HELP is Lantus or new meter?? Give insulin or not

Status
Not open for further replies.
KKL

KKL

Member Since 2013
Hi! We started insulin 5/31/13 (Lantus 1 unit a day) and did it up until 6/11/13 when I was advised to try stopping and just monitor by the vet based on my numbers. Got a different meter...had the TrueResult-NOW I have the Relion which is showing higher readings, so I restarted insulin 2 days ago. I am seeing higher highs and lower lows, but not sure if it is the insulin or the meter? He got 1/2 unit insulin at 9:30 last night, was 99 6 hours ago and now we just got a 400 before breakfast (13 hours later)...should I give another 1/2 unit or ride it out and see where he goes? Could this be a reaction from his body to the insulin pushing lower??? :?:

***UPDATE: See last post...after getting new meter and restarting Harley on Insulin (0.25 unit) we are having wild shifts in numbers, he had a 350pt drop in 6 hours today and went from 400 to 50 only 5 hours after insulin was given, worried it might drop more, did give Karo and some wet food***
 
You need to give the insulin or the BG numbers will go higher from that 400 you got this morning before breakfast.

Without seeing some more numbers, not sure if this is a bounce or not.

If you suspect a reading from the meter is not in line with prior history for the day, you can always do another BG test.

Please take another BG test now so we can see what the number is.

ETA: I'm going to advise you to only give 0.25U for now. You had to skip a dose Yesterday AM 6/22 because of the lower numbers.
 
I just took it back to back a few minutes ago, the first was 390 the second was 410, so I split the range to 400.

I am also beginning to wonder if I am already giving him half or 0.25 unit?? I have the BG 3/10cc and they do not have 1/2 unit markings...I went right up to the first black line the last few times I did "0.5"....but he did 'react' all times, so I know he is getting insulin in him.
 
This picture shows 0.25U. Syringe is one that has 1/2 unit markings. You can click on the picture to enlarge it.



The very first black line on the syringe is the 0unit mark.
 

Attachments

  • 025unit-1.jpg
    025unit-1.jpg
    11.7 KB · Views: 2,178
The relion is supposed to be more consistent at the whole range of numbers whereas the trueresult can be inaccurate at high numbers. Saying that though, it's usually over 200 that seems to go wonky. Anyway I would stick to the relion and drop to 1/4unit (0.25) and see how it goes.

Wendy
 
Oh I am so confused!!
Gave him 0.25 unit (Harley is 13lbs) at 11am today after he read 400. He dropped within 2 hours to 122 then 5 hours later we got a reading of 50. How does he drop 350 pts on 0.25 unit??

I am assuming stop the evening insulin dose due to his low numbers, but can't tell if the higher swings in numbers are from the insulin or the new meter...or god forbid both.

I am more worried about him going hypo than having a few hours of high BG, should I stop the insulin for a few days and track him with diet alone...at what hours should I take readings??

Might he need a different and less potent insulin??
 
I am assuming stop the evening insulin dose due to his low numbers, but can't tell if the higher swings in numbers are from the insulin or the new meter...or god forbid both.
Click to expand...
Well, if his numbers are up again at PMPS, you may need to give insulin.

I am more worried about him going hypo than having a few hours of high BG, should I stop the insulin for a few days and track him with diet alone...at what hours should I take readings??
Click to expand...
You could do this, stop the insulin and track with diet alone. Some ideas for testing at normal pre-shot time in AM and PM. Test at low point of the cycle, around +5-+7. Test an hour or two after food to see how high the food is spiking the BG numbers.

Might he need a different and less potent insulin??
Click to expand...
He might not need insulin at all.

What food are you feeding? Still the Wellness Turkey?

Did he have an infection?

Did he get a steroid shot?
 
Nothing changed, except that we got a new meter yesterday and I restarted his insulin at 0.25 unit since the meter showed him at 315. We gave him another 0.25 unit of insulin this morning following a 400 reading but since he dropped so low I am concerned that the numbers are more rebound related? Since he is only at 50 now I think skipping the PM dose would be good...but wondering what to do come tomorrow morning if his numbers are high...maybe skip it and track to see if it is rebound? HIs numbers have been all over the place the last 24hrs (like nothing I'd seen since this started 3 weeks ago). He is still getting the Wellness Turkey 2x day, usually around 8-9am and 7-8pm. I usually test just before feeding then again 2+/- hours after feeding and sometimes 4 hours after that depending on the reading (usually before bed).

Just seems so weird that only 0.25 unit on a 13lb cat would cause such a wild change in numbers?
 
