8/22 Norbert AMPS 182, +5 108

[Norbert’s Mom]

We’re hoping for a day at the lagoon! He started off well and is surfing right along. We are getting used to when his nadir is and how much Lantus he needs based on where his AMPS number is. He’s even gained his weight back, and his fur is looking so silky! We switched meters to the Freestyle Lite. The other one requires a lot bigger blood drop while this new one only needs a speck. He tolerates it so much better.

 

[tiffmaxee]

That’s not how Lantus is dosed. The dose is based upon how low a dose takes your cat. You test without food for two hours to see if you have a number you can shoot safely. You feed to make sure he will eat. Then you shoot. Read the yellow sticky on Lantus again please.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

We determine how to change the dose based on how low the dose takes the cat. With SLGS, if you see a number under 90, you reduce the dose. In the last week, you've seen several under 90's on the days you shot 1 unit. So I'm glad to see you shot 0.75 units today. That should be your new dose going forward - unless he drops below 90 again.

Here is the link to your last post here. https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/norbert-8-20-amps-234-2-82-pmps-341.233907/ We ask that people include those links so we can go back and see the history. In that post, you mention stumbling episodes. Did you test his BG at that time? Just wondering if he was a little low then. And to answer your question if diabetic cats periodically don't need insulin - the answer is no. You can see that when you've skipped the shot, his numbers were up 12 hours later. If you have to skip quite often, that can be a sign that the dose is too high as well. It's best to lower the dose (as I'm suggesting you do), so you can get two shots in a day.

 

[Norbert’s Mom]

We have him at .75 (or 1- as my husband puts it) now since he has had a few instances of getting below 90 at 1U.
I reread the sticky about the depot, but am still a little fuzzy on it:
“Did you decrease the dose recently? A dose reduction will usually result in a need for less stored insulin. The excess may be released into the bloodstream faster than usual...”
If I’m understanding Lantus correctly, it precipitates out over a period of time, not dependent on the body’s needs, but rather as a function of chemical processes allowing it to be absorbed into the bloodstream. Why then would reducing the dose cause it to be released faster? It seems it would still precipitate out at a given rate, but the depot would just be smaller. Unless it’s meaning that that difference in the previous, larger depot versus the smaller depot amount has to be “depleted” which could cause bg to drop until the difference is made up?
Sorry if I’m reading too much into this. I’m really trying to understand it.

 

[Norbert’s Mom]

The couple of times he didn’t get the insulin was when the AMPS was below 100. My husband wasn’t comfortable giving him any as he had to go to work and wouldn’t be able to monitor him closely.

 

[Briere Fur Mom]

I just wanted to reach out to you Norbert's mom. If you start a new condo(thread) today...we can talk over there......one condo per day "rule" you know

Norbert's SS does make it look like you're switching doses because your DH has his idea about the dose, and you have yours. .75u is a different measurement than -1.0u. -1.0u is considered a skinny 1.0u which is almost .25u different from .75u. Hope that made sense. So since you're giving .75u keep that on the SS. It makes it confusing otherwise. Peeps will look a Norbert's SS and assume you're not giving consistent doses.

The depot questions you have is not something I can explain/answer. Hopefully one of the mods or and experienced member will get back to you.


ETA: Should've said the depot questions you have is smthg I can't explain

 

[Briere Fur Mom]

Unless it’s meaning that that difference in the previous, larger depot versus the smaller depot amount has to be “depleted” which could cause bg to drop until the difference is made up?

Bingo. Even though you're shooting a reduced dose the depot from the larger dose can still be in play for a few cycles. Perfect example is Milo...here's the link to their condo. Sam reduced Milo 8/20 PMPS cycle due to a low in the AMPS cycle. On 8/21 AMPS cycle Milo dropped low again even though he was on a reduced dose for 2 cycles. What was happening is the larger depot from the previous dose was still in play. Hope that made sense.