27 Oct - Update on Mo!

katy and mo (GA)

katy and mo (GA)

Member Since 2020
Hi everyone.

Mo has been on Lantus for about 5 weeks now. We started on 2 units for 2 weeks and has moved up to 3 units. He's been on 3 units for about 3 weeks now and his numbers are still regularly over 300. His lowest BG reading is 315 and that's around his nadir where his average pre shot number is 350. We got his highest pre shot number last night which was 425.

He went into the vet last Thursday where they wanted to up his insulin to 4 units. I asked if I could start testing his BG at home and see if his numbers are any lower and if they don't decrease, then I will up his insulin to 4.

We are currently transitioning him from Prescription Diet M/D wet food (he was also on the dry but we've taken him off dry food completely) to Fancy Feast Classic Pates as they have fewer carbs. I'm adding extra water into his wet food to help as well. Since he's been solely on wet food (since last Thursday) he's been drinking significantly less water! He's also been grooming himself more which is a good sign.

I'm hoping with these changes that his numbers will start to come down and we won't have to up him to 4 units. Fingers crossed everyone please :)
 
Welcome. How you read our dosing me? We don’t hold doses 2 weeks on either one and increase in .25 increments so as not to miss a good dose. Are you testing at home? If so we have a really good way to keep track so would love for you too start our spreadsheet. The methods are on a sticky at the top of this forum. Switching to a low carb food can make a huge change in bg levels and Mo will likely need less insulin.
 
Hi! My vet is wanting to do whole unit increases. I don't have syringes that go up in smaller increments and I'm in NZ and don't know where to get them from. I am testing at home (hence the numbers i've listed above) and I'm using the spreadsheet :) Thanks for your reply!
 
Would you share your spreadsheet with us? If you can’t get syringes with half unit markings you can use digital calipers. It’s up to you bu5 I sometimes had to increase and decrease in 1/8 units. My boy would have gone hypo with full unit increases.
 
Thank you! I will look at that :)

Testing Mo at home has definitely been an experience. He likes to make it very difficult for us. I work shift work so there will be mornings and evenings where I'm not at homes to test him pre-shot. I've taught my partner how to do it but sometimes we need two of us to do it and this morning was one of those times. I'm testing him when I get home though. Just doing the best I can with our situation. You can view his spreadsheet here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LgfJA4pV3nGbJfkxaDae1B7tvAD8asTQ-ZdCNwN22K8/edit?usp=sharing
 
Hi Katy - we’re neighbours (I’m in Aus) we can’t get syringes with half units marked either but it’s really not too hard to do 1/2 and 1/4 unit dosing - though you might find a magnifier helpful if your eyes aren’t too good.

I don’t understand why your vet would want to increase in whole units when you’re using syringes and can do smaller increases o_O
 
Hello and welcome to this forum. In addition to getting syringes with 1/2 unit markings, another possibility, if you are using BD Microfine syringe, is an insulin paper ruler or using digital calipers to measure. For the insulin ruler, look at this article Management of Diabetic Cats with Long-acting Insulin.pdf top of page 258 shows you how and has a link to the ruler.

As others have said, doing dose increases by 1.0 units is too much. Cats are sensitive to smaller increases.
 
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