A few questions

[Canteach]

My kitty was diagnosed about 6 weeks ago. She has been on 1 unit Lantis of 1X per day. We have also switched her to low-carb, low-fat wet food...
Her symptoms were excessive urination, thirst, hunger and weight loss. She never displayed any other symptoms and always seemed healthy. She seems to be doing well...reduced urination and gaining weight. I have a few questions which I''m almost embarrassed to ask.

1. I have a glucometer. How often should I be testing her BS?
2. How often should I be taking her to the vet to review her dosage?
3. If she tests with lowish BS in the am should I still be giving her the insulin?
4. How will I know if her BS has stabilized enough so she could stop taking insulin and just be controlled by diet?

 

[Squalliesmom]

Hi Shirley and Chloe, and welcome to FDMB! So glad to hear you're home testing !We recommend testing before each insulin shot (test-feed-shoot; test before feeding so you don't get food-influenced results, and feed before testing so Kitty has some food onboard for a "buffer"), and some mid-cycle tests whenever possible so you can find Kitty's nadir (lowest point in the cycle). We use a spreadsheet to record test result, it's easy to use and will become one of your most valuable tools for dealing with FD. It allows you to see and track patterns and trends that you might not otherwise see, and helps you to see if your kitty is receiving the correct amount of insulin. It also allows us to see how your kitty is handling insulin if you have a question or need help.

Just a quick thought for you - Lantus is best dosed twice a day, rather than just once. You might want to check with your vet and see if he/she is okay with you splitting the daily dose into equal morning and nighttime doses. I realize that some people believe that Lantus lasts longer the 12 hours in cats, as it is considered a long-acting insulin; however, a cat's metabolism is about three times as fast as a human's, so the insulin is used rapidly enough to require twice-daily injections for optimum glucose control.

If you have any questions or need any help, just sing out! And don't be daunted by the spreadsheet, once it's set up it's really only data entry. If you have any problems setting it up there are lots of folks here who will be glad to give you a hand. The words in blue, above, are clickable links that will take you to the instructions for setting it up and filling it in.

As to your question about whether or not to give her an A.M. shot if her numbers are low, we recommend pet parents who are new to this do not give insulin if kitty's blood glucose is under 200. If you get a low test result, do not feed and post here for help (since you are using Lantus, you would do best to post in the Lantus/Levemir forum).

 

[Canteach]

Thanks for your reply. I really had no idea I was supposed to test before and after each shot...I'm not sure if my vet ever said that.
As far as BG numbers, I am using a human glucometer recommended by my vet, as it's the one they use in their office. I am confused about the readings. It shows readings such as 11.5 or 3.8...not 200 etc. Can you help me with that? I'm in Canada so does that make a difference?

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

I'm in Canada so does that make a difference?

Yes. it does!! We're used to using US numbers here which is why you'll see the different numbers

For the numbers you get, you can multiply by 18 to get "our" numbers and vise versa.....for our numbers, divide by 18....so 200 becomes 11.1

 

[Canteach]

OK...that makes sense...so I think her numbers are pretty "normal"....that's good. I'll be doing more regular BG tests to get a better idea of exactly what's going on. I found the International spreadsheet and saved it...have to figure out how to use it!!

 

[Squalliesmom]

OK...that makes sense...so I think her numbers are pretty "normal"....that's good. I'll be doing more regular BG tests to get a better idea of exactly what's going on. I found the International spreadsheet and saved it...have to figure out how to use it!!

If you need help setting up your spreadsheet Just post for help with it. It will help if you put a ? in the prefix box of the thread title. If you'd like, I can try to tag someone to help you. If you follow the link on my earlier post that says "easy to use" in blue letters, it will take you to the instructions for using the spreadsheet.

I just looked at your profile and realized we share the same birthday, lol!

 

[Canteach]

My non-diabetic cat, Phoebe also shares our birthday!!! LOL...I'll give it a go on my own and ask if I need help.

 

[Squalliesmom]

Lol, that's funny because I claim that that's Squallie's birthday, too (he's 18 and I don't remember the real date of his birth, but I know it was in May or June)!