4/13 Vesta AMPS 403, +3 336, +6 304, +9 291

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Weather Girl

Weather Girl

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Good morning! This is our first day here... Just started the lantus this morning with her diagnosis coming yesterday. Did a home test last night that went beautifully, home test his am a little more nervous but she did fine. She's getting 1 unit 2x day for now. First dose (we think) actually dosed my husband! Ooops with that one. So very likely she got one unit, but maaaaay have gotten 1 and then a little (from the 1st try).

We switched over to a prescription diet dry diabetes food on Saturday 4/10 when there was diabetes suspicion, and are transitioning her to wet now that we know it's confirmed. (1/2 dry and 1/2 wet for now)

My boss very kindly has let me take her to work with me today :) so I can test throughout and monitor her behavior.

Thanks for all your support in advance!
 
Re: 4/13 Vesta AMPS 408

Welcome to Lantus Land.

Jeez, you are on top of things. I'm impressed that your boss is willing to let you bring Vesta to work. (I'm assuming he's either a cat lover or really appreciates what you do and knows you'll be distracted if Vesta wasn't with you.)

It's great that you are transitioning to canned food. The dry, even some of the "diabetic" dry food can be loaded with carbs. On the food front, if you've not seen these sights they are very helpful.

It sounds like you are using a Lantus pen and shooting directly from the pen. Is that correct? If so, most of us use a syringe rather than the needle that comes with the pen. If you've had a chance to look at our dosing protocol, you will notice that we work in micro-doses. Increases and decreases can be in increments of 0.5 or 0.25 u and we will fatten or skinny doses. You will need a syringe to do this since the pens don't have that flexibility. We recommend U100 syringes that have 1/2 unit increments.
 
Re: 4/13 Vesta AMPS 408

Welcome to Lantus Land. I can't believe you can bring your cat to work with you; that's incredible. What kind of job do you have? I'm trying to picture Boomer here with me running down the halls meowing at people. It would be great to be able to test him and have him sit on my lap during the day. I'm jealous!
 
Re: 4/13 Vesta AMPS 408

I actually work for the gov't in a shiftwork kind of situation. Vesta is hanging out in a 3ftx3ftx2ft dog crate right now (our dog kindly let her borrow it ;-) ). The boss wasn't thrilled with the idea, but we're really short-staffed right now so I kindof backed him into a corner- either I'd have to call in sick to monitor her, or I could bring her in.

I know her glucose #s will be off from the stress, but I figured it'd be better to monitor her on the 1st day of meds more than anything else.

I have read the feeding articles- thanks for the links! Definitely working towards getting her carbs to under 10% a day. Working slowly with it... don't want to stress the poor thing out more than she already is!
 
Re: 4/13 Vesta AMPS 408

Sienne and Gabby said:
It sounds like you are using a Lantus pen and shooting directly from the pen. Is that correct? If so, most of us use a syringe rather than the needle that comes with the pen. If you've had a chance to look at our dosing protocol, you will notice that we work in micro-doses. Increases and decreases can be in increments of 0.5 or 0.25 u and we will fatten or skinny doses. You will need a syringe to do this since the pens don't have that flexibility. We recommend U100 syringes that have 1/2 unit increments.
Click to expand...

We are using the Solostar pen for now... I know the dosing might be a little bit more difficult that way than with one of the other draw syringes, but for now, to get started and used to things, we'll go with that. I'm sure eventually we'll transition to the others but there's plenty of time for that :)
 
Re: 4/13 Vesta AMPS 403, +3 336

My +3 was obviously pretty stressful, first test at the office. But, after LOTS of fidgeting and stuff, I got a good ear stick and a 336 BG reading.

Next test at +6- I keep thinking the limbo tune... how looooooowwww... can you gooooo.......
 
