3rd day on Lantus +13 47

[bbwyo]

There are so many things that are just plain scary about all this. I'm not one to ignore my Dr.s advice so I feel somewhat uncomfortable not following her advice and making changes on my own. I seem to have so many questions.

1. Kitty seems to feel much better with the Lantus than she did with the Vetsulin but she is on a higher dose. If you look at her SS she has been hitting some pretty low numbers +13 / 47 +15 /57. I know I don't have enough data yet but yesterday day 2 she hit 46 at +10. I know her body is still adjusting to all the changes so I hate to cut back prematurely. I don't quite understand how the "depot" works but there must be a cumulative effect so will it cause the nadir to be even lower as her system loads up?

2. I have read and re-read the shooting low section and the low numbers from the last couple of days do not seem out of line? Her behavior has been pretty normal but somewhat subdued. Is the "depot" cumulative and will it make her #'s go lower? Should I be concerned?

3. I think I may have contaminated the Lantus pen. This morning I used the syringe to draw the dose and I did it like I had done in past when using a vial.. shot a little air in before drawing. After re-reading the info I see that I should not have done that when using the Lantus pen. How "bad" is this?

4. It will be interesting to see what her AMPS looks like.

Thank you

 

[Chris/China (GA)/Garfield]

1. Kitty seems to feel much better with the Lantus than she did with the Vetsulin but she is on a higher dose. If you look at her SS she has been hitting some pretty low numbers +13 / 47 +15 /57. I know I don't have enough data yet but yesterday day 2 she hit 46 at +10. I know her body is still adjusting to all the changes so I hate to cut back prematurely. I don't quite understand how the "depot" works but there must be a cumulative effect so will it cause the nadir to be even lower as her system loads up?

Getting a result below 50 on a human meter calls for a reduction in dose unless your cat is a long term diabetic (over a year)....You need to reduce...since she was only on .5 of Vetsulin, I'd reduce to no more than .5 of Lantus

2. I have read and re-read the shooting low section and the low numbers from the last couple of days do not seem out of line? Her behavior has been pretty normal but somewhat subdued. Is the "depot" cumulative and will it make her #'s go lower? Should I be concerned?

Shooting low is something you build up to....not something you do right off the bat....For now, if you get a Preshot less than 150, you should be Stalling, DON"T feed, and post for help. We need to teach you how to shoot low safely.

3. I think I may have contaminated the Lantus pen. This morning I used the syringe to draw the dose and I did it like I had done in past when using a vial.. shot a little air in before drawing. After re-reading the info I see that I should not have done that when using the Lantus pen. How "bad" is this?

Don't worry about it....your insulin is fine....if the insulin becomes cloudy or has little "floaties" in it, then you'd want to replace it (or if it's obvious it's starting to lose efficacy)

4. It will be interesting to see what her AMPS looks like.

Please reduce her dose and if she's below 150 at AMPS, don't feed her and post for help. Make sure your subject line is clear like "STALLING, NEED HELP!!" works

In good news, it looks like she's responding well to the Lantus....we just need to keep her safe now!

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Here is a link to your last post: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/2nd-amps-70-on-lantus.181118/
We include those links so people can go back and read the history.

I completely agree with Chris - Kitty's dose is too high. We determine the dose based on how low it takes a cat, and 1.0 of Lantus too much insulin. For his safety, the dose should be lowered.

Is the "depot" cumulative and will it make her #'s go lower? Should I be concerned?

Yes. As the depot builds over time, it will take him even lower. You should be concerned about the 1.0 unit dose.

I know it's hard to go against what the vet says on dosing, but most vets only have a few diabetic patients, and not likely many (if any, I was the first at our vet's clinic) that do home testing. People here have lived years gathering data on their own cat and looking at spreadsheets of other cats, maybe even hundreds of them.