Dosing advice

[Scratches123]

We had quite the scare this past weekend with Scratches dropping to 41. I was advised to cut her dose way back to half units for a few days and can raise it if needed when I'll be around to monitor her. I am off work tomorrow so I will be home all day and I can up the dose. I know that half unit is not enough because she's obviously running very high. Any advice how much insulin I should be giving her? Her spread sheet is updated. Thank you!!

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

You can raise the dose to 1u since you can monitor tomorrow which is what I think was initially recommended here.

It would be ideal if you would start posting over in the Lantus forum HERE to get benefit from the folks most experienced with Lantus.

Have you read the stickies in the Lantus forum? There are two dosing methods we use here and it would be a good idea to read through them and decide which method you would like to follow. You can post any questions about the method in the Lantus forum and folks can help you decide which would work better for you if you are unsure which to choose.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

If you want to increase, I think you could go up to 1U...but one thing you have to remember...each time you change the dose, it can take several days before you see the true effects of that dose because the depot has to stabilize. Usually we only recommend going up by .25 unit at a time, but I think you probably dropped back a little too much from 2U to .5

At some point, you also need to decide on a dosing method....either Tight Regulation or Start Low, Go Slow. You might want to spend some time over on the Lantus Forum reading the stickies at the top of the forum

 

[Scratches123]

If you want to increase, I think you could go up to 1U...but one thing you have to remember...each time you change the dose, it can take several days before you see the true effects of that dose because the depot has to stabilize. Usually we only recommend going up by .25 unit at a time, but I think you probably dropped back a little too much from 2U to .5

At some point, you also need to decide on a dosing method....either Tight Regulation or Start Low, Go Slow. You might want to spend some time over on the Lantus Forum reading the stickies at the top of the forum

Well, I panicked. I had to work all weekend after the episode happened and I wasn't comfortable leaving her alone. I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm doing the best I can. I'm doing research every day and every day I'm finding out something new. Someone recommended if I wasn't going to be home, I could drop it to .5 since I couldn't monitor her. I also spoke with her vet after that happened, and I'm hearing so many conflicting ideas and really have no idea what's best for my cat at the moment and I'm frustrated and feel like I'm failing her.

 

[MrWorfMen's Mom]

You are not failing her. You are here trying to get help for her. You've contacted your vet and you are treating her and trying to learn how to care for her. I'd say that's being a good kitty parent and not failing her at all.

Raise the dose to 1u and head on over to the Lantus forum where you will get lots of help and encouragement from fellow caregivers who understand what you are feeling.

There is a lot to learn so you need to be patient with yourself and Scratches' BG numbers.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

You absolutely are NOT failing!! Learning about feline diabetes is like trying to pass a college level course in endocrinology in 2 days or less! There's a lot to learn!!

This is a peer reviewed board, so occasionally you might get differing opinions. I'm not saying you did anything wrong by dropping to .5 …...We do the best we can with what we know until we know more!

It was a good 5-6 months before I felt like I understood how Lantus worked in China enough to try to make my own dosing decisions (and I still double checked with the people who had been teaching me!)