Hello New to the board and need help

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Iorwen & Tray

Iorwen & Tray

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Hello, my name's Sarah and my kitty is Tray. He's a 10 year old all black long haired. He was diagnosed 16 months ago and was originally on Caninsulin but after being all over the place with that and two hypo incidents my vet switched him to Lantus. We started on 1 unit and held for 10 days but went to 1.5 units after that.

I just did my first blood glucose curve myself today and found his numbers high and also odd. Is it strange to have the lowest number at +10 hours? Also where do I go from here in dosing? Do I increase by .25 or by .5 units?

On behalf of my beloved guy, Tray and myself I thank you for any words of wisdom.
 
Hi welcome,

we can't pull up your spreadsheet, you didn't type in the link correctly - try this instead:

Tray's spreadsheet

you were missing the [ in the beginning of the string and ] at the end of the string

fix it so you have it correct for your signature and we'll all be able to see and and advise....brb
 
OK, just looked at the ss and see that he surfed in the 300's all day (pink). This is a good start.

Personally, if this is all the data you have, then I would hold this dose 1.5 for a couple more cycles and see if he continues to surf in the pinks or what it does.

Don't know if you had a chance to read the starred posts above, but suggest you do, so you can become more familiar with lantus and how it works in the cat. Also, you need to keep opened and unopened lantus in the fridge and DO NOT shake or roll the lantus.

Others will be along soon with more advice.
 
Thanks I think I fixed the link to Tray's link.
And my vet did tell me to buy the cartridges and keep open and unopened insulin in the fridge to prolong the life. He also told me not to roll or shake and not to push insulin back into the cartridge.
 
Hi Sarah and welcome to Lantus Land (LL).

Beautiful job with the curve today! What this looks like to me is the kind of flat "curve" that Lantus is known for. I suspect you would like to see that curve in the 100s or below but I suspect we can help you to get there.

A couple of questions and suggestions:
  • Were you keeping a similar spreadsheet (SS) for your Caninsulin records? If not, what was the typical dose that Tray was getting?
  • Does Tray have any significant (or nonsignificant) medical history? Is he taking any medication?
  • I'm presuming that yesterday was Tray's first day on Lantus since your SS is dated 4/24. Could you update to include today's numbers?
  • We are very numbers driven here so the testing you are doing is wonderful. We encourage getting tests in the PM cycle, as well. Many cats have lower blood glucose (BG) numbers in the evenings so even if the only test you can get is a before bed test, this can be of enormous help.
  • When you have a chance, can you also complete a Profile for Tray. The instructions for completing a Profile are in the link or in the Tech Forum.
  • What are you feeding Tray? We encourage a low carb (LC), less than 10% carb, canned food diet.
  • Please read the sticky notes (i.e., the starred permanent notes) at the top of the Board. They will give you information about the care of Lantus (you've got a great vet if he knew to tell you this!!), the explanation of the "shed," as well as links to our slang dictionary, and most importantly, information on the dosing protocol that we use.
  • Try to forget everything that you know about insulin. Lantus is very different than Caninsulin especially given that dose decisions are based on the nadir of the cycle and not the pre-shot BG level.

The first dose of Lantus is generally held for roughly a week, unless numbers dictate otherwise. This is one of the reasons that it's helpful to know what Tray's dose of Caninsulin was. Lantus use requires patience, so please give it time.

Please read our condos (the threads for each of our kittys) and look at our SSs. Ask questions -- we're happy to answer and will probably inundate you in information. The front end of the learning curve can be overwhelming. Please post daily; we're here to help in any way that we can.
 
No, I was going to the vet for fructomose tests and curves but finally decided to take things into my own hand.
Tray is in otherwise good health and is on no medication.
Sorry I must have dated it wrong, today was the curve. It wasn't his first day on lantus, he started on 1 unit for 10 days and then moved to 1.5. Today was the first day I had off from work in order to devote to checking his BG's
I am feeding Tray a mixture of certain Fancy Feast and a raw diet.
I'll make up a profile for him and thanks for all your help.
 
Hi Sarah and Tray
Welcome to Lantus Land.
You are in the right place to get help for Tray.
Can't wait to see his picture too.
It's terrific that you took control of helping Tray. Many of us have not been successful
with our vets.
My Max has been off insulin for 3 weeks now, with no vet support.
Just myself and the most amazing people here.
BTW, are you located in Canada or Europe as I see your reference to Caninsulin as opposed to
the American name Vetsulin.
 
Randi & Max said:
BTW, are you located in Canada or Europe as I see your reference to Caninsulin as opposed to
the American name Vetsulin.
Click to expand...

I'm in Canada, Toronto to be specific. Thanks for the welcome and that's amazing to hear you got your cat off insulin all on your own. My vet is great but I just felt helpless sitting on the sidelines and just felt it was about time to become proactive.
 
