Junior needs help

[christine_66]

My cat Junior was diagnose a few months ago and we have not been able to regulate his blood sugar. He is approx 12 yrs old FIV+and FELV+. The vet has tried three different insulins, the last one being Lantus 2.5 units twice daily and so far the lowest his blood sugar has gotten is 18mmol/L (metric as i'm in Canada). I have switched him to low carb wetfood (Friskies and Fancy feast) all under 10% carb. The vet recommended feeding him only when i gave him insulin but he lost too much weight. He fell almost to 9lbs and he's a big cat!, so we decided to free feed him and he's gained 1.5 lbs so far but he's still soo skinny. The vet informed me he is not sure what else to do to get Juniors blood sugar under control, he says uping the dosage won't work. Does anyone have any suggestions?, should I up the dosage myself to see if it' helps?. I also do curves at least every weekend.

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

Hi and welcome!!

Sorry to hear about Junior's diagnose but there are lots of people here that can help you.

Congratulations on home testing and on getting the spreadsheet up !!! you are on the right track so far for helping him.

Getting a cat regulated can take time so you will need to be very patient.

Regarding the dose a cat needs what he needs of insulin, some need very little some need a lot and that can be much more than 2.5, insulin is not a medicine, is a hormone so there's no right amount each cat is different and sometimes even the same cat needs will vary with time and health conditions, we just need to find the right dose with Junior, as you start testing a little bit more you will be able to get a better picture of what's going on.

Since you are using Lantus I recommend you take a look at the Lantus protocols start low go slow (SLGS) or thight regulation (TR) and decide which one suits you best, regardless of the protocol we do recommend that you ALWAYS test before giving him his insulin shot to keep him safe, for the looks of the test results you have I think you will need to start raising the dose, the protocols recommend you raise the dose on 0.25unit increments and hold the dose from 3-7 days depending on the protocol ( you need to decide which one you will follow) unless he gets too low.

In any case you can alwasys ask what to do or any other question you have, there's a forum speciall y for Lantus users where there are real Lantus expert and you can post and ask for help/guidance/support or anything (http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/forums/lantus-basaglar-glargine-and-levemir-detemir.9/)

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

I agree with Veronica. It is still early days for your kitty. Posting over on the Lantus forum will help you get great advice and guidance.