? Blackie's first month after diagnosis

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BlackieMcCat

Member Since 2021
Hello and thanks for all the informations and suggestions I've read so far. Initial diagnosis was a month ago when Blackie (13 years old, 13 lbs) tested at 530 at the vet's office and he had problems with movement in his back legs. He was prescribed 4 units of Caninsulin and directions to monitor symptoms and watch out for hypoglycemic symptoms. We started the treatment and began reading as much as we could from your group and others.

Which led us to get the home monitoring setup and the Zobaline as suggested by many. Sort of getting a handle on the BG readings and tried to do a curve the other day. Most of the readings we got initially were in the range of 70 to 135 mg/dl which seemed kind of low. I mentioned them to the vet a week ago and he seemed to think these were good and that we should continue with the 4 units. We reduced the dosage to 3 units anyways. Got these readings

10:00:00 6.8 122.4
13:35:00 0.9 16.2
16:25:00 4.6 82.8
21:15:00 4.7 84.6
9:00 am next day 5.9 106.2

Got a little scared by that 16 mg/dl, but there were no signs of hypo-ing. Since all the readings were well below the 200 level, we discontinued insulin with a plan to monitor and return to a reduced dosage of 2 units and then try another curve in a few days.

So for all you more experienced caregivers out there, what do you think and where should we go from here?
 
I will tag @JanetNJ for you who is familiar with can insulin
I am glad you lowered the dose , that 16.2 was scary

It would be helpful if you can set up your signature, it's at the end of everyone's posts in gray, all info about Blackie. I will give you the link

Then if you can set up a spreadsheet to enter his numbers in it will help, so members can give you dosing advice.
Are you waiting 30 minutes after he eats to give him the insulin

Showing us the times when you test doesn't help us, since we are in all different time zones

If you look at anyone's spreadsheet you will see
@+1. Means 1 hour after you give the insulin when you test
@+2. 2 hours after insulin is given
@+3. 3 hours after insulin is given
And so on until you reach the PMPS

I will give you the link for the spreadsheet, if you have trouble ask and we can have someone to set it up for you

He is showing good numbers , will see what @JanetNJ says about the 2 units
You stated you are going to discontinue insulin and monitor and then return to a reduced dosage to 2 units.
A curve is done every 2 hours for one 12 hour cycle
 
For your hypo kit you can get the following and also look at the food chart


med and high carb food on hand in case he drops too low and you need to bring his BG up to safe numbers

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Beef Feast in Gravy 20% High Carbs



Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Gourmet Chicken Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs




Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Turkey Feast in Gravy. 15% Med Carbs


Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken and Beef Feast in Gravy 15% Med Carbs


https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/
 
I don’t use caninsulin so I’m glad Diane has tagged Janet.
I can’t believe the vet didn’t tell you to reduce the dose of insulin.
The 0.9 (16) is dangerously low and it is amazing your cat didn’t have hypo symptoms. If you get a very low number like that again, always recheck it.
Until Janet comes along and tells you otherwise, I would reduce the dose further to 1 unit.
Those numbers you are posting are all normal blood glucose numbers and a preshot of 6.8 (122) is too low to shoot unless you have a lot of data.

Please try and get the spreadsheet and signature set up as it is information we need to help you.
I’m going to tag @Bandit's Mom to help you with the spreadsheet as we really need to be seeing all the data you have collected.

I can’t find any previous posts from you so this must be your first post. So hi and welcome.
Here is 2 links to using caninsulin. Please read it carefully. Amd please make sure you have a hypo set up ASAP as Diane suggested.
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/introduction-to-cannisulin-vetsulin-n-nph.231602/

https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/beginners-guide-to-caninsulin-vetsulin.231587/

Keep posting and asking questions. Your vet is not giving you good advice. We can help you get Blackie safely into better numbers.
Did the vet ever mention ketones at diagnosis?
Bron
 
BlackieMcCat said:
Hello and thanks for all the informations and suggestions I've read so far. Initial diagnosis was a month ago when Blackie (13 years old, 13 lbs) tested at 530 at the vet's office and he had problems with movement in his back legs. He was prescribed 4 units of Caninsulin and directions to monitor symptoms and watch out for hypoglycemic symptoms. We started the treatment and began reading as much as we could from your group and others.

Which led us to get the home monitoring setup and the Zobaline as suggested by many. Sort of getting a handle on the BG readings and tried to do a curve the other day. Most of the readings we got initially were in the range of 70 to 135 mg/dl which seemed kind of low. I mentioned them to the vet a week ago and he seemed to think these were good and that we should continue with the 4 units. We reduced the dosage to 3 units anyways. Got these readings

10:00:00 6.8 122.4
13:35:00 0.9 16.2
16:25:00 4.6 82.8
21:15:00 4.7 84.6
9:00 am next day 5.9 106.2

Got a little scared by that 16 mg/dl, but there were no signs of hypo-ing. Since all the readings were well below the 200 level, we discontinued insulin with a plan to monitor and return to a reduced dosage of 2 units and then try another curve in a few days.

So for all you more experienced caregivers out there, what do you think and where should we go from here?
Click to expand...
I would reduce to 2. When you got that reading of 16 did you take a second reading just to make sure it was accurate?
 
Thanks for all your responses. I didn't recheck the 16, just kinda panicked and gave him some food and tested later that day. I'll follow all the links that you've sent and try to get the spread sheet up. I tried to do it before but google sheets didn't didn't seem to save the results. We just tested again at the regular time when we give him his shot, and it was 77 (4.3). So we didn't give insulin.
 
BlackieMcCat said:
Thanks for all your responses. I didn't recheck the 16, just kinda panicked and gave him some food and tested later that day. I'll follow all the links that you've sent and try to get the spread sheet up. I tried to do it before but google sheets didn't didn't seem to save the results. We just tested again at the regular time when we give him his shot, and it was 77 (4.3). So we didn't give insulin.
Click to expand...
Wow it's still that low? In that case, next time you have a shootable number I might reduce to 1 unit. Can you start a spreadsheet for us? It would really help us in giving dosing advice.
 
BlackieMcCat said:
Thanks for all your responses. I didn't recheck the 16, just kinda panicked and gave him some food and tested later that day. I'll follow all the links that you've sent and try to get the spread sheet up. I tried to do it before but google sheets didn't didn't seem to save the results. We just tested again at the regular time when we give him his shot, and it was 77 (4.3). So we didn't give insulin.
Click to expand...
When it's that low you have to recheck in 20 minutes not later that day
If you need help with the spreadsheet please ask
We have some one you will set it up for you
@Bandit's Mom
She will send you a private message, so please look for it
She will be on later on tonight , she lives in India
Thank you Bhooma
See #9 Bhooma
 
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Make sure your signature is up-to-date.
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  • On the left, under Settings, Click on Signature. This is where you will put information that helps us give you feedback. There is a limit of two lines which may include two links; you may separate pieces with commas, dashes, | etc. This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
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Wow.... looks like Blackie is aiming for REMISSION! Good thing you are testing now... you were giving a lot of insulin at low numbers! That could have turned out very bad. It's much easier to get a full picture of what's going on now with the spreadsheet. Ok... i'm thinking if it's over 150 maybe give 0.25, and if it's over 200 let's try just 0.5 and see what happens. It looks like he's really aiming to be off insulin. If the preshot is under 150 don't give anything... you could stall without feeding for up to an hour to see if it's going up. if still low skip like you have been doing.
 
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