Sarah!
Welcome to you and Tray!
The others have given you alot to start on, so I won't much more right now.

A couple things I wanted to mention though - Don't worry about testing during the work days; lots of us can't do that either. So long as you get your ps before shooting, that's fine for your work days. Be sure to give no food in the 2 hours prior to ps as food affects the numbers when you take the ps test.

For me, I test in the morn before I leave for work, then again when I get home at pmps. At nite, it's good to get at least one test just before you head to bed so you know where Tray's numbers are before you go to sleep.

On the weekends, I am able to do curves working the tests around my errands and other weekend stuff.

Last thing is that you don't need to waste your money having the fructosamine tests done because it's just an average of Tray's numbers over the past few months, and now that you are home testing, you already have his numbers!

As was said about your sheet so far, you are all set up great so once you have filled out a few days worth of numbers, even if they are just the amps and pmps plus a few others, people will be better able to see how Tray is handling and processing the Lantus at this dose. In many cases, it may take up to 6 shots / 6 cycles before you will see Tray react to the dose change.

Again, welcome to you and Tray.
I am also in Toronto so I am close by if you have any questions.
 
Hi Sarah and Tray.
Just wanted to say welcome to Lantus Land from another Ontarian: I am in Oakville. You have come to the right place to get help.
 
Welcome fellow Canadian to LL :).

It looks like you are very much on the right track with things from reading your posts and your profile.. great job getting those set up by the way. Also good work on getting a curve.. the more you test the better off Tray will be..

I'm impressed by your vet.. starting at 1U and holding for 10 days and then increasing by 0.5U.. there's some fine tuning to that plan that you'll be able to do now that you are home testing.. but it's pretty good advice so far compared to most vets that I hear about.. tell them they should nag pet parents to home-test though!! :).. hopefully they are on board with home-testing.. the people here in LL will take good care of you and Tray.. but it's nice to have the doctor(s) on board as well.

I noticed on your profile that Tray is eating LC wet/raw.. is this a recent switch (in the last week?).. good information for the advice givers to have.

16 months into your adventure with Tray.. I'm sure you have all sorts of patience hehe.. but you'll have to dig deep again for the next stage of your journey together.. home testing is a life saver for cats, but it can be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for the parents! Keep collecting data for a few days.. whenever you can fit it in to your schedule.. it's best, and safest for Tray if you don't make any changes until you have that data in place.

Hang in there. Ask whatever you can think of, and vent too if you need to.. we're here for emotional support as well!
 
OMG you are all so sweet what took me so long to find this board?
Tray has been on wet food only since being diagnosed but the raw has been introduced about 3 months ago, shortly after he hypo'd on cannisulin and then my vet switched him to Lantus.
Again I appreciate all your help and encouragement.
 
HI! Just wanted to welcome you to Lantus Land! So glad you found us! This is the best place! There are so many people here to help at all hours so don't hesitate to ask! Lantus is an amazing drug! Good luck!
 
Dropping in to say hello also! Remember...start a new "condo" for today with Tray's amps number! Cya around!!
 
His numbers this evening seem worse. :sad: I'm waiting for a call from my vet after he's taken a look at the curve but any advice you can pass along will be much appreciated.
And Tray say's thank you too.
 
Be sure to get a test just before you go to bed each nite; you want to know what Tray's number is at that time.
Because we don't know what happened last nite, just by seeing the yellow at the start of the day, he may have gone pretty low overnite and the high numbers you are seeing now may be a bounce after low numbers.
 
Welcome to Lantus Land (LL). Wonderful that you decided to take this into your own hands. LL is a fantastic place to get up-to-date help. I love his photo too.
I think what you are seeing, this evening, is a bounce up from him going lower last night.
When a kitty's numbers drop lower than they have seen in awhile or drop fast the liver will release sugar into the cat's body. It can take a couple of cycles (12 hours is a cycle) to clear out. If your vet suggests raising the dose I would be cautious and get some mid-cycle, day and night, BG checks before thinking he needs more insulin.
 
Gayle and Shadoe said:
Be sure to get a test just before you go to bed each nite; you want to know what Tray's number is at that time.
Because we don't know what happened last nite, just by seeing the yellow at the start of the day, he may have gone pretty low overnite and the high numbers you are seeing now may be a bounce after low numbers.
Click to expand...

that's odd, I did get a shot in at 9;30 pm. It's show's in the World version but didn't convert it into the US version. It was 16.5 at 9:30 pm just before I hit the sack (I get up really early!) but I'm not sure what the conversion is, I think it converts to 297 (?).
 
Hello Do Lou and I want to welcome you to Lantus Land there are so many good people here that know so much about this amazing drug that are willing to help and give advice you have come to the right place for information and insulin help. Please take time to read the stickys above when you get the chance I have read them over and over they have so much wonderful information about how Lantus works with you cat. :YMHUG: cat_pet_icon
 
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