Introducing Harrycat, about to switch to Lantus

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Harrycat

Member Since 2012
Hi there,

Just posting to introduce myself and my furball Harry.

I have been posting in the main FDMB in the last couple of weeks but we are about to start on our Lantus journey and I am hoping you guys will be with me for the ride!!

I have completed a profile, and our spreadsheet is up and running. I am hoping both of these are OK??

We are currently on Caninsulin and I am ready to switch to Lantus, but we are away for a night and I can't do it until I am back in charge, which should be Thursday.

Hopefully my profile explains our story so far?

Harry is between 4.5 and 5 KG, and I have discussed with the vet a starting dose of 1? I would be grateful for your advice on that one as the change of Insulin is making me a bit :o even though it's what I've been after for ages!!

I've done my reading of your stickies, watched the vids of how to handle the juice.

Anything I've missed??

TIA
Jackie
 
Hi Jackie and Harry, welcome to LL (Lantus Land)! Excellent job on the SS and Profile, everything looks tip top. No advice for me on dose, but one of the more experienced members will be able to help you. I'm not familiar with the food you're feeding, Bozita? I'm assuming that's a UK brand? Do you know what the nutritional values are (how many carbs per serving?)
 
Ahh OK, I was advised to switch to it on here as a good Low carb food. It's actually Swedish and not that easy to source! Apparently as cat food has to be 'fit for Human consumption' in Sweden, it makes it a much higher grade kitty food!

I will try and do the calcs to get an exact (ish) figure for Carb content, thanks :)
 
Edit: Reread the post ohmygod_smile Great that someone else recommended it to you!

Here's an excellent chart compiled by Dr. Lisa Pierson DVM. It's recommended that diabetics eat a food with less than 10% carbs. You should be able to find something off the chart that you can get over there, but you will definitely want to double check values just in case manufactures over there use different ingredients. http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf
 
Welcome, Jackie and Harry! Good job on the spreadsheet and profile. I hope you can post a picture of Harry, too. :-D One thing to consider is that you will need to get a mid-cycle test, along with the pre-shot test. It looks like you haven't been getting any evening tests. This is key as Lantus dosing is based on the nadir (the lowest point in the cycle) which is usually around +6 or so. Will you be able to get a just before bed test?

We started on the AlphaTrak too. :roll: That was a big waste of money. Good for you for switching a lot sooner than we did. :lol:

Be sure and ask lots of questions. The knowledge and expertise are amazing and people are very generous.
Liz, Zener's other mom
 
Hello Jackie, and welcome to you and your Harry cat. I too made the switch from Caninsulin (in Canada it's still commonly prescribed by vets) to Lantus. I found that Caninsulin was not lasting long enough and my Neko was starving at every meal because the insulin and worn off and she was high again by meal time. It took me a while to convince my vet and actually it was a locum vet who got me on Lantus. The first benefit to us was that the syringes have smaller gauge needles than the ones used for Caninsulin. :-D I presume you've got the ones with 1/2 unit markings.

We look forward to seeing you around here.
 
Hi there :)

Erm, ref the 'going to bed test' - In all honesty - I give H his shot at about 18:30, then I go to do the horse, come back about 20:30 and I go straight to bed!!! :oops: I am usually in bed by 21:00 on a weekday if not earlier!!! (I am up 'late' tonight!! as I don't have work tomorrow.)

My kids don't sleep through so I have to do my best to get sleep when I can :? :lol: On occasion, I could get up to test him (why not, I get woken up at night enough as it is!! :lol: ), but factoring it in as a regular is going to be tricky.........

You are right though, I prob need to do some more evening tests and when I am 'wobbly' with him I can get hubs to do him before he goes to bed, but it's less than ideal..........
 
Wow, you are off to a great start with your profile and SS! It took me quite a while to get that together. Once you start the Lantus you will be off and running. Kudos to you, you have found a wonderful new home here on the FDMB. :mrgreen:
 
Welcome to Lantus Land!

It really sounds like you're ready to get Harry started on Lantus. Please be sure you get U100 syringes. (Caninsulin is a U40 insulin and you need U40 syringes. Lantus is a U100 syringes and you need U100 syringes.) This is very important. If you use your Caninsulin syringe, you will be risking an overdose.

I'm hoping you saw the link to the canned cat food available in Europe. I know people in the UK have mentioned feeding Felix. It sounds like the UK is the same as here -- the premium/human grade foods are more expensive. As long as you're feeding Harry a LC food, you're fine. Your vet may need to be educated about Royal Canin and how high the carb counts are. Most vets don't get much training in nutrition while they're in training and once they're out, it's usually the sales reps from the food companies who provide their "education" and samples. (I also suspect the sales people remind the vets that selling pet food is a good source of income.) There are people here who do feed premium foods but to be honest, as long as the food in low in carbohydrates, it's fine. The best food for your cat is the food he'll eat!

In addition to low carb food, you'll want to have a supply of a gravy-type high carb food in stock. We use high carb (HC) to steer low number. The gravy in the food is where the carbs are and it is much more effective than dry food when it comes to getting numbers up. If you have difficulty finding a gravy-type food that's above 15% carbs, honey or corn syrup (or any sugary syrup) will work.

If you're going to follow the Tight Regulation Protocol, you will need to do your best to get 4 tests per day -- your pre-shot tests and at least one test per 12-hour cycle. Many of us test a great deal more but that's the minimum. Unlike with Caninsulin, Lantus dosing is based on the nadir so getting spot checks is important.

If you've not yet had a chance, it may be helpful to read the starred sticky notes at the top of the board. In particular, you may want to review the sticky on the Tight Regulation Protocol.

Please let us know how we can help. The people here are very knowledgeable and generous with their time and information.
 
Hi Jackie. I just wanted to drop by your condo and welcome you and Harrycat to Lantus Land (LL). Congratulations on sticking to your guns for the switch to Lantus. It sounds like you have done your homework and well prepared for the journey.

I would recommend that you put together an emergency kit if you haven't done so yet. Mine consist of several cans of HC food with gravy, extra test strips, an extra meter, a large feeding syringe, honey and some extra lancets. We haven't had to use it yet but we keep it update in the unlikely event of a hypo situation. I swap the extra test strips with new ones about every month or so. I keep a paper in the kit with the number from the strips ie..F3 or F4 so I will know the meter is reading correctly should I have to use them.

I look forward to Harrycat's condos. Have a great day.
 
Harrycat said:
Ahh OK, I was advised to switch to it on here as a good Low carb food. It's actually Swedish and not that easy to source! Apparently as cat food has to be 'fit for Human consumption' in Sweden, it makes it a much higher grade kitty food!

I will try and do the calcs to get an exact (ish) figure for Carb content, thanks :)
Click to expand...

Hi Jax,

Just happened across your post. There is some info in one of Kim's excellent posts about the carb content of European foods including Bozita tetrapacks: http://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=64843#p712117

The info is from the German feline diabetes forum and has been translated by 'Google translate' into English. But not everything has translated correctly. For example I'm not sure what 'Godfather' flavour cat food actually is... :shock: There is, however, some really useful info listed there. And if you happen to speak German maybe you could improve some of the Google translations!

I hope all is going well for you in Lantus Land.

Eliz
 
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