Is it okay to increase the dose?

Vanlora Light

Vanlora Light

Member Since 2021
I posted this to Fb group already and they recommended to post here instead.

So the question is it okay to change insulin dose(lantus in my case) higher if the food has been changed and that has more % carbs?

I can't get my cat the food he usually has gotten that is about 2-3% carbs and now I have to give him something that is around 8-9% carbs and I noticed that his glucose runs high on the new food of course, which is temporarily until I get him back on the other food, which is going to be some weeks.

I wish I could get him his usual but it's not possible at the moment and I'm very stressed.
Has anyone done this? Adjusted the dose based on the food, I know people who have diabetes do it but what about cats?

Also I have a few test strips left that I only use for AM and PM right now, otherwise I won't have enough to test before giving insulin.
 
You don't seem to be testing enough right now for TR and missed some reductions with SLSG, so I personally don't think you should increase until you're able to test more frequently.
 
Hi Vanessa! I noticed you're using the AlphaTrak meter (which is probably why you're having trouble with strips). I'd really suggest you switch to a human meter that would be easier to find strips for (and probably cheaper too).

As far as the higher carb food, unless your cat is very carb sensitive, we usually treat them the same if the food is under 10%. Without having any mid-cycle data, increasing just because of a slightly higher carb food may not be safe.
 
I'll try to see if I can get my hands on a human meter, I'll have to learn what numbers mean on it, I'm used to pet meter only.
If I start putting glucose results in my spreadsheet should I change anything there or just make a comment that it's from a human meter when I get it?
Also what is considered low number(hypo) on a human meter? And what is good glucose range to be?
 
Vanlora Light said:
If I start putting glucose results in my spreadsheet should I change anything there or just make a comment that it's from a human meter when I get it?
Also what is considered low number(hypo) on a human meter? And what is good glucose range to be?
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The only difference that matters is the "time to act". On a human meter, it's below 50. On a pet meter, it's below 68. As the numbers get higher, there will be more difference but at that point, it really doesn't matter if the BG is 350 or 500...."Too high" is always "too high".

Normal BG on a human meter is 50-120. On the AT it's 68-150.

Until you can test more, you should be doing the Start Low, Go Slow dosing method. On SLGS, you reduce the dose by .25 when he drops below 90 (on either meter). TR requires more frequent testing so if you do get a meter you can get strips for easier, you could switch to TR if you wanted to.

If you get a human meter, send me a private message on Facebook (or here) and I'll help you with the changes you'd need on your spreadsheet. I spend a lot more time on Facebook so that's the easiest place to get in touch with me.
 
Chris & China (GA) said:
The only difference that matters is the "time to act". On a human meter, it's below 50. On a pet meter, it's below 68. As the numbers get higher, there will be more difference but at that point, it really doesn't matter if the BG is 350 or 500...."Too high" is always "too high".

Normal BG on a human meter is 50-120. On the AT it's 68-150.

Until you can test more, you should be doing the Start Low, Go Slow dosing method. On SLGS, you reduce the dose by .25 when he drops below 90 (on either meter). TR requires more frequent testing so if you do get a meter you can get strips for easier, you could switch to TR if you wanted to.

If you get a human meter, send me a private message on Facebook (or here) and I'll help you with the changes you'd need on your spreadsheet. I spend a lot more time on Facebook so that's the easiest place to get in touch with me.
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Ah yes thank you! I'm nervous about making the shift to human meter but it's necessary bc it always feels like I'm running out of Alpatrak strips and panicking where and how to afford more.
 
Our methods were devised using human meters so nothing to be nervous about. Just know that usually human meters read a little lower unless the bg is very high or very low.
 
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I see you increased the dose even though you were recommended not to because of lack of any mid cycle tests. I am so sorry you don’t trust the advice you are getting on this forum, based on the information and advice from this forum we managed to regulate our cat in a little over a month and got him into remission in a bit over 8 months. Most cats on this forum are regulated shortly after starting to get advice here and some go into remission quicker than our Chico did.
The reason why you don’t want to increase the dose solely based on the preshot value is because a higher preshot doesn’t tell you how low the dose gets Missy and hypoglycemia is way more dangerous than higher BG in a matter of hours meanwhile higher BG will do harm long term hence the need to regulate the BG into normal range.

I hope you will switch to human meter as soon as possible and start testing more often and i strongly advice you to chose this place to get your advice from and stick with them. I believe this forum is amazing with very very very responsible moderators. Good luck :bighug:
 
Vanlora Light said:
'll try to see if I can get my hands on a human meter
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Don't know if this will help you with getting a human meter ,I see you are from Finland
Here is a U K sticky they list Human Meters
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...-vit-b12-and-other-need-to-know-stuff.137376/
You can go up top where it says search type in Finland and a whole bunch of post will come up and you will see the word Finland in bold letters , just tap on each post to see if they are from Finland then tap on their SS and see what human meter they use
Look under
UK Blood Glucose Meters Human
 
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