How long for initial regulation?

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ReneeB

ReneeB

Member Since 2015
Hello,
I have a newly diagnosed cat. He has been on lantus for the past six weeks, and I've done 3 different curves; one every two weeks. His numbers have come down slightly, from 470 to about 380. How long is the norm for him to get into the 200 range? Also, his doctor has steadily been increasing his lantus dosage. Should I worry about him getting too high a dose? He weighs about 16 pounds.
Thank you so much for any and all help.
 
Wow, you ask the million dollar question. You will hear this quite frequently in this forum...every cat is different (ECID). Some will get there in a matter of days and some will never get there. The latter could be due to other illnesses, age, environment, etc. I have seen some kitties that start the insulin regiment and within a few weeks, they are already in remission. I wish I had a crystal ball. For Merlin, it literally has taken about 18 months to get him to better numbers. He still gives me numbers in the 300's once in a while, but at least it is less frequent and that is all I can hope for. Obviously, we are all hoping for remission. The best piece of advice that I can provide is to learn as much as you can about this disease and do the best you can i.e. food choices, dosing, regular schedule, regular testing, etc.
 
It's possible he is getting too much insulin...it's also possible he's not getting enough...without knowing exactly what his blood glucose is doing every day, there's no way to know. Most vets also go up in dose way too quickly and too much. Increases are done here in .25 unit increments, but a lot of vets do increases in whole units which is way too fast and makes it possible to bypass what could be a "best dose" for your cat.

Too much insulin can look like too little because it drives down their blood glucose so much that their liver releases stored sugar and hormones to bring it back up quickly, so if you're only getting curves every 2 weeks, it's really impossible to know what's really going on inside your cats body.

We're big proponents of home testing here so we know exactly what's going on with our kitties. Most cats learn to accept it quickly and even more of them come to look forward to it!! (since they get a yummy treat for being tested!) We like to test at least 4 times a day so we really know exactly how our kitties are doing...and some of us test much more than that! (Guilty as charged!)

Diet is also very important...continuing to feed a high carb diet is like trying to put out a fire by pouring gasoline on it...without lowering the carbs, getting regulated will be much more difficult, if not impossible

What insulin are you using? What kind of food are you feeding? And what kind of dose increases has your vet been recommending?
 
Thank you so much for the replies!

I am giving him Lantus. He was just raised to 5 units twice a day.

I've removed his dry food, and feed him Fancy Cats pate, plus some type of grain free canned such as Beyond Purina or Pure Balance.

There is a dry food feeder that is automatic for emergencies, (if something happens to me and I don't get home), but it dispenses at 5pm and I see to it that I pick up the food when it drops.

I test twice a day. His curves are done at home.
 
Also, his vet has been recommending increases of 1 unit every two weeks, with his curves.

I HAVE seen his numbers decrease with each raise in insulin, but I was getting concerned as to how much insulin is too much.

His vet says that with his weight, 16 lbs, the amount is ok. He is a Maine Coon.
 
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