Hello Meet Mr. Grey DX 12/15/12

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Rick & Mr. Grey

Rick & Mr. Grey

Member Since 2012
Since I now have a SS for Mr. Grey, please feel free to check it out. I had an interesting conflict with my vet (see my other posts) due to his dose prescription early on that led me to this forum and elsewhere on the web where I have been educating myself highly on this subject. Being a bit insecure with my vet's initial DX and his dose prescription and then my taking over I went as far as to go to a internal medicine endocrinologist for a 2nd opinion and some live support. The specialist basically had all the knowledge of FD and Lantus protocol memorized and looked at my growing SS and said It didn't appear Mr. Grey was insulin resistant and that I was doing a good job home testing. My main question for this forum is do cats go through a period of adjustment to .5u dose increases that will at first make them appear different, teary eyed, or a little spacey ? And how long does it take for BG#s to drop more to reflect the increased dose. I don't want to roller coaster his insulin doses and I am wondering why even at 2.5 for almost 2 weeks the #s don't drop enough. Am I doing something wrong ? Thanks.
 
Welcome to LL, Rick and Mr Grey! You have come to the right place for advice and support...this group is incredibly knowledgeable and experienced!

I am sure you will get finer details from more expert eyes than mine, but off the top of my head, we usually increase our doses in .25U increments rather than .50U, so we don't totally pass by a "good dose". And, we usually don't hold doses that aren't working for 2 weeks; we generally evaluate a dose after 6-10 cycles, or 3-5 days. If we're not seeing "good numberes" after that time, we'll increase the dose.

The stickies at the top of the forum are chock full of info. It can be very overwhelming, so ask as many questions as you need - someone is almost always around to help in some way! Great job with all the testing you're doing - you've got a great start to your data collection!!

Amy
 
Hi, Rick. I'm glad you made it over to Lantus Land.

For those who are interested, here's the link to Mr. Grey's initial condo on Health.

I think you're doing fine. If there's anything that isn't per the Tight Regulation Protocol, it's that you're holding doses longer that the protocol stipulates. You want to evaluate your dose every 3 days/6 cycles:

"General" Guidelines:
  • Hold the initial starting dose for 5 - 7 days (10 - 14 consecutive cycles) unless the numbers tell you otherwise. Kitties experiencing high flat curves or prone to ketones may want to increase the starting dose after 3 days (6 consecutive cycles).
  • Each subsequent dose is held for a minimum of 3 days (6 consecutive cycles) unless kitty earns a reduction (See: Reducing the dose...).
  • Adjustments to dose are based on nadirs with only some consideration given to preshot numbers.

Increasing the dose:
  • Hold the dose for 3 - 5 days (6 - 10 consecutive cycles) if nadirs are less than 200 before increasing the dose by 0.25 unit.
  • After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 200, but less than 300 increase the dose by 0.25 unit.
  • After 3 days (6 consecutive cycles)... if nadirs are greater than 300 increase the dose by 0.5 unit.
Click to expand...

The TR Protocol is safe but aggressive. The point being that you don't want your cat to sit in high numbers overly long. The longer a cat is in high numbers, the greater the risk that glucose toxicity develops.

One of the truisms here is "every cat is different" (ECID). There's no way to predict how long it will take for a cat to respond to a particular dose.
 
Thanks I appreciate the advice ! I increased his dose to 3u tonight at PMPS. I will get a nadir over the course of 5-7 days. I agree I've been holding doses too long low and too slow.
 
Hi Rick and Mr. Grey, welcome to LL, greatest place you never wanted to be. But if your cat has FD, this place is the best. It's all overwhelming at first but you are catching on quickly. Have you seen the video on YouTube of Buddy getting his blood tested? The URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zE12-4fVn8. We watched this a gazillion times to figure out testing. Also, what size lancet are you using? We use 28 gauge. A smaller number is bigger, so will make a bigger prick that should bleed more. Sometimes people start out with a tiny lancet and it doesn't work very well. I'm glad you found this place.
Liz, Zener's other mom (I sign my posts and Anne doesn't)
 
Hi Welcome! You are just beginning and will find lots of good advice with this group. As Sienne said "every cat is different" (ECID) but there are so many in this group that have been managing a long time with diabetic kitties and have coached many others into remission (my cat included after just 2 months post diagnosis).
I see you started at 8 and 10 Units and that's one heck of a dose, haven't read the full past history but glad to see you backed off to a lower dose until you see how Mr Grey responds :-D
Patience (wearing "patience pants") we call it in this group, is necessary at each dose and dose change, to be sure you've accounted for all of the changes in reserve insulin stored in the tissues (called "depot" ) as well as the dose you are now giving.
The advice given here is fantastic. I am too new to offer any myself other than to wish you and Mr. Grey well.
 
 
macal said:
I see you started at 8 and 10 Units and that's one heck of a dose,.
Click to expand...
Not really. See the SS now that I'm in the process of retracing my steps of the first two weeks post DX. I'm not done filling in all the facts as my vet is getting back to me with the exact days he ordered a dose increases in which some were done in office and some over the phone. The first two weeks were a blur to me (holiday time also) and I wasn't keeping records yet. I'm constantly revising and tightening up the record keeping so this SS will be accurate and concise.
 
Welcome to mr grey! You are the right place... You have experts like sienne etc looking at your numbers... Lets hope the 3 units bring him down soon!
 
Hi Rick!

Welcome to you and Mr. Grey. I just read through all you've been through! What a trooper you and your boy are. You've been a wonderful advocate for him.

I hope we see you posting regularly...we are more than happy to help in any way we can.

I know you are busy and self employed but when you have a moment, could you please do a Profile for Mr. Grey? It helps those of us assisting you have quick access to any info we need to offer you suggestions. Thank you and let me know if you have questions.

Here's a post on Making the Most of your Lantus ISG Experience which will also help us help you :-D

Let us know how we can help! :-D
 
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