Worst part is I don't have 1/2 unit syringes and I didn't know that the first line was the 0 unit mark (though I tested and some stuff does come out with the BG syringes). So I thought I was giving him 0.5 unit and it was really 0.25 or less (where you see on the chart). SIGH :(

Are there smaller syringes than I have? They are the BG 3/10CC, seems impossible to get 0.25 accurately
 
KKL said:
Worst part is I don't have 1/2 unit syringes and I didn't know that the first line was the 0 unit mark (though I tested and some stuff does come out with the BG syringes). So I thought I was giving him 0.5 unit and it was really 0.25 or less (where you see on the chart). SIGH :(

Are there smaller syringes than I have? They are the BG 3/10CC, seems impossible to get 0.25 accurately
Click to expand...
No those are the smallest insulin syringes available. They are made for human children that need smaller doses.

If you've only been drawing the insulin up to the first line, the 0 line, then you may need to stop the insulin for now. Let's see where the BG numbers settle out. It may take several days for the Lantus depot to drain and not have an affect on the BG numbers.

I'm wondering if the high numbers are caused by too much insulin. Maybe Harley does not need insulin at all right now.

Hoping a couple more people will give their considered opinions here.
 
KKL said:
Worst part is I don't have 1/2 unit syringes and I didn't know that the first line was the 0 unit mark (though I tested and some stuff does come out with the BG syringes). So I thought I was giving him 0.5 unit and it was really 0.25 or less (where you see on the chart). SIGH :(

Are there smaller syringes than I have? They are the BG 3/10CC, seems impossible to get 0.25 accurately
Click to expand...

OK, the syringes you have are U100 syringes, and the max shows as 30units on the barrel of the syringe, yes? Also the lines on the barrel are for whole units only, yes?
How have you been measuring a 0.5unit dose and the 0.25unit dose?

You can easily measure a 0.25u dose in your syringes, but it would require that you waste some insulin. The alternative is to buy a box of syringes with 1/2 unit markings.

To measure a 0.25u dose in your syringes, practice with a used syringe.
Measure water to the 1unit line.
Instead of pushing the plunger, you will be twisting it.
Point the syringe with the needle facing the ceiling.
Twist the plunger until you see a drop at the end of the needle; flick it off.
Repeat the twisting and flicking each drop off.
In a 1unit of water, you should get about 8 drops of water.
In a 0.5 unit, 4 drops. In a 0.25unit, 2 drops.
By filling a syringe with insulin to the 1 unit line, you can then twist out 6 drops to give you a 0.25unit dose.

Gayle
 
Hi there! Welcome to our family :-D

I, too, started out using a TrueResult and then switched to the ReliOn and got higher numbers. The TrueResult is notorious for reading low. I had the vet test Gobbles' blood against his meter with the TR and then with the ReliOn--the TR did read way lower and the ReliOn was much closer to his reading.

If you take a look at Gobbles' spreadsheet, you'll see that his numbers don't look too bad during from November to January 7--I was using the TrueResult. After that, I started using the ReliOn and his numbers were higher.
 
Well, I am officially more confused now than ever...the more I read...Nadir, Depot, Somagyi, Hypo, split dosing, etc :)

Harley's numbers are all over the board. I gave him a "0 unit" line dose--because stupid me thought that was the 0.5 line :( Though after playing with a used needle, a mirror and some water (yes I know how bad that sounds) this spot appears to give him a little more than 0.25 but much less than 0.50.

So, after giving him 0.3 +/- unit yesterday am following a 400 reading he dropped to 50 within 5 hours and despite some caro and wet food he only came up to 67 within a hour and 89 within 2 hours. I fed him dinner and he rose into the low 100's for several hours. I took a reading at 4:45 this morning (I can't seem to sleep lately--worry too much) and he was at 124...then 2 hours later he spiked to 446. I did opt to skip the morning dose because it seems to push him so low...I fed him at 7 and am awaiting a reading to see where he is at. When he was off insulin the last week or so his numbers would come down after feeding.

How long does it take the "depot" to run out? With even a small dose his high's are high and his lows are low...
 
What is your name? We know your cats' name is Harley.

KKL said:
Well, I am officially more confused now than ever...the more I read...Nadir, Depot, Somagyi, Hypo, split dosing, etc :)
Click to expand...
There is a glossary in the Health Links forum. The topic is called "Are you new and confused about our jargon? Read our glossary". Here is a quick link to the glossary glossary We are not trying to confuse you, either officially or unofficially. ;-)

Harley's numbers are all over the board. I gave him a "0 unit" line dose--because stupid me thought that was the 0.5 line :( Though after playing with a used needle, a mirror and some water (yes I know how bad that sounds) this spot appears to give him a little more than 0.25 but much less than 0.50.
Click to expand...
Did you practice with the drop method suggested in the post above to determine that?

