Char Char, new on insulin

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beachin

beachin

Member Since 2013
Hi, My cat lost half of his body weight and I went through hell, I'm sure most of us did but mine was the only one I felt. I have been reading like crazy and I am going to do my best to follow all of your advice but I wanted to get this posted fast to get an answer for now and then do more of what I am suppose to tomorrow. My cat was given 1.0 twice daily to start. He has not had his BG testing done at home yet. I am trying... Going to do my best to get one done tomorrow. He has been on it since Wed PM. He has been crying and hungry non stop. Today I gave him an extra shot of 1.0 at 4pm. His morning shot was at 7:30. I read on the internet that it was okay to increase him that much. Well, now I have been reading since 6:45 and I am not finding an answer so I have not given him his 2nd shot nor do I know how much to give him????

Sorry for the 911 but if someone is here and can give an answer I promise to get better. I will post this and then come back and tell about his food etc... In hopes someone is still awake and will help...
 
Hello and welcome - what is your name? I take Char Char is the cat?

If you are on Lantus, you should be dosing just once every 12 hours. If you've given two shots today, I'd wait until shot time tomorrow to give another one. Without doing home BG testing, we can't say whether it's safe to give insulin. Lantus also likes consistency, so stick to the 1.0 units for now.

There are is a lot of information in the starred stickies at the top of this forum. Take the time to read them. It's a lot and most of us have to read them several times. Please feel free to ask questions, we like questions here.

A favor, could you remove the 911 icon from your post - we like to reserve those for medical emergencies. If you have a question, click the ? icon and put something like Question or Need Dose Advice, or whatever is relevant to the question as part of your first post. There are people here who scan frequently for the question marks. Thanks.
 
It's ok to take the 911 off :-D

Is he on Lantus insulin? You don't want to give it any closer than every 12 hours starting out. I would not give him insulin before 4 am but if you want to get back on schedule, just shoot at 7:30 in the morning and make that your regular time. Please do not give this insulin more often than every 12 hours for now.

It's really important you test before you give insulin. I was helping someone a couple weeks ago and the first shot dropped the cat from the 300s to 105 which is a normal number but a quicker than normal response to the insulin. I am concerned your cat could hypo if you are shooting blind (without testing first).

There's no telling how long he's been diabetic and it takes a while to start seeing the symptoms of diabetes ease.
 
Hi, Thanks for the answers. Okay. I will wait til tomorrow to give another shot. I don't give them, my husband does. Once he starts back to work he leaves in the morning around 5-5:30 so we will have to figure that out. Char has had Diabetes for a while. He was diagnosed over a month ago and I got dropped from that vet right away. Now the 2nd vet finally gave me a prescription and dropped us. I was desperate to get the insulin in him because he has a tooth infection and was very sick last Saturday. I nursed him around the clock til Monday when I finally got him on it. I am terrified of needles, blood etc... I am going to try and get my husband to help with the first BG test tomorrow. He is still very very hungry and wants to eat constantly. Yesterday he bit me cause he wanted food! So, I was worried, read something quick and gave him an extra shot today. So, tomorrow, can I at least give him like 1 and a 1/2 each shot? Cause he wasn't happy with just the 1 each 12 hours? I am trying to read everything but there are so many hours in the day and it's so much!!!!!!! My name is Linnea. I have him eating Fancy Feast. He has eaten about 8 cans of food since Friday night!!!
 
Linnea

Please do not increase the dose until you re hometesting and have some data for us to look at and help you with a dose.

Lantus is a depot insulin and it takes several days to fill the cats depot before he starts using the shot you give him. If you increase the dose too soon, numbers could plummet and he could hypo.

Please start hometesting. I hope Baxters Story will emphasize the importance of testing before you shoot.
 
Not ready Baxter's Story. I have enough scary information in my head and mind with out getting more. I am going to try and test tomorrow. I got the form saved on Google spreadsheets but can someone give me the basics. I just want to try and take BG at least every two hours or please, give me the easiest way and fewest tests to start with. It's hard getting my husband to do anything and this is really hard but he is going to be able to do it a lot better then me at first. I am going to give him his next shot tomorrow at 7:30 and go from there.
 
