Bouncing

[ZoeyMaineCoon]

Not sure what to do with our maine coon. She's on the friske's pates. Her morning pre shot numbers are frequently too low to give insulin but her evening number pre shot can be high. So if she's 330 we gave her 2 units but she then gets down to 91. She didn't have any symptoms of being hypo. 1 unit of insulin will keep her in the 200s. What should we do?

 

[Dale 'n' Chip]

How about splitting the difference 1.5 u twice a day?

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

A couple of suggestions...

First, you need to be in a situation where you can give a consistent dose of Lantus twice a day. With skipping shots or reducing the dose, you are not giving the dose a chance to stabilize and you end up tinkering with the insulin depot. The usual result is wonky numbers. Reducing the dose to 1.5u or even 1.0u twice a day and sticking with that dose for at least 3 days will give you a better idea of where Zoey's numbers are at.

Please remember that Lantus dose is not based on the pre-shot numbers. It's based on the nadir or low point of the cycle. The nadir is not reliably at +6. Some cats have early nadirs and others late nadirs and even if that is their pattern, it can change. One of the primary reasons for testing frequently when you are starting an insulin regimen is so you learn where Lantus onset and nadir are and how much duration you are getting from the insulin.

I'd really encourage you to use the spreadsheet template we all use. This will allow you and us to better see the patterns that emerge as you collect more data.

 

[Dale 'n' Chip]

...First, you need to be in a situation where you can give a consistent dose of Lantus twice a day. With skipping shots or reducing the dose, you are not giving the dose a chance to stabilize and you end up tinkering with the insulin depot. The usual result is wonky numbers. Reducing the dose to 1.5u or even 1.0u twice a day and sticking with that dose for at least 3 days will give you a better idea of where Zoey's numbers are at.

Please remember that Lantus dose is not based on the pre-shot numbers. It's based on the nadir or low point of the cycle. The nadir is not reliably at +6. Some cats have early nadirs and others late nadirs and even if that is their pattern, it can change. One of the primary reasons for testing frequently when you are starting an insulin regimen is so you learn where Lantus onset and nadir are and how much duration you are getting from the insulin.

Those are two very important points.

Looks like we have sliding scale dosing going on with a depot type insulin, not a good combination.

It might be better for Zoey to keep up 1u twice a day no matter what the readings are.