Hey ladies I'm kinda stressing here. My cat Buggy was induced to diametics from a steroid treatment. He went up to 3 units of Lantus in 3 weeks in DEC & went OTJ for amonth. I was free feeding him dry food. About a month later his BG # shot up to above 500. We strted on 1 unitt 2x a day & have worked ouirselves up to 6.5 units 2x per day & his numbers are still in the 400's. I since have had him switched to free feeding wet food- WERUVA & MERRICK. He seems pretty happy, has maintained his 18 lb weight & DOES NOT drink excessively, yet his legs have noticeable neuropathy & his coat looks awful. I go to a great vet that only specializes in cats & she doesn't seem too phased that he's on such a large dose yet other vets I talk to say that is a huge amount for a cat. Thoughts ladies?
Anybody on 6+ units of Lantus? BG Still high 400's
- Thread starter Punkyp
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Tracy & Leo
Member Since 2011
Hi Punky and Buggy and welcome to the feline diabetes family,
Yes 6 units does seem like a lot for a cat to be on, but you'll find that there are a few kitties on this forum that are on an even higher dose than that.
Good that you switched to wet food, most of us here feed our cats wet (canned food) that has less than 10% of carbs in it, it helps to keep blood glucose numbers down. Some varieties of Merrick does come with less than 10% of carbs but not all. You can find out what percentage of carbs your foods have at the following website, its called Janet & Binky's list. http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodNew.html
Do you hometest your cat? You'll also find that all of us hometest our cats with human blood glucometer and that's how we figure out which dosage our cats are on.
Please read all the starred stickies that are just above this message. It is a great source of information. I am kind of a newbie myself, my kitty Leo was diagnosed at the beginning of April so i can't help you out too much, and its kinda late so i'm not sure how much information or dosing experts are around at this time of night.
Good Luck and i hope you find some answers,
Tracy
Yes 6 units does seem like a lot for a cat to be on, but you'll find that there are a few kitties on this forum that are on an even higher dose than that.
Good that you switched to wet food, most of us here feed our cats wet (canned food) that has less than 10% of carbs in it, it helps to keep blood glucose numbers down. Some varieties of Merrick does come with less than 10% of carbs but not all. You can find out what percentage of carbs your foods have at the following website, its called Janet & Binky's list. http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodNew.html
Do you hometest your cat? You'll also find that all of us hometest our cats with human blood glucometer and that's how we figure out which dosage our cats are on.
Please read all the starred stickies that are just above this message. It is a great source of information. I am kind of a newbie myself, my kitty Leo was diagnosed at the beginning of April so i can't help you out too much, and its kinda late so i'm not sure how much information or dosing experts are around at this time of night.
Good Luck and i hope you find some answers,
Tracy
julie & punkin (ga)
Member Since 2011
my punkin is on 8u - there are conditions that can cause them to need more than the usual amount of insulin. Insulin needs can be high if they have an infection that's unresolved (dental problems seem to often be part of that), are in pain, if they got to that dose by too big of increases in their doses, or if they have a couple of medical conditions, acromegaly or insulin resistance. and then, some kitties just need more. You can also have insulin that's not effective if it wasn't taken care of. It's kind of a one step at a time process to figure out if Buggy is getting a good dose or needs a change.
We have several people on here who can comment on doses - they will want enough information. Most of them are either in the eastern or central time zone, so you'll have more eyes on your question tomorrow.
in the meantime, they'll want to know if you have any data on how the dose changes were made - like how long you stayed at a dose, what the numbers were, and how big of an increase the vet had you make. If you can post any of that data - dates, dosages, blood glucose numbers (it helps to know how many hours after the insulin was injected that the blood sugar number is from), all of that data will help them.
most vets don't have a lot of experience with feline diabetes and a lot of vets don't seem to really understand lantus and how it works - people often get here after having made 1unit increases in their cats dosages. Here we increase by .25 units and stay put at a dose for several days. Cats numbers tend to get all wonky when the dose changes, even by tiny amounts, and we let them settle before making more decisions on the dosage.
