Help with regulating Keeko recently diagnosed

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mkattz & Wally

mkattz & Wally

Member Since 2014
Help! My kitty Keeko was diagniosed on 10/25/14 with diabetes. I have not been able to regulate him. I am home with him today and his BG is 73 after at four hours after a dose of 2.5 unit of Lantis. Should I panic? How often should I be taking blood samples now? Should I start giving carbs or sugar?

Mkattz
 

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I would measure at +5 and then see if high-carb food is necessary. The 11/22 teneded to indicate that 2 units is too much and you did not sppend enough time, about 5 days. at the reduced 1 1/2 units. You then increased 2 1/2 from 2 again too fast.
 
Thanks for the response Larry. I retested about 45 minutes later and it held steady at 74 BG. Approximately two hours later we're at 115. Anyway, you think the dosage is too high? Should I go back to 1.5 units. How long do I need to stay with the dosage before changing it. The doctor's initial treatment plan was 3 units but the day it dropped to 53 and he told me to keep using 3 units, I said no way. I work and am typically away from the house 12 hours. I don't want Keeko going hypo when I'm not here to help him! I'm home for the long weekend and am doing more testing. What would you do if you were me? I'm going buggy! There is way to much red and pink on his spreadsheet. The green is what really scares me.

PS

I'm new to the board. This is the first time I posted and am not very good at it. laptop_smiley
 
Welcome to FDMB!

You have come to the right place!

I'm still a "newbie" and am not using Lantus on my sugar kitty so I won't give you dose advise except what someone already said..."start low and go slow".

It works and keeps your kitty safe. Since I've joined the forum in September of 2014, I have read stories of people asking for help cause their kitty has gone too low. Scary and something I pray doesn't happen to Hank. So I'm probably over cautious but hey, that's ok.

I would recommend testing before each shot (AM and PM) and then again for sure at +5 and +7. If you want to do a +2 or +3 or any others in between, Great! The more data the better!

I tested Hank a lot when He first started insulin but I wanted to make sure he stayed safe. Glad I did cause there was a couple of low numbers that I didn't expect.

It's also good practice at testing.

Once you get the hang of testing, join a support group. There are two for Lantus to choose from: tight regulation and relaxed. That will help sooooo much with dosing questions and any other questions that you may have. You can go ahead and look and read some of the posts on the groups.

Hank and I are in the ProZinc support group. It really has helped me.

I'm sure others with dosing for Lantus will be along shortly to help you.

Hang in there! It takes patience. You're doing fine, you found this forum! :-D

Kimmie
 
Welcome to FDMB.

We recommend you always test before you shoot and not shoot below 200 mg/dL on a human glucometer until you have mid-cycle data showing it is safe. Lantus dose increases are based on the nadir, the lowest glucose after the shot, about +5 to +7 hours after it. It can be earlier or later, and does vary. Testing during that period can help keep your cat safe by spotting numbers below 50 mg/dL on a human glucometer and letting you intervene. See my signature link Glucometer Notes for more info on meters, testing, and reference ranges.

We have 2 protocols for using Lantus - Tight Regulation(TR) and Start Low, Go Slow (SLGS).
The description of TR here has a link for SLGS. And it is possible to use some of each protocol if you need to do so - testing more on weekends when you can; be more cautious during the week when you can't.

Lantus is a depot insulin. When you inject it, it forms small crystals under the skin which slowly dissolve to release the insulin over time. This is the depot (shed, ie stored insulin). A bit is left at the end of each 12 hours so there is overlap of the effects. Because of the overlap, the effectsare cunnulative. It can take 3-5 days for the full effects of the dose to be seen when you change it. (The initial dose can take 5-7 days due to the build up of the depot).
 
Thank you all so much for your responses. You gave me some really useful information. I was a little scared last night that I was over dosing ( I didn't like the 70's I was getting during the day!) I cut his dosage back to 2 units last night and only 1.5 units this morning. I probably did the wrong thing. I will test at +5 and + 7 today and see where we are at. My greatest fear is he will go low and be home alone since I"m gone so long during the work week. I would feel comfortable with a nadir of 100. I am going to update Keeko's spreadsheet and post on the loose Lantus regulation board.

Thanks again :dizcat
 
You're welcome.

I suspect that 2 units may keep him reasonably safe if 2.5 units got him down into the 70s (mg/dL) on a human glucometer. Dropping the additional 0.5 to 1.5 units for 12 hours will drain the depot faster, then you may find that resuming the 2 unit dose will level off after about 3 days.

Be aware that insulin requirements can vary - the pancreas may resume some function, and the cat's health can vary - diarrhea, vomiting, and food refusal will, obviously, alter the amount of glucose in the blood, and thus the insulin needed to match it.
 
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