Hello all!! Two weeks ago my 11 year old feline daughter Danna almost died. Her sugar levels were at 865!!! They controlled he sugar levels and doctor said to give her 2 units of Lantus twice a day. Well, I did but when I did her curve. her sugar levels were dangerously low. 53 and 65. I told my vet that and she said just 1 unit twice a day, I did just that but there has been times where I have checked her sugar levels 5 hours after the first insulin shot, ans he glucose is very low in the 50's. Maybe 2 units a day is too much for her. Now I only give her one unit in the morning. I didn't tell the vet though..Before eating, her sugat levels are at 230 or 275. Is that high or normal? I have checked it at night and it is in the 220's. Is that normal? I think one unit a day seem better for her than two units. I am afraid her sugar levels will drop if I give her the other unit at night. I don't know what to do. She is on a low carb diet. She eats and seems fine, but I don't know if her sugar levels that I stated above are normal. Please help me!!
I need help with glucose readings.
- Thread starter Linette
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Bron and Sheba (GA)
Member Since 2015
Hi Linette and Danna and welcome to the forum.
I’m sorry Danna has been so ill. We can help you.
It is great you are hometesting.
I’m going to ask you some questions to gather some information, if you wouldn’t mind answering them.
It does sound as if the dose needs to be adjusted but what you do is give a smaller dose twice a day, not remove one of the shots. Depending on whether you are using a human or pet meter, 53 and 65 are safe numbers (on a human meter).
I’ll wait to hear if you are using a pen or a syringe before telling you how to move forward.
It’s very good she is eating well.
There are a few things you can do to help us help you. They are setting up a spreadsheet and your signature, which will tell us all about Danna, and set up a hypo kit in case you need it.
HERE is a link which has the spreadsheet, signature and hypo kit information in it. If you have any trouble setting up the spreads just let me know and someone will help you.
Once you get the spreadsheet set up. If you can add all the BG data you have into the spreadsheet., that will be a big help to us. We are only able to help with dosing, if we can see the current data on a SS.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Bron
I’m sorry Danna has been so ill. We can help you.
It is great you are hometesting.
I’m going to ask you some questions to gather some information, if you wouldn’t mind answering them.
- are you using a pen or a syringe to give the insulin?
- What type of meter are you using to test the blood glucose (BG)?
- How often are you feeding Danna?
- When Danna was so ill, did the vet say what was wrong with her? Did she have ketones or DKA or pancreatitis ?
It does sound as if the dose needs to be adjusted but what you do is give a smaller dose twice a day, not remove one of the shots. Depending on whether you are using a human or pet meter, 53 and 65 are safe numbers (on a human meter).
I’ll wait to hear if you are using a pen or a syringe before telling you how to move forward.
It’s very good she is eating well.
There are a few things you can do to help us help you. They are setting up a spreadsheet and your signature, which will tell us all about Danna, and set up a hypo kit in case you need it.
HERE is a link which has the spreadsheet, signature and hypo kit information in it. If you have any trouble setting up the spreads just let me know and someone will help you.
Once you get the spreadsheet set up. If you can add all the BG data you have into the spreadsheet., that will be a big help to us. We are only able to help with dosing, if we can see the current data on a SS.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Bron
I'm going to tag @Bandit's Mom who can lend a hand with your spreadsheet should you need her. She'll be on the lookout if you need help.
It doesn't sound like your vet did much by way of diabetes education or if you were like most of us, getting a diagnosis of diabetes coupled with a sick cat is more than a little overwhelming.
This is a link to information on the dosing methods we use with Lantus. Just read them over to get a feel for dose adjustments and when to reduce (or increase) the dose. If you are using a human meter, normal blood glucose (BG) levels are from 50 - 120. There are other sites that use slightly different ranges but this is the range we use here. As Bron noted, your kitty has been in a safe range..
It's great that you're feeding your cat low carb food. I'm hoping you have some higher carb food in the house or have corn syrup (Karo), honey, maple syrup, etc. We use any of these to raise numbers up. Since Danna's numbers were making you a bit nervous, giving her some of her low carb food and re-testing in 20 - 30 min to see if her numbers are coming up may reassure you that she's doing OK. The post that Bron linked also has information about hypoglycemia so you know more about what to do if numbers get low or you see symptoms. As an FYI, Lantus is a much gentler type of insulin than the shorter acting insulins that are available. The vet prescribed a good insulin for your cat.
Of course, if you are worried, please post here. There is usually a member or several that are here 24/7. Our community is from around the globe (e.g., Bron is in Australia). While help may not be instantaneous, if you put something in your subject line indicating you need help, people will do their best to get to you quickly or find an experienced member who can help.
It doesn't sound like your vet did much by way of diabetes education or if you were like most of us, getting a diagnosis of diabetes coupled with a sick cat is more than a little overwhelming.
This is a link to information on the dosing methods we use with Lantus. Just read them over to get a feel for dose adjustments and when to reduce (or increase) the dose. If you are using a human meter, normal blood glucose (BG) levels are from 50 - 120. There are other sites that use slightly different ranges but this is the range we use here. As Bron noted, your kitty has been in a safe range..
