Is it time for a dosage decrease?

[Shari Lynn]

So my cat's BG dipped waaaay low this morning, and he refused to eat. I didn't give him his shot and just watched him closely. By about 3 p.m., he was begging for food again. I tried to check his BG but didn't get enough blood out of him for it to work properly. unsure emoticon I'll try to test him again before I give him a shot tonight, but am curious if anyone else has had this happen. He's on 2.5 units of Lantus twice daily, and his BG usually runs between 170-210. It's been flat for a long time now. It was down to 80 this morning if my meter was correct. Could he finally be going into remission, or is it possible something else is going on?

 

[Chris/China (GA)/Garfield]

Hi Shari!!

Without a spreadsheet to see how he's been doing, it's really impossible for us to guess on if he might be approaching remission or it was just one of those crazy days.

If you couldn't get him to eat, that throws another wrench into the mix too.

BG numbers are affected by all kinds of things, in both good and bad ways. With a cat that's not eating and at only 80, you did the right thing not shooting this morning

Do you have some test results you could put on our spreadsheet? It'll really help us to help you with your extra sweet kitty! Here's "How to get the spreadsheet and link it in your signature"

If you have problems getting the spreadsheet going, let us know! We have several people who will be happy to help you!

 

[bettyandhank]

Was the 80 the pre-shot number? And was this before or after deeding.... ie: how long since food did you test this #?

With Lantus you adjust dose based on the nadir, not the preshots. SO in order to find the proper dose you would need to check to see how low the given dose is taking them over several cycles. If they drop below 50 (if kitty has only been on insulin < 1-year) or 40 (more than 1 year) then it would warrant a dose reduction of 1/4U. If kitty's numbers don't drop after staying at same dose for several cycles, by same token you would then raise dose 1/4U.

The way they move down the ladder is to 'earn' reductions which you can only catch by monitoring. Chances are your kitty is having fluctuating BG's all the time, it just comes down to whether you are catching them.

 

[BJM]

Have you had a chance to read over the 2 protocols for using Lantus? Both include guidance on adjusting doses, based on nadir testing.
Tight Regulation protocol
Start Low, Go Slow protocol