Re: 4/13 Vesta AMPS 403, +3 336

Morning!!! I posted over in health yesterday, not sure if you read it but I live in your area. I am in the Glendale/Burbank area so if you need any help feel free to pm me. Welcome to Lantus Land, you are definetely in the right hands here. Everyone is great and will help you with whatever you need. Believe me you will learn so much and I am sure you are inundated with info. I have been here 2 and a half months and was pretty clueless in the beginning too but you learn as you go! Welcome again!!!
 
Re: 4/13 Vesta AMPS 403, +3 336, +6 304

+6 hour testing was sooo much easier. Vesta's still fidgety, but I think I'm getting more confident and the first prick got a good bubble of blood. Still up at 304. I fed her the other 1/3rd of her breakfast.... though after reading more I think I shouldn't have done that smack dab in the middle of her curve....
 
Hmm the lantus shouldn't really be doing much at this point.. not to mention the stress of not being at home.. I really didn't expect Vesta to get that sort of action this quick...

I almost wonder if it would be enough to switch entirely to low carb wet food.. and go without insulin while you are on your 10 day conference (that you leave for in 2 days correct?).. and go with whatever boarding/pet sitting plans you had planned for the trip before the dx yesterday..

Anyone have any thoughts?
 
Welcome to LL!!!! Great job already!!! Just wanted to drop in and say HI! :mrgreen:
 
Welcome to Lantus Land!

Sorry Dawn, with numbers in the 300's and 400's she definitely needs insulin, to go without for 10 days would be a very bad idea. Lack of insulin when it is needed is a major contributor to DKA. We'll need to talk about your petsitter plans, though. 10 days is a long time and a lot can change in that amount of time. The priority is to keep Vesta safe.

Some cats do get a good response on their first dose of Lantus/Levemir. They like to trick us into thinking they need a lower dose, so we reduce it and then they don't go back to those numbers again for a long, long time. Cats, they think they're so funny. :lol:

This is a good first cycle, keep coming back and posting every day. It won't be long before you'll feel really comfortable with what you're doing. You're off to a great start.
 
Yeah see that's where my concern lies.. we just don't know.. I worry that by the time Lantus settles in.. the cat needs to be monitored.. not just fed and shot twice a day by someone stopping by.. the cat should be boarded at a vet clinic imo.. and I know that umm Weather girl.. (don't know your name sorry ;) ).. said that it wasn't money they were able to spend.. I know that I hire a tech to stay at my house 24/7 when I am away.. but the cost is similar to what she was quoted for a stay at the vet.. so I don't know that it's an option..

So my concern is that things will settle and kitty MIGHT get to low.. I know too high is bad too.. but I can't think of many alternatives that are cheap, safe and can happen in 2 days.

Edit: There's a saying in my business.. "Cheap, Fast, Good.. pick two" :).
 
Another thought is if you post your city/state, it's possible that someone either from LantusLand or who's on the Health board lives nearby. They would be able to test and shoot, providing Vesta will allow it.

I have a vet tech who stops by twice a day. We drop Gabby's dose to a safe level. It's not ideal in terms of forward progress but it does keep her safe, and me sane, while I'm gone.
 
I found your other thread and gave a quick read. It looks like several people are near you (including Michelle, who posted in this thread) and some have given ideas. Probably a good place to start is to go to your vet's office and ask if any of the techs do petsitting on the side. Being a vet tech is not a high paying job, so many of them petsit for extra cash. If not, they can probably recommend someone. I actually found my petsitter on Craigslist and she is wonderful (you would definitely want to interview and check references for anyone you find on Craigslist, to be safe). I live in a much less expensive part of the country, I'm sure, but I only pay about $30 per day for two visits, including her extra small fee for administration of meds.

Another thing I will throw out there is that since you're leaving so soon, this is probably not the time to do a diet change. Leaving out dry food will keep Vesta's numbers a little higher while you're gone (much lower chance of hypo) and can help Vesta regulate herself in the event that her numbers do drop. Once you've been at this a while you won't need to do that, but since you and Vesta are so brand new, I wouldn't make such a big change and then leave for 10 days.
 
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