dosing question. 11 year old Blue point Siamese. diagnosed with sugar of 34 and frustose 795

[Becky Swift]

hi
my fur baby Dusty started on Caninsulin Feb 14th. have filled out his spread sheets. he is getting only wet food friskies pate. he had a couple of low sugars and dose has been decreased down to 1 U every 12 hrs. his numbers are still high so i wondered whether i should do a curve tomorrow on current dose or go up a bit. i did increase dose back to 1,5 for about 36 hours but went back to 1U after reading cats can read high but need lower dose. i am very new to this so appreciate any advise. the vet said leave him on the dose and do curve after a month of being on insulin so in the next week or so.

 

[Oscar and Carrie]

Hi Becky,

I think getting more readings throughout the day would definitely make it easier to see what is going on, and especially some earlier on in the PM cycle (between +2 and +4), so if you are able to do a curve tomorrow that would be useful. However, just remember that a curve is just a snapshot of one day, and there's no guarantee each day is like that, which is why trying to get more consistent, frequent readings each day can help to see the bigger picture.

It is definitely the case that too high a dose can cause high readings, because if the high dose causes the blood glucose to drop too low, the body will overcompensate by releasing sugars to bring it back up, hence the high reading. However, without more data, it's difficult to say for certain what is happening with Dusty.

 

[SashaV]

There's something wrong with the colors in your US spreadsheet.
Neongreen is hypo territory, or it should be..

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Te error isn't with the color coding. Are you entering your values on the US tab? If so, you need to enter your readings on the World tab of the spreadsheet. If you enter the data on the World tab, it will automatically convert the numbers into US format.

It looks like you were entering the information correctly after January 21. You might want to think about going back and correcting the entries.

Doing a curve would be helpful. With Caninsulin, given it's fast action and short duration, you really need to know when onset and nadir occur. If you've not already seen the information, there is a dosing guide in the Caninsulin forum.

 

[Peggy & Clawdius]

Te error isn't with the color coding. Are you entering your values on the US tab? If so, you need to enter your readings on the World tab of the spreadsheet. If you enter the data on the World tab, it will automatically convert the numbers into US format.

It looks like you were entering the information correctly after January 21. You might want to think about going back and correcting the entries.

Doing a curve would be helpful. With Caninsulin, given it's fast action and short duration, you really need to know when onset and nadir occur. If you've not already seen the information, there is a dosing guide in the Caninsulin forum.

Sorry if I'm in the wrong section but I am looking for information about the colours on the spreadsheet. Could you tell me what they mean? For example, which colour is good, which mean you have to be watching or doing something extra and which means life threatening and get to the vet? I am a very new sugarbaby parent and probably over nervous but there is so much information out there and a lot of it is conflicting. I am using an iPet Pro glucometer. I did find something in a post about reading the spreadsheet but the link doesn't work.

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Sorry if I'm in the wrong section but I am looking for information about the colours on the spreadsheet. Could you tell me what they mean? For example, which colour is good, which mean you have to be watching or doing something extra and which means life threatening and get to the vet? I am a very new sugarbaby parent and probably over nervous but there is so much information out there and a lot of it is conflicting. I am using an iPet Pro glucometer. I did find something in a post about reading the spreadsheet but the link doesn't work.

Hi Peggy,

If you are using a pet meter, the normal range of blood sugar for a cat is 3.8 to 5.5 mmol/L which is denoted in dark green on the spreadsheet. Less than 3.8 is a low number for a cat and is denoted in lime green. Below 3.8, you want to take action to bring up the BG by feeding high carb food.

Here is the link for setting up a spreadsheet. You will need to login to be able to access it:
Sticky - HOW TO CREATE A SPREADSHEET | Feline Diabetes Message Board - FDMB

If you need help with setting up the spreadsheet, I can do it for you. Will only take me a minute.

A lot of us use human glucometers (Contour, Bravo etc) since the strips are much cheaper than pet meters. The ranges I gave you above are for pet meters. The ones for human meters are different.

 

[Peggy & Clawdius]

Thank you for the quick reply. I know I am probably just being overly nervous but this is my baby. I'm sure you understand. I love the term sugarbaby! I have already started setting up my spreadsheet. My meter came from the states so unfortunately it is measured in mg/dL which is a bit of a pain in the butt. lol I do have a conversion chart from my vet tech who has a sugarbaby of her own. I guess I am just wondering what the actions are to take when you hit readings within certain colours.

So dark green is where we want to be?

