? 2/22, Dose help please, shoot advice

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Curran2266

Member Since 2017
Simba is newly diagnosed, a little over 3 weeks ago. He weighs about 12.75 pounds. He was high over 500 in the vets office (vet meter) so he was started on 2 units of Lantus.We went back to vet a week later (2/10) to have glucose tested it was 228 +11 hours from morning dose. We then bought a home meter and started testing, we started seeing some lower numbers so we called the vet. We had begun to try to feed some fancy feast but he would only eat a little bit when he was really hungry so we thought maybe the wet food was contributing to the lower numbers although he was still eating dry. Went back on saturday 2/18 and the vet prescribed Proplan canned DM he ate a bit but wasn't thrilled with it - vet told us to try tough love that afternoon with the canned DM if he wouldn't eat it try again the next morning. We did, he ate a little of the wet but I supplemented with 1/4 of dry Proplan DM because he wasn't eating enough. On sunday morn I gave only 1 unit because I felt he hadn't eaten enough. By 5pm pre-shot he was at 37, I was panicked I fed him dry DM and gave 1/4 tsp of Karo syrup. Within 2 hours he was up to 79.Monday morning AMPS was 70, PMPS 69 so no shots, Tuesday AMPS 164, PMPS 210 so we gave .5. This morning AMPS 58, PMPS 127. I feel like the change in food has helped but I'm not sure he's eating enough, I have been giving the FF first when hes really hungry and then supplementing with 1/4 dry DM. This evening I snuck some FF in with the dry DM he wasn't as anxious to eat it but ate about half. Hoping tomorrow morning numbers are good because I'm always nervous about the dose to give. I'm thinking if under 250 no shot is that ok? When at 210 PMPS he dropped to 55 at +3 so I don't want to give unless over 250 because I feel like maybe he doesn't need with the change in food or is he not eating enough because I'm sneaking the wet food into the kibble to transition him to the wet? This is all so overwhelming and confusing.
 
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Hi, Giving you a bump up to help get some answers. I would change the title to say . . ? "Dose help Please, shoot advice"
That way folks skimming will know you need help with the Dose you are injecting and whether or not to shoot, as well as the food question and you can get help.
:bighug:
Hang in there, it does start to make sense and get easier with time:bighug:
 
Switching to all wet for many is all they need to get off insulin. Try different flavors of ff pates. Mine liked turkey and giblets, liver and chicken the most but refused to eat several others. While tough love sounds good I'm surprised your vet suggested that. If cats don't eat enough they can quickly get hepatic acidosis and that can be deadly. Lisapierson.org has suggestions on how to get a cat to switch. There is a low carb dry food if Simba won't transition called Young Again Zero but it's only available on line. You can ask them to send a sample.

Are you using a pet meter? If so the food change might be all that's needed. I'm not sure what to suggest about the morning especially if you will not be home to monitor.
 
Using home meter Relion Confirm Vet only suggested that for first meal on Saturday evening and then said give the dry DM if he wont eat the wet DM. I tried FF because my other 2 cats eat that and saw everyone on here talking about it and he has eaten it before when really hungry. Yes that's why its tough because I leave for work early and work all day so it seems from what I read better a little high than too low and his haven't been that bad except initially.
 
Hi there,
First of all, what meter are you using? Human meters tend to run lower than the pet meters do. When transitioning from dry to wet food some cats can have their blood sugar controlled by diet alone. Second, prescription food is usually higher carb food whether wet or dry. A lot of members use Fancy Feast, Nine Lives, or Friskies pates to feed their FD kitties.
You have to do what you are comfortable doing as far as dosing is concerned. Have you read the stickies on the Lantus forum as they are very helpful and informative?
Post back in the morning as well after you test your kitty and before you give his am shot. The Lantus forum has a pretty large group of members who can help you out.
I am not very familiar with how Lantus works but can tag a few members for you.
@Chris & China, @Nan & Amber, and @Kris & Teasel can you help?
 
It almost seems that he was eating more of the wet food earlier on and less now. Maybe I can order the Young Again Zero and try that. It was just so scary the other night with only giving .5 unit and he went from 210 to 55 at +3
 
I'm fairly new myself as my cat was just diagnosed in Sept 2016. The folks on here are wonderful and have held my hand and helped me out in so many ways. It will get easier and you are already home testing which is the best thing you can do for your sugar cat. I always keep some higher carb foods around in case of too low BG numbers. Have to turn in and get some sleep. I always either give a lower dose or skip a dose if in doubt. You are right about it being better for cats to be a little high than too low.
 
