225 Reading, Give 1 unit???

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Kathy & Moe

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Moe had his lowest reading since diagnosis at 225. He is currently receiving 1 unit of Lantus twice a day. Not sure if I should give him his dose tonight with his level being this low. I know, I know, I don't have my spreadsheet on line yet. I promise I'll do it right after I get help with this. He is on wet food. Thanks in advance for the help.
 
Is it time for his shot? How long after this morning's shot did you test the 225? Usually the recommendation for newbies is to give a reduced dose if BG is under 200 at shot time. At 225, if you are able to test in the middle of the night at least once, it's probably OK to give the 1U dose.

There is a sticky in the Lantus forum about dealing with lower than normal preshot readings. http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=147 That might help you in the future. It is why we stress testing throughout the day, especially when first starting out. And if you have data on their BG at 10 or 11 hours after previous shot, then you know if their +12 is at least going up and it's safe to give the dose :smile:

Hope this helps.
 
Do you have a hypo kit? Can you stay up to monitor?

Without a spreadsheet it's difficult for us to know what effect insulin has on your kitty (for my kitty, 1u isn't much but for others it's quite a lot).

If you have a hypo kit (karo, syringe without the needley tip for karo, HC food, extra strips) and you can stay up to monitor (or at least wake up for tests) I can stay with you for 6hrs (at least) if you decide to shoot.
 
Yes, it's time for his shot. I've been doing a midday test and it's been lower than his morning number but never this low. I've tested a few times at about 3 hours after his evening shot and it's been higher. I'm in the process of getting his spreadsheet set up and tomorrow and going to be testing him every two hours to see what his levels do throughout the day.
 
Can you give us some readings from the tests you've done?
This format:
Date & units shot
AMPS
+6
PMPS

would be fine.. you can fill in the actual values you tested.
 
Here have been Moe's latest numbers
6/8 AMPS=403 +6=371 PMPS=392 +3=411
6/9 AMPS=415 +6=311 PMPS=332
6/10 AMPS=382 +6=262 PMPS=355
6/11 AMPS=241 PMPS=358
6/12 AMPS=292 +6=370 PMPS=391
6/13 AMPS=338 +6=304 PMPS=322
6/14 AMPS=373 PMPS=312
6/15 AMPS=335 PMPS=362
6/16 AMPS=433 PMPS=358
6/17 AMPS=341 PMPS=225
 
Has Moe's dose always been at 1U? 1U is a great dose to start at, but his levels are still pretty high and he might need an increase in dose, but let's see how he does tonight before talking about future doses.
 
I did shoot and I'm planning on checking his levels every 2 hours to see how he does. I've uploaded my spreadsheet but I don't know if I did it right. Moe has always been on 1 unit. I called the vet since his levels weren't decreasing and that's when I started testing at +6. I do have canned food with gravy, high carb treats and karo in case he goes hypo.
 
Very good job on the spreadsheet! I can see that his numbers have come down since switching to all canned food. That is excellent. I'm sure he'll be fine tonight as overall his BGs look like he could use a little bit more insulin. Have you read the Tilly Protocol method for using Lantus? http://www.tillydiabetes.net/en_6_protocol2.htm It gives a good guide for what BG numbers need an increase and by how much. That is in the part titled "Phase 2: Increasing the dose."

Getting checks every 2 hours tonight is a very good plan. It could be that it's just taken a little longer for his body to learn how to use Lantus efficiently, especially after the diet change, so if he goes below 200 tonight he may not need a dose increase.

Has he been eating his normal amount of food? Sometimes their BG will be lower than it has been if they have not ate as much as before. Also, do you know how to test for ketones? As high as his BG has been, it would be very good to test for them in his urine. We can point you in the right direction on that too.
 
The Lantus pen I use only has dosage increases of 1 unit so I'm limited on increasing it anything under 1 unit. He's not eating as much as he has been so that may be why his level was low tonight. I was testing his urine using Diastix when he was first diagnosed. I don't think this was for ketones though. I read that I can get the ketone testing strips over the counter so they are on my shopping list for this weekend.
 
Looking at your SS, I'd agree with Vicky -- it looks like Moe could use more insulin. With Lantus and Levemir, we don't hold the dose for as long as your vet has advised you to, especially with Moe testing in higher numbers. I do think you'll need to see how Moe is doing tonight.

This is a link to the modified version of the Tilly Protocol that we use in the Lantus ISG. The language in the Tight Regulation sticky is a little less dense than in the Tilly version.

We don't use the needle tip for the pen. We use a regular, U100 insulin syringe that's marked in half unit increments.The insulin pens are not particularly accurate at small doses and we change Lantus doses in 0.25u amounts. There is a rubber gasket in the top of the pen and you insert the syringe right into the gasket. Walmart's Relion brand syringe is in half units or you can get these syringes on-line.
 
I just tested Moe again and he is at 226 at +3. He's watching me type this and trying to catch the cursor on the screen!! He likes the smiley faces too.
 
Hi Kathy,
I live in Palisade, so if you need any local help with anything, let me know. Sounds like you have a good start, though. I'll check in with you later.
Ele
 
Thanks Ele. I knew there had to be someone else on the forum from our area. Who is your vet? I'm concerned mine doesn't know enough about feline diabetes to be of much help.
 
Hi Kathy,
I send a private message (pm) to you. I had a hard time finding a vet that would prescribe Lantus in our area, so I'm curious how you got Lantus for Moe. You can contact me anytime.
Ele
 
SS says Moe ate dog food!

Gee, I bet that dog's food has a lot of grain in it, doesn't it! Look at those BGs climb! Examples like this prove how nasty grains are for cats.

Hey at least he's coming down a little now. That dog food was like a box of Krispy Kremes! :lol:

You know this happens to a lot of people, right? Cats love dog food - maybe just to make the dog angry, who knows?!
 
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