You have been calling them the BG syringes. Is the manufacturer BD or Relion or Terumo or some other manufacturer? I ask because some syringes have more space between the needle and the first black line.

So, after giving him 0.3 +/- unit yesterday am following a 400 reading he dropped to 50 within 5 hours and despite some caro and wet food he only came up to 67 within a hour and 89 within 2 hours. I fed him dinner and he rose into the low 100's for several hours. I took a reading at 4:45 this morning (I can't seem to sleep lately--worry too much) and he was at 124...then 2 hours later he spiked to 446. I did opt to skip the morning dose because it seems to push him so low...I fed him at 7 and am awaiting a reading to see where he is at. When he was off insulin the last week or so his numbers would come down after feeding.
Click to expand...
Yes, that is a significant drop in 5 hours, more than 80 percent.

Although those lower blue and green numbers on your spreadsheet are what we like to see, they can be stressful and worrisome and a cause for concern when you are not used to them. I think of numbers in the 50's as an alert to monitor. Numbers in the 40's as feed the cat to keep them from going lower and a potential hypo. Numbers in the 30's and 20's as very concerning and needing very close monitoring and frequent testing and food such as HC (high carb) to bring the numbers up. Numbers in the 100's, blue range, like that 124 are nice pancreas healing numbers.

There may be some food management techniques you can use to keep the numbers a bit higher. You are already feeding a good low carb food so there is not much room for dropping the carb level on the food. But you can spread out the food into mini-meals to help balance out the effects of the insulin and hopefully keep him in more level numbers, not diving so steeply.

Or it may be possible to squeeze another drop or two out of the syringe to give even less insulin.

When you have the syringe at the 0 mark, how many drops can you squeeze out still?

How long does it take the "depot" to run out? With even a small dose his high's are high and his lows are low...
Click to expand...
The depot can take 3 days to 10 days or more to completely drain. ECID (every cat is different)

I am going to post a link to your topic over in the ISG Lantus TR forum. I want some different opinions on what is the right direction to go with your cat. I'm not sure that your idea of letting the depot drain is the best solution.

We want to find a solution that will work with your daily life and responsibilities and still let you get some sleep.
 
Sounds good thank you...I meant BD syringe :(

The black first line yields about 2 small drops out of 6 drops in a unit when twisting the plunger...so I am guessing with this particular syringe and based on the size of the drops it is just under 0.30 unit at the black line (based on the room left).

He dropped almost 100 pts since I fed him two hours ago. We had been on insulin from 5/31-6/11 and then stopped until 6/22. The most consistient numbers came when he was "off" insulin...but were we running off our reserve?? We did change from a solely dry food diet to wet food (as of 5/31) so I am sure that helps. But again the variables are that we had a different meter :( The swings on such a low dose for such a big boy scare me...especially since they tend to happen in the wee hours of the night and/or in the middle of the day when I should be at work :(
 
What is your first name? Don't think you gave it to us yet. I'd like to know who I'm talking to if you would be willing to share your name.
 
I think he is close to coming off of insulin, but not quite there yet. Can you try 1 drop consistantly and see how he does on that? You're doing a good job of testing and learning all this.
 
Oh SORRY :) It's Kris and thank you ALL for your help!! :)

So scale it back to less than the first plunger line?

Should I do it today or chart him for 24-48 hour period to see if this is a rebound swing from dropping so low??

I have the terminology down, it's just a lot more complicated than I had first thought...and of course the more I read the more variables I see and therefore its complexity is expanding exponentially :)
 
Kris

Welcome to FDMB.

I have two suggestions that you could try.

1. Buy a higher low carb food such as Wellness chicken/herring (6%) or turkey/salmon (6%) or Merrick cowboy Cookout (5%). If his weight is good based on what you have been feeding him, divide the daily food he gets into two portions. One portion for the a.m. Cycle and one for the p.m. Cycle. Then try to "front load" the cycle. In other words, from the cycle portion, feed him at preshot, +1, +2, +3. I think it works best to feed him a bit more at PS and +1 and the remainder at +2 and +3. Your goal is to slow the drops. It might not happen overnight. You will have to test a little more early on. I would always get a +2 test if I were you to see how fast he's coming down but I'd also get a +3 test. See if the food slows him some.

