Just starting out..

[Pearl and Emily]

Pearl and I just started her Lantus on Monday. We started with a full unit once daily and it hasn't been straightforward since then. Today we are doing our first slow glucose curve. Because she has steroid-induced diabetes she is not as predictable in these early stages.

However my question is really this... It seems that no matter where her BG is, when I give her dose of Lantus (1u or .5u) she seems really depressed and sad afterwards. I obviously don't mean emotionally, I mean clinically. Has anyone else experienced reactions like this?

 

[Bobbie And Bubba]

Hey there. I don't have any experience with kitty acting depressed after a lantus injection. How long after? If it is a couple hours later, the BG's could be dropping and just her being in lower lowers than she is used to being in could cause her to feel sluggish. I did notice that with Bubba when he came into more normal numbers. It was temporary until his body got used to them.

Also, Lantus needs to be given twice a day, every 12 hours as it works better that way. Are you doing the curve at home? I am assuming you are testing at home? And what type of meter are you using, human or animal meter? If you aren't doing so all ready, please always get a test before you shoot insulin to know if it is safe to give insulin. Without testing you won't know if Pearl is going too low which could cause her to act lethargic.

A few questions: Is she off the steroids now? And how long has she been off the Hills and eating much lower carb food? Kitties can drop their BG drastically with that both or those changes so testing before shots and getting some other test through out the cycle is going to be very important as the dose might have to be lowered.

Can you set up a Spread sheet and fill in her numbers. Then we can help guide you better with dosing. The instructions to set one up is Here Then link it to your signature.

Oh and Welcome to Lantus! Ask lots of questions. That is how we all learned and we are here to help you. Love your avatar!! An awesome fur family photo.

 

[Pearl and Emily]

Hi! Thank you for your quick response.

It is within 20 minutes of injection that she starts acting anti-social. She is a very very in-your-face cuddly, vocal, mellow cat. The injections and the testing does NOT stress her out. This is her morning routine: She eats at 6:10 and food is removed by 6:30 (there has not been any left to remove at the 20 minute mark anyway, but she has an automated feeder and that's how I programmed it). She is tested around 7:30am with an Alphatrak II (pet meter). I am a veterinary technician and am most used to using this monitor and found it easier to communicate with her vet when doing so.

The Lantus has been given every 12 hours this week (7:30am/7:30pm) unless her numbers have been too low to do so, which was just once on Tuesday morning. I know that the lethargy is NOT caused by hypoglycemia because she has not been below 200mg/dL since the Tuesday morning reading. Ie. this morning after eating7:15a) 365mg/dL, Gave 1u Lantus. at 9:15a her BG was 342 md/dL. She is not dropping quickly or substantially enough to cause the 'depressed' reaction.

She is also off the steroids since last Sunday (7/15). She is on the Hills until tomorrow when I start transitioning her to the lower carb diet. These consistent high BGs have made a lower carb diet a necessity. She is fed canned exclusively as well, in case that was a question.

I am working on the spreadsheet now. I mistakenly tried to complete it on my cell and that is NOT going to work for me haha. I will include it asap.

 

[Bobbie And Bubba]

The best routine for the shot time is test, feed and shoot (T/F/S) all within a 15 minute period of so.( of course only if she has given you a number you can shoot) You don't want to wait 1 hour after she eats to give the Lantus otherwise the numbers get ahead of you.

Once you get the SS up and going it will be so much easier to see trends and patterns and it will help us help you better.

Glad she if off the steroids now. Some kitties with transient diabetes due to steroids can get off insulin rather quickly. Once you transition her to the lower carb food, again, test often as you can see as much as a 100 point drop just by switching to lower carb food.

 

[Pearl and Emily]

The best routine for the shot time is test, feed and shoot (T/F/S) all within a 15 minute period of so.( of course only if she has given you a number you can shoot) You don't want to wait 1 hour after she eats to give the Lantus otherwise the numbers get ahead of you.

Once you get the SS up and going it will be so much easier to see trends and patterns and it will help us help you better.

Glad she if off the steroids now. Some kitties with transient diabetes due to steroids can get off insulin rather quickly. Once you transition her to the lower carb food, again, test often as you can see as much as a 100 point drop just by switching to lower carb food.

Thank you! I worked with my particular vet for many many years, and this is how she taught me to do things. I like how you do things quite a bit better. Just filling out the spreadsheet, I was pretty concerned. Thank you for your help! I forgot to ask, when you were starting out with the Lantus did you do strictly 12 hour feedings? I can't even look at pearl around the 6 hour mark because while she is so unregulated at this point, she is starving!

 

[Sue and Luci]

Welcome to the FDMB! Always good to see a new face - however unfortunate for Pearl that you're here - but you're in the right place for a whole different experience than what you've had in your years as vet tech Just sayin...it's an education in and of itself to hear from real people about their real experiences taking care of their diabetic kitties.

It's a warm and supportive group! Great advice and life-saving tips we all share with one another.

Welcome again!!!

 

[Susan&Felix(GA)]

Welcome! Love your avatar.

Frequent small meals are good to help even out her blood glucose. It's great you already have an autofeeder. It's best if most of their eating is in the first half of each cycle, and no food in the last two hours before the next shot.

 

[LizzieInTexas]

Welcome! Love your avatar.

Me too . Had to enlarge it to see it better.

I feed PS, +2.5, +4.5 & +6.5 And he gets freeze dry treats (2-3) on the last timed feeder turn. Pearlie isn't utilizing food well due to being unregulated so she will be hungry (and thirsty). No food for 2 hours before shot so you can get an accurate PS number. T/F/S in 10-15 min span.

Low carb, wet (can) food only. If you are not currently feeding strictly LC, wet food be very cautious switching as it can gave a big impact on BG levels (lower). LC food is less than 10% carb. Food database is here <<click.

Are you using syringes to draw and shoot? The pens (with their needles) are not accurate and can only shoot in 1U increnents.

Gizmo's FD was brought on by steroids for treatment of pancreatitis. Feel free to check out others spreadsheets, comments on the right side (of the ss) for insight.

How much can you test? Do you have your hypo kit? Are you testing for ketones?

Welcome

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

In all likelihood, the way your vet suggested you sequence your feeding and shooting is based on his/her experience with shorter acting insulins. The shorter acting insulin requires that food in on board before you inject given that onset is quick. With Lantus, onset is typically at around +2. As a result, you don't need to have food on board prior to shooting. That's the rationale for our test/feed/shoot routine. Many of us would be shooting while our cat's head is in their bowl of food. Likewise, Lantus nadir is around mid-cycle, although this can vary widely.

I'd also encourage you to get some tests during the PM cycle. Many cats like to drop into lower numbers in the evenings so getting tests is important. In addition, without the numbers in the evening, you're missing half of your data.