Lime green means feeding high carb food (I have a can of shredded friskies with gravy in the emergency kit as well as a small bottle of honey) and would I do glucose testing more frequently? And if so, how frequently? How low is time to get to a vet?

Blue means? What actions should be taken?

Yellow? Pink? Red? Black?

My vet tech has shown me how to do the glucose curve but for the last couple of days I have been getting Clawdie used to having his ears handled since I haven't really done that before. He is a polydactyl on all four feet so if the ears don't work out there are lots of toes to choose from. I don't really expect any problems since he actually comes to me after he eats to get his needle and his cuddle but it's always good to have a back up plan right?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Bandit's Mom]

My meter came from the states so unfortunately it is measured in mg/dL which is a bit of a pain in the butt.

Most of us here are comfortable with the US nomenclature of mg/dl, so you don't have to convert for us! You have separate spreadsheet formats for US (mg/dl) and non-US (mmol/l) meters. If you have a US meter, go for the US spreadsheet. You may want to look at switching to a human meter since the strips are much cheaper.

So dark green is where we want to be?

Yes. Those are the normal BG numbers for cat.

Lime green means feeding high carb food (I have a can of shredded friskies with gravy in the emergency kit as well as a small bottle of honey) and would I do glucose testing more frequently? And if so, how frequently? How low is time to get to a vet?

Yes. Feeding and testing would be every 20-30 mins till the numbers come up above 50 mg/dl (dark green). See this sticky:
Don't Panic! or How to Handle Low Numbers

If you set-up your spreadsheet and start posting on the Lantus / Basaglar (glargine) and Levemir (detemir) forum, we can help you with dosing, testing etc.

I can set up the spreadsheet for you. Will take me no time!

 

[Peggy & Clawdius]

Thanks, I think I'm good with setting up the spreadsheet. I am just wondering about the actions needed for each colour on the chart. I don't know what range is not great but acceptable, what range needs action and extra testing and what range needs a vet. I just want to be prepared.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

It's rare that we send someone to the emergency/vet if numbers are low. The goal is for you to be able to learn your cat's patterns and know when to increase the testing so you are monitoring to ensure there's a margin of safety. There's information in this post on setting up a "hypo kit" so you have the supplies you need should numbers drop into a low range. I've had my cat drop into very low numbers (e.g, below 30) and I was able to quickly raise her numbers with corn syrup or honey (although most people use high carb food, as well). I never took her to the vet or the ER for low numbers but I was a testaholic and knew Gabby's patterns. That said, if numbers are low and you can't get them to come up, it's time for the ER. Usually, the reason we send someone to the ER is if we suspect the kitty is developing ketones

The color coding in the spreadsheet is more for us to be able to look at trends. It's not a matter of needing to do something different for each color. Ideally, you want your cat in normal numbers (50 - 120) or at the very least, below renal threshold (around 220 but it varies for every cat). I look at the spreadsheet for every cat whose thread I open. I rarely look at individual numbers. I look at the colors as a means of interpreting the data

 

[Peggy & Clawdius]

Thanks, that makes sense. I have read as much on this site as I can and already have a hypo kit made and ready just in case. What does renal threshold mean? I have seen some references to ketones but my vet hasn't mentioned it. Is this something else I need to test for?
Thanks so much for taking the time to help. It's a big relief to know there is someone available who has experience. I have a friend who has had two sugarbabies but couldn't answer any questions for me because her vet did everything for her and she was happy to have it that way. I prefer to know what's happening.

 

[Peggy & Clawdius]

I thought I was getting a good deal when I got my ipet pro starting kit for $35 but now I am thinking not so much because the strips are almost impossible to get and when I can find them they are either outrageously expensive or don't ship to Canada. I see that sometimes companies will give you a free meter when you buy strips from them so I am thinking of switching to a human meter. Do you have any suggestions for a good one that won't mean pawning jewelry to buy strips?
Sorry, I reread the above posts and see that there are suggestions for human meters there. I am looking at a Contour Next One.

 

[Bandit's Mom]

What does renal threshold mean? I have seen some references to ketones but my vet hasn't mentioned it. Is this something else I need to test for?

Renal threshold is the blood sugar level at which the glucose spills into the urine. It varies from cat to cat and can be anywhere from 220-280. You want to keep your cat under the renal threshold to reduce the stress on the kidneys.

You can test for ketones at home using Ketostix. Here is a primer on Ketones, Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA), and Blood/Ketone Meters

Btw, could you start your own thread? Happy to answer all your questions on that! Thanks!