If you can slow him down a bit, he might not get so low. He might even require a little higher LOW carb food than I have suggested. Every cat is different in how carb sensitive they are.

2. Stop the insulin and give him 6-10 cycles to see if he will clear those counterregulaotry hormones out of his system. He could be bouncing off the insulin.

I tend to agree with Dyana that he looks like he needs a just a tad of insulin for a bit but if you want to try #2, you are on,y talking about a few days without insulin and he might decide he's just fine. But it takes patience....you might still see some high numbers until all the hormones are cleared.

Let us know if you have other questions. If you have questions regarding what I've said and I don't get right back here, Deb knows where to find me :-D
 
Ok he started high this morning before breakfast (446), came down to 369 within 2 hours and then to 214 within 4 hours of eating with no insulin. I swear I am seeing higher numbers when he has insulin even though it is a small amount because he goes so low after. He also seems to get higher in the morning but come down after eating without insulin.

thoughts??
 
No thoughts here on those numbers going lower without insulin.

So you had a suggestion from Dyana and agreement from Marje that he needs a little bit of insulin, to try for 1 drop of insulin. You'll want to practice that twisting technique to get a consistent 1 drop only. Be sure you really press hard on the plunger at the end to make sure it is a single drop.

Then you had two different suggestions from Marje, a slightly higher carb content on the food and feeding mini-meals early in the cycle or skipping for a few days.

The Wellness Turkey Grain Free you are feeding now is 4% carbs.

Look these options over, ask for clarifications if needed. Then pick one suggestion to follow. You know your cat better than we do and you know what your family and life and work responsibilities are.

This is the Food Chart we use to get the carb percentages of all the canned foods. http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf It's where Marje and I got the carb percentages for the food you are feeding and her new suggestions.
 
I do want to reiterate that he "could" be bouncing off the insulin or he could just be bouncing. That's why I gave two options.

Even though Dyana and I think he could probably use a tiny bit of insulin, it's your call as to whether you try to dose one drop or whether you give it a try without insulin. The one thing about the latter is it will really let you know whether he needs it or not but you will have to give it some time.

Tucker's SS will show you a cat that was bouncing off insulin and how long it took him to clear the counterregulatory hormones.

Our goal is to provide you with information and then be supportive of the decision you make as long as it is a safe one. If you decide to try him off insulin and it doesn't work, put him back on a drop. It might take more at that time because if he really does need insulin and he stays at higher numbers for six or more cycles without coming down to normal numbers, it could take a little more than a drop to "kickstart" him again....he will have to refill his lantus depot.
 
KKL said:
Ok he started high this morning before breakfast (446), came down to 369 within 2 hours and then to 214 within 4 hours of eating with no insulin. I swear I am seeing higher numbers when he has insulin even though it is a small amount because he goes so low after. He also seems to get higher in the morning but come down after eating without insulin.

thoughts??
Click to expand...

Hang in there! Harley is actually in a good spot. If his BG readings are coming down after eating and without insulin, that means that his pancreas is producing some insulin on it's own. He just needs a little help right now while it continues to heal. Marje is great on refining doses. She always gives great advice!
 
Thank you to everyone, for some reason some of my posts went through after some advice went up :)

I am leaning toward conservative since while there are days that I work from home, there are days that I am on the road for several hours. I am converging everyones advice. I think I am going to chart him for a little while without insulin to get an idea of what his body is doing with just food. He had great numbers on just food, but that was with the TrueResult meter. When I changed to Relion his numbers were higher so I added a dose of insulin and it started this yo-yo effect with wide swings...only way to tell if it is him, the insulin or the new meter would be to go a few days testing often and compare.

IF we do not see a consistient or safe pattern I will gladly resume the Lantus 1 drop and increase if necessary. I just want to have an idea of where he truly is that way I am not putting him in danger of being hypo if I am not home or while I am sleeping...haven't slept much lately. I have been through a lot with my fur kids, just lost my horse to severe illness almost a month ago (two days before I noticed something was wrong with Harley and he got diagnosed with Diabetes) so it's been a tough road, with Harley too (he also had a feeding tube for 8 weeks 4 years ago).

When we adopted him he was 24 lbs. He is a large cat (frame wise) but needed to lose weight and we had to be creative to do it because he's a food monger. Over time, I had worked him down to about 17lbs safely but then he lost 5 lbs suddenly over the month or so before he got dx. Can a bout of pancreatitis bring on diabetes?
 
