12/18/11 Sam Siam newbie on Lantus

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donna & sam siam

Member Since 2011
Hello everyone. I am a newbie and recently posted on the main site. If you will, please refer to that site so as to know my story. I have been giving my sweet lil kitty Sam Siam Lantus. I finally got Sam's bg SS up. It's amazing how much I am learning in just a couple of days. A huge thanks to Lori & to Marjorie for spending her time getting me set up and for all of her encouraging words and words of wisdom. Please know that I have learned a lot in just a couple of days so will be much more careful in his shot amounts. As you can see by the SS Sam is in trouble tonight but I am going to wait for his bounce to level out before making changes, and of course getting advice from y'all. I'm very much looking forward to your expert advice. I really think his morning shot didn't go in so hopefully I will see his numbers down later tonight. Learning so much!

I must be missing a step in posting the url for my original post on the main site. Until I figure out what I did, the name of the post is "Hi, I'm a newbie and I'd like to introduce myself".

Marjorie... I clicked on URL & then pasted the link in between but must be not remembering how you told me to do it so it would work...

Just got your message Marjorie. Not sure what went wrong either. Will take a look at the info you suggested. Brain dead now so that's all for tonight. Thx again!
 
Hey Donna:

Not sure what went wrong on your Health condo link but here it is: Condo on Health Forum

Welcome to Lantus Land...we like to think of it as "the best place you never wanted to be" :lol: :lol: :lol:

Thanks for getting Sam Siam's SS filled in for us. Looks like he might have a bounce going along with possibly needing more insulin but let's see what he does the next cycle or so. Lantus really likes consistency in dose and in shooting every 12 hours as closely as you can.

One thing we recommend is that you start reading through the Stickys in this forum. There is alot of information and the learning curve is steep. We typically also suggest you print off the one for Dealing with Low Preshots and How to Handle Low Numbers. Both of these are linked in my signature block for fast access. Also...it would be a good thing to have your hypo toolkit ready: Hypo Toolkit. You may not need it for a while but you don't want to be stuck at 1 am and need HC food/gravy.

We're here to help you so make a list of your questions as you read through the info and let us know what we can do to assist you. Looking forward to your questions!
 
Just want to welcome you and Sam Siam to Lantus Land! It's a great community, with knowledgeable and supportive people. It's the best place you could be to get Sam Siam to health!
 
Welcome to Lantus Land!

You've gotten some very good advice about getting Sam Siam started in this adventure! It's great you've gotten your SS up and running, as well. I noticed your comment about Fancy Feast. Many people will feed Friskies. Is that any more economical? Not all of the Trader Joe's foods are low carb.

Sorry about the ugly cycle this morning. I agree with Marje that it's likely that Sam needs more insulin. However, you've changed around Sam's dose a lot over the last week. It will be important to pick a dose and stick with it for 3 days (6 cycles). The numbers today are likely the combination of a bounce off of the blue on 12/17 and all of the dose changes and possibly not enough insulin.

For now, I'd really encourage you to read the starred sticky notes, especially the "New to the Group" and the "tight Regulation" stickies. The latter will familiarize you with how we approach dosing -- generally 0.25u is the preferred increase or decrease.

Please let us know if you have questions or how we can help.
 
Welcome Donna and Sam Siam!

Sam is lucky to have found you. Not everyone is committed enough to take this on. You are already well prepared by you experience with your husband's diabetes, you know some of the sugar dance steps. To learn of the steps that are unique to feline diabetes, you have found the right place. The people of this board are very knowledgeable and incredibly generous with their time. I am relatively new with this, so I won't have much advice, but I do want to welcome you. I look forward to sharing this journey with you.
 
WELCOME TO LANTUSLAND!!!! :-D The FDMB is the best place to be with a diabetic kitty. You will learn so much here and get so much support!! Welcome :-D
 
Donna, I am just now catching up with condos. Welcome to LL! It sounds like you have tons of experience with diabetes because of your husband. You already know so much so that will be very helpful. I think you are so wonderful to take care of Sam Siam. He must be one terrific little kitty! You have found an incredible place here in LL and the most supportive people around. My cat, Simon was diagnosed a little over a year ago, and without FDMB, I know he would not be dong as well as he is today. I will be looking for your condo and hopefully, I can help answers any questions you may have, along with all our more experienced LL people.

