First week on Lantus

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casscc

Member Since 2012
Hi. My 11 year old cat was diagnosed last Saturday as being diabetic. His reading at the vet was 663 but it was a very stressful trip and when I checked it at home the next day it was 290. He gets 1 unit Lantus twice a day. I also switched his diet the day he was diagnosed to a low carbohydrate diet. I will do a glucose curve Saturday but in the mean time I take a reading each evening before his shot. The glucose level went from 290 to 237 to 212 to 264 and today it was 283. Is it normal to have this initial drop and then for it to increase? Thanks
 
Hi casscc!

Welcome! I'm a newbie, so I don't really have any advice regarding your questions, but I wanted to say hello and welcome! My kitty was diagnosed the day before yours actually and we are using Lantus as well. :smile: I'm sure some of the more experienced members will swing by soon and give you some more information or ask you some questions. The one thing I can suggest is that you create a profile and complete the spreadsheet they use here to make it easier for people to answer your questions. The link to the information is here about the profile:

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=80456

and the spreadsheet instructions are here:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207

Once you have completed these, you can follow the directions of adding a link to your signature so that the more experienced members will have most of the information about your kitty and they can answer more quickly. :smile:

I hope that helped a little. :cool:
 
Numbers in the 200s after a week is Awesome!! I am so happy to hear you are hometesting! Just to clarify tho, are you testing her blood via the ear with a meter?

Generally its advised that you test before every shot. Given that hes in the 200s it would be very interesting to see the AM preshot numbers. If you can, try getting a mid cycle check-what we call the Nadir (when the insulin is working the most) so at +6 (6 hours after the shot)

Readings change every day, and actually can be different with a test a minute later. The numbers you gave are very "steady" numbers for the same time of day, now you need to find out what hes doing the rest of the time. Some cats bounce around a Lot more than that!

You mentioned that you changed to low carb food, are you feeding all canned?

Great job so far!
 
Thanks for the responses! I am testing with an ear prick and glucose meter. I did one morning reading before his shot and it was around 260. This was the morning after the 212 reading. I wanted to make sure the morning readings were not too much lower because I did not want his levels to drop too low. I did one reading three hours after his shot and it was 30-40 lower than the pre-insulin. I will be able to better judge things this weekend since I will not be at work all day. I have not completely removed the dry food. I feed him wet food in the morning and evening before his shot but I leave some Wellness Core out during the day. I am gone at work about 10 hours a day and there are 2 other kitties with him so I fear removing the dry all together in case he gets hungry. Is it OK to leave wet food out when I leave for work? It is gone when i get home but I am not sure how long it takes to be eaten. Would it be better to leave out plenty of wet as oppossed to the dry. He is a good size cat (not fat, just big). He weighs about 14 pounds. He was more like 18 before he started losing weight. Thanks so much for your help Lisa!

Thanks for the hints Lori! I hope Atticus is adjusting well!
 
Yes, you can leave out wet food. It won't go bad in the 8 or so hours you are gone. Lots of us freeze it and the cat snacks as it thaws. (I have a silicone cupcake pan which is the perfect size for a Fancy Feast can. I plop the food in, let it freeze and then store Ina large bag in the freezer)

This weekend would be a good time to get rid of all the dry and get some data. You want to be careful with the dosing when removing the dry.( Our Oliver dropped 100 points overnight when we switched). So be sure to get preshot numbers always - to be sure it's safe to give the dose you are planning on - and midcycle numbers to see how low the insulin takes him. Your insulin dose is based on that midcycle number.

We suggest new diabetics not shoot with a preshot 200 or under, but wait 20 minutes without feeding and retest, to be sure the number is rising and over 200.

There's so much to learn at first; you are doing great.
 
Re: First increase in Lantus

Hi again. I did a curve on 10/06/12. 0 hours was 279, 3 hours 261, 6 hours 221, 9 hours 262, and 12 hours 276. I talked to the vet and we raised the insulin 1/2 unit. Initially the readings after the change were about the same (268, 289). But the past two days they have been 323 (evening) and 307 (am). Why would they be higher now than they were to start with? Could it be that he is eating more? I leave Fancy Feast out but I have 3 cats so it is hard to know who eats what. Any thoughts would be appreciated. He has been on the 1.5 units now a week tomorrow.

Thanks!
 
The higher numbers could be due to eating more. They cold also be due to too much insulin or not enough. There is really not much difference in this weeks and last weeks BGs
 
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