rjshib
Member Since 2014
Hello All!
I've been lurking around, trying to read all of the info I can before posting so I get everything in. I'll get right to the introductions.
Jack is a 10 y/o m/n seal point Siamese who was diagnosed on Oct. 12 with "profound" DKA, and subsequently Diabetes. He spent 5 days in a 24-hour critical care animal hosipital. When he was discharged, we were given directions to dose him with 2.0u every 12 hours. I began testing his BG about two days after his return from the hospital. At the same time, I began to follow the TR protocol found on diabeticcathelp.com and to receive help from the folks over there in terms of what scale to use to dose Jack, etc. We successfully transitioned him and our other cat, Mia, to a lo-carb diet of Fancy Feast Chicken Classic.
The first few weeks were very nerve-wracking for me as I was worried about his DKA and making sure that was no longer an issue. His BG numbers were also pretty inconsistent and we'd have some great nadirs and then he'd skyrocket because I think he was just going too low and his body didn't know how to handle it. I began feeling like perhaps the dosing wasn't quite right and maybe I needed to look elsewhere for advice on what to do. It's not that I didn't like the other forum, I just thought maybe a protocol specific to Lantus might be better. I also spoke with my vet who has been very willing to read over any information I send her and is all for me doing the home testing and dose adjusting. She also voiced concern over using a sliding scale instead of a consistent dose, so after speaking with her and deciding to follow my gut, I decided to switch things up.
I have been dosing Jack at 1.75u for the last 8 days or so, and there has been a huge improvement in his numbers. His tendency to skyrocket (he'd be great all night and then be super high in the morning before his next dose) has greatly reduced, and his numbers have been fantastic for the last 36 hours. Sometimes his nadirs won't be until +10 or +11. I still don't quite understand why that is, or how that works. Today, I have also experimented a bit with overlap just because his dosing times got a bit out of whack. With the previous protocol I was following, one never doses on numbers lower than 150. So, before I had more thoroughly read this site's Lantus TR protocol, I was holding off on dosing until Jack's numbers were above 150, so the times got pushed to the right a bit. Unfortunately, they need to come back to what they were because of my work schedule. So starting with today's doses, I did a bit of overlapping. It has worked so far- Jack did go a bit low this afternoon (to 40) but he was acting perfectly fine, so I gave him some food and lowered the evening dose to 1.5 as is suggested when a kitty drops to 40. So far, so good. Tested him at +2 and he was at 132, which is where he was when I dosed him. Will do a +6 and see where he is tonight, too. Honestly, I was beginning to think that Jack would never have consistent numbers below 200, so to have 36 hours of it is pretty amazing. Hope we can maintain it for a bit.
I look forward to meeting everyone and getting to know the boards, etc. I plan on starting a spreadsheet and getting Jack's bac klog in, too, so be on the lookout for that. If there are any questions for me, or if there is someting I forgot to add, please let me know!
I've been lurking around, trying to read all of the info I can before posting so I get everything in. I'll get right to the introductions.
Jack is a 10 y/o m/n seal point Siamese who was diagnosed on Oct. 12 with "profound" DKA, and subsequently Diabetes. He spent 5 days in a 24-hour critical care animal hosipital. When he was discharged, we were given directions to dose him with 2.0u every 12 hours. I began testing his BG about two days after his return from the hospital. At the same time, I began to follow the TR protocol found on diabeticcathelp.com and to receive help from the folks over there in terms of what scale to use to dose Jack, etc. We successfully transitioned him and our other cat, Mia, to a lo-carb diet of Fancy Feast Chicken Classic.
The first few weeks were very nerve-wracking for me as I was worried about his DKA and making sure that was no longer an issue. His BG numbers were also pretty inconsistent and we'd have some great nadirs and then he'd skyrocket because I think he was just going too low and his body didn't know how to handle it. I began feeling like perhaps the dosing wasn't quite right and maybe I needed to look elsewhere for advice on what to do. It's not that I didn't like the other forum, I just thought maybe a protocol specific to Lantus might be better. I also spoke with my vet who has been very willing to read over any information I send her and is all for me doing the home testing and dose adjusting. She also voiced concern over using a sliding scale instead of a consistent dose, so after speaking with her and deciding to follow my gut, I decided to switch things up.
I have been dosing Jack at 1.75u for the last 8 days or so, and there has been a huge improvement in his numbers. His tendency to skyrocket (he'd be great all night and then be super high in the morning before his next dose) has greatly reduced, and his numbers have been fantastic for the last 36 hours. Sometimes his nadirs won't be until +10 or +11. I still don't quite understand why that is, or how that works. Today, I have also experimented a bit with overlap just because his dosing times got a bit out of whack. With the previous protocol I was following, one never doses on numbers lower than 150. So, before I had more thoroughly read this site's Lantus TR protocol, I was holding off on dosing until Jack's numbers were above 150, so the times got pushed to the right a bit. Unfortunately, they need to come back to what they were because of my work schedule. So starting with today's doses, I did a bit of overlapping. It has worked so far- Jack did go a bit low this afternoon (to 40) but he was acting perfectly fine, so I gave him some food and lowered the evening dose to 1.5 as is suggested when a kitty drops to 40. So far, so good. Tested him at +2 and he was at 132, which is where he was when I dosed him. Will do a +6 and see where he is tonight, too. Honestly, I was beginning to think that Jack would never have consistent numbers below 200, so to have 36 hours of it is pretty amazing. Hope we can maintain it for a bit.
I look forward to meeting everyone and getting to know the boards, etc. I plan on starting a spreadsheet and getting Jack's bac klog in, too, so be on the lookout for that. If there are any questions for me, or if there is someting I forgot to add, please let me know!