Welcome again!!!
 
Welcome to LantusLand! You are way ahead of the game in terms of understanding diabetes and are getting up to speed on FD really quickly. I know the numbers are scary right now, especially when you see them in black. Take a deep breath, things WILL get better. Lantus needs time to kick in and every change in dose means readjusting the shed. You've got s dose now, give it time to settle. Shot times are important too. More than a 15 minute change in shot time can act as an increase or decrease in the dose because of the overlap.

WE start a new post (we call them condos, 'cause we live here!) every day to keep things from getting to long. So when you test this morning click on new post . In the subject put date >Sam's name > AMBG#. Throughout the day when you test you can go back to the first post and edit the subject line. The new tests will then show up on the list and we can keep a quick eye on Sam for any problems. That won't move your post to the top of the list though, but if you "post a reply" it will and you will get quicker attention. There is a lot going on here in LL and if you need help you want to be most visible.

On the meters, many of us buy our strips online and get a much better price. If you go w/ the Relion from Walmart, they are made by a company called Arkray and you can get the strips even cheaper at American Diabetes Warehouse than at Walmart. Just check that you get the right strips for the meter you choose. Christie is the one who found that deal, I'll contact her.
 
Thank you ALL for such a loving welcome! I am SO happy to have found you all as well. Sick of going to vet and spending big bucks just to tell me nothing or something I already know. You guys really know your stuff! I won't be able to check Sam as often today as I am at work but I will get on this evening and post his numbers. At least he came down from the HI yesterday (scary!) and was 450 this morning. Still not good but progressing.

I will check out the sticky notes as well. Also, thanks for the advice on how to post so they don't get so long. Learning more everyday.

Question about the ketones. I'm assuming y'all just wait till you see your kitty going to the box and catch him while there for a sample?? LOL I just feel so bad cause they like their privacy while peeing...well...I guess we all do! Fortunately he's not going nearly as much as he did, but it makes it more difficult to get a sample cause it's either at night or when I'm at work. Pretty sure it won't work if I just stick it in the litter "clump", right? Hey, worth asking! :-) I will be off later in the week so can keep better track. Also, won't the ketones level out when his numbers go down?

btw, how do you get the smilies to stick on your post? Maybe it's my computer but I just get something like... :cool: or :-D

Like duh! I guess I just answered my own question cause the smilies just popped up once submitted. Glad y'all have a sense of humor! :oops:
 
Yes the ketones should go down, but can be dangerous if the y are elevated for long. We usually check if the BG are above 300 for more than a short time. There are a lot of tricks one of the easiest is to temporarily replace the litter w/ non absorbent aquarium gravel or a piece of plastic film over the litter.

:lol: :lol: :lol: , you can also click the preview button to see how the post will look, but don't forget to submit it afterwards, :oops: I've done that.
 
Hey Donna:

Sometimes the power of the thought helps on peeing :lol: :lol: :lol: If I really want to get a sample from Gracie cuz I haven't caught her going, I just put her in the box especially first thing in the morning. She sleeps
cuddled up with me so I know that when I get up, she has not been up yet; I just take her and put her in the box and she looks at me like "hey bean...I was headed here ANYWAY first thing!!"

There are different ways to catch the urine. Some use saran wrap (not sure how they do it) and some a ladle. I make little trays out of foil and then slip one under her sweet little bottom as she squats and voila!!!

Good luck....looking forward to seeing a new condo for today with a summary of Sam's numbers. Can we call him "Sam"??
 
I was able to just slip the strip right into his urine stream when testing Tom.
It is said that once they start the urination process they can't/won't stop...so I never had trouble getting a sample if I was lucky enuf to catch him in the act. :-D
Lori
Newbie Kits
 
I got this info from Christie on the Arkray and Relion meters.

From: Christie & Willie

It's the Arkray Glucocard 01, which is the same as the Relion Confirm. The strips are slightly different but can be used interchangeably.

Hope that helps!! I know how touch this can be financially... and how hard it was to get the diagnosis right before Christmas last year!

Christie
Click to expand...
 
I have several vials of arkray infinity strips and they are not working in my relion confirm meter????
It would be nice if I could match them up.
Any advice?
Lori
Newbie Kits
 
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