two weeks. I'm doing my first curve.

She is on Lantus twice a day. My spreadsheet is below. I found the low point between the sixth and seventh hour after giving Lantus. Do I keep going now that the numbers are rising? I've been testing every hour, but I need to get some more strips so I'm trying to conserve.

Using an AlphaTrak2 and PetSure strips. She came with these. I am happy to replace with a human meter and strips if necessary. Thank you for your input!

 

[Red & Rover (GA)]

Get a +10 if you can spare the strips.

Strips for a human meter are less costly and you do not have to order in advance.

 

[ShilohVasquez]

Get a +10 if you can spare the strips.

Strips for a human meter are less costly and you do not have to order in advance.

Thank you! I wanted to get the most out of this curve, so I don't mind doing it every hour if it helps. I am thinking I will switch to a human meter once I have some data to work with initially for her Lantus dosing.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Instead of the +10, how about a +2 or +3 at night? There is hardly any night tine data and many cats go lower at night.

A human meter so you can test more is a great idea. Plus our dosing methods are based on human meter values, so we’ll have a better idea how she is really doing.

 

[Sue and Luci]

Hi Shiloh! Welcome to the forum! Is this your first post on this group? If not or if you were posting in another forum, could you please copy/paste the url from that post to your post today? So we could all have some history...if not, that is something you'll want to do tomorrow.

Looks like you were kinda own your own for a while there...I know some will likely ask if you really gave insulin when Delihah was really low in July??? OR was that someone else giving insulin? Were those numbers from the Alpha Trak meter?

She does seem to have safer numbers lately - better for the dose she's getting now. So happy to see you're getting some tests during the day time hours recently - no tests - and those low pre shots...It will really help to get some more tests at night just to see how low she's going now. Hope you get that human meter soon...that AT has gotta be breaking the kitty-bank.

 

[ShilohVasquez]

Instead of the +10, how about a +2 or +3 at night? There is hardly any night tine data and many cats go lower at night.

A human meter so you can test more is a great idea. Plus our dosing methods are based on human meter values, so we’ll have a better idea how she is really doing.

Thank you! I will definitely start getting some in the evening after the nightly insulin. She is on Cerenia, Fortiflora, and Metronidazole at the moment, so I am just keeping her at half a unit twice a day and testing before those shots. We're working on getting her belly straightened out. She had a high white count and my vet thought she had a GI infection going on. I take her back to the vet for a recheck on Tuesday.

 

[ShilohVasquez]

Hi Shiloh! Welcome to the forum! Is this your first post on this group? If not or if you were posting in another forum, could you please copy/paste the url from that post to your post today? So we could all have some history...if not, that is something you'll want to do tomorrow.

Looks like you were kinda own your own for a while there...I know some will likely ask if you really gave insulin when Delihah was really low in July??? OR was that someone else giving insulin? Were those numbers from the Alpha Trak meter?

She does seem to have safer numbers lately - better for the dose she's getting now. So happy to see you're getting some tests during the day time hours recently - no tests - and those low pre shots...It will really help to get some more tests at night just to see how low she's going now. Hope you get that human meter soon...that AT has gotta be breaking the kitty-bank.

Hi! As I mentioned in my post, I have had Delilah for about two weeks now. She was with two fosters since May. Most of the numbers on her sheet and the doses were done by them, not me. She has an Alpha Trak 2, and they also gave me Pet Sure strips to use with it. I have been uneasy about it because I have always read here that human meters should be used.

The foster from whom I adopted Delilah has another diabetic kitty (but on a different insulin). They seem to think that the dose should be based on the pre shot numbers. I have read differently here. I am new to Lantus, as I have had two diabetics in the past who were regulated pretty quickly with diet alone. And Delilah's safer numbers lately were when I put her on just Young Again Mature Zero dry food. She had been throwing up a lot and drinking too much, so I took away her wet food for about four days.

Right now Delilah is being treated for an infection with metronidazole, cerenia, and fortiflora, so I am keeping her on the same dose (half a unit) and just testing twice a day until we go back to the vet on Tuesday. She is eating Friskies pate again. Just trying to get her to feel better! I appreciate your input, and I look forward to working with everyone to try to get Delilah OTJ. Thanks!

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Please, please please to not limit your testing to twice a day. While a pre-shot test lets you know whether it's safe to shoot, Lantus dosing is based on the lowest value in the cycle -- the nadir. Just to illustrate, my kitty, Gabby, could start a cycle in the 400s, drop to the 40s, and then be back in the 400 by the next shot. If I was only testing at shot time, I'd be increasing her dose versus the nadir telling me she needed a dose reduction.

I'd Aldo encourage you to read the sticky notes at the top of the board on dosing methods. I'm not sure what Delilah's previous caregivers were doing regarding dosing, but it looks a little scary.

 

[ShilohVasquez]

Please, please please to not limit your testing to twice a day. While a pre-shot test lets you know whether it's safe to shoot, Lantus dosing is based on the lowest value in the cycle -- the nadir. Just to illustrate, my kitty, Gabby, could start a cycle in the 400s, drop to the 40s, and then be back in the 400 by the next shot. If I was only testing at shot time, I'd be increasing her dose versus the nadir telling me she needed a dose reduction.

I'd Aldo encourage you to read the sticky notes at the top of the board on dosing methods. I'm not sure what Delilah's previous caregivers were doing regarding dosing, but it looks a little scary.

Right. I’m only testing twice a day while she is on some prescriptions for an infection. I know her being sick and the new drugs are affecting her glucose, so I am not collecting data to be used for dosing while she is on prescriptions. Is that wrong?

She is not interested in food this morning and her sugar is 473.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Yes. It's wrong. If your kitty has an infection, an infection or inflammation can raise blood glucose levels from stress. As the antibiotics kick in, BG levels can drop quickly -- not always but in some cases they do. You could get surprised by very low readings and if you're not testing, your cat could be at risk for hypoglycemia.