It's great that you're feeding your cat low carb food. I'm hoping you have some higher carb food in the house or have corn syrup (Karo), honey, maple syrup, etc. We use any of these to raise numbers up. Since Danna's numbers were making you a bit nervous, giving her some of her low carb food and re-testing in 20 - 30 min to see if her numbers are coming up may reassure you that she's doing OK. The post that Bron linked also has information about hypoglycemia so you know more about what to do if numbers get low or you see symptoms. As an FYI, Lantus is a much gentler type of insulin than the shorter acting insulins that are available. The vet prescribed a good insulin for your cat.
Of course, if you are worried, please post here. There is usually a member or several that are here 24/7. Our community is from around the globe (e.g., Bron is in Australia). While help may not be instantaneous, if you put something in your subject line indicating you need help, people will do their best to get to you quickly or find an experienced member who can help.
Hi, she is using the lantus that looks like a pen, and I widraw with a syringe. I use the Advocate pettest glucose meter. I feed her at 7am, 12pm, 5pm, 10pm. I feed her small portions since she has never been a big portion eater. When I took her to the ER the doctor said she was dehydrated, she had ketoacidosis, and her glucose was at 875. I am lost because I don't know what I am doing. I feel horrible because I don't want her to feel ill because of low sugar, but at the same time maybe I am messing her up. Please help!! I feel lost!!
Bron and Sheba (GA)
Member Since 2015
We can help you. I am so glad you posted.
It sounds as if the meter you have is a pet meter. Is that correct?
INSULIN….First of all, because Danna had DKA (ketoacidosis) it is really important she gets those doses of insulin.. skipping doses with DKA in the picture is not a good idea.
So first thing to do is to go back to giving 2 doses a day, 12 hours apart.
We need to get your SS up and running so that we can see the data. Hopefully @Bandit's Mom will be along before too long and can help you.
Start with 1 unit twice a day until we can see the BG data.
Test before every shot to see it is safe to give the dose. And test during the cycle to see how low the dose takes her. If the BG is under 200, stall, dont feed and test again in 20 minutes to see if the BG is rising. And post and ask foe help
FOOD…Food is also really important following DKA as it helps stop ketones forming again. So give 1 1/2 times as much food as she would normally eat over the 24 hour period. This will mean giving snacks every couple of hours as well as the preshot meals. Don’t feed for the 2 hours preshot as we don’t want the BG to be food influenced.
FLUIDS…..encourage extra fluids to flush out any ketones. If she will let you, add some warm water to the snacks…just a teaspoon each time.
KETONES….It is also Really important that you test daily for ketones after DKA. If you don’t already have any, please go out and buy a bottle of Ketostix from Walmart or a pharmacy and test the urine for ketones. Please let us know if there are any ketones at all in the urine.
So moving forward these are the things you need to concentrate on
- Don’t skip any insulin doses. If you are unsure what to do post and ask for help.
- Test the BG before every shot and during the cycles
- Give snacks of food every couple of hours
- Add fluid to the food if tolerated
- Test daily for ketones
Bron
Bron and Sheba (GA)
Member Since 2015
HERE is a useful link about how you can help us help you.
Please read carefully. Print off the information about a hypo kit and put on your fridge. Get a hypo kit set up as soon as possible incase it is needed.
Because you are using a pet meter your take action BG is 68. That means if the BG drops under 68 you need to give some higher carb food to bring the BG up over 68.
Until you are more confident, I would post several times a day each day so we can help you. DKA is a serious illness and it takes time and careful nursing to get over it.
FOOD CHART here is a link to a food chart.
For medium carb food, look for foods 11% to 16%
high carb foods look for foods 17% and over.
Get a couple with carbs around 22% carbs
Please read carefully. Print off the information about a hypo kit and put on your fridge. Get a hypo kit set up as soon as possible incase it is needed.
Because you are using a pet meter your take action BG is 68. That means if the BG drops under 68 you need to give some higher carb food to bring the BG up over 68.
Until you are more confident, I would post several times a day each day so we can help you. DKA is a serious illness and it takes time and careful nursing to get over it.
FOOD CHART here is a link to a food chart.
For medium carb food, look for foods 11% to 16%
high carb foods look for foods 17% and over.
Get a couple with carbs around 22% carbs
Bron and Sheba (GA)
Member Since 2015
If you were using a human meter the normal range is 50 to 120
For a pet meter there hasn’t been a proper study done to say exactly what the normal range is but we take 68 as the take action number and you don’t want it any lower than that. The upper limit is not established but is above 120
You might like to think about using a human meter as it is much cheaper to use and not expensive to buy.
Pet meter strips are around $1 each whereas the ReliOn meter Strips are around $17 for 100 (I think)…. I don’t live in the US. ReliOn meters can be bought cheaply at Walmart and are reliable.
Our dosing methods are based on the human meter as well and most of us use the human meters.
Please also follow the other things I mentioned like extra food and fluids and testing daily for ketones.
@Bandit's Mom will contact you shortly about helping with the spreadsheet and the signature so stay online for her message
I also want to check something……did you say that when you were giving 1 unit twice a day the BG was dropping into the 50s?
Bandit's Mom
Member Since 2019
Hi Linette and Danna!
Welcome to FDMB. Glad you found us!
I can help you with setting-up your spreadsheet and signature. Will send you a PM with the details I need. Look for it in the Inbox at the top right corner of this page.
Welcome to FDMB. Glad you found us!
I can help you with setting-up your spreadsheet and signature. Will send you a PM with the details I need. Look for it in the Inbox at the top right corner of this page.
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