6/8 Muffin Not on insulin yet - starting Lantus 6/9

[Julie + Muffin]

Hi
Muffin has been on a low carb diet for almost 6 full days. Her numbers are better but not good enough to consider not dosing. Since she has never been on insulin, her SS chart only shows her numbers as they relate to the time she was tested and fed. Her original BG at vet was 475. She is down from that on a regular basis but it of course differs depending on the time she is tested. The vet had prescribed 1 unit every 12 hours.
After the low carb diet that seems a little high. Should I start her on a lower dose? Any advice you could offer would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Hello and welcome to you and Muffin. Good job getting the spreadsheet up and starting home testing. Are you planning on sticking with some dry food in the diet? If so, that would mean following the Start Low Go Slow method for dosing, and for starting dose. And it would be a 1 unit dose with dry food, 0.5 units if on all wet food. If you could move to all wet food, then you could optionally choose Tight Regulation for dosing, and it would be a starting dose of either 0.5 or 0.75 units if Muffin is at her ideal weight. The math works out to 0.68 units. Usually kitties start on a higher dose wtih tight regulation, but since Muffin is a smaller cat, it worked out differently.

Not surprising to see higher blood glucose numbers at the vet, stress can raise the numbers. I had a non diabetic cat that tested over 220 at the vet one day, and 53 at home the next.

Read the Sticky Notes at the top of this forum and keep asking questions. We all remember how overwhelming it was at first and love to help.

 

[Bobbie And Bubba]

Hi and welcome to the best place you never wanted to be. Good job on the home testing and getting up and going and doing your homework.

Wendy all ready gave you some good info.

If you could, please add to your signature or profile part of the world you are in and /or time zone. That can help us when you need dosing advice.

Muffin is a cutie pie!

 

[Julie + Muffin]

Hi and welcome to the best place you never wanted to be. Good job on the home testing and getting up and going and doing your homework.

Wendy all ready gave you some good info.

If you could, please add to your signature or profile part of the world you are in and /or time zone. That can help us when you need dosing advice.

Muffin is a cutie pie!

Thanks...I added a little more info. She is the sweetest kitty but a bit skinny and we want her to gain weight.

 

[Julie + Muffin]

Hello and welcome to you and Muffin. Good job getting the spreadsheet up and starting home testing. Are you planning on sticking with some dry food in the diet? If so, that would mean following the Start Low Go Slow method for dosing, and for starting dose. And it would be a 1 unit dose with dry food, 0.5 units if on all wet food. If you could move to all wet food, then you could optionally choose Tight Regulation for dosing, and it would be a starting dose of either 0.5 or 0.75 units if Muffin is at her ideal weight. The math works out to 0.68 units. Usually kitties start on a higher dose wtih tight regulation, but since Muffin is a smaller cat, it worked out differently.

Not surprising to see higher blood glucose numbers at the vet, stress can raise the numbers. I had a non diabetic cat that tested over 220 at the vet one day, and 53 at home the next.

Read the Sticky Notes at the top of this forum and keep asking questions. We all remember how overwhelming it was at first and love to help.

Thanks for the welcome! I do believe you were here when I had my Purrcee boy on Lantus in 2013. I remember how much you all helped me get Purrcee into remission. I think it was record time but he ended up with throat cancer and I lost him a few months later. Still a heartbreaker.
Muffin is one of our sanctuary cats. My sister and I are cofounder of Sisters Animal Sanctuary in Elk Grove, CA. I added that to my signature.
The dry food we plan to use is Young Again Zero carb if she will eat it so not really much to increase her BG there. Should we still dose 1 unit or go to the .5 or .75 units. We would like her to gain some weight. She is too skinny. Not sure really what to feed her to get her weight up. She likes to eat wet food but I thought it would be nice for her to have some crunch. You can imagine we are at the vet all the time and those visits are so hard on our animals in general. Thanks!!

 

[Bobbie And Bubba]

What should she weigh? The formula that I like to use for calories needed is this:

13.5 X the ideal weight of the cat + 70 = the amount of calories a day they should have. If you follow that and when she gains the required weight, then you will reduce the calories.

EX: So if she is 9 lbs and she should weigh 10 lbs, use 10 lbs in the formula so 13.5 X 10 =135 + 70 = 205 That would be the calories a day to give her until she has gained her weight then adjust the formula to her new weight to maintain.

Bless you for starting the Animal Sanctuary !

According to Wendy's post above, if there is dry food in the mix, you'd start at 1 unit. The reasoning is that dry food hangs around longer than wet food.

ETA: This formula is an approximate and the age and activity level of the cat needs to be considered but, IMHO it's a really good starting place.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Hi Julie! I remember you and sweet Purrcee.

As for dose, how much can you monitor the first few days? Dry just generally isn't good for cats, but the "zero" carb shouldn't increase the BG too much. I might go a little conservative, but it would depend on your ability to monitor.

 

[Julie + Muffin]

Hi Julie! I remember you and sweet Purrcee.

As for dose, how much can you monitor the first few days? Dry just generally isn't good for cats, but the "zero" carb shouldn't increase the BG too much. I might go a little conservative, but it would depend on your ability to monitor.

Truthfully I'm not sure how much we can monitor. We have a 24/7 caretaker who has been trained in treating diabetic cats but she also has 50+ others to care for. I'm thinking we could probably do 4-5 times a day the first few days. Do you think that is sufficient? Can you recommend at what intervals we should do after dose? We will keep the zero carb dry food to a minimum as I would much rather she eat wet food...good for the kidneys to. Thanks!

 

[Julie + Muffin]

What should she weigh? The formula that I like to use for calories needed is this:

13.5 X the ideal weight of the cat + 70 = the amount of calories a day they should have. If you follow that and when she gains the required weight, then you will reduce the calories.

EX: So if she is 9 lbs and she should weigh 10 lbs, use 10 lbs in the formula so 13.5 X 10 =135 + 70 = 205 That would be the calories a day to give her until she has gained her weight then adjust the formula to her new weight to maintain.

Bless you for starting the Animal Sanctuary !

According to Wendy's post above, if there is dry food in the mix, you'd start at 1 unit. The reasoning is that dry food hangs around longer than wet food.

ETA: This formula is an approximate and the age and activity level of the cat needs to be considered but, IMHO it's a really good starting place.

I think Muffin should be around 10 lbs. Thanks so much for the info. I know I need to start reading the website more...trying to fit it all in as all of you do too.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Can you recommend at what intervals we should do after dose?

In addition to the preshots, I would start with a +3 and maybe a +6 during the day (more if she goes lower), then a +2/+3 at night. If the +2 test is lower than the preshot, it's an indication of an active cycle that could require more monitoring. The next day you can mix it up and maybe do a +2 and +5. Getting random tests through out the cycle helps fill in the picture better than testing at the same time each day. And I would make sure Muffin always has access to lots of wet food, in case she needs it to help raise her BG when she's not being monitored.