You'll want to get a spreadsheet going - the instructions for doing that are under "lantus/levemir new to the group - read here" http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=18139 that's full of great information for you to start with.
i've probably overloaded you so will stop. you're in the right spot. we all help each other and we follow a proven protocol for helping cats become as healthy as possible with their diabetes. the folks here do feline diabetes 24/7 and really understand it. i know i've felt so lucky to found this site, and i suspect most of us feel that way.
glad to have you here. jump in. ask questions and we'll all do our best to help you & Buggy get him as healthy as possible.
We have several people on here who can comment on doses - they will want enough information. Most of them are either in the eastern or central time zone, so you'll have more eyes on your question tomorrow.
in the meantime, they'll want to know if you have any data on how the dose changes were made - like how long you stayed at a dose, what the numbers were, and how big of an increase the vet had you make. If you can post any of that data - dates, dosages, blood glucose numbers (it helps to know how many hours after the insulin was injected that the blood sugar number is from), all of that data will help them.
most vets don't have a lot of experience with feline diabetes and a lot of vets don't seem to really understand lantus and how it works - people often get here after having made 1unit increases in their cats dosages. Here we increase by .25 units and stay put at a dose for several days. Cats numbers tend to get all wonky when the dose changes, even by tiny amounts, and we let them settle before making more decisions on the dosage.
You'll want to get a spreadsheet going - the instructions for doing that are under "lantus/levemir new to the group - read here" http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=18139 that's full of great information for you to start with.
i've probably overloaded you so will stop. you're in the right spot. we all help each other and we follow a proven protocol for helping cats become as healthy as possible with their diabetes. the folks here do feline diabetes 24/7 and really understand it. i know i've felt so lucky to found this site, and i suspect most of us feel that way.
glad to have you here. jump in. ask questions and we'll all do our best to help you & Buggy get him as healthy as possible.
squeem3
Member Since 2009
Punkyp said:
Not all of the Weruva or Merrick varieties are good for diabetics. Some Weruva varieties contain rice and/or starches. The new Weruva pouches don't look diabetic-friendly at all since they are in gravy. I think only a few of the regular Merrick are ok as are the Before Grain 96% ones. I wonder if feeding a known diabetic-friendly food from the canned food charts, such as Fancy Feast or EVO, would help?
Has your cat ever been tested for acromegaly or Cushings? Both these diseases can affect the diabetes and results in more insulin needed to keep blood glucose levels normal.
Do you test your cat's blood glucose levels at home?
Welcome!!
Julie and Squeem have made some very good points. If you are not already home testing, we are very data driven here and you will get a great deal of help on the Health board if you need to get started with doing blood glucose (BG) tests at home. Likewise, you will want to take a look at Janet & Binky's food chart to determine if you are feeding your cat low carb food. Not all of the premium foods are low carb. We encourage feeding a variety that that is less than 10% carb -- most of us feed far less than 10%.
As Julie suggested, there is a great deal more information that we need to know before we could make any suggestions about dose. In the meantime, you may want to read over the starred, sticky notes at the top of the Board. Below is an overview of the information in each of those notes.
Julie and Squeem have made some very good points. If you are not already home testing, we are very data driven here and you will get a great deal of help on the Health board if you need to get started with doing blood glucose (BG) tests at home. Likewise, you will want to take a look at Janet & Binky's food chart to determine if you are feeding your cat low carb food. Not all of the premium foods are low carb. We encourage feeding a variety that that is less than 10% carb -- most of us feed far less than 10%.
As Julie suggested, there is a great deal more information that we need to know before we could make any suggestions about dose. In the meantime, you may want to read over the starred, sticky notes at the top of the Board. Below is an overview of the information in each of those notes.
- Tight Regulation Protocol: This sticky contains the dosing protocol that we use here. There are also links to the more formal versions -- the Tilly Protocol developed by the counterpart of this group in Germany and the Queensland/Rand protocol developed by Jacqui Rand, DVM and published in one of the top vet journals.
- New to the Group: Everything you wanted to know about this forum and more. Info on our slang, FAQs, links to sites on feline nutrition and to food charts containing carb counts, how to do a curve and the components to look for, important aspects of diabetes such as ketones, DKA, and neuropathy, and most important, info on hypoglycemia.
- Handling Lantus: how to get the maximum use from your insulin and what to not do with it!
- Lantus depot/shed: This is an important concept for understanding how Lantus works.
- Becoming Data Ready: What data you need in order to be able to work toward remission or tight regulation.
- Status