Linnea, we are all paying it back here. Once day you too can help others.

Without getting Char Char's BG numbers, I wouldn't recommend any increase. The saying here is that it's better to be high for a day than too low for a minute. I too am one of those who has problems with the sight of blood and needles. But I've gotten over that with time. It's only a tiny drop of blood and I keep telling myself I'm doing it to help keep my cat safe and to help heal her. And for some reason, seeing the blood drop on fur is easier than on skin.

Are you feeding Char Char all the food for meals at once, or over several smaller meals. Smaller meals may help. Just to add to the reading list, here is an excellent post on Feed Kitty as Much as They Want?. As they get better regulated, the hunger will reduce.
 
Start with BG tests before giving insulin. That one is essential. On the Health Forum we recommend not giving insulin if BG less than 200. Here our number is 150. If you have a question on the number, post here with the BG test number before giving insulin. If you could get tests some where 5-7 hours after the injection and another before you go to bed, that will help give a picture of how Char Char is reacting to the insulin.
 
Welcome to Lantus Land!

We've all been in your shoes -- scared and overwhelmed. We've had a number of members who were afraid of needles and blood. As much as I hate to say it, it's a great opportunity to overcome the fear. It's amazing what a caregiver will do to help their kitty (or their kids). Let us know if you need links to videos on testing or shooting. Those can help.

As far as testing, as Wendy and Marje indicated, getting a test before you give a shot is very important. It lets you know that it's safe to give a dose of insulin. The minimum number of tests you want to get with Lantus is 4 -- your AM and PM pre-shot tests and at least one test toward the middle of the cycle. The mid-cycle test helps you to see how low Char Char's numbers are going during the cycle. If you want to try to get a "mini-cycle," that would involve testing every 3 hours. Lantus dose adjustments are based on the lowest point in the cycle -- the nadir. So, the more information you can gather so you understand when Lantus onset starts and where the nadir falls, the better.

One of the most important pieces of information about testing involves treats! Any time you test, Char Char gets a treat. It doesn't matter if the test is successful -- he gets a treat. You want your kitty to associate testing with something he likes and for most cats, it's food. Many of our kitties are "addicted" to freeze dried chicken treats. Some people will give a small piece of cooked (or raw) chicken. Whatever works for your cat.

I don't know if anyone pointed you to the starred sticky notes at the top of this Board. The information will help you to understand how Lantus works, the basics of a cycle and shooting, and how to get oriented to this Board.

  • Tight Regulation Protocol: This sticky contains the dosing protocol that we use here. There are also links to the more formal version -- the “Tilly” Protocol developed by the counterpart of this group in Germany, which was also published by Kirsten Roomp & Jacqui Rand, DVM 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: This is an important concept for understanding how Lantus works.
  • Lantus & Levemir: Shooting & Handling Low Numbers: What data you need in order to be able to work toward remission or tight regulation as well as information if you have a low pre-shot number or a drop into low numbers during the cycle.
Please let us know how we can help. The people here are incredibly generous with their time and their knowledge.
 
Welcome to Lantus Land! I know that the information you've been given is overwhelming, however, over time, it'll all make sense, and you both will get the hang of it. I hope that you'll be able to get your spread sheet set up, and start testing. Char Char's #s will get better over time, so please be sure to have a lot of patience. :lol: Good luck!
 
Took me over two hours just to get the youtube working again since Directv came in and messed with it on Saturday. We bought a new house in April and moved in the middle of May, as if there isn't enough going on... We have e-coli in the water here! Can't even wash my hands!

I am setting up the meter and don't know what to test for. I am on my own to do the BG testing. I am going to just do what I can to get the first test. He had a shot at 7:15PM. I was working so I couldn't test before. I will let you know when I know more. I am searching for things like size of lancet and all that....
 
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