i like marje's suggestion of the yahoo group to get some more ideas on the hyperT. If you opted for the gel, you can also just test on one ear. I learned on punkin's left ear but i suspect we scarred it in the process and we switched to his right ear only for testing for more than 2 more years.
Thyroid is so important in the body - it plays a role in pretty much all of our systems, and it's going to be a player in getting his diabetes regulated.
It's hard to know exactly what's going on in Michael's body. His blood sugar is all over the place, which as i said isn't uncommon with a newly diagnosed cat. It's possible he's bouncing, as Chris was speculating. Here is a post (look at the second one) that describes what's going on in the body when a cat bounces:
New Dose Wonkiness, Bouncing.
Another possibility is just that he's not at the right dose yet. He's eating a fairly high carb food, which means that it takes insulin to overcome the carbs. Most of us feed in the 4-7%ish range, so 25% is pretty high. Getting him under control with that high carb of a diet is much like a human diabetic continuing to eat cake and donuts (nom nom nom!) at every meal and trying to increase the insulin dose to compensate. It's not impossible, but it's a much more complicated task. That's why everyone is focused on figuring out if we can help you find an alternative to that particular food, while still addressing his thyroid issue.
Chris mentioned my typical metaphor of the spreadsheet being equated to a jigsaw puzzle. If you have only the corners and edge pieces, it's pretty hard to see what the picture is. But if you have pieces spread here and there all over the puzzle, it becomes easier to decipher the picture. You don't have to have every piece, but the more you have, the clearer the image becomes. That's exactly what the spreadsheet is for us. It helps us to see what the Lantus is doing when we can see the past 3 or more days with a sprinkling of tests here and there.
Right now you've done a super job of getting preshot tests in. That tells you if it's safe to shoot the insulin. And you're doing a good job of getting a daytime mid-cycle test in. Can I suggest that you get some earlier, say some that are between 2-4 hrs after his shots. i'm not saying to necessarily get more tests in during the day, just to vary the times.
What would now be helpful is for us to know a little more about what's going on in his body at night. The night-time tests are so helpful because many (most?) cats have their lowest numbers at night. Could I ask if you could start getting a test in right before you go to bed? You'd be surprised how much we'll be able to learn from even adding that one test in.
The way Lantus works, it typically has a low somewhere between 3-8 hours after the shot. It varies from cat to cat, and even in one cat it can change from day to day. Lantus dosing is based upon how low a dose is taking a cat, so we really look for that low point in each cycle. If we could get a couple of days of an evening test in, we'll have a much better idea of what this dose is doing.
Be encouraged, Paula, he's eating a moderately high carb diet, and even with that, 2.0units is getting him at least into the 100's. That's not bad at all! Diabetes takes a while to figure out in every cat, but he'll make improvement! He didn't get diabetic overnight and he won't get regulated instantly either, but it's likely we can help him get better. Hang in there and keep working with us!
I like to give the reasoning on everything, so lest the suggestions get lost in the text, i'll summarize:
- are you open to figuring out an alternative to the y/d so he could get on lower carb food? (ear gel, compounded, yahoo group?)
- can you vary the daytime cycle tests?
- can you get a before-bed test every evening?
and pat yourself on the back! you're balancing a lot and you're already doing a good job of helping Michael.
deep breaths ;-) cat(2)_steam and your on your way Hugs Kath