Did they give him steroids? If so, yes. Or he could have mild, chronic pancreatitis. Many cats do without showing symptoms and then they have a more noticeable episode.

If you are going to withhold insulin, then the best way to see if his pancreas is working is to test him every morning before you feed him. Feed him his regular meal. Test three hours later. Other times that you can try this experiment is to test him three hours before he normally eats dinner, feed him a little after you test him, test him before he eats dinner. Or, alternatively, test him before dinner, feed him, test him three hours later.

If his pancreas is working, his BG should drop from the time you feed to three hours later. I would continue to chart these numbers because if he does need to go back on insulin, we are going to love to see the numbers :-D

Good luck.
 
Thank you...yes he has been consistently dropping since this morning, he is now down to 168 (from 446) without insulin. He really didn't get much Sunday morning (0.25) and he got the same Saturday night (0.25) though he did get 1 unit Friday evening...but that is the first time he got insulin in 10 days, so I don't know if he is operating off what little depot he would have had?

No he hadn't gotten any steroids, but about 2 months ago we got a new bag of food and he turned his nose up at it and wasn't interested (NOT like our chow hound). So I looked at the bag and it had expired, so I took it back and got a new one. He was eating it, but not as voraciously, so we started giving him a little wet food (to avoid another bout of hepatic lipidosis) but he lost a little weight and we thought it was due to that...until we noticed increased urine (we are also treating a Hyperthyroid kitty at the same time and thought it was from his medicine adjustment). I am wondering if I completely overlooked (or if it caused) a bout of pancreatitis?

Either way, his body has been steadily decreasing in BG since I fed breakfast. Where it's going or what it's going to do, who knows confused_cat
 
Kris,

You've got a lot going on there at home. Hope things get better for you and Harley likes the new plan. Keep us posted, we are very interested in how one of our newest family members is doing.

Remember to take some time out for yourself. Kick back and do something you love to do. Star gazing, the fireflies are out here in MA, read a good book, go to a play or watch a favorite movie. Anything you love to do to refresh and recharge your batteries.

And please give Harley and your other cats a couple of hugs :YMHUG: and ear scritches from those of us here on the board. cat_pet_icon

When you get a chance, you can put some information in your signature and create a profile if you would like. We love to see pictures of other peoples kitties and the profile is a great place to put them.

Would you please provide us with some more information and put this in your user control panel? It helps us to help you better. This will take about 5 minutes of your time.
Think of this as having some very useful information at our finger tips for those that are replying to your posts. One reason we like to see this information in your signature is because if there is ever an emergency situation like a possible hypoglycemic episode, we don’t have to ask a lot of questions like what meter you are using to give you the best advice. Doing this signature update is totally optional, but it does help us to help you better.
If you are willing to do this, would you please do those updates when you get a chance? Thanks.
Go to the upper left corner of your screen and click on the words, User Control Panel
On the next screen, a row of tabs is presented. Select the Profile tab
On the next screen, there are a number of choices along the left hand side. Select Edit Profile.
Go down to the location field and enter your country, state/province, and city if you are willing to share that info.
Click on submit to save this change.

Still in the User Control Panel, Profile tab, this time select Edit Signature from the left hand list of options.
A free form text box appears.
We like to see information like your name, your cats name age and sex, the diagnosis date for the diabetes like this (DX 4/30/13), what meter you are using for testing, what insulin you are using , what you are feeding (wet or dry, what brands/style of food), any complicating health issues your cat may have, any additional medications your cat is receiving. If you are using a pet specific meter like an Alphatrak or Ipet, please change the font size on that text from Normal to Large (using the drop down arrow list in the middle of the editing commands)

Click on submit to save this information. Now, this will appear at the end of every post you make. You can update the info when you need to.

There is an additional document you can create to provide even more information about your cat. This is also optional to create this google document and link it into your signature. The profile is in addition to the synopsis info in your signature. See this link on the how to's of profile creation. http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=79123
Click to expand...

If you would like to have a picture of your kitty as your avatar, I can give you those instructions also.
 
Hello there

Just checking in on Harley. Saw you are trying an OTJ trial. The pinks today might have been a bounce from green yesterday - so you may see him continue to drop. Paws crossed. He needs to stay 50-130 for 2 weeks before we consider him OTJ.

Wendy
 
Thank you everyone...he just got a 139 reading, so he's still steadily dropping without insulin. We shall see :)

I tried putting a few bits of raw data in and can't seem to make a small enough pic for my avatar of Mr Harley...I'll work on tweaking it all :)
 
One way to get a small enough picture for your avatar.