Curran2266 said:
It almost seems that he was eating more of the wet food earlier on and less now. Maybe I can order the Young Again Zero and try that. It was just so scary the other night with only giving .5 unit and he went from 210 to 55 at +3
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I'm glad you are using a human meter. I know the big drops are scary at first but 53 is safe. When feeding dry you have to follow the SLGS protocol and under 90 calls for a reduction. So the dose you would give in the morning if you shoot would be .25. Will you be able to stay home to monitor? Post the amps and ask for advice in the morning.
 
I leave very early I don't think many other people are up about 5:30 CT, hopefully its a good number. But yes thanks for pointing that out, so since it went below 90 I will reduce to .25 and hold that dose for a week if anything over 150-200
 
Yes, 0.25 u sounds like a good dose for now. Unless he goes under 90 again. If that happens, post again for dose help. Good luck with the new dose.
 
Simba was at 126 this morning - no shot. Tried giving him FF but he wouldn't eat it, he's getting more finnicky same chicken FF that he was eating better the other day. I'm going to give him the dry Proplan DM
 
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I didn't give shot today because under 150 later today I will see where he is. I'm thinking he may be a little higher later because he really didn't eat the FF so I gave him the dry DM, he didn't eat it all only about 1/2 of the serving. I thought he would be so hungry because I am only feeding twice a day. It seems even difficult to see where the .25 unit line on the syringes I have (or.1) or there better syringes I should try to get, bought these from vet.
Anybody know the best low carb dry food I can get in a store? Then I can continue to try to get him to eat the FF
 
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Curran2266 said:
I didn't give shot today because under 150 later today I will see where he is. I'm thinking he may be a little higher later because he really didn't eat the FF so I gave him the dry DM, he didn't eat it all only about 1/2 of the serving. I thought he would be so hungry because I am only feeding twice a day. It seems even difficult to see where the .25 unit line on the syringes I have (or.1) or there better syringes I should try to get, bought these from vet.
Anybody know the best low carb dry food I can get in a store? Then I can continue to try to get him to eat the FF
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The U100 syringes you have, if they have half unit marks, are the best you can do. If you post another thread asking how to microdose with these others will have tips and tricks to share.
 
Did your vet say to feed only twice a day? If so that is not what many of us do. I fed small amounts from preshot until +6. If not home you can get an auto feeder and set it to open every few hours or as often as you want.

There are people from around the world here so usually someonenis around any time you need help. Just add tge ? prefix and dosing advice in your subject box.
 
Yes that is what the vet recommended, because we are attempting to transition to wet. Dr. Lisa Pierson also said that on her site.Are there feeders for wet food? I only thought dry
 
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You can use the petsafe feeder for dry or wet food. Many people freeze canned food and put it in the feeder the next day. It will then thaw out by the time the feeder is set to open. You can buy a five compartment feeder or even a 12 compartment timed feeder. I have Smokys timer set for every 3 or 4 hours during the day when I am at work.
 
One thing I might add is that as his numbers start to trend lower his hunger will diminish..when they are in higher numbers their bodies are not metabolizing the food efficiently so they are ravenous..just thought I would add that to the mix..
:bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
The Petsafe 5 meal feeder has a space under the food tray where you can put a small ice pack to help keep the food fresh. Some members have found that putting an ice cube on some of the later meals helps keep them moist and palatable. Smaller meals, throughout the first half of the cycle, are easier on a healing pancreas and also help steer the BGs. Keep in mind that when Dr. Lisa talked about feeding 2-3 meals a day, she was referring to healthy, non-diabetic cats.

I would try other flavors of FF classic. It's rumored that the chicken flavor's formula has been changed, and some members report higher BGs on it, and that their cat don't like it as well as they did before.

Yes, it is overwhelming and confusing. We all felt that way at first. Just read as much as you can and ask questions. Also, it would really help if you could start a new thread each day, instead of continuing on your original thread - they get too long for people to follow. We just ask that you link your previous thread (or "condo") in your first post of the day. Just ask if you don't know how to do that.

Here is a post I did recently with some guidelines for new members you might find useful as you navigate this site. (the blue word is a hotlink).

We're glad you found us!
 
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