I'm new! Some questions

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Delia

Delia

Member Since 2014
Hi everyone, I'm a new in this forum, but I found you very helpful since my cat was diagnosed diabetes two months ago. I started treating my little Cleo from 10/15 with Lantus 1 IU sid. Two weeks ago I convinced my vet to switch to bid administration and now I'm administering 1.5 iu bid.
I recorded all measurements of glucose levels in a notebook, as long as I discovered your spreadsheet. In this regard, I have a question: what is the exact routine to follow for the administration of insulin and glucose test? Let me explain, my routine is as follows: measure glucose, feed, wait 20 minutes after she finished eating, administer insulin, give treat. Now I came to doubt that maybe I should measure the glucose immediately before insulin, so after eating? Because as I do can also pass an hour between glucose testing and insulin administration.

Thank you for your precious help!
 
Hi there, and welcome!

You got it right - Test, Feed then Shoot. Good that you got your vet to agree to bid as Lantus should be given every 12 hours. I've added a link here to setting up your spreadsheet and adding it to your signature which will help people on here to give informative advice on dosing.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18207

Personally I find giving the insulin while my kitty is eating is a very distracting tool so I test, feed and shoot all within ten mins. You should always test BEFORE eating as in most cats, eating causes a food spike where the BG (blood glucose) will read higher. If you're able to get mid cycle tests in that always helps. I used to get a +2 after insulin and a +4 and a +6 is good as that is typically where there nadir is (lowest point).

Juliet and Silver
 
Welcome! You are doing great by testing & keeping track of the numbers. I give Heff his shot while he's eating so I don't forget.
 
Thanks to both, your feedback heartened me. I'll try to give the injection while she is eating. In this way there is a risk that if she vomits or stop eating goes into hypoglycemia?
I added the spreadsheet in the signature. Unfortunately, as you can see in two months I have not got much.
 
Welcome, Delia!

Cats whose blood sugar is very high for long periods of time tend to be hungry and eat more. When their blood sugar suddenly goes low they tend to be very hungry. As they start getting regulated, their appetites often decrease. Also if they feel ill or are stressed about all the testing and injections they may not want to eat. Also you might be changing their food. So you can see, a lot of things affect appetite and that variability is normal.

It's important that they eat, but one or two snubbed meals is nothing to worry about... as long as the cat is eats something each day and the lowered appetite doesn't last too long. However, even for a healthy cat, they can get sick very quickly if they stop eating altogether, and for diabetics on insulin it is more of a concern.

What I do is leave food down all the time except 2-3 hours before each injection. Then Nipper tends to be hungry at injection time. I mix the food with warm water to encourage her to eat. I still shoot even if she doesn't eat because her appetite is good and I know she'll go back later and eat, but every cat is different. Definitely encourage eating at injection time and do what you can to make the food more enticing. Leaving food down means if the cat goes low they might get hungry and eat and bring it back up before a hypo happens, so it's a good preventative measure.

Thanks for posting and thanks for taking such good care of Cleo!

Lori
 
Hi Lori, thank you for your answer! I know what does fasting in cats. Unfortunately, she was hospitalized for this reason two weeks after that was diagnosed with diabetes. The diagnosis was jaundice and cholangiohepatitis and after 5 days of IV and medications she returned home.
Now, after a month of medications, appetite is good, although recently she eats very slowly. I give her half a can of Purina DM per meal and 1/2 can of chicken and pumpkin after insulin as treat.
I would like to speed up the routine test, food, insulin because it now takes about an hour. That's why I was wondering if it can be dangerous give the injection unless she eats all food, because unfortunately Cleo is home alone for most of the time.
Thank you so much!

Delia
 
With Lantus, you can test, feed, and shoot within 15 minutes. Lantus is a gentle insulin and it isn't critical for the cat to finish eating before giving insulin.

Could you add a few things to your signature, to help us give you better feedback?

To edit your signature

Go to the top left of the screen.
Click on User Control Panel.
Click on Profile
Click on Edit Signature
A text box displays.
This is where you paste the link for your spreadsheet, once it is set up.
Add any other text, such as
your name,
cat's name,
city, state, country
date of Dx (diagnosis)
insulin
meter
any other pertinent issues like food issues, DKA, hepatic lipidosis, pancreatitis, allergies, IBD, etc.
Then Click on Submit to save it.
 
Great! Thank you BJM! I give her shot now, while she was eating. Her preshot bg was only 118, but I was scared in give her the normal dose, so I gave her 1.0 iu instead of 1.5 iu. Am I wrong?
 
Generally, we suggest new folks not go shoot if the glucose is below 200 mg/dL on a human glucometer.

With test data around +5 to +7 after the shot showing the glucose remains safely baove 50 mg/dL on a human glucometer, you can reduce the no shot limit to 150 mg/dL.

When your pre-shot is below your no shot limit, stall without feeding for 30 minutes and re-test. If over the limit, shoot. If not, post here for suggestions.

Once you have a full signature and spreadsheet set up for recording the glucose tests, you may move into one of the Lantus forums - either Tight Regulation or Start Low, Go Slow.
 
Ok, I tested bg one and two hours after shoot. It was 142 and 114. What should I do now? Give some HC food or wait? I will add the info in the signature as soon as possible. If you want you can see Cleo's spreadsheet.
 
At +3 she was 83. I was scared, so I gave her some kibbles. Now she is sleeping. Should I test in a while?
 
Monitor through the +5 to +7 hour time period.

If she drops below 50 mg/dL, institute glucose steering by feeding 1-2 teaspoons of high carb, wait 30 min, re-test, then repeat as needed. Also post for help.
 
Tonight I did not hear the alarm clock at +7. I woke up almost at +9 and Cleo had almost 500. Her preshoot was approximately 590. How is it possible? Then I fed her as always and gave her normal insuline dose.
 
It could be a bounce.
Bouncing happens when the glucose drops fast and/or the glucose drops to an unfamiliarly low number. The body responds with hormones which release stored glucose (glycogen) which increases the blood levels, often overshooting the starting level.
It may take up to 3 days for these exaggerated numbers to resolve; you just have to wait them out.
 
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