Harley B: AM +3 408, +6 382, +9 314, PMPS 544

[Anonymous]

This is my first post in Lantus Land. We've been trying to convert to Lantus for the last few weeks. Harley's spreadsheet for Lantus and Pre-Lantus are below. Tomorrow, I am planning to move him to 3.5 units and just wanted confirmation that I am doing the right thing. My vet, when we started this, mentioned that it wasn't good to go over 3 on this type of insulin. Of course, I see that many people do. Has anyone else heard of this and why? I didn't think to ask her at the time.

You'll see from the spreadsheet that I kept him on 3 units longer than the 3 days recommended in the Lantus dosing protocol. I did this because I screwed up terribly and gave fur shots twice in a row, so I wanted his body to recover from my mistake. (I've been doing this for almost a year and I've given more fur shots in the last 2 weeks than in the whole previous year!!!) So now I want to move to 3.5 continue based on the protocol recommendations.

Any comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Terri & Harley

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Welcome Terri!

I have a couple of questions.

Has Harley's gum infection been treated? Any infection or inflammation can raise BG levels.

Are you able to transition Harley to a canned food, low carb diet? I realized that Wellness Core is lower in carbs (11%) but it is still higher than the 10% that we recommend. Even with dry foods that are lower in carbs than the Wellness, we've seen a remarkable drop in BG levels in cats who shift to canned foods. If you look at Do Lou's spreadsheet, you'll see a good example of how numbers have dropped dramatically.

I'd also encourage you to get more evening spot checks before raising Harley's dose. The one PM +11 test you have shows a 287 -- the lowest number on your SS. It's not clear whether the high numbers are the result of bounces from lower numbers. Getting some additional spot checks may help to sort this out.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Sienne,

His gum infection was treated.

Last year I was able to get him regulated on low carb dry food and over time he went otj. THEN I transitioned him to can food which he stayed on for 3 months, but he lost almost 3 pounds during that time and it was a constant struggle to get him to eat. After he had to go back on the insulin, I decided to put him back on the dry so we could get weight back on him. I have read all the info and do understand that the can food is better, but right now I prefer not to make changes to food at the same time as trying to make insulin changes. I want to know when he vomits or has diahrea that it is not related to changes in food. I will try with the can food again at some point but I just don't want to fight with him over his food right now.

I was thinking that the 287 reading was probably due to the fact that overnight, he wouldn't have had anything to eat. I try to make sure he hasn't had food the 2 hours previous to the spot checks, but he is getting his food spread out during the day in 5 or 6 small portions. Would that explain it or do you think I've got that wrong? Are you suggesting that I do checks during the night or a more complete curve during the day?

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Whenever you can get PM checks will help. I may be a testaholic, but I like to sleep!! Many cats have lower numbers during the PM cycle. With no evening tests, you are missing half of our data and you have no idea what may or may not be happening. If at minimum, you can get a before bed test every night, that will help. If you can get an occasional curve and then mix up when you get your spot checks, it will help to fill in the blank spots on the SS so you have a fuller picture of what's going on. A few checks per cycle is fine for now. As Harley's number's come down, you may need to follow more closely.

If your theory is correct that the 287 is due to Harley not having eaten in a few hours, it's a pretty telling test given that he's had a lot of numbers in the 400 - 500+ range. What it suggests is that the dry food is elevating his numbers. If you are set on feeding dry, you may want to consider EVO Cat & Kitten -- it's 8% carb. Alternatively, that yellow number could also mean you're missing lower numbers during the PM cycle and those lower numbers are causing bounces in the next cycle.