Getting Harley Regulated

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Harley and Pattie

Harley and Pattie

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A big thanks to squeem3 for getting Harley's profile up and running. I am now ready to attempt getting Harley regulated. I posted on the Health Board and they suggested I go here. He is on 6.5 units lantus AM and 6 units PM. The vet thought a lower dose PM was better as I was waking up to bg's in the 50's. I am doing a bg curve today, checking every 2 hours. Should I do one over the night also. His AMPS was 379 - I think I am looking at rebound but not sure. What do I do with my numbers after the curve? Any suggestions to help me get him regulated would be appreciated. I am also going to try going to a more raw diet with him. He is on FF and Special Kitty from Walmart - only food under 5 carbs.

Pattie
 
No advice here but just wanted to say hi and goodluck. I know my cat, and many cat's tend to have lower numbers in the evening so any checks you can do in the PM cycle will help the dose experts here.
 
Hi Pattie

welcome back!
I will leave the dosing feedback to others with more experience on your current doses, however I do want to say more evening spotchecks would really help.
After the evening PMPS, you'll want to start filling in the blanks with a +3 and +5 or +6, depending on where the numbers are going, post often for feedback and others will guide you along.
It is very common for kitties to go low in the evening cycle, so it is really important to catch those numbers.

A curve would also be very useful, please see this link, viewtopic.php?f=9&t=157
it has information on a typical curve, normally it is every 2-3 hours, but you'll want to catch those greens as it plays a big part in Harley's progress.
 
Welcome to lantus land----Please read the stickys at the top of the page--They are very very informative & tell you just how lantus land is run-
We post our daily numbers in the subject line, & edit during the day either in post or in subj line--
Usual starting dose for lantus is 1.00U & we work up from there--seems like a lot of insulin, is Harley a high dose cat??
There can be instances when the cat is receiving too much insulin & it can drive the numbers up, but wait for more members to come here & advise..We do have dosing helpers so I hope thay will come & monitor you--
It may help if yoou change your subject heading today to
Newbie-dosing advice pls.--so that people will know you are new-
There are so many members to help you 24/7, someone is usually here--Wishing you well & I'm positive we can help Harley!!
 
just a note, Harley is ketone prone, as noted in profile.

Pattie - are you testing for ketones as well? If so, please note it in your spreadsheet, I dont see any recent checks.
 
Welcome Pattie!

I read Harley's Profile. Your kitty sounds like he's seen way to much of the ICU. Are you using an AlphaTrack meter? If not, given how ketone prone Harley is, this may be a good investment.

Generally, Lantus is dosed with the same amount in the AM and PM. That said, I think it would be good to see what Harley's numbers look like with the current dosing method you are using. A 2-hour curve today will be great! If you can get more spot checks during the PM cycle, I don't think a full curve at night is needed at this point. However, most of us get at minimum, a before bed BG test nightly. If Harley's numbers tend to drop low overnight, getting more checks will help to better understand what's going on at night. We are very numbers driven on this Board so more checks are always encouraged.

Is Harley still getting a steroid for his IBD? If so, I'm assuming you know that this is likely to keep his numbers up. It may also make him more infection-prone. If you are planning on going to migrate to more of a raw diet, you may want to read Dr. Lisa's website on feline nutrition, especially the section on the safety of raw food. She suggests lightly poaching the outside of raw to kill any surface bacteria which may be important for a cat on steroids.
 
I check at least twice a day for ketones. Since this is what almost killed him I am very paranoid about ketones. I will put them in the ss but he has been ketone free for 8 weeks.

Pattie
 
If you're testing that much, an AlphaTrack may not be necessary. The big advantage is that you get the actual number vs. the color coding of the Ketostix. Rather than have us pester you about ketones or writing it all the time on Harley's SS, you could always put a note in your signature that you test on a daily basis.
 
I will be asking tons of questions today with this curve, so I hope that's ok. At +4, Harley shot up to 331. I cannot access the ss to put in the numbers (won't load), but AMPS-379, +2-316, +4-331. I usually give him a treat after I shoot him, it is freeze dried salmon but no carb level listed. I had called the company for the carbs but they did not know and had no plans to test their product. Could this have carbs and driving up the BG?

Pattie
 
Hi, Pattie,

Glad to see you in Lantus Land! You've already heard from some very knowledgeable people who will give you great guidance.

Given that today is a holiday, there may be slightly less traffic to respond to your posts, but stick with it. You are in the right place.
 
I was having some trouble getting SSs to load but Harley's opened.

As long as a treat is just meat, it should be fine. The freeze dried treats - chicken, salmon, etc. -- are all low carb unless the ingredients contain some sort of syrup or filler.

So far, Harley's curve looks good.
 
Well, I blew the curve. My neighbor called - they had just gotten a new 3 month old kitten and I went over to look. When I got home, Harley was in his brothers dry food (I rarely leave the house without putting all food away). So, he went up to 357. I will try another curve tomorrow with only the raw food as treats.

Pattie
 
Well that just sucks! (And the other half of my brain is going, "And another reason for everyone in the house to be eating the same food as Harley.")

I hope the neighbor's kitten is adorable!
 
Hi Pattie!

Good job getting tests today. I'll second what the others said, it's a good habit to get a test before bed every single night too. Many cats have completely different cycles at night than they do during the day, so that's a good way to be sure we're making dosing decisions based on ALL the data. I definitely see clues that you might be missing some action at night, like on 4/24 when he dropped almost 200 points in 2 hours (at which point the insulin hasn't even kicked in yet, so he almost certainly went lower), then ended up at 60 by morning. How far did he drop before he started back up? Then on 5/3 he started a FAST bounce at +11 (rose 100 points in an hour, and kept going up to 400 by the next evening). That bounce is a clue that he might have been significantly lower than 120 at some point during the night.

Once we can start to put together a picture of what his cycle looks like on both sides of the clock, then we can work on figuring out how to regulate him. Read the stickies in this forum (especially the storage shed one) to understand why we use the same dose AM and PM. Using a consistent dose should help Harley to flatten out.
 
Neighbor's kitty is so cute. On Friday, she had to put her little Maggie down and today she rescued this cute little thing. She is all white except for a multi-colored tail.

Usually everyone in the house is on FF but once in a while the civilain's get dry food. I sit in the same room until they are done and then remove the dishes. Guess I was too excited to see the new addition.

Tomorrow will be better. I have raw treats which will help with the BG.

Pattie
 
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