1. To get a picture up by your name, shrinkpictures.com has an Avatar tool to shrink a picture you have.
2. Select the Create Avatar tool over on the left hand side of the screen
3. Follow the directions on that website to shrink the picture to 90 x 90 pixels max size.
4. Save the picture to your computer. Remember the name you gave it and the folder where you saved it. Something simple lie 'Yourcats name avatar" in your picture folder would be good.
5. Now that you have a small enough picture, it's time to update your user control panel in the FDMB.
6. Go to the upper left corner of your screen and click on the words, User Control Panel
7. On the next screen, a row of tabs is presented. Select the Profile tab
8. On the next screen, there are a number of choices along the left hand side. Select Edit Avatar.
9. Go down to the box where it says "Upload from Your Machine"
10 There is a browse feature that you can click on.
11. find the folder and name of the picture you saved back in step 4.
12. Click on that picture to select it.
13. Click on submit to save this change.

You should have a picture in all your posts now. You can change the avatar picture in the future too.

It may look like a lot of steps but I like to give clear step by step directions where possible. It will probably only take you about 2-3x minutes to do the actual steps. The hard part is going to being choosing only one picture of your cat to share with us. :o :shock: :o
Click to expand...
 
Ok I do believe our luck ran out, he was doing great numberwise (low 100's) until sometime between 3am and 8am today, he went from 148 to 483. I fed him breakfast and tested 3 hours later, he did come down to 321 on his own...so his pancreas is doing something...just not enough. I gave him about 0.2 unit of insulin after his snack at 11am. BUT my husband JUST called me and informed me that Harley threw up at 6am...which I am guessing could affect his numbers? I told him he has to let me know things like this earlier :(
 
IF we do not see a consistient or safe pattern I will gladly resume the Lantus 1 drop and increase if necessary.
Click to expand...

Yes it does like he needs at least some insulin. You said you gave him 0.2U. Was that the smallest amount you could get by practicing the plunger twist technique?

Not sure on the vomiting affecting BG's one way or the other.

Any chance Harley has an infection? Hidden one like teeth? Last dental for Harley was when?

Since you have started Harley back on insulin, were you going to try the different food suggestion from Marje?
1. Buy a higher low carb food such as Wellness chicken/herring (6%) or turkey/salmon (6%) or Merrick cowboy Cookout (5%). If his weight is good based on what you have been feeding him, divide the daily food he gets into two portions. One portion for the a.m. Cycle and one for the p.m. Cycle. Then try to "front load" the cycle. In other words, from the cycle portion, feed him at preshot, +1, +2, +3. I think it works best to feed him a bit more at PS and +1 and the remainder at +2 and +3. Your goal is to slow the drops. It might not happen overnight. You will have to test a little more early on. I would always get a +2 test if I were you to see how fast he's coming down but I'd also get a +3 test. See if the food slows him some.
Click to expand...
 
Might have found the culprit to my woes...compared syringes today from a new bag and the bag I was using and they are mismarked (I just started a post about this).

With the new batch of syringes I am able to line right up to the "0" line and get just a small drop. I think the 0.2 (two drop equivalent) I gave him yesterday might have been a tad much because he went pretty low and then came up pretty high. I tried one drop today and we will see how he does.

I am very wary to introduce new food because of his other past health issues and digestive upset. I know he does well with the Wellness Turkey recipe and the BB Basic dry food (which he had been on, so I wouldn't give unless he needed higher carb). Would maybe adding a few kernels of dry food to his wet food would add some carbs?

I see feline diabetes with some cats is akin to walking a tightrope while carrying a tower of stacked plates :)
 
Yes dry food will spike his blood sugar - some cats more than others too. He is so close to not needing insulin at all I would avoid giving anything high carb.

Does he get out at night? i am wondering if there is something he is getting to at night thats spiking his morning levels.

Wendy
 
No, all our cats are indoor cats...bizarre trend isn't it!?

I just tested him and he's down to 103 right now. I gave him 2 feedings today (1/2 can) and 3 (1 tablespoon) "snacks" of wet food. So far this is the best reading I've gotten with the new meter, giving him only 0.10 unit in the morning, though it's a bugger to get with the syringe.
 
I am trying the 0.1 once a day for a few days, if the numbers don't stabilize/improve I'll adding a 0.10 dose in the evening when I am able to be up to watch him. Since his lows are good lows I don't want to push him too far again if we can help it. The 0.25 to 0.50 was pushing him super low